The Bone Sparrow

It is oppressively hot early in the morning, and Subhi dreads the rest of the day knowing there will be no relief. He’s low on water, and the Jackets told them it will be another day until more food and water arrive at the camp. Despite the heat, Subhi notices mold growing on their possessions. People take turns sitting in front of the fan for relief, but the heat and lack of water make everyone surly. The heat irritates Subhi’s skin, and he must use mind games like adding numbers to take his mind off the physical suffering. Queeny angrily shoves Subhi away from the fan, and he leaves the tent to escape the suffocating misery.

Subhi’s counting is interrupted by the sound of Harvey’s horn. Harvey is one of the Jackets, but he is kind to the people and refers to them by their names instead of their boat identification number. Subhi doesn’t have a boat number since he was the first baby born in the camp. Harvey brings a small plastic pool, toys, and bottled water for the children. Even though it is a small pool with barely enough room for all the children to dunk their feet, Subhi relishes the cool feeling of water on his body. Harvey calls out, “Here, you go, kids. Your very own sea. Don’t go in too deep now” (17). Subhi has only seen pictures of the sea and can vaguely smell the ocean that is far away. He imagines floating freely in the salty water.

Harvey brings a rubber duck that looks like William Shakespeare. Subhi doesn’t know what a play is, but he decides to take the duck. Harvey moves away from the children to talk to the older people and encourage them to get out of the hot sun, but he speaks to them in English, and they don’t understand him. Later after all the other children disperse, Subhi submerges his head in the dirty water. He doesn’t see all the sea creatures he imagines are in the ocean, but the silence and calm briefly transport him away from the camp. He envisions birds falling from the sky. When he returns to his tent, there is a sparrow perched on his cot. He perceives that he and the bird make eye contact, and the interaction makes Subhi feel dizzy and hot. When he tells Queeny about the sparrow, she reminds him that a bird in the house is a sign of impending death.

Outside the camp, Jimmie, aged nine, awakens on the anniversary of her mother’s death, feeling the loss just as much as the day she died and wishing she could skip the day and all the feelings of grief it brings her. People are moving outside and going about their day while she suffers. Jimmie’s mother gave her a bone sparrow necklace the day she died. It is an heirloom her mother claimed brought good luck and protection to the family for generations. However, Jimmie keeps the necklace hidden from her father because he gets emotional when he sees anything that belongs to her. Jimmie also has a notebook full of her mother’s writings, but she isn’t able to read them. Jimmie hears her father crying outside and looks at the bone sparrow necklace, thinking it hasn’t done its job to protect them.

When Subhi tells Eli about seeing the sparrow and what Queeny said about the superstition, he laughs and reminds Subhi he lives in a tent, not a house. Subhi thinks, “But that tent is all the house I’ve ever known, so I don’t know if Eli is right about that one” (31). Convinced he is going to die, Subhi confesses his fear to the Shakespeare duck. Subhi pretends the duck talks back to him. He doesn’t tell his mother about the sparrow, but he does tell Harvey, whose only concern is if Subhi is attracting vermin into the tents. Subhi begins to see sparrows everywhere.

There is not enough clothing and basic supplies for everyone in the camp, and if the people complain about their meager rations, the Jackets punish them. Eli has become skilled at procuring extra supplies like mosquito repellent, undergarments, shoes, and personal care items, which he trades throughout camp. Eli helped Subhi get one of the 14 pairs of shoes available in the camp. In return, Subhi helps Eli deliver the items throughout the camp, although some sections are more difficult than others to access. Subhi describes the “Ford Compound,” a safe place in the camp for those experiencing conflict within the camp or extreme emotional distress. The “School Room” and “Computer Room” are located on what they call the “Hard Road” because the structures are built from real materials instead of makeshift tents. Eli and Subhi can’t access the “Beta Compound,” surrounded by razor wire and guard dogs, since it is where the Jackets keep criminals in solitary confinement.

Eli keeps his trading items hidden in various places around the camp. On this day, he searches for his stash under the garbage heap, and Subhi must cover his face from the stench. Eli tasks Subhi with delivering a shirt, which is concealing another small, hard package to Pietre in the Alpha section. Before he departs, Eli warns Subhi to be careful and remember to have a backup plan in case he’s caught.

Subhi arrives at the fenced area and whistles to signal his arrival. Pietre’s eyes are red and swollen from all the dust in the camp, but Subhi can see he is frightened and nonverbally communicating that danger is near. Subhi knows Beaver, a cruel Jacket, is behind him, and he fears the sparrow’s death prophecy is true.

Subhi used to have nightmares when he was younger involving Beaver chasing him. Beaver is an angry, cruel guard who lost an eye when a man in the camp attacked Harvey with a hammer. Subhi explains,

Beaver’s the kind of person who gives you an extra kick for not getting out of his way fast enough or tips your maá’s dinner into the dirt so she has to pick it up with her fingers and eat it fresh from the ground in front of him, all covered in grit and all (41).

