Firdaus defense mechanism in Nawal El Saadawi Woman at Point Zero

Woman at Point Zero novel tells about an Egyptian woman, Firdaus who is living a life of poverty, violence, sexual assault, forced teenage marriage and prostitution. This study discusses about defense mechanisms carried out by the main character, Firdaus in dealing with anxiety and conflict in her life. Therefore, the study aims to find Firdaus anxiety and how Firdaus defense mechanism confronts her anxieties. This study uses psychoanalysis by Sigmund Freud, focused on anxiety and defense mechanism. This study uses descriptive qualitative method by analyzing Woman at Point Zero novel as primary data source. The result of this study indicates that Firdaus experiences three kinds of anxiety; realistic, neurotic and moral anxiety. She uses seven defense mechanisms to deal with the anxieties; displacement, denial, repression, fantasy, reaction formation, projection and aggression as she reaches her breaking point and kill one of the man character, Marzouk.