A Map of Home

Mama—Nidali’s mother, Ruz—is a pianist-turned-housewife. Nidali describes her mother as an Egyptian woman with dark skin and textured hair who often wears gold jewelry. Other Arab speakers often tell Mama that her Egyptian Arabic makes her sound “like a movie star” (100). Nidali muses to herself, “Mama was so pretty, but she didn’t think she was” (42). Especially when seen through the eyes of young Nidali, Mama is depicted as a glamorous, magnetic woman.

Apart from the protagonist, Mama and Baba are the two other central figures of the narrative. The state of their relationship governs most of Nidali’s childhood and adolescence, giving rise to the theme of Relationships as War. Nidali describes both of her parents as failed artists whose bitterness leads to dysfunctionality and domestic violence.

As a former pianist, Mama “was the true rock star: a musician who no longer played music” (10). Throughout the book, Mama attempts in various ways to find her way back to music, and this becomes a source of strife in her relationship with her husband.

Nidali characterizes Mama as strong and defiant, though she often wishes that Mama would stand up more often against Baba. As a child, Nidali thinks to herself, “[t]here were no other mamas like her. Most of my friends had mamas who prayed; Mama did not. Their mamas cooked and didn’t play piano. Their mamas didn’t say bad words and didn’t yell at their husbands” (19). When Mama gives Nidali a pack of Wonder Woman stickers, Nidali tells Mama that she looks like Wonder Woman, equating Mama with a larger-than-life superhero. Nidali thinks of her mother as powerful, and she feels confused and hurt when Mama does not rescue or comfort her when Baba becomes abusive.

In Texas, Mama flourishes. She decides to root herself in her new home: She makes friends, teaches piano classes, opens her own bank account, and stands up to Baba more often. Baba closes himself off while Mama opens herself up to the new experience of living in America: “Like lilies in the pond, Mama bloomed, while Baba drooped like a weed” (229). At the beginning of the narrative, Mama is a wife and mother with artistic yearnings and a defiant spirit who is locked in an abusive relationship with her husband. She ends the book as a gregarious and increasingly independent woman who builds the life she wants despite her husband’s attempts at control.

Baba—Nidali’s father, Waheed—is a Palestinian poet-turned-architect. He is described as long and thin, with a penchant for storytelling and exaggeration. According to Nidali, Baba likes to “tell stories that were impossible but true all at once, especially if those stories made him look like a rock star” (9). His exaggerations often conflict with his wife’s retellings of the same events. Mama and Baba frequently argue over the details of their conversations.

Baba’s experience as a Palestinian refugee shapes his character as well as the way he treats Nidali. He tells Nidali when she is young that moving is “a part of being Palestinian” and that Palestinians “carry the homeland in their souls” (9). Nidali says that this knowledge “forced me to have compassion for Baba, who, obviously, had an extremely heavy soul to drag around inside such a skinny body” (9). Baba places great importance on his heritage, and he often makes Nidali learn and relearn the history of the Middle East, emphasizing the theme of Multicultural Identity and the Meaning of Home. He becomes angry when Nidali doesn’t know certain historical facts or details about her Palestinian side. Baba becomes enraged—and then depressed—at the thought of becoming a refugee again after Iraq invades Kuwait, forcing the family to flee to Egypt and then being forbidden to return.

Baba is the narrative’s main antagonist. His anger and violence impact Nidali, and his conflicts with Mama serve as major landmarks throughout Nidali’s childhood. Many of Nidali’s key decisions throughout the book are marked by either obedience to, or defiance of, Baba’s wishes. The turning points in Nidali’s journey are characterized by increasing rebellion against Baba’s violence and control.

Baba begins the book confident in his position as the head of the household. He takes his wife for granted, expecting her to perform traditional household duties and completely give up her desire to play the piano. He frequently beats his wife and children, doubling down on his violence whenever he suspects Nidali of dating or whenever she fails to meet his high academic expectations. He ends the book as a husband and father who has curled into himself, having lost his hold on the near-absolute power he used to wield over his family. He goes through the motions of life, mindlessly commuting to work and back. He refuses to make friends or socialize. At home, shocked at the changing dynamics of his family, he yells until he passes out, his screams no longer an effective method of oppression.

Gamal, Nidali’s younger brother, is a secondary character who does not receive much attention within the narrative.

At the beginning of the book, when Mama says that she is pregnant, Nidali decides she “hated this new baby” (15). Nidali worries that no one will take care of her once the new baby comes. Her fears are partially reinforced when Baba takes her to get her hair cut short because he says that Mama will no longer have time to brush Nidali’s long hair when the baby arrives.

Nidali’s boyish haircut underscores a pattern throughout the book. Nidali is effectively characterized as Baba’s first son, rather than Gamal: “Baba had been pretending all my life that I was a boy” (121), beginning with his choice of a boy’s name (Nidal). Although Baba punishes Nidali due to sexist expectations (especially when it comes to dating and sexuality), he also treats her with the expectations of a first-born son, forcing ambitious academic and career goals upon her.

Nidali only occasionally mentions Gamal throughout the narrative, and when she does so, it’s usually to point out gender differences. For instance, when the family flies to Alexandria, Nidali’s grandfather, Geddo, spots them at the airport and only yells out Gamal’s name. Nidali later learns that Geddo did this because he believes it’s not respectful to yell out a woman’s name in public.

As the elder child, Nidali receives outsized attention from her parents, which also comes with outsized punishment. It isn’t until Gamal gets older and Baba is unemployed that Baba begins to beat Gamal daily. Still, Mama and Baba do not pay much attention to Gamal’s life; once the family moves to America, they do not realize at first that Gamal’s grades are slipping and that he has started to become rebellious, listening to rap music and taking up skateboarding.

As a child, Gamal is fearful of Baba and his violence, but like the rest of his family, Gamal becomes more defiant as the book goes on, daring to make his own choices and explore American culture.