Beaver once held Eli in handcuffs, so Eli never lets Subhi deliver packages on days when Beaver is on duty, and as Subhi sees the Jacket staring him down, he realizes there was a mistake. Subhi prays the package is an “Inside” item (42), meaning an item that is part of their regular rations, instead of an “Outside” item, or contraband from outside the camp. Beaver forcefully grabs Subhi and demands he explain his behavior. Subhi is silent, and Beaver throws him to the ground and he hits his head on a brick. As Beaver tears into the package, Queeny arrives, and Subhi is thankful for her intervention. Inside the shirt is a box of washing detergent, and Queeny pretends Subhi is on his way to do laundry. Beaver pours the powder out on the ground and destroys the shirt. Queeny takes a trembling Subhi back to their tent.

Subhi tries to rest, but his brain is affected by the head injury, and he thinks about his ba who was a poet and gifted storyteller. Before Subhi was born, his ba whispered stories into his maá’s belly. When Subhi was young, he begged his maá to tell Ba’s stories, but she refused and instead shared her “Listen Stories” (45). The stories recounted their history as Rohingya people from Burma and what their life was like in happier times. Maá’s stories became sad as she explained how the Burmese government imprisoned his ba, burned their home and possessions, and forced them to leave the country. They came to Australia on a boat, but no one wanted them in the country or anywhere else. Maá eventually stopped telling the children stories, claiming, “Looking back only brings sad, Subhi. Now looks forward. No more back” (46).

Maá even stopped speaking to Subhi in Rohingya in the hopes that he would learn English and have an easier time assimilating. Now, Subhi tells himself the stories and promises one day he will learn Rohingya and his mother will rediscover her love of their history. Subhi recognizes that when people in the camp stop telling their stories, they become emotionally unwell. Subhi falls into a deep sleep and is awakened in the night to recount his identity to a guard. He realizes it was the first night he fell asleep without begging his mother for a story and notes that everything is now different.

Jimmie lives in a depressed area, where many people, like her father, are unemployed. She often misses school and instead spends the day wandering the house looking at the books her mother used to read to her or riding her bike, which she later breaks. Even though Jimmie likes school, she struggles with learning to read. Her father doesn’t know she can’t read, and he doesn’t care that the school often calls, wondering why she isn’t there. Even though her family moved around a lot, Jimmie has many good memories from when her mother was still alive. Her mother loved to garden and often cooked food for them from the fruits and vegetables she harvested. Jimmie, her father, and her brother, Jonah, planted a tree in the yard after her mother’s death.

Jimmie likes to explore as the physical freedom allows her to probe her memory. Though she has explored most of the crumbling town near her home, Jimmi never ventured to “the Centre.” Though her mother knew about it and she and Jonah once came close, the place makes them feel strange. The text explains, “There was a feeling down there. A sort of sadness in the air” (55). When she attends school, Jimmie overhears students talking about the Centre and remarking that it is a place of abundance where kids get whatever they want, including new bikes. Jimmie decides to finally investigate for herself, and with her pet, Ratticus, on her shoulder, she sets off down the hill toward the Centre. She doesn’t worry about getting through the fence because Jonah taught her that there is always a breach in a fence.

Subhi can’t sleep due to his head injury and worry about his maá. If she doesn’t tell him a story each night, she may forget them, he thinks. He considers waking her up to force the storytelling ritual but realizes she needs her rest. The Shakespeare duck speaks to him, but all Subhi wants is the Night Sea. When it arrives, not only does it bring treasures, but Maá also theorizes that it calms everyone in the camp like a trance.

Subhi leaves his tent but doesn’t find the sea. Instead, a girl with wild hair is standing before him carrying a book. He knows instantly she isn’t “one of [them]” because she has shoes and a backpack (61). Subhi thinks she may be an angel, but when she spits on the ground, he knows she is human. She asks if they have bikes, but Subhi has only heard stories about bikes from Eli since the camp is an unsuitable place to ride. The girl asks his name, and he tells her, but when he returns the question, she ignores him. He asks her about her book, and she asks if he can read it. Subhi says yes, and she mumbles to herself and walks away. Subhi is too mesmerized by her to speak. The Shakespeare duck comments that she didn’t say her name.

The next morning, Subhi thinks the girl in the dust was just a dream, but he sees her spit in the dirt and realizes she is real. Seeing her fingerprints in the dirt, Subhi puts his face near them to feel closer to her. When he lines up for his shower, Harvey notices the dirt on his face, and Subhi says, “I’ve been listening for the stories from the earth” (67). Queeny makes fun of him, but Harvey tells her there is nothing wrong with being interested in the earth. When Queeny mocks Subhi for believing in the Night Sea, he chuckles as he imagines that the Shakespeare duck questions her intelligence.

Queeny is worried about Subhi’s head injury, causing both Eli and Harvey to ask what happened. Subhi tells them not to worry about it and praises Queeny for rescuing him. She tells Subhi he should get the wound cleaned so he won’t get an infection. Eli brushes off her fear, but he apologizes to Subhi for what happened, claiming it was his fault. He gives Subhi stolen granola bars, discarded by the guards due to their name, “Freedom Bars” (70), to make up for it.

A Jacket is waiting for Eli at the tent, and Subhi thinks he is being reunited with his cousin in America, but instead the guard has papers claiming Eli is too old to live in the Family tent and must move to Alpha where the single men reside. Queeny protests that Eli is too young, and Subhi thinks about the awful stories they know about young boys moving to Alpha. One nine-year-old boy nearly died by suicide after his traumatic experience in Alpha. Eli pretends to be unfazed and tells Subhi that children should run the world and then everyone could eat what they wanted and live in peace. The guard urges him to pack his things quickly and threatens to send him to Beta if he resists. Subhi gives Eli a space rock from the Night Sea. After Eli is gone, Subhi distracts himself by trying to draw the girl and wonders if she is a gift from his ba.

Back at home, Jimmie thinks about how she likes the name Subhi and how he can read. She doesn’t find it strange that he speaks to a plastic duck because her mother used to talk to the garden gnome. Jonah returns home listening to music, and Jimmie jokingly asks if he’s wasting his money on buying music instead of saving it to buy her a bike. Jonah pretends he knows nothing about buying her a bike for her birthday, and, for a moment, Jimmie is worried. Jonah laughs at his prank, but Jimmie secretly wants to retaliate. She remembers how her impulsive nature used to infuriate her parents, who called her “Cyclone Jimmie” (80). After Jonah leaves, she spits into his milk glass. Alone in her room, Jimmie thumbs through her mother’s notebooks and thinks about how a bike would help her get back to Subhi.

Three boys from the Family tent begin to bully Subhi. They didn’t bother him when Eli was around because he stood up to them, but since Eli’s departure, they set traps for the rats and torture them. Subhi told Harvey about the traps, but he thinks it’s good to get rid of the vermin. Subhi thinks the bullies should have been sent to Alpha instead of Eli. Each day, Subhi waits for Eli at the fence that separates their areas. After not seeing him for two days, Subhi begins to worry. When he finally appears, Subhi is ashamed to see Eli because the bullies tackled him and stole his shoes and pants. They also forced him to show them where they keep the package delivery stash, and they stole all the supplies. He doesn’t tell Eli about the bullies capturing him and forcing him to kill one of the baby rats caught in a trap. Eli isn’t worried about the stash, and he comforts Subhi by telling him about the Northern Lights and promises that one day they will see them together.

The Night Sea doesn’t come for eight days, and Subhi still doubts the girl was real. He didn’t tell Eli about her and wonders if he is losing his mind. He crawls out of the tent and sees her standing there holding a notebook and a black feather. Subhi explains he was born there and that he has a sister and a mother and is waiting for his father to return. The girl finally introduces herself as Jimmie and shares that her mother is dead and that she lives with her father and 16-year-old brother, Jonah. Her father is gone a lot, and Jonah is supposed to watch over her, but he usually ends up hanging out with his friends and drinking instead.

Jimmie has a flashlight, but Subhi quickly tells her to hide it so the Jackets don’t see. She wants Subhi to read to her from her mum’s notebook, so they hide behind the tents near Alpha. Subhi is happy to see reading materials from the Outside as he finished reading everything available inside the camp long ago. He thinks, “My fingers are tingling just thinking about touching those pages” (92). The book is old and worn from age, and Subhi wishes he had a book full of his ba’s stories and poetry. Subhi notices Jimmie wears a necklace made from bone in the shape of a bird, and he shrinks away from her in fear, remembering Queeny’s prophecy. The Shakespeare duck warns him to stay away from the mysterious girl. Jimmie explains that her mother gave her the necklace and it’s supposed to protect her family but doesn’t work. Subhi calms his nerves but is still unsettled by the necklace and begins reading the notebook.

Subhi reads to Jimmie from her mother’s notebook an old story about her great-great-great grandmother Anka who was born from an egg and had feathers like a bird. The story begins. A boy named Oto rescues Anka from the well. Oto discovers Anka is blind, but his sister Mirka proclaims that “this girl is destined to see more than most” (99).

Subhi thinks to himself that Queeny would hate this improbable story, but Jimmie takes it in like medicine and weeps quietly, listening to her mother’s writing. She tells Subhi she wants to hear only one story at a time to make them last longer. After she leaves, Subhi feels alive and anticipates when she will return. The Shakespeare duck adds a line to the story about a beautiful duck.

After Jimmie leaves the camp, she remembers how her mother used to tell the same story to her and Jonah all the time. Hearing Subhi read it has a different effect on her, as the text describes: “[T]his was the first time since her mum’s death that she had thought to remember it. The first time that she had heard the whisper of her mum’s voice” (103). Jonah didn’t believe the story, and her mother eventually stopped telling it. That night, Jimmie sleeps soundly for the first time in several years.