Desert Flower: The Extraordinary Journey of a Desert Nomad

Content Warning: This section of the guide contains descriptions of female genital mutilation, rape, and attempted rape.

One of Dirie’s main agendas is to draw attention to the horrors of FGM. For this reason, Dirie unflinchingly describes her own traumatic experience of FGM at only five years old. She conjures vivid imagery of the procedure, describing the “dried blood on the jagged edge of the blade,” which the woman who performed the procedure “spat on and wiped […] against her dress” (42). Dirie’s description emphasizes the unsanitary nature of the procedure and the overwhelming and horrific pain that the child Dirie is about to endure. Dirie crafts an immersive reading experience by going beyond visual details, incorporating the sounds of the procedure into her narrative. Readers are made to hear “the sound of the dull blade sawing back and forth through [Dirie’s] skin” (42). Dirie’s depiction also conveys the intense emotional pain and trauma that accompanies the procedure. She describes her legs going numb with horror, saying “the pain between them was so intense that [she] wished [she] would die” (42). Through these graphic details, Dirie conveys the excruciating pain of the procedure, which is undertaken with no anesthetic.