Identity
Much of this text concerns the identity of Ahmed, and how she has been impacted by her parent's decision to raise her as a boy. Ahmed often comments on having an "other" side to her personality, which she can't understand fully. As readers, we realize that this is her female identity, which has been repressed by her parents. Throughout the novel, Ahmed struggles with this, even avoiding mirrors as it reminds her of her conflicted identity. Ahmed asks the pivotal question of the novel, saying: "Who am I? And who is the other?"
The narrative structure includes Ahmed's journey entries, which gives us a personal insight into her conflicts with identity from her perspective. This is a significant aspect of the narrative style and impacts our interpretation of the story.
Gender
Gender is a key theme in the text and is shown to be an issue in Moroccan society at the time this text is set. We see gender issues through Ahmed's father's strong desire to have a son. His desires are so strong that he risks his wife's health while she is pregnant, and also risks the well-being of his daughter by forcing her to act like a boy. His attitudes reflect wider attitudes in Morocco, where sons were generally preferred to daughters: "To be born a girl is a calamity, a misfortune that is left at the roadside where death passes by at the end of the day." This quote shows that girls were generally seen as inferior to boys, which severely affected women's self-esteem and happiness.
Suffering
Suffering is seen throughout the novel, primarily through the character of Ahmed. She suffers from a confused identity, due to the fact she was forced to pretend to be a boy from a young age. This misery follows her into later life, where she finally has enough and decides to live a life of seclusion.
Jelloun also shows the misery that many women suffered in marriages, revealing this through Ahmed's mother, who is incredibly subservient and obedient to her husband. The marriage is also depicted as being abusive, which shows the suffering that many women endured due to a lack of protection from the law and society. We see that the majority of suffering in this text is felt by women, who are said all share a "wound." Even though Ahmed is seen as a man by society in this text, she still cannot escape suffering, which perhaps says something about the place of women in society.
