Refugee

Refugee

by

Alan Gratz

Teachers and parents! Our Teacher Edition on Refugee makes teaching easy.
One of the three protagonists of the book, alongside Josef and Isabel. Mahmoud is 13 years old in 2015, and lives in Aleppo, Syria with his father Youssef, his mother Fatima, his 10-year-old brother Waleed, and his infant sister Hana. Mahmoud has already had a lot of experience dealing with the trauma of war, as the Syrian Civil War has already been raging for four years at the beginning of Mahmoud’s story. Mahmoud learns to cope with these conditions by assuming a protective role over Waleed, and by learning to be “invisible,” keeping his head down to survive. Mahmoud grapples with this question of whether it is better to be invisible or visible over the course of the novel as his family travels from Syria to Germany. He understands that being unnoticed helps him avoid trouble, but he also begins to see the problems with remaining invisible, because it prevents good people from taking notice of them and providing aid. Mahmoud finally sees the power of visibility when he decides to walk out of the Hungarian detention center and lead the other refugees on a 12-hour march to Austria. This gains a large amount of media attention, and Austrians greet them at the border with food, water, and medicine. Thus, Mahmoud recognizes the importance of being visible, and his story also raises visibility for the many Syrian refugees who continue to need aid in the present. Like Josef, Mahmoud is also forced to make a difficult choice that shows his maturity and the weight of his responsibility. As Mahmoud and his family travel from Syria to Germany, they become stranded in the Mediterranean sea when their boat capsizes in the water. When another dinghy passes by that doesn’t have space for his family, he offers up Hana to them in order to ensure that she can survive. This is a decision that no 13-year-old should have to make, but Mahmoud’s difficult journey requires him to take on this burden. Eventually, Mahmoud and his family make it safely to Germany and are taken in by a host family, the elderly Saul Rosenberg and his wife, Ruthie—Josef’s little sister, who survived the Holocaust decades prior thanks to Josef’s self-sacrifice.

Mahmoud Bishara Quotes in Refugee

The Refugee quotes below are all either spoken by Mahmoud Bishara or refer to Mahmoud 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:
Trauma and Coming of Age Theme Icon
).
Mahmoud: Aleppo, Syria – 2015 (1) Quotes

Mahmoud watched as these two boys attacked the boy with the bread, a boy he didn’t even know. He felt the stirrings of indignation, of anger, of sympathy. His breath came quick and deep, and his hands clenched into fists. “I should do something,” he whispered. But he knew better.

Head down, hoodie up, eyes on the ground. The trick was to be invisible. Blend in. Disappear.

Related Characters: Mahmoud Bishara (speaker), Waleed Bishara
Page Number: 17
Explanation and Analysis:
Mahmoud: Aleppo, Syria – 2015 (3) Quotes

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, Fatima Bishara, Youssef Bishara, Hana Bishara, Waleed Bishara
Page Number: 51
Explanation and Analysis:
Mahmoud: Izmir, Turkey – 2015, 11 days (1) Quotes

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, Hana Bishara, Waleed Bishara
Related Symbols: Boats
Page Number: 122
Explanation and Analysis:
Mahmoud: The Mediterranean – 2015, 11 days (1) Quotes

“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), Josef Landau, Isabel Fernandez, Fatima Bishara, Hana Bishara
Related Symbols: Boats, Water
Page Number: 162
Explanation and Analysis:
Isabel: Caribbean Sea – 1994, 3 days Quotes

“Thank you! Thank you!” Isabel cried. Her heart ached with gratitude toward these people. Just a moment’s kindness from each of them might mean the difference between death and survival for her mother and everyone else on the little raft.

Related Characters: Isabel Fernandez (speaker), Josef Landau, Mahmoud Bishara, Teresa Fernandez
Page Number: 177
Explanation and Analysis:
Mahmoud: Lesbos to Athens – 2015, 12 days (3) Quotes

The vacationers dropped their voices, and even though Mahmoud couldn’t understand what they were saying, he could hear the disgust in their words. This wasn’t what the tourists had paid for. They were supposed to be on holiday, seeing ancient ruins and beautiful Greek beaches, not stepping over filthy, praying refugees.

They only see us when we do something they don’t want us to do, Mahmoud realized.

Related Characters: Mahmoud Bishara
Related Symbols: Boats
Page Number: 213
Explanation and Analysis:
Josef: Havana Harbor – 1939, 21 days Quotes

“I wish from the bottom of my heart that you will land soon, Little Man,” Officer Padron said again. “I’m sorry. I’m just doing my job.”

Josef looked deep into Officer Padron’s eyes, searching for some sign of help, some hint of sympathy. Officer Padron just looked away.

Related Characters: Lito/Mariano Padron (speaker), Josef Landau, Mahmoud Bishara, Aaron Landau
Page Number: 221
Explanation and Analysis:
Mahmoud: Hungary – 2015, 16 days Quotes

“We’re not criminals!” one of the other men in the cell yelled at him.

“We didn’t ask for civil war! We didn’t want to leave our homes!” another man yelled.

“We’re refugees!” Mahmoud yelled, unable to stay silent any longer. “We need help!”

