In “I Sweep the Sun off Rooftops,” author Hanan al-Shaykh illustrates the desire of travel for the main character, which is unusual due to where she is from. While the narrative goes on, we learn more about others warning her about life outside Morocco but can infer that she might have made the sacrifice to travel for a bigger reason, as she tells us that she is in charge of herself in England. While the English man longs to be in Morocco and wants to leave, the main character is more aware of the misfortune in Morocco, just as the English man is more aware of the misfortune in England.
In “Keeper of the Virgins” the dwarf longs to belong somewhere. Thus, when he enters the convent the perspective others have of him change. The people who live outside the convent criticize him and cast him to the side, while the nuns in the convent believe that he is a “gift from God.” When his mother and brother plead for him to come back, he decides against it, now that the dwarf has more perspective on what love should be, versus the love he received outside the convent.