A Boy's Journey Analysis

While reading this novel I was curious as to the geographical route that the boy had to take to get to Egypt and before he began his journey he referenced only having to cross a strait, since I am not familiar at all with this part of the world I was also curious as to what body of water he had to cross to enter Africa. I did actually look into these things and found that the boy’s journey must have taken quite a long time because by plane it would take almost 9 hours. The boy first had to cross the Mediterranean Sea, and then he would spend approximately one year in present day Morocco trying to earn enough money to continue his journey. After his year in Morocco he would have to travel through Algeria, Libya, and most of Egypt. This journey was over 4,000 kilometers through harsh landscapes. I was also curious as to how many oases there were throughout the journey, but because the story takes place in the past it is difficult to know as it is likely that many are no longer there. From page 42 onward there was talk about war between the tribes of the desert, I would like to know what they were feuding over but as a work of fiction as well as not knowing the time period in which the story takes place it is impossible to even know if there was truly fighting between the tribes. One other thing that bothered me while reading this novel was that there were languages presented that the boy did not understand or know how to speak, so I decided to see if I

It had always been my assumption that in the Arabic culture it was frowned upon to talk to their women, in general, without permission from the man of the house, on page 50 it is said that it is not acceptable to speak with a woman in black, not because she is mourning, as I would assume, but because her black clothing signifies that she is a married woman and therefore should not converse with any man but her