The story is written in the limited third person point of view.

In the third person point of view, the narrator uses the pronouns "he" or "she" to refer to the characters in a story. In Mahfouz's story, the third person point of view is limited, as opposed to omniscient. Omniscient third person point of view allows the narrator the seeming ability to "access" the thoughts of any character in a story. Meanwhile, the limited point of view only allows the narrator "access" to one main character's thoughts.

In the story, the unnamed protagonist is referred to as "she" or "her." We learn that she is a teacher. The main conflict in the story rests on how she navigates her professional relationship with the new principal at her school. The principal, Badran Badawi, raped her when she was barely fourteen; he had been her mathematics tutor then. Years later (when the protagonist came of age), Badawi asked for her hand in marriage. Insulted and angered by his presumption, the protagonist rejected his offer.

Now, Badawi is once more in a position of power over the protagonist. She must do everything she can to protect her professional reputation and secure her personal safety in her current precarious position.