Sons and daughters
In The Sand Child, the author shows how sons and daughters represent different things in Moroccan society at the time this novel is set. For Ahmed's father, having a son would be the ultimate happiness, and he puts his pregnant wife's wellbeing at risk in his attempt to have a son. A son would also symbolize security and a strong lineage, due to inheritance and gender issues at the time. Alternatively, daughters in the text represent a disappointment. Having a daughter is even described as a "calamity." As such, we see the contrasting depiction of sons and daughters in the text, and what they each represent.
Storytelling motif
Storytelling is a recurring motif in the text, due to the author's choice of narrative style. The story is told by a number of professional storytellers, who read parts of Ahmed's journal to an audience in a market square. The variety of storytellers and conflicting accounts of Ahmed's life make it difficult for the reader to trust the story they are being told. The first storyteller's account of Ahmed's story is called into question by the other storytellers and the audience alike, and therefore the reader might also feel some doubt about his perspective.
Mirrors
In the story, mirrors symbolize Ahmed's conflicting identity and the contrast between her outer and inner self. Throughout the text she speaks of having an "other" self, which represents the female identity she has been forced to hide. When Ahmed looks in the mirror, she is forced to confront the reality that she is outwardly seen as a male. When speaking about mirrors, Ahmed says: "The mirror has become the route through which my body reaches that state, in which it is crushed into the ground, digs a temporary grave, and allows itself to be drawn by the living roots that swarm beneath the stones. It is flattened beneath the weight of that immense sadness which few people have the privilege of knowing. So I avoid mirrors.” As such, we see the mirror represents Ahmed's struggle with her identity, due to her difficult upbringing.
Pain
Pain is a key motif in the text and is something we see most prominently through Ahmed. Since she was a child, she had been forced by her parents to pretend she was a boy, when she was truly a girl. This causes her to struggle with her sense of identity, and to feel extreme pain whenever she looked in the mirror. This struggle is something that leads her to eventually live a secluded life, away from her family and society. In addition to Ahmed's pain, at the beginning of the text we also see pain inflicted on her mother. When she is pregnant with Ahmed, her husband is so obsessed with having a son that he forces her to undergo superstitious rituals, which causes her pain. Women in the text are also described as sharing a "wound" which represents the emotional, physical and psychological pain they endure on account of their gender.
