81 pages • 2 hours read
Faiza GueneKiffe Kiffe Tomorrow
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2004A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Chapters 37-41Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 37 Summary
Aunt Zohra tells Doria and Yasmina that Youssef will be released in May. Aunt Zohra describes how Youssef has become a Muslin extremist in prison. Doria remembers him as easygoing and open-minded, once trying bacon-flavored potato chips just to see what they were like.
On a more positive note, Doria sees her mother’s former coworker, Fatouma Konaré, on the TV news. She has succeeded in unionizing the motel and forcing M. Winner to meet the workers’ demands. Doria reflects on other ways that life has changed for the better, including Hamoudi and Lila’s upcoming wedding on the list, as well as the changes she’s seen in Yasmina. Doria is also happier with her hairdressing course, at least for the moment.
Chapter 38 Summary
Mme. Burlaud tells Doria that she no longer needs therapy. Doria compares the feeling to learning to ride a bike without training wheels. She recalls how, when she was still learning, Youssef lent her his bike, promising to hold on as she pedaled. Dora didn’t realize she was riding on her own until she heard him yelling that he had already let go. Doria also compares Mme. Burlaud’s recommendation to a scene near the end of a movie, when the protagonist has solved a problem but still needs to bring things to a conclusion. Doria admits that her conclusion will involve deciding what she really wants to do, as hairdressing is not her real ambition.
Chapter 39 Summary
Nabil comes by Doria’s apartment unexpectedly. He tells her that he failed his baccalaureate, and his mother blamed all the time he spent helping Doria instead of studying. He apologizes for kissing her without asking first, and then kisses her again. Doria notes that he seems more expert and confident this time. They watch television and discuss their lives. When Doria tells Nabil about how Hamoudi used to recite the poems of Rimbaud, he surprises her by reciting one himself. They make a date to go to the movies together.
Chapter 40 Summary
Hamoudi, Lila, and Sarah give Doria a ride to the shopping center. She observes that they are “reeking of family bliss” (137) and feels glad for Hamoudi. Doria also notices that the car Hamoudi is driving is identical to the one the social worker had stolen from outside their building. Lila tells Doria that they are planning a traditional wedding and that she has reconnected with her parents, from whom she’s been estranged since her first marriage.
Meanwhile, Mme. Du has returned from her maternity leave. She says she can tell that Doria’s and Yasmina’s lives have changed for the better and promises to try to find money for them go away during their next summer vacation.
Chapter 41 Summary
While shopping with Lila and Hamoudi, Doria tells Hamoudi about Nabil and sees that he’s happy for her. He reminds her how she used to use to phrase “kif kif tomorrow” to describe her dissatisfaction with life. Doria decides to make up a new phrase, replacing “kif” with the verb “kiffer,” meaning to like something a whole lot. She thinks over the changes in her own life and dreams of bringing change to her community, perhaps even entering politics, an interest she shares with Nabil.
Chapters 37-41 Analysis
The final chapters of the book bring together various threads of the story and provide Lila and most of the other characters with a happy ending, though the stolen car implies that Hamoudi has not left his past completely behind him. They also give evidence that Doria has matured emotionally. She is grateful for Mme. Du’s offer to help her and Yasmina take a vacation, in contrast to earlier reactions to the ski trip suggested by Mme. Burlaud and Mme. Du’s gift of a book coupon. Doria is also able to carry on with her hairdressing program while openly admitting she needs to discover what she really wants to do with her life, a change from when she flunked her classes at school, despite her very real interest in literature and history.
The radicalization of Youssef, contrasted with Doria’s memories of him as the brotherly figure who taught her to ride a bike without training wheels, casts a shadow over events. Significantly, Doria’s memory involves her borrowing his bicycle, then realizing that she’s left him behind. Youssef’s favored position as a firstborn son has not helped him, while Doria is now full of ambition. She admits that she has aspirations beyond hairdressing, and her relationship with Nabil seems likely to support her in reaching them. Doria’s discovery that Nabil can recite the poetry of Rimbaud more skillfully than Hamoudi could also affirms his importance in her life.