Related Characters: Mahmoud Bishara (speaker), Josef Landau, Youssef Bishara
Page Number: 265
Explanation and Analysis:
Isabel: Coast of Florida – 1994, 5 days (3) Quotes

“Don’t you see?” Lito said. “The Jewish people on the ship were seeking asylum, just like us. They needed a place to hide from Hitler. From the Nazis. Mañana, we told them. We’ll let you in mañana. But we never did.” Lito was crying now, distraught. “We sent them back to Europe and Hitler and the Holocaust. Back to their deaths. How many of them died because we turned them away? Because I was just doing my job?”

Related Characters: Lito/Mariano Padron (speaker), Josef Landau, Isabel Fernandez, Mahmoud Bishara, Ruthie Landau/Rosenberg, Aaron Landau, Rachel Landau
Related Symbols: Boats
Page Number: 276
Explanation and Analysis:
Mahmoud: Hungary – 2015, 17 days Quotes

Whether you were visible or invisible, it was all about how other people reacted to you. Good and bad things happened either way. If you were invisible, the bad people couldn’t hurt you, that was true. But the good people couldn’t help you, either.

Related Characters: Mahmoud Bishara, Samih Nasseer
Page Number: 281
Explanation and Analysis:
Mahmoud: Berlin Germany – 2015, Home Quotes

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), Josef Landau, Mahmoud Bishara, Rachel Landau, Hana Bishara, Saul Rosenberg
Page Number: 315
Explanation and Analysis:

He was filled with sadness for the boy his age. The boy who had died so Ruthie could live. But Mahmoud was also filled with gratitude. Josef had died so Ruthie could live, and one day welcome Mahmoud and his family into her house.

Related Characters: Josef Landau, Mahmoud Bishara, Ruthie Landau/Rosenberg, Lito/Mariano Padron
Page Number: 316
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire Refugee LitChart as a printable PDF.
Refugee PDF

Mahmoud Bishara Quotes in Refugee

The Refugee quotes below are all either spoken by Mahmoud Bishara or refer to Mahmoud 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:
Trauma and Coming of Age Theme Icon
).
Mahmoud: Aleppo, Syria – 2015 (1) Quotes

Mahmoud watched as these two boys attacked the boy with the bread, a boy he didn’t even know. He felt the stirrings of indignation, of anger, of sympathy. His breath came quick and deep, and his hands clenched into fists. “I should do something,” he whispered. But he knew better.

Head down, hoodie up, eyes on the ground. The trick was to be invisible. Blend in. Disappear.

Related Characters: Mahmoud Bishara (speaker), Waleed Bishara
Page Number: 17
Explanation and Analysis:
Mahmoud: Aleppo, Syria – 2015 (3) Quotes

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, Fatima Bishara, Youssef Bishara, Hana Bishara, Waleed Bishara
Page Number: 51
Explanation and Analysis:
Mahmoud: Izmir, Turkey – 2015, 11 days (1) Quotes

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, Hana Bishara, Waleed Bishara
Related Symbols: Boats
Page Number: 122
Explanation and Analysis:
Mahmoud: The Mediterranean – 2015, 11 days (1) Quotes

“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), Josef Landau, Isabel Fernandez, Fatima Bishara, Hana Bishara
Related Symbols: Boats, Water
Page Number: 162
Explanation and Analysis:
Isabel: Caribbean Sea – 1994, 3 days Quotes

“Thank you! Thank you!” Isabel cried. Her heart ached with gratitude toward these people. Just a moment’s kindness from each of them might mean the difference between death and survival for her mother and everyone else on the little raft.

Related Characters: Isabel Fernandez (speaker), Josef Landau, Mahmoud Bishara, Teresa Fernandez
Page Number: 177
Explanation and Analysis:
Mahmoud: Lesbos to Athens – 2015, 12 days (3) Quotes

The vacationers dropped their voices, and even though Mahmoud couldn’t understand what they were saying, he could hear the disgust in their words. This wasn’t what the tourists had paid for. They were supposed to be on holiday, seeing ancient ruins and beautiful Greek beaches, not stepping over filthy, praying refugees.

They only see us when we do something they don’t want us to do, Mahmoud realized.

Related Characters: Mahmoud Bishara
Related Symbols: Boats
Page Number: 213
Explanation and Analysis:
Josef: Havana Harbor – 1939, 21 days Quotes

“I wish from the bottom of my heart that you will land soon, Little Man,” Officer Padron said again. “I’m sorry. I’m just doing my job.”

Josef looked deep into Officer Padron’s eyes, searching for some sign of help, some hint of sympathy. Officer Padron just looked away.

Related Characters: Lito/Mariano Padron (speaker), Josef Landau, Mahmoud Bishara, Aaron Landau
Page Number: 221
Explanation and Analysis:
Mahmoud: Hungary – 2015, 16 days Quotes

“We’re not criminals!” one of the other men in the cell yelled at him.

“We didn’t ask for civil war! We didn’t want to leave our homes!” another man yelled.

“We’re refugees!” Mahmoud yelled, unable to stay silent any longer. “We need help!”

Related Characters: Mahmoud Bishara (speaker), Josef Landau, Youssef Bishara
Page Number: 265
Explanation and Analysis:
Isabel: Coast of Florida – 1994, 5 days (3) Quotes

