The Bone Sparrow

Jimmie arrives home late in the night, and her father and Jonah are asleep, so she climbs the ladder into the attic to look through her mum’s belongings. She finds the garden gnome called “Old Gnome” (191), which reminds her of how her mother used to sing to the plants. Suddenly, Jimmie is filled with memories of her mother and can even smell her familiar scent. Without realizing it, Jimmie begins to sing. As she climbs down the ladder, she scratches her arm on a piece of metal. She carries the gnome to her bed and plans how she will ask her father to purchase seeds and supplies so she can plant a garden.

Still full from the lavish meal, Subhi sits in his tent and works on a drawing for Jimmie of a girl born out of an egg. Subhi often creates drawings for the oldies in camp so they can have pictures of their stories and memories. Hearing and telling stories is the most important part of Subhi’s life and the only thing that keeps him mentally healthy. He describes people’s stories like quilt squares that, when stitched together, make up a beautiful blanket that covers and comforts everyone.

Queeny is angry with Subhi because Harvey confiscated her camera, and she thinks her brother snitched on them. Before he can respond, she flies into a rage and shreds all of Subhi’s drawings. Queeny screams at Subhi that his art is a meaningless depiction of his fantasies and that her photography is a real effort to help the people in the camp. Subhi fires back that Jimmie is real, but Queeny doesn’t listen and screams loudly while destroying all his drawings. Subhi begins slamming his head into the ground, what they call “whomping” (198), to self-soothe, something he hasn’t done since he was young. He tells Queeny he didn’t tell Harvey anything about the camera and runs to the fence, wishing everything wrong in his life would be fixed. Being near the fence reminds him of Eli and all the fun they once had together, but now Eli spends his days with the 11 men on a hunger strike. One man collapsed from dehydration, and the Jackets made him go to Ford for an IV. Subhi digs in the dirt near the fence and finds a knife. The sight frightens him, and, fearing the danger it might cause in the heightened tension of the camp, he takes it and hides it somewhere secret.

Jimmie is sick and must stay home from school. Her father gives her an early birthday gift to make her feel better. Jimmie unwraps a blanket with a bird design. Her dad tells her he has a new job working on the grounds crew at her school. Jimmie is happy they won’t have to move again and that she gets to ride to school with her dad every day. Even though she is sick, he must leave her to work one last shift at his old job. Her brother will be home later, but something about the situation makes Jimmie feel uneasy, and she doesn’t want to be alone.

Subhi feels abuzz with some unknowable feelings. Everything feels different in the camp as there are now almost 30 people with their mouths sewn shut and nearly 90 on a hunger strike. Subhi wishes Eli could help him with the knife, but since the friends barely see each other anymore, he decides to hide the knife behind the public toilets. Subhi tells no one about the knife except the Shakespeare duck. While he waits for Jimmie to visit, Subhi argues with the duck and smells the leftover napkin from his feast. The duck calls him “quackers” for smelling a napkin (210).

Jimmie arrives, but Subhi can immediately tell something isn’t right. She acts strangely and hasn’t brought any hot chocolate. Jimmie lies down, and Subhi tells her one of Maá’s stories while she rests. Since Subhi often cared for ill children in the camp, he recognizes Jimmie is burning with fever. He notices the ragged scratch on her arm, which looks inflamed. When he asks if she cleaned the wound, Jimmie vomits and abruptly leaves while speaking incoherently. She drops her mum’s notebook but runs away before collecting it, and Subhi grabs the notebook through the fence hole.

Jimmie struggles to walk home and collapses on the ground as her mind swims with terrifying images. She feels the visit to Subhi was a dream, as she lost all sense of time. Terrified, she tries to remember the flashlight signal, but when she signals two long flashes, there is no response, and she loses consciousness.

Subhi assures himself that Jimmie will return for the notebook. As he looks at the notebook, he finds the remainder of the story tucked inside. He resumes Anka and Oto’s story. Anka stays in the soldiers’ favor by cooking delicious meals and singing to them. The food is so delicious that it breaks their hearts, and they release her. Meanwhile, Oto is brokenhearted and saves money to sail away from his pain. Just as the boat sets sail, he hears Anka’s singing, and the family is reunited. Overjoyed to meet his son, he places the bone sparrow necklace around his neck and blesses him with safety and freedom.

Now that Subhi knows the end, he feels an urgency to share it with Jimmie so she will know the necklace does offer protection. In the distance, he sees the two long flashes and, without thinking, races from his tent to answer her call, with the Shakespeare duck urging him on. Suddenly, all the camp search lights turn on, and Subhi is outside his tent.

