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.
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Chapter Summaries & Analyses
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BetaPart 3, Chapters 22-25Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Part 3, Chapter 22 Summary
Alexia is preparing to start her volunteer shift on the Greek island of Lesvos. She sips a coffee, contemplating some of the horrors she’s seen—like a father and mother mourning their son, a young boy in a Spiderman sweatshirt, who had frozen to death by the time he arrived in Greece. She is haunted by memories like these.
Waiting for boats to arrive, Alexia goes to a tent to sort clothes that have been donated from around the world. Her favorite is an ugly, old, lime-green wool coat that used to belong to a man named Terry. She knows this because the person who donated it left a note in the pocket, with words of encouragement for whatever refugee might end up wearing the jacket. The note is from Sally Martin, Terry’s granddaughter. She writes, “Terry would be proud to have known that someone with courage and patience such as yours is wearing his jacket” (188). Sally also provides her email address in case the jacket’s future recipient wants to reach her. Alexia reads the note every shift; it reminds her the world isn’t all bad.
Mariam and Sivan, two volunteers from Israel, join Alexia. Alexia is surprised that they are there to help, given the tense relationship between Israelis and Arabs. She asks the girls whether the refugees give them a hard time when they find out where they’re from. “No, they are kind and grateful,” Mariam responds.
While the girls pack food and prepare clothing, another volunteer named Michael—from Singapore—is scanning the water for refugee boats. When he sees one coming in, he messages the volunteers down on the shore, so they are ready. Today, he sees Tareq’s boat.
Part 3, Chapter 23 Summary
Mike alerts the volunteers on the beach that a boat is incoming. He notes that the Turkish Coast Guard tried to stop the boat but then left them alone, confirming to the reader that this is indeed Tareq’s boat. Anxiously waiting, Alexia reflects on her regrets and mistakes related to past landings: “What if we had pulled her out sooner? Would she have survived? What if I’d given him my jacket? Would that have prevented his hypothermia?” (195). The reader starts to see how being a helper can take a mental toll on a person. Tareq’s boat arrives, and Alexia helps people get off the rubber boat, which is deflating. Then, she sees Susan.
Part 3, Chapter 24 Summary
Susan’s eyes are dazed, and her lips are pale. She isn’t shivering, which is a sign of hypothermia—a potentially fatal condition brought on by the cold. Alexia takes Susan to a tent, takes off her soaking clothes, and wraps her up in a dry wool blanket. Finally, she starts shivering—a good sign. Meanwhile, Tareq is screaming for his sister. He didn't’ see where Alexia took her and is afraid he’s lost her. A volunteer reunites him with Susan, who is coming to. When Susan wakes up, she asks for Farrah—her doll. Tareq has the doll. Jamila also enters the tent to ask if Susan is okay. Tareq replies, “She is very okay. We are all okay. God is great” (204).
Part 3, Chapter 25 Summary
Alexia is faced with the conundrum of what to do with the orphaned baby whose parents died on the boat. Dr. Ismael Kassem, a man on the boat, and his wife, have offered to take the child; they don’t want it to end up in an orphanage but to be raised by a Syrian family—and by people who knew the baby’s parents, albeit briefly. Alexia and another volunteer, Tina from China, consider what to do. Legally, they are required to report the child as an orphan. However, they decide not to; orphans are prime targets for human traffickers. Dr. Kassem will claim the baby is his grandchild, and the volunteers will pretend like they never knew.
Tareq’s boat is just the start of Alexia’s day. She and the other volunteers go on to bring in five boats—224 people. It’s an exhausting and emotional day. At the end, Alexia collapses in an empty tent, wanting to be alone. She cries—but is then cheered up and starts laughing when she realizes that Terry’s jacket is gone, meaning it’s finally found a new owner.
Part 3, Chapters 22-25 Analysis
Chapters 22 through 25 delve further into the world of the “helpers.” Although Alexia is the focus, the novel mentions many other names. The author frequently makes a point of highlighting the person’s nationality: The reader knows that Famke is Dutch (from the Netherlands), Hilda is German, Tina is Chinese, Michael is from Singapore, and Mariam and Sivan from Israel. This serves to highlight the fact that helpers are everywhere—as suggested by the Mr. Roger’s quote prefacing the book. In this case, helpers from all over the world have come together on a tiny Greek island to help people like Tareq.
The characters of Mariam and Sivan call attention to the fact that, in times of crisis, the significance of nationality and national boundaries fades away. Destiny has already commented on the strangeness of the “invisible lines” that constitute borders, which are respected only by man and not by nature. Mariam and Sivan’s characters further show how these imaginary boundaries are ludicrous, as they connect with the Arab refugees they meet and give no thought to the nationalism or politics that is meant to divide them.
The epistolary technique gives voice to another helper, albeit one located far away—in the United States. Sally Martin, the woman who donated Terry’s jacket, writes a letter to accompany her donation. Instead of simply having Destiny summarize the letter, the author includes a depiction of the letter itself, even displaying it visually as a piece of torn-out notebook paper.
Alexia’s reaction to the letter further highlights the trauma that she, as a helper, experiences: “Alexia pulled out the ripped-up piece of notebook paper during every shift to remind herself that the world wasn’t all bad” (187). Constantly confronted by people in dire need of assistance, Alexia may choose to take a dark view of the world—to see more bad than good. However, she follows the advice of the Mr. Roger’s quote and chooses to look for the helpers. Rereading the letter from Sally Martin is one way that Alexia accomplishes this.
These chapters are action-packed and rapidly paced, emphasizing the dramatic contents. Life-altering decisions are made within this frantic context, however, reflecting the reality of Alexia’s chaotic days. Alexia’s decision to allow Dr. Ismael Kassem to keep the orphaned baby is one example. With this anecdote, the narrative drives home the point that the law is not always right. Legally, Alexia should notify the authorities of the orphaned child and let it be processed through the system. Morally, she knows that the child will have a difficult life as an orphaned refugee. The book suggests that instead of doing what’s legal, sometimes it’s better to do what’s right. Take, for example, German people who hid their Jewish neighbors from the Nazis in World War II, or people who helped slaves escape the South in the United States before emancipation. These people didn’t do what was legally right; they did what was morally right.
