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Elisha
Gad is the compelling young terrorist who recruits Elisha to join the Movement in Palestine and oversees his training there. Gad tracks down Elisha in Paris and claims to know everything about him. Elisha entrusts his future to Gad because to him, Gad’s fiery gaze and prophetic voice make him resemble a messenger from God; the desire to please Gad is a strong motivation for Elisha. Gad is fully committed to the Movement’s ideology and believes that Jewish people have put up with persecution for too long and must learn to fight back violently. David ben Moshe is a lifelong friend of Gad’s and was captured during an operation Gad commanded, so he’s especially bitter and vengeful about David’s impending execution.
Gad Quotes in Dawn
The Dawn quotes below are all either spoken by Gad or refer to Gad. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 2 Quotes
"You want my future?" I asked. "What will you do with it?"
He smiled again, but in a cold, distant manner as one who possesses a power over men. "I'll make it into an outcry," he said, and there was a strange light in his dark eyes. "An outcry first of despair and then of hope. And finally a shout of triumph."
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Gad's stories were utterly fascinating. I saw in him a prince of Jewish history, a legendary messenger sent by fate to awaken my imagination, to tell the people whose past was now their religion: Come, come; the future is waiting for you with open arms. From now on you will no longer be humiliated, persecuted, or even pitied. You will not be strangers encamped in an age and a place that are not yours. Come, brothers, come!
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Chapter 3 Quotes
We don't like to be bearers of death; heretofore we've chosen to be victims rather than executioners. The commandment Thou shalt not kill was given from the summit of one of the mountains here in Palestine, and we were the only ones to obey it. But that's all over; we must be like everybody else. Murder will be not our profession but our duty. In the days and weeks and months to come you will have only one purpose: to kill those who have made us killers. We shall kill in order that once more we may be men[.]
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Gad Character Timeline in Dawn
The timeline below shows where the character Gad appears in Dawn. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 1
...man or anything about him, except that he’s English, and that he’s Elisha’s enemy. Softly, Gad tells Elisha not to torture himself, because this is war. But Elisha can think of...
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One hour ago, Gad told Elisha what the Old Man has decided: the execution is going to take place...
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...morning. Though the broadcast doesn’t mention it, everyone knows that means Dawson will die, too. Gad informs Elisha that the Old Man has ordered Elisha to carry out the execution. Elisha...
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Chapter 2
Elisha is 18 years old. Gad recruited him, brought him to Palestine, and “made [him] a terrorist.” They’d met in Paris,...
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...Elisha is unsettled and asks the man to identify himself. The man says he is Gad. His utterance sounds “cabalistic,” like the voice of God.
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Gad tells Elisha that he would like him to “give me your future.” Having grown up...
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Gad declines a seat and, smoking nonstop, talks throughout the night while staring intently at Elisha...
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Gad asks Elisha to join this struggle for the freedom of Israel. Elisha’s family weren’t Zionists,...
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...execution. Though many around the world have protested and petitioned, the hanging is going forward. Gad paces in agitation, then searches the radio dial for the Voice of Freedom broadcast. Palestine’s...
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Chapter 3
Gad tells the recruits that once the British learn that the occupation will cost lives, they...
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...with everything going according to plan. When Elisha returned to the training school and saw Gad’s pride, he was overcome with nausea, remembering S.S. guards casually mowing down Jewish prisoners.
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...Elisha had been with a group. When he executes Dawson, however, Elisha will be alone. Gad turns off the Voice of Freedom broadcast and reminds Elisha not to torture himself. Elisha...
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...there’s unrest and anxiety everywhere as people appeal for Dawson’s execution to be called off. Gad frets that Jews still have a mindset of persecution and don’t yet have the courage...
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...filled with Movement terrorists, not British soldiers. Just before the British sentry figured this out, Gad knocked him senseless. However, the sentry recovered in time to start shooting at the fleeing...
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Chapter 4
Gad shares his memory next. He says that he owes his life to three English sergeants....
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Chapter 5
Elisha starts to take the food to Dawson, but Gad intervenes and does it instead. It’s only two o’clock in the morning; Ilana says it...
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...isn’t the Angel of Death after all, but the prophet Elijah. The beggar tells him Gad is approaching.
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Gad comes in and says that Dawson ate his meal with a good appetite, although he...
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...to get to know the man before he kills him—to avoid this would be cowardly. Gad looks at him with pride. The beggar asks if Elisha wants company. Elisha declines, though...
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Chapter 6
...the stairs. The ghosts aren’t there. Gideon is praying, Ilana looks at him sadly, and Gad smokes. Elisha walks to the window to watch the dawn break over the still-sleeping city....
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