The Sand Child

Tahar Ben Jelloun’s 1985 novel The Sand Child highlights struggles with gender identity and obfuscation in traditional patriarchal Moroccan society while also portraying the impacts of colonialism and postcolonialism in Morocco. The author continued the story of this novel's protagonist in his 1987 novel The Sacred Night, which garnered him France’s prestigious Prix Goncourt. Ben Jelloun has long enjoyed renown as an essayist, author, poet, and painter. His works draw inspiration from his native Morocco, where he spent his childhood and early adulthood. This guide refers to Alan Sheridan’s translation of The Sand Child published by the Johns Hopkins University Press in 2000 and, in following with both the original French text and Sheridan’s translation, designates the female protagonist with male pronouns, except when otherwise noted.

The Sand Child ’s non-linear plot details the arduous path of Ahmed, an eighth daughter born in the first half of the 19th century into a traditional Moroccan family. His authoritarian father, given the customs of his society, decides prior to his newborn’s birth to raise the child as a boy to boost his masculinity and to ensure the presence of a male heir. The narrative of the protagonist’s life is delivered primarily by way of

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