The Sand Child

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?

Ben Jelloun employs a variety of narrative techniques throughout the work. As you establish these modes of delivery, reflect on why the author opts to employ multiple narrative voices and means of crafting his story rather than utilizing a more traditional univocal first- or third-person narrative. What are the effects of Ben Jelloun’s polyphonous narration?

In considering the novel’s array of female characters, how would you qualify the roles women play in the chapter of Moroccan history captured by Ben Jelloun? How do these female models contrast with male gender roles portrayed in the work?

In view of the multiple storytellers proposing divergent endings to the tale of Ahmed’s life and death, what point do you think Ben Jelloun is trying to make? Among the various endings proposed, is there one that you either prefer or find more plausible?

Given the extent to which storytelling plays a role in The Sand Child, how do you view the differences between oral and written tales? Why do some societies valorize one mode of story delivery over another?

Examine the portrayal of truth and lies in the work in light of their traditional conceptualization as diametric opposites.

Throughout The Sand Child, the work’s various characters, settings, and objects generally find realistic expression. At times, however, this realist slideshow makes way for hyperreal and/or outright magical elements, usually introduced with highly poeticized language. Why do you think the author weaves magical realism throughout his work? Do you think that this mode of expression adds or takes away from the story’s messages?