Kantika

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of antisemitism, child loss, infertility, xenophobia, wartime violence, genocide, and ableism.

The novel shows how one family adapts to the consequences of both personal choices and overwhelming historical forces in their search for home. Rebecca Cohen’s understanding of home changes as she and her relatives are repeatedly displaced over the course of the story. As a young girl, the protagonist never imagines that she will leave Constantinople. Elizabeth Graver conveys this sense of permanence in the description of Rebecca’s childhood home: “Their house has three stories and is made of stone, which does not burn” (2). She describes her family in similar language, highlighting that her early understanding of home and family is tied to a permanent physical structure—namely, one built of strong, stable stone: “Her family, especially her father, is from here the way the paving stones are from here, drawn from the very earth” (32). She remains certain that the Cohens will stay even when World War I uproots the lives of the people around them, such as her best friend, Lika. Ultimately, the Cohens are displaced by a range of factors, including Alberto’s mistakes with his business and the Turkish government’s conscription of young men. Although a part of the protagonist always misses Turkey, she eventually realizes that the home she longs for only exists in her memories of her childhood.

The Cohens’ move to Spain alters Rebecca’s definition of home even as it introduces how notions of “home” can be politically exploited. When they immigrate to Barcelona, the Cohens exchange a mansion in Istanbul for a cramped residence attached to a synagogue. Rebecca’s meaning of home shifts from a specific structure to being with her family: “Staying together was supposed to be everything [….] What did a place matter, even, if you kept the people together[?]” (62). In addition, Graver uses the family’s time in Spain to show how the concept of a homeland can be exploited for political and economic gain. The government wants people to immigrate to Spain to bolster the country’s trade relations, and the Ministry of State funds propaganda, such as Caballero’s film, to spread the message that Spain is the “patria” of the Sephardic Jewish community. However, the antisemitism that drove the Cohens’ ancestors from their home centuries ago remains. As Alberto explains to the filmmaker, the Spanish government’s hypocrisy places his family in a dangerous position: “Did you happen to notice, señor, that our synagogue has no signs or symbols on the exterior, nothing to reveal its function to the passerby? We are, how should I put it, uncertain about our standing here, in just about every way” (130). The Spanish government takes advantage of the precarious situation of Jewish immigrants and fails to offer them a true home.

Rebecca’s third displacement due to the growing antisemitism that precedes the Spanish Civil War reveals her ability to create a home for others even though she never feels quite at home herself. Both she and Sam, who is also an immigrant, demonstrate hope, resilience, and courage in their efforts to give their family the classic American Dream—a house in the suburbs with a picket fence. They secure this home by moving to Cambria Heights, “a new housing development in southeast Queens that will sell property to Jews” (229). Graver uses gardening as a motif for this theme, and Rebecca’s lush garden in Cambria Heights is a reflection of her determination to put down roots and make this place a welcoming and lasting home for her family: “She has expanded her garden into every available corner, sunflowers nodding by the front stoop and climbing peas scaling the picket fence” (272). In an added layer of significance, Rebecca’s garden contains plants grown from seeds and bulbs her father preserved from their home in Turkey. These plants offer hope that she and her loved ones can also thrive despite the displacement they have experienced. Although Rebecca never truly feels like she belongs in the United States, the country becomes a home for her descendants through her efforts.