Identity Quotes in The Golem and the Jinni

How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)

Quote #4

To leave everyone she had ever known, and live with a strange man, and lie beneath him, and be ordered about by his family—was it not like dying, in a way? Certainly she wouldn't be Fadwa al-Hadid anymore. (5.123)

Fadwa's ruminations on marriage make us wonder just how much a person's identity is compromised when getting married. How have things changed since these days, when arranged marriage was common?

Quote #5

"I know [I need a name]." She smiled. "But I'd like you to choose it for me." (6.35)

The Golem, being used to having a master, doesn't even want to define her own identity at first. She wants someone else to do it for her. Good thing the Rabbi has good taste and picks Chava instead of something terrible.

Quote #6

His attention turned from the mirror to his own face reflected in it. He'd seen it before, of course, but never so clearly. (9.28)

The Jinni identifies more as a being than as a person, though for us, it's easy to forget that this human form is one he's trapped in. Being in a human shape ends up shaping his identity—it would be a totally different book if he were shaped like a coyote or a cactus or a chicken nugget.