47 pages • 1 hour read
Against the Loveless World
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Symbols & Motifs
Smoking
Smoking is one of the novel’s most important motifs. Many different characters use and enjoy tobacco, with Nahr being the only notable exception. Nahr believes that tobacco is an example of Western decadence; she also asserts that because tobacco usage carries so many health risks, it is a kind of Western “soft power” attempt to weaken the Middle East through introducing unhealthy habits to its population. Nahr repeatedly refuses to use tobacco, and she also, on numerous occasions, tells her friends and family why she is so opposed to its use. Although much of the novel’s narrative depicts Palestinian resistance fighters in their opposition to Israeli occupation, Nahr’s anti-tobacco, anti-Western position is another example of resistance. She cites on multiple occasions the damaging impact that Western intervention has had on Middle Eastern geopolitics. Nahr’s staunch anti-smoking position thus emerges as another facet of her conception of Resistance in the Face of Occupation and Oppression.
Dancing
Dancing is another important motif, speaking both to Nahr’s cultural identity as a Palestinian woman and the novel’s thematic interest in The Complexities of Sexuality and Women’s Autonomy. Nahr clarifies early in the narrative that what Westerners refer to as “belly dancing” should actually be called Eastern dance. It is an art form that Nahr feels a deep attachment to, and through her dancing she feels a greater sense of community with both Palestinian and pan-Arab communities. This kind of connection is especially important to Nahr, as she was born in exile and does not feel a distinct sense of herself as Palestinian in the same way that her mother and grandmother, both born in Palestine, do.
Dance is also a crucial part of Nahr’s arc in that it is a practice in her life from adolescence through to adulthood. Dance is part of her identity as a young bride, but also part of what makes her appealing as a sex worker. Nahr’s navigation of the world of sex work becomes critical not only to her sense of self, but also helps her find self-acceptance. Dance thus connects Nahr both to her past and her future, helping her explore both her cultural and sexual identities.
The Cube
The Cube is Nahr’s cell in the Israeli prison. Although it is one of the novel’s primary settings, it also functions symbolically within the narrative. It embodies the way that the Israeli government and its army have pushed Palestinian people into an ever-shrinking piece of their ancestral homeland, effectively imprisoning them in places like the Gaza Strip. Nahr is allowed outside of her cell only briefly during the novel, and the tiny space becomes her entire world.
Additionally, Nahr understands that because the Cube employs new, advanced technologies, it is purported to be an example of “humane” imprisonment, with the Israeli government citing the Cube’s many innovations as evidence that Nahr is being treated “well.” Nahr knows this is untrue: For example, she is unable to flush her own toilet, and cannot even walk outside without being blindfolded. Nahr’s solitary confinement and lengthy prison sentence thus speak to the ways in which she and other Palestinians suffer from political oppression, illustrating the theme of Resistance in the Face of Occupation and Oppression.
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