Hana Bishara Character Analysis in Refugee

Mahmoud’s infant sister. When Mahmoud and his family are thrown into the Mediterranean sea on their way to Greece by a storm, Mahmoud makes a quick decision and offers Hana to another passing boat in the hopes that they will take her to safety. Fatima spends the rest of the novel grieving over this loss, constantly searching for her daughter among the refugee camps they visit. Mahmoud also feels incredibly guilty over the decision he was forced to make, and vows that he will find her. However, at the end of the novel, Hana’s fate is left undetermined, demonstrating the high cost of war and the burden of the decision that Mahmoud had to make.

Hana Bishara Quotes in Refugee

The Refugee quotes below are all either spoken by Hana Bishara or refer to Hana Bishara. 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:

Everywhere around them, people fled into the streets, covered in gray dust and blood. No sirens rang. No ambulances came to help the wounded. No police cars or emergency crews hurried to the scene.

There weren’t any left.

Related Characters: Mahmoud Bishara, Waleed Bishara, Hana Bishara, Fatima Bishara, Youssef Bishara

Page Number and Citation: 51

Explanation and Analysis:

After Mahmoud’s apartment building is hit by bombs, he and his siblings are able to escape down the stairs and into the street. Once there, Mahmoud sees buildings crumbling around them and chaos in the roads. What he doesn’t see, however, is any attempt at aid or rescue. With Mahmoud’s realization, Gratz shows how Syria has become completely destitute and war-torn. There is very little hope left, in that there is no one there who can help rebuild what has been lost or destroyed, and no way for those who live in Aleppo to receive aid. It is these kinds Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit

Mahmoud screamed.

He howled louder than a fighter jet, and his parents didn’t even tell him to hush. Lights came on in houses nearby, and curtains ruffled as people looked out at the noise. Mahmoud’s mother broke down in tears, and his father let the life jackets he carried drop to the ground.

The smuggler had just told them their boat wasn’t leaving tonight.

Again.

“No boat today. Tomorrow. Tomorrow,” he’d told Mahmoud’s father.

Related Characters: Mahmoud Bishara, Fatima Bishara, Youssef Bishara, Waleed Bishara, Hana Bishara

Related Symbols: Boats

Page Number and Citation: 122

Explanation and Analysis:

After Mahmoud and his family make it to Turkey, they are forced to wait a week before being able to take a boat from Turkey to Greece. Each day, they are told that the boat will leave “tomorrow,” as the smuggler repeats here. This is both an exhausting and a costly prospect, as the Bisharas have very few options of where to stay and how much money they can spend. The repetition of the word “tomorrow” becomes a common thread among all three of the book’s protagonists, as they and their families are perpetually waiting to get somewhere else, uncertain Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis.

“Please!” Mahmoud cried. He sobbed with the effort of fighting off the man’s fingers and hanging onto the dinghy. “Please, take us with you!”

“No! No room!”

“At least take my sister!” Mahmoud begged. “She’s a baby. She won’t take up any room!”

Related Characters: Mahmoud Bishara (speaker), Hana Bishara, Fatima Bishara, Josef Landau, Isabel Fernandez

Related Symbols: Boats, Water

Page Number and Citation: 162

Explanation and Analysis:

Mahmoud and his family are able to catch a boat from Turkey to Greece, but it capsizes along the way and he and his family are thrown into the water. After being forced to tread water for hours, they hear another dinghy approaching and Mahmoud begs to be let onto the boat. When they refuse, he offers Hana up in order to try and save her life, and the refugees accept her onto their boat. The water’s ongoing symbolic association with despair, and the boats’ association with hope perhaps become starkest here. Treading water in the middle of the ocean, Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore l

I don’t remember much about him, but I do remember he always wanted to be a grown-up. “I don’t have time for games,” he would tell me. “I’m a man now.” And when those soldiers said one of us could go free and the other would be taken to a concentration camp, Josef said, “Take me.”

My brother, just a boy, becoming a man at last.

Related Characters: Ruthie Landau/Rosenberg (speaker), Saul Rosenberg, Hana Bishara, Rachel Landau, Mahmoud Bishara, Josef Landau

Page Number and Citation: 315

Explanation and Analysis:

When Mahmoud and his family find asylum in Germany, they are settled with a host family. This turns out to be Ruthie and her husband Saul. When Mahmoud tells her about how he lost Hana, Ruthie reveals the conclusion of Josef’s story: he chose to sacrifice himself and go to the concentration camps so that Ruthie could go free, and died in the camp along with Rachel. Josef’s decision serves as the conclusion of his journey from a child to a man, as Ruthie acknowledges here. But her language also acknowledges that her brother was still a boy at the Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ips

Hana Bishara Character Timeline in Refugee

The timeline below shows where the character Hana Bishara appears in Refugee. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

...that matters to him in this moment is finding Fatima, Waleed, and his infant sister, Hana. (full context)

...are glassy, but he is able to talk. Then, Fatima emerges from the bedroom with Hana, thanking God that Mahmoud and Waleed are alive. Fatima starts to pack a few things,... (full context)

Family, Displacement, and Culture Theme Icon

...soldiers is hit and killed. The car skids to a stop, and Youssef, Fatima (with Hana), Mahmoud, and Waleed immediately get out of the car and dive into a ditch. The... (full context)

...Mahmoud tells the man that the family has nowhere to go, and that his sister Hana is only a baby. Luckily, the man speaks Arabic, and says that he has a... (full context)

...He then hears Fatima scream out, and watches as she struggles to lift a crying Hana out of the water. Mahmoud swims over to his mother and tries to help keep... (full context)

Injustice and Cruelty vs. Empathy and Social Responsibility Theme Icon

...for help, but the dinghy isn’t slowing down. Mahmoud grabs onto it, bringing Fatima and Hana with him. A woman in the boat yells for him to let go because he’s... (full context)

...the Coast Guard for them. Mahmoud then makes a quick decision, asking them to take Hana because she won’t take up any room. A woman appears on the side of the... (full context)

Fatima continues to sob at having given away Hana, and Mahmoud can tell that his mother is ready to give up. He works to... (full context)

...and Waleed. They pluck Mahmoud and Fatima from the water. Mahmoud explains how they gave Hana away. Youssef starts to cry, but thanks his son for saving her. (full context)

Invisibility and the Refugee Experience Theme Icon

...people who hadn’t survived. Fatima notices an infant dead on the beach, but it isn’t Hana. Fatima asks all of the other refugees she can find if they had seen Hana,... (full context)

...in the crossing from Turkey. Fatima continues to go from tent to tent, asking about Hana. Mahmoud continues to blame himself for losing his sister. Youssef tells Fatima that Hana probably... (full context)

...cries over all of the events of the past two weeks, he apologizes for giving Hana away. Fatima says that he did the right thing—Hana would have drowned otherwise. Mahmoud promises... (full context)

...food, water, and other supplies. One group is handing out diapers. This reminds Mahmoud of Hana, and Fatima continues to ask if anyone had heard of a baby pulled from the... (full context)

...might be too old. He nods, but says that Frau Rosenburg can make one for Hana when they find her, explaining how they had to give her away. As the translator... (full context)

...and Rachel died so that she could live. She tells Mahmoud that they will find Hana and bring her home. (full context)

Hana Bishara Character Analysis

Hana Bishara Quotes in Refugee

Mahmoud: Aleppo, Syria – 2015 (3) Quotes

Mahmoud: Izmir, Turkey – 2015, 11 days (1) Quotes

Mahmoud: The Mediterranean – 2015, 11 days (1) Quotes

Mahmoud: Berlin Germany – 2015, Home Quotes

Hana Bishara Character Timeline in Refugee