The Nile is the source of sustenance for the village of Wad Hamid, which rests at a bend in the river. Upon returning home, the narrator always asks about the harvest—made possible by the Nile’s flooding. His grandfather’s house on the banks of the river changes along with the riverbed, just as does the rest of the village. The river appears as a source of truth, goodness, and clarity. It is also, however, the place where Mustafa Sa’eed dies. Upon first hearing of his death, the narrator is somewhat surprised, judging the man to be a good swimmer, and this is part why he deems the death a suicide. Later, when he himself is near drowning the river, we learn that the currents and undertows, the forces that suck one towards the bottom of the river, are difficult to escape. The river is thus both a source of life and death, more threatening than it first seems.

The deserts of the Sudan stand in contrast to the Nile. In the novel, they represent desolation, madness, and futility. Early moments in the novel describe the Sudan as a place of warmth and fire and Europe as a place of ice.