Identity

Throughout Roses, in the Mouth of a Lion, the author uses Razia’s coming-of-age story as a platform for exploring the individual’s gradual discovery of her identity and self. At the start of the novel, Razia is in the sixth grade. Her youthfulness grants her narration an innocence and childlike awareness of the world. Therefore, in the chapters enclosed in Book One, “Summer 1985,” Razia’s narration is less reflective and introspective. Over the course of Books Two through Five, however, as Razia grows up, her understanding of herself in the context of the world around her begins to expand.

In the early sections of the novel, Razia’s sense of self is defined by her family and neighborhood, culture and community. In Book One, after describing the other neighborhood children, she remarks, “But I was not one of them. My mother didn’t let me...