There are certain standards, codes, ethics and values by which people live their lives. It is these standards and codes that determine what is right and wrong. In other words, they create a boundary that draws a line between what is considered unethical or immoral. These standards or codes in certain people's lives are set by their respective religions. On the other hand, the groups, communities or tribes in one's life set these standards. In eastern societies these standards are set mainly by one's faith or religious beliefs. In Palace Walk that is set in a typical eastern Islamic country, values and codes of life were carved out purely by religion. Acts were considered strange or unethical based on one's faith, which accepted or rejected them because they were forbidden. These codes and values play an important role in the lives of the characters of the novel. These characters could be placed at the top level of a hierarchy of ethics or at the bottom of it.
             Sayyid Ahmad was a man whose behavior can be characterized as being ethical and moral at home and family gatherings and different with friends. In other words he could be termed a hypocrite. He sets a standard at home, which every member of the family had to abide by and would not dare to escape from. If one was caught doing something unethical or immoral, he or she faced serious consequences. Sayyid Ahmad punished Amina severely because she had gone to pay a visit to Al-Husayn's shrine, bye separating her from the rest of the family. Her problem was merely that she had escaped from his standards and laws by going out, even though she did not commit any crime by going to the shrine of the Prophet's grandson who was very dear to the family including Sayyid Ahmad. He believed that his family maintained good ethical values by obeying his commands. These standards and values had their roots in religion or Sayyid Ahmad's understanding of it, that the women of his
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