logo

58 pages 1 hour read

Tahar Ben Jelloun

The Sand Child

Tahar Ben JellounFiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1985

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

Chapters 1-4Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 1 Summary: “The Man”

The narrative opens with the words of a storyteller speaking to an audience gathered around him in a public square in Marrakesh, Morocco, in the 1950s. The storyteller-narrator evokes an unnamed elderly Moroccan character’s lined, scarred, pain-ridden face. Later revealed to be a woman, this female protagonist raised as a male lives out the end of his days secluded in the upper room of a large house, welcoming only the perfunctory visits of Malika, his family’s kindly old servant, bringing him food and mail. Avoiding any form of light, the protagonist likewise displays hypersensitivity in most of his sensorial organs: Noise disturbs him; his skin absorbs and reacts to everything in around him; his nose, that “of a blind man” (2), detects any smell. He whiles away his time preparing for death, which entails arranging his lengthy personal journal carrying his secrets.

Stooped with age and pain, he no longer has the dictatorial man’s gait that he acquired after taking over the household upon his father’s death. Though exhibiting signs of physical deterioration, he knows that ultimately the sense of deep melancholy that has pervaded his existence will devour him.

blurred text
blurred text
blurred text
blurred text
Unlock IconUnlock all 58 pages of this Study Guide

Plus, gain access to 8,500+ more expert-written Study Guides.

Including features:

+ Mobile App
+ Printable PDF
+ Literary AI Tools