Guests of the Sheik

In this brief chapter, Elizabeth describes her experience of autumn in El Nahra. When the date palm trees in Bob and Elizabeth’s garden become “heavy with ripe fruit,” they are visited by a family who identify themselves as members of the tribe and partial owners of the date trees (251). As the family picks the dates, Elizabeth becomes friends with one of the women. The woman tells her that she is affiliated with the tribe but lives among the people of the market because her husband “took up sheep trading when his land salted up” (252). The woman and Bob teach Elizabeth more about the social divisions in El Nahra that exist between the tribal people, the market people, and the government officials. The three groups rarely intermarry, and “each considered itself superior” (252).

Elizabeth also recounts the arrival of a new teacher, Aziza. Aziza impresses the town but fails to make lasting friendships like previous teachers did. Elizabeth attributes this to Aziza’s reserved nature. She is struck by Aziza’s desire to know “about the high life”—the life she thought Elizabeth led outside of El Nahra (255). Aziza’s friendship causes Elizabeth to ruminate on friendship among the women of El Nahra.