Chapter Nineteen: The Gate of the Sands

The final gate to pass through in our story. It is the death of Ahmed, and a closing to his story. There are only seven gates, all of which prove to be a significant event in Ahmed's life. Just as there are seven gates, Ahmed's parents birthed seven daughters before Ahmed. Seven is the number to cease at. Ahmed's parents so longed for a son that they ignored the inevitable. For whatever reason, they were only capable of conceiving females. When they decided the eighth would be a boy, they doomed Ahmed for the rest of his life. It is through this gate the readers pass through to conclude the tragic tale of Ahmed.

Chapter Seven: The Walled-Up Gate

This gate represents the marriage of Ahmed and Fatima, odd as it may be. They are both societal outcasts, as Fatima is ill and Ahmed cannot reveal his true identity. The marriage appears to fulfill their societal obligations until Fatima succumbs to her illness one night and dies next to Ahmed. In the grand scheme of things, this is just another phase, another gate to pass through for Ahmed.

Chapter Six: The Forgotten Gate

"We must now slip through breaches in the wall, the forgotten openings...." (45). Ahmed, after his father's death, must consider a rite of passage in a young man's life: marriage. However, his wife may never know his secret. Ahmed chooses his cousin Fatima as a wife because she is sick and will be unable to ever produce children. More than a real marriage, this seems to be an arrangement to fulfill societal expectations.

Chapter Five: Bab El Had

Bab El Had is a tiny, narrow gate that is used for leaving something or someone. At this point in the story, Ahmed is twenty years of age, and his father is growing ill (33). This gate puts an end to the strained relationship between Ahmed and his father. From then on, Ahmed has the power to do what he wishes with his life because he can no longer disappoint his father.

Chapter Four: The Saturday Gate

"The Saturday gate closes on a great silence" (32). As Ahmed passes through the third gate, it is with determination as he discovers his true identity and decides to uphold the appearances that his father had upheld for him thus far. Up to this point in Ahmed's life, his father had kept up necessary appearances. However, as Ahmed reaches puberty, he makes his own decision to uphold the charade, and live out his life as a man (32).

Chapter Three: The Friday Gate

The second gate, The Friday Gate, allows happiness to pass through it (18). In our story, it is the day that Ahmed is presented society as a male. Because the couple had finally produced a male heir, the celebration continued for many days, but guests were not allowed in close proximity to the child (19). The only people who knew of the child's true identity were his parents and his nanny. It is also said that his nanny entered through this particular gate because she brought happiness and joy into a family that was set on edge by their secrets. The Friday Gate is unique because it moves along with one's destiny, as opposed to staying put within a wall as other gates do.

Chapter Two: The Thursday Gate

The Thursday Gate is the first gate of our story. It is the day that male children are born, everyone knows that. It is also a day of exchange, market day (8). The Thursday Gate is crucial because it is the day of the week our protagonist, Ahmed was born. Because he was born on a Thursday, his parents would either be gifted with a son or would have to make a choice, an exchange. Ahmed’s parents experience the latter as they decide their child will be a male, regardless of what science may say (12). For this reason, Ahmed never truly experiences a single identity throughout his life.

Introduction

“Once we arrive at the seventh gate, we may truly be people of the Good” (8).

The Sand Child by Tahar Ben Jelloun follows the life of a young man, Ahmed, who harbors a deep secret: “he” is really a “she”. This decision was made by Ahmed’s parents before he was born because the couple had given birth to seven daughters prior to Ahmed, which does not provide high status for Ahmed’s parents. After the death of his father, Ahmed decides he wishes to live out the rest of his life as a woman. However, as Ahmed is stuck between being a man and a woman, he can never truly be happy.

Throughout the book, there are seven gates representing different stages in Ahmed's life. In this blog, I will illuminate these gates and what they represent.