An Incident in the Ghobashi Household

This story is about a young girl who lives with her mother and siblings and is pregnant with an illegitimate child. The mother, Zeinat, is caring for her brood while her husband is away earning wages to provide for the family. Zeinat spends much of her time contemplating what they will do when her husband returns to find his eldest daughter is pregnant. If I understood the story correctly, it seems that a hired man named Hamdan is responsible for the unplanned pregnancy. Finally, Zeinat decides to send off her pregnant daughter, Ni'ma, to Cairo before it becomes apparent to the others in their village that Ni'ma is pregnant. Zeinat gives Ni'ma her life savings and tells her not to return home until after she delivers the baby. At which point Zeinat tells Ni'ma to return home at night, when no one can see that she carries a child with her, and that they will pass off the child as Zeinat's. This story was an excellent example of the types of family bonds present in North African culture, as well as the expectations and judgements that many women faced at this time. It was also representative of what the reputation of a family meant within a village and just how far a mother would go to protect that reputation.