We Hunt the Flame

Throughout We Hunt the Flame, Zafira’s cloak symbolizes her struggle with her gender identity and sense of self. She inherited the cloak from her father and wears it to disguise herself as a man—the Hunter—so she can hunt in the Arz. On one hand, wearing the cloak enables Zafira to provide for her loved ones and find a sense of freedom. On the other hand, this identity was forced on her by necessity and conceals her true self.

Without her cloak, Zafira knows her home of Demenhur—in which women are treated as lesser—would punish her. As a result, the young woman wears the cloak like armor, to hide her physical and emotional vulnerability. She publicly removes it for the first time in front of Demenhur’s caliph, in defiance of his misogynistic rule. However, when Deen suggests she get rid of the cloak altogether, Zafira hesitates.

On Sharr, Zafira initially refuses to take off her cloak, despite the heat and the fact that Nasir and Altair already know she’s a girl. She stubbornly claims “she wouldn’t be bested by a cloak. She could endure a little heat” (202), but eventually faints due to heatstroke. From then on, Zafira stops wearing her cloak out of practicality, which parallels her growing more comfortable with herself.