The Year of the Elephant follows the life of Zahra, a recently divorced woman navigating her way through life’s obstacles and the short stories of women facing similar struggles as Zahra. The main character, Zahra, was the narrator of the novella, and gave the reader insight into her struggle for independence as she adjusted to life as a divorcee, a taboo among Moroccan culture, and the colonization of Morocco. As a divorcee Zahra was left without any marital possessions and was had to move back into her childhood home were she struggled to become apart of the community. Additionally, she was resistant in conforming to the new cultural norms brought over by the Europeans, which ultimately led Zahra’s husband to divorce her. Left with little choice, Zahra sought to seek her independence. In the process, Zahra, with the help of her friend Roukia, organized a women’s resistance group because Zahra realized the many struggles women faced because of their gender. …show more content…
In the story, two sisters live with each other, one sister a divorcee and the other sister the wife of her sister’s ex-husband. Of course, there was a lot of animosity that lived within the household; however, the second sister felt obligated to help her dying sister. The first sister insisted that her sister was only helping to clear her conscious of the horrific deed done unto her, thus she bought a bus ticket and disappeared. The second sister thinking her sister has died was surprisingly dismissive her death and seemed relieved that she had