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Posted: October 11th, 2022

What does the schoolteacher’s attitude to herself reveal in “The Answer is No”?

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What does the schoolteacher’s attitude to herself reveal in “The Answer is No”?
“The answer is No” is a short story written by Naguib Mahfouz about the trauma and experiences young women and adolescents have faced. The story, however, provides information concerning the impacts of childhood trauma and parental negligence on an individuals attitude in adulthood. Rape is one of the cases that affect young girls, especially when the father is absent while growing up (Sutanto, et, al.,68-78). Dealing with rape and other victimization cases can be very impactful, especially in making decisions, such as motherhood, love, and marriage. Most of the time, young girls who have gone through victimization in childhood have a negative attitude towards marriage, love, and motherhood. The paper discusses the school teacher’s attitude in “The answer is No” story.
The protagonist in “the answer is No” is a school teacher who experienced victimization that led to trauma (Sutanto, et, al.,68-78). The teacher, however, went through the crisis when at the age of fourteen, which involves victimization by a teacher of mathematics. Additionally, the teacher has lived with the trauma for years especially considering the fact the father had passed away, hence left with the mother. The young girl’s unbelievable life experience creates fear, reflects sadness and unexpected truth, bringing anger to most readers.
The high school teacher’s attitude, which is negative feminism, is well described in “The answer is No,” which is achieved through childhood experiences. However, the girl is forced to remain silent due to her position, which is being a student, and a low ranked teacher hiding away from reality (Sutanto, et, al.,68-78). Additionally, the societal beliefs and cultures that women should be sacred and respected according to their virginity has led to more rape, and sexual assault in the society. The issue has made most women remain silent and develop fear of coming out as rape victims because it is believed women should submit and remain sacred. However, the female school teacher’s attitude on motherhood and love is based on victimization and lack of support from the mother concerning the rape issue. The school teacher hopes the days pass by calmly and peacefully, without concentrating on happiness.
On the other hand, the teacher does not attach her happiness to love or motherhood because her mother failed her by not protecting her and standing by her after confiding about the rape case. Also, the attitude towards the male gender is centered on the rape that took place when at the age of fourteen, which has been very traumatizing and hard to forget even after the perpetrator was made the head teacher (Sutanto, et, al.,68-78). After being a teacher, and mature the victim turned her head against all men and was never pleased with anyone. The school teacher is afraid of love, lonely even after reaching the time of getting married.
“The answer is No ” is a short story that shows women’s suffering in society and cultural beliefs that women cannot be married because they are virgins. “The answer is No ” is a story that also shows the impacts of children’s victimization and living life in a male-dominated society. However, the high school teacher is terrified and unaware of what is happening, resulting from the trauma faced by my childhood experiences, which was rape (Sutanto, et, al.,68-78). However, the story has been used to prepare and educate parents on the need to educate children concerning victimization and other types of violations that may affect both physically and psychologically.

Work Cited
Sutanto, Dian Natalia, Melania Prischa Mendorofa, and Teti Apriyanti. “The Pursuit of Existential Meaning and Social Justice in Naguib Mahfouz’s Three Short Stories:“Zaabalawi”,“A Day for Saying Goodbye”, and “The Answer is No”.” Indonesian Journal of English Language Studies (IJELS) 3.2 (2018): 68-78.