Subhi regrets not escaping to help Jimmie when he had the chance. The Jackets turned on the searchlights because Eli, along with the men of Alpha, barricaded themselves inside their compound. The Jackets stop all food and water going inside, don full riot gear, and prepare for a standoff with the men of Alpha. Queeny apologizes to Subhi for their argument and speaks to him like when she was younger while she guides him toward their tent. She commands him to stay in the tent no matter what happens outside. Subhi shouts at Queeny that she doesn’t care about anyone but herself. Harvey comes and calms Subhi and gives him a copy of One Thousand and One Nights. After Harvey leaves, Subhi gives the book to the boy in Nasir’s bed and sneaks out of his tent toward the weak spot in the fence. Since all the Jackets are distracted by the protest in Alpha, Subhi easily slips out of the inner fence and then the outer perimeter fence unnoticed. He imagines the rats are the only ones who see him, and he apologizes for killing the baby rat. He runs as fast as he can until he realizes he’s finally on the Outside. He thinks to himself, “For the first time ever, in my whole entire life, I am on dirt that I’ve never walked on before, breathing in the air I’ve never breathed in before and looking at the world that I’ve never seen before” (231).

Following the directions she gave him, Subhi easily finds Jimmie’s home. She is lying motionless outside. Because the house is locked, Subhi must use a rock to break the window. He brings Jimmie water, but she is too weak to drink it. Subhi finds the phone Jimmie used to show him the pictures, and he calls the emergency operator and asks for help. While they wait, Subhi reads the ending of Oto and Anka’s story to her. Soon, he hears the ambulance and runs to hide. Jonah arrives and jumps into the ambulance as it is leaving, and Subhi sees a new bike in the back of his car. Using the tips Queeny taught him, Subhi climbs a large tree and basks in the fresh air and freedom and ponders staying there forever. From a distance, he can see the camp, and when he smells smoke and sees it rising from the camp, he knows he must return.

Subhi races back to the camp, which descended into chaos. People are running everywhere and trampled all the fences separating the different parts of the camp. A fuel canister explodes in the kitchen, and the force knocks Subhi to the ground. Subhi searches for his family and sees Eli running toward him with Beaver giving chase. Eli runs toward the bushes and begins digging for the knife Subhi took and hid near the latrines. Beaver catches him and savagely beats him with a baton until he lies motionless in the dirt. Subhi knows he should have intervened to save his friend, but he is paralyzed with shock and fear. Harvey arrives and tenderly touches Eli while he calls for help on the radio and begins walking away. When Beaver sees Eli’s hand move, he picks up a rock. Subhi covers his eyes, but he can hear what happens.

The narrative explains Eli’s story and his relation to Subhi. Eli and his family escaped from their home country with 67 other people crammed inside a truck. Everyone but Eli perished during the trip due to a lack of ventilation. Eli described it to Subhi later, saying his little brother looked as if he was peacefully asleep. Eli was glad the soldiers killed their mother before they left so she didn’t have to endure seeing his dead body. Subhi thought Eli’s miraculous survival meant he had a special purpose in life.

Subhi lays perfectly still, paralyzed by shock and fear, staring at Eli’s hand and thinking that if he doesn’t move, then what happened isn’t real and Eli is still alive. He longs to comfort his friend, touch him, and apologize for not helping. Queeny finds Subhi lying in the fetal position on the ground and shouts to Harvey that he is safe. Queeny is bleeding from her head but is not badly injured. Harvey carries Subhi through the ruins of the camp. The fire is out, and all that’s left is a smoldering pile of ash. Everywhere, injured people are weeping and lamenting the carnage. The Jackets turned the Visitor Centre into a triage facility where doctors attend to the most severely injured. Despite her head injury, Queeny insists they examine Subhi first. Harvey takes Subhi to what’s left of the kitchen and asks him what he saw, but he can’t speak. Harvey pleads for Subhi to say it, but he is too traumatized to speak, so Harvey just holds him and takes him to his mother.

While Subhi rests, the Jackets restore order to the camp by removing the people they call “troublemakers” and erecting the fences again (257). As Subhi sleeps, he dreams of a time when his mother sings to him in Rohingya and everyone in the camp including Eli and the Jackets join, singing, “If we all sing together, our song can light up the dark” (258). When he awakens, he realizes Maá is alert and singing to him.

The Jackets blame Eli for the riot, claiming he attacked Beaver, but Subhi knows the truth. Harvey continues to push him to reveal what he saw; Subhi refuses to speak, but he gives Harvey nonverbal cues to the truth. Harvey tearfully tells Subhi he tried to help Eli. Subhi wishes he could see Jimmie and know that she is okay. He knows he could tell her what happened and relieve his burden. As he thinks of the horror of the situation, Subhi realizes Queeny is right about them being forgotten people. He tells Harvey everyone treats them no better than rats. After Harvey leaves, the Shakespeare duck tells Subhi he should tell the truth but that it may cause Harvey to lose his job or worse. However, if he doesn’t say what happened, there will be no justice for Eli’s death. Frustrated and confused, Subhi tosses the duck out of his sight.

Family Three tent is overcrowded since the fire destroyed other Family tents. Subhi hears the roar of the approaching Night Sea. He imagines the sea floods the tent and everyone floats on their cots. Outside the tent, Subhi stares up at the glowing stars and imagines he sees Eli’s whale. The whale begins to weep, and so does Subhi, their collective tears falling into the sea. Watching the whale reminds Subhi of all his favorite memories shared with Eli, and he feels like his heart will burst with grief. As he stares into the whale’s eyes, he realizes he must tell the truth to give a voice to Eli’s story. Subhi imagines many creatures thrashing about in the sea. Later, he imagines dead fish strewn about near the fence, and he picks one up and kisses it.

When Subhi awakens, Queeny comforts him and tells him she is sorry for not believing Jimmie is real. She gives him a book, which contains his ba’s poetry, and a bag full of his belongings. Queeny explains that when Asiya arrived at the camp a year ago, she confirmed Ba was dead. Queeny was the one who delivered the treasures, not the Night Sea. Realizing his ba will never be returning, Subhi weeps as Queeny holds him and tells him how much he is like Ba. Subhi thinks he is nothing like Ba since he wasn’t brave enough to help Eli. She begins telling him stories about his ba that make him come alive for Subhi, so much so that he can feel and smell him. Together, they look through the book of poems, and Subhi reads the last one, which Queeny says was written just for him. Subhi soaks in the beautiful words and feels like his brain is healing. Queeny tells him Harvey reported dead fish littering the camp, and it reminds her of Subhi’s Night Sea.

Jimmie is better, and she visits Subhi in his tent. Though he is too weak to speak, she entertains him with jokes. Jimmie gives Subhi the bone sparrow necklace and tells him he can keep it for a while since her dad is home. She says Subhi saved her life and is “[l]ike a superhero. Super Subhi” (274). Subhi weakly replies that Queeny’s prediction came true and that the sparrow foreshadowed Eli’s death. Jimmie corrects him and explains that a sparrow doesn’t signify death but instead change and hope for the future. Subhi falls asleep, and when he awakens, he sees she left him a thermos of hot chocolate.

Once he is strong enough, Subhi begins to fill his notebook with stories. The stories are a mix of memories and tales from old. He knows, however, that there is an untold story he must tell.

People from the Outside come to the camp to question the people about the attempted revolt. Subhi speaks to a woman named Sarah and begins to tell Eli’s story. Harvey nods his approval even though he knows this will seal his fate. Subhi never sees Harvey again after that day. Subhi completes Jimmie’s mum’s story, picking up on the tale of Iliya.

The story is recited. Iliya survived the mine blast, though he lost a foot, and villagers cared for him. Iliya began sharing his knowledge of healing with an English doctor living in the village. The doctor took Iliya with him on an ocean voyage to a place called Burma. Iliya began living with the Rohingya people and started a family. His healing gifts became legendary, and he passed his knowledge on to his children. When Burma became Myanmar, the government persecuted the Rohingya people. However, Iliya believed the bone sparrow still protected him even though he no longer wore it because the coin landed in his pocket after the mine explosion.

Queeny awakens Subhi in the middle of the night to go outside with her and Maá and stand on the top of a shipping container to view the Northern Lights, or what she calls “the sea” (281). He remembers that Eli told him the lights never appear this far south. As he watches with his mother and sister, Subhi thinks about everyone watching them together, connected by this miracle. As he touches the bone sparrow necklace, he hopes Jimmie and Harvey are watching too.

Subhi mentally prepares for his interview with Sarah the following day, where he will give an account of what happened to Eli. Sarah assures him it will be easy and is the right thing to do to honor his friend. Subhi rescues the Shakespeare duck from the Jackets’ dogs. During his interview with Sarah, he asks her to apologize to Harvey. When he returns to his tent, he knows Harvey is still in the camp because all the rat traps are destroyed and his shoes are returned. Maá receives a letter from Sarah, and though Subhi doesn’t know its contents, it makes Maá very happy. Subhi hears singing in the distance, and though Queeny can’t hear it, Maá can. When he gazes into the light of the solar flares, he sees the whale singing at the moon.