Gide uses stereotypical Orientalist tropes to portray the Arab children Michel meets as flat characters who aid Michel in his journey of self-discovery. Much of the novel takes place in North Africa, which, at the time Gide was writing, was a French colony. Orientalism consists of racist representations of the East, including the Middle East, North Africa, and East Asia, created by Western writers and artists that exoticize these areas. In these portrayals, the Westerner often stereotypes these countries as not advanced and depicts the peoples of these countries as more primitive than white Europeans in an attempt to justify their colonization.

While Michel is a tourist, not a colonist, he has economic and social power as a French man in North Africa, which he wields by handing out money to the children he plays with, effectively paying them to spend time with him. He also exoticizes the people he encounters in North Africa, especially the children, portraying them as living a simpler life, more in touch with nature than his own. For example, he recounts the time he spends with Lassif and Lachmi, two goatherds who idly relax in the orchards, playing the flute. He also describes Bachir as being “as faithful and docile as a dog” (32), implying that Bachir is not very intelligent.