The Sand Child

In resolving to raise his eighth daughter as a boy, Ahmed’s father makes a decision whose consequences play out for the entirety of Ahmed’s life. What forces are at the root of the father’s choice to raise his daughter as a son, and how does Ahmed experience his childhood, adolescence, and early adulthood as a male?

In Chapter 3 of The Sand Child, the storyteller reads passages from Ahmed’s journal in which the protagonist recounts childhood trips to the hammam and the mosque. How do Moroccan gender roles of the era relate to these public spaces and what does Ahmed take away from his time spent in both environments?

Throughout The Sand Child, Ahmed often feels overwhelming anxiety because of various forces thwarting his self-actualization. As you identify these sources of the protagonist’s deep-seated malaise, can you pinpoint a character who serves as the work’s antagonist? Why or why not?