Kiffe Kiffe Tomorrow presents Doria’s growth as closely related to her ability to see herself and to act as a member of a community. At the beginning of the novel, Doria feels cut off from the people around her. She is acutely aware of the ways in which her father’s abandonment and her and Yasmina’s subsequent poverty have made them social outcasts, or even objects of pity, among their Muslim neighbors and in the wider world. In defense against these feelings, Doria rebuffs any overtures from her teachers, Mme. Burlaud, or Mme. Du, increasing her own sense of isolation. The only person beyond her family Doria feels close to is Hamoudi, in part because she romanticizes him as a fellow outsider. Doria only begins to come out of her shell when she begins to babysit Sarah for Lila. Feeling needed gives her a sense of connection to others without threatening her self-image. The fact that the super’s wife recommends her for the baby-sitting job shows that others are not necessarily as oblivious or scornful of her situation as she thinks.

Doria fantasizes about escape, and her favorite show, The Pretender, is about a man who takes on a new identity each week.