One such example is that of Moustafa Sa"eed, who comes from the northern city of Khartoum. Even before his birth he had lost a major support because of his father's death. When he makes his very first decision on his own free will, to go to a government school, there's no input, comments or concerns from anybody, even from his mother, and that moment he describes as a "" major turning-point in [his] life"" (21). Also when he's leaving Sudan for higher education, and after making all the necessary arrangements for himself, when he tells his mother, she doesn't object, argue or seem concerned for him, on the contrary she says: ""Do as you wish, depart or stay, it's up to you. It's your life and you"re free to do with it as you will"" (23). And Moustafa says himself: "That was out farewell: no tears, no kisses, no fuss. Two human beings that had walked along a part of the road together, each had gone his way"" (23). Now considering the fact that he is talking about him and his mother, it seems very opposite to what the narrator said regarding his family. It seems very clear that the author tries to depict that the people in the North are more independent, and less bonded or connected, even with their own blood. The same is shown about the people in England. When Moustafa Sa"eed is on trial and Ann Hammond is discussed, her very own father does not try to expedite Moustafa's prosecution, but instead tries to examine whether " her suicide was due to some spiritual crisis or because of finding out that Mr. Moustafa Sa"eed had deceived her" (68).
Another contrast shown between the two societies is regarding women. The author shows that in the North the women are freer and are not always subject to the will of men while in the South women are generally subjects to men and that they do not make many decisions for themselves.