Why does Mustafa Sa’eed tell the narrator that poetry has no use in their village? How does this insult shape their relationship? How do you interpret the narrator’s re-writing of Mustafa Sa’eed’s poem?

Almost all the women in this book come to a tragic end, with the exception of Bint Majzoub. How does Bint Majzoub’s attitude towards sex, marriage, and men differ from other women’s? How does she react to Hosna’s death? What does this say about the role of women in Sudan?

The narrator becomes a government official and enters into several conversations about colonialism. Choose one of these conversations to analyze. What position does the narrator take? How does he respond to defenses and critiques of colonialism? How does he make sense of the opulent clothing of African leaders?