62 pages • 2 hours read
Elif ShafakThere Are Rivers in the Sky
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2024A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Symbols & Motifs
Water
Water is the most important recurring motif throughout the novel. First and foremost, it functions as a narrative device: Shafak uses a raindrop to connect all three stories, with the same drop witnessing important events for each of the protagonists. The cyclical nature of water allows for this interconnected narrative, and Shafak uses it thematically as well to explore the interconnectedness of life. Water is used as both a narrative device and a motif to develop the central theme of The Interconnected and Cyclical Nature of Life.
Water also carries symbolism in its different forms, and this is reflected in the titles of the different parts. Part 1, titled “Raindrop,” is expository. The story begins with a raindrop, and the first part of the book is focused on the beginning of the story. Additionally, a raindrop is small and diminutive, mirroring a single moment in time.
Part 3 is titled “Restless Rivers,” and Shafak uses the quality of constant movement of water in this form to do two things: parallel the rising action in the plot and mirror the unsettledness in all three protagonists’ stories. Arthur yearns to go to Nineveh, Narin’s life will soon be upended by ISIS, and Zaleekhah feels unrooted after moving out onto the houseboat following the breakup of her marriage. In the form of rivers, water parallels with both life and history itself, with human civilization first springing up on the banks of rivers.
Part 5 is titled “Flood,” and Shafak draws on religious symbolism for this form of water: the end of the world as one knows it and the beginning of a new era, as referenced in the Bible, on the Flood Tablet, and in Yazidi mythology as well. In keeping with this, Part 5 features the climax, and each protagonist’s story is marked with an intense and life-altering event: Arthur’s death, Zaleekhah’s confrontation with her uncle, and Narin’s eventual freedom.
Lamassus
The lamassus are an important recurring symbol in the book. When they first appear in the beginning of the book—set in ancient Mesopotamia—these stone sculptures are described as guardian spirits, half human and half animal, that protect the library of Ashurbanipal. Ironically, they cannot protect Ashurbanipal’s chief counsellor and mentor against his pupil’s cruelty. The sculptures witness the teacher burning to death, and this incident leaves a scorch mark on one lamassu’s feet.
Both Arthur and Nen in their respective timelines take note of this scorch mark and separately wonder what horrors the sculpture has seen. Water bears a natural witness to the story of mankind, and the lamassu is a manmade artifact that performs the same function in its own way. Water has the power to change form and rebirth itself, and while Shafak posits that water has “aquatic memory,” this is not present in any tangible form. The lamassu, by contrast, is made of stone and hence is unchanging and immutable throughout history; additionally, it carries actual scars from its encounters with human cruelty.
Like water, the lamassus are a connecting symbol present across all three storylines. Arthur and Zaleekhah come face to face with the same lamassu that existed in Ashurbanipal’s time, underlining the unbroken thread of history connecting the modern world to the ancient. Separately, the figure holds personal meaning for all three characters. Arthur whittles one for his mother for her protection, while Zaleekhah receives one from her uncle for similar reasons. Narin, too, has heard of the lamassus as part of her family’s cultural history, though she has never personally seen one.
That Narin, who has lived in Mesopotamia all her life, has never seen one is also significant. The lamassus’ glaring physical absence in Narin’s story is a reminder of Archaeology as Plunder, as British archaeologists like Arthur took many of these artifacts out of their homeland and brought them to England in the 19th century.
Cuneiform and The Epic of Gilgamesh
The Epic of Gilgamesh is an important recurring motif in the book, and equally significant is the script it is written in. The Epic of Gilgamesh is the oldest known text in human history. When it makes its appearance at the beginning in Ashurbanipal’s time, it has already existed for years, with various versions stored in the Assyrian king’s library. Among the numerous copies is a lapis lazuli tablet with a dedication to Nisaba, the goddess of storytelling and agriculture, which Ashurbanipal intends to hide from his public in service to a new, more patriarchal theology. This censorship is rooted in an awareness that literature has the power to deeply influence ideas, beliefs, and attitudes; the epic does exactly this even millennia later, as explored in the theme of The Impact of Ancient Texts on Modern Lives. Besides the hold that the epic has on characters in the book like Arthur and Nen, Shafak’s choice to draw from this ancient text in shaping her story speaks to its enduring relevance.
The script in which The Epic of Gilgamesh is written—the first known form of written language—is also significant. Cuneiform appears across storylines. Arthur’s life’s work revolves around deciphering the cuneiform tablets carrying The Epic of Gilgamesh, while Besma and Zaleekhah both sport tattoos of the word “water” in cuneiform. Besma’s tattoo is a cultural symbol passed down over generations and symbolizes the inherited gift of water dowsing; Narin hopes to get the same tattoo someday. For Zaleekhah, however, the tattoo is in simultaneous remembrance of the thing that she fears most and reveres most. Water robbed her of her family but is also the subject of her life’s work. Despite being an ancient script, cuneiform still holds deep personal and varied meaning for all three protagonists across timelines. It also sparks a moment of trust and helps form a tenuous connection between Narin and Zaleekhah when they meet in person, as Narin sees the tattoo on Zaleekhah’s wrist.
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