100 pages • 3 hours read
Atia AbawiA Land of Permanent Goodbyes
Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2018A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Summary
Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Character Analysis
Themes
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Important Quotes
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BetaPart 3, Chapters 26-29Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Part 3, Chapter 26 Summary
Tareq and Susan are driven to a hospital, along with others from their boat, so that Susan can be checked out more thoroughly. Jamila is worried about her sister, who was in the other boat with the Afghan refugees and hasn’t been found. Tareq encourages her to speak to a woman at the hospital. Jamila is at first hesitant but then agrees: “The fact that the volunteer was a woman made it easier. She can’t hurt me. She calmed herself with that thought” (213).
Tareq leaves Jamila and goes to check on Susan, who is doing well. A doctor from Spain, Dr. Raquel, is helping her. Tareq speaks with a man, Hashem, who is a volunteer translator. His parents are Syrian, but he was born in London; he speaks Arabic. Tareq tells Hashem that there are many people who hate Syrian refugees. Hashem says it’s not hate but fear, and he assures Tareq that there are people all over the world who care. Tareq replies: “We are the ones who have suffered. How can complete strangers be afraid of those who have seen what real suffering is? They can’t be afraid of the weak. We should call it what it is: hate” (216).
Part 3, Chapter 27 Summary
Tareq calls Fayed from the refugee camp to tell him they are safe. His father is still in Turkey, selling cigarettes with another man to raise money for his own trip across the sea. Fayed tells Tareq that Daesh killed Uncle Waleed and Aunt Nada. Tareq texts Musa his condolences. He then texts the mysterious number that wrote him previously, asking “Who is this? My number will change soon, message now please” (220).
Tareq thinks about the journey he’s made thus far, dwelling on the image of the woman he saw drown before him. Destiny reveals that these memories will never fully fade: “He will continue to have flashbacks and nightmares throughout his life. The memories will fill him, making him anxious” (220).
Jamila still doesn’t have news from her sister. However, she’s learned that a boat of Afghans got to another transit camp, Moria camp, that morning. This likely means her sister is safe.
Part 3, Chapter 28 Summary
Alexia is walking through a transit camp and realizing she’s never actually had a conversation with any of the people she’s helping. She sees Tareq, along with a man he met on the beach in Turkey, Kamel. She asks if they are hungry, and Kamel says they are always hungry. Alexia and another helper, Joel, an Australian man, buy food to bring to the transit camp. Alexia and some of the other helpers sit and eat with the refugees, who tell their stories from home, one by one. Tareq learns that Jamila’s parents and brother were killed on a trip to the supermarket in Kabul.
Part 3, Chapter 29 Summary
Tareq, Susan, and Jamila are moved to Moria camp on Mytilene. Here, they are fingerprinted and registered, and assigned a trailer to sleep in. Jamila reunites with her sister, Najiba. Tareq starts to feel more normal as he has made friends in the camp. However, the camp makes him feel like a criminal; they are fenced and barricaded in. He takes Susan to go meet with Alexia and Joel. Susan is cold, and Joel offers to get her a hot chocolate.
Meanwhile, Tareq and Alexia go to get Susan another coat. They meet Siddiqa, from New York—she moved there from Afghanistan, likely a refugee herself, 35 years ago. She’s now volunteering in the camp, specifically overseeing clothing. Siddiqa warns Tareq that the camps are frequented by “dodgy people who say they’re volunteering or that they’re refugees themselves” but who are human traffickers (238). She warns them that children are at risk. Alexia and Tareq go back to where Joel and Susan are waiting—but only find Joel. Joel says that a taxi driver offered Susan a seat in his car to keep her warm because she was cold. Alexia and Tareq, with Siddiqa’s warning fresh in their minds, immediately panic. They can’t find Susan.
Part 3, Chapters 26-29 Analysis
These chapters drive home the fact that, although Tareq and Susan have made it to Greece, their odyssey is far from over. While the reader was, along with Tareq, able to breathe a sigh of relief after the harrowing boat ride was complete, there are still hurdles to overcome. Much like the Greek hero Odysseus, whose journey took 10 years, Tareq’s journey must go on. Real threats—such as human traffickers—remain. The narrative makes clear that the refugee experience for Syrians like Tareq is far more than simply crossing the Aegean Sea. It’s an ongoing process of adaptation and coping, one that will continue even after Tareq reaches Germany.
The narrative also begins to explore the emotional repercussions of the experience more deeply in these chapters. Until now, Tareq has had to focus on just surviving and on Susan’s safety. With basic subsistence assured, he has the time and energy to focus on the mental consequences of the journey. His exchange with Hashem in the hospital attests to this exploration, as he expresses anger and frustration with the “hate” that he perceives. Destiny highlights the emotional turmoil that is starting to come to the surface, emphasizing that memories of his journey—like the woman drowning in front of him—will be with him forever: “He will continue to have flashbacks and nightmares throughout his life. The memories will fill him, making him anxious” (220).
As it has done throughout, the narrative contrasts such moments of darkness with moments of levity and hope. Terry’s jacket, which has found a new owner (a young man who was on the boat from Turkey to Greece alongside Tareq) is one example. The jacket serves as a symbol of the “helpers.” Terry’s jacket, sent from a woman in the United States, shows how help can come in many different forms and from all over the world. This is also reflected in the diversity of the volunteers working alongside Alexia, who truly come from all corners of the world, from Australia to China. It also attests to the fact that even a small gesture like donated clothing can make a big difference.
The novel again brings up the mystery surrounding the text messages that Tareq first received in Istanbul. While this subplot has been mostly dormant, the narrative foreshadows that a conclusion is ahead. Tareq hasn’t forgotten the message and reaches out to the strange number, since his own phone number will soon change. This small action reminds the reader that there is still a mystery to be solved. There is also the mystery of Susan’s disappearance. Although the reader may have thought the most perilous and exciting part of Tareq’s journey (the boat ride) was done, the narrative is only beginning to peak in terms of suspense. The climax—the pinnacle of action—will unfold in the final chapters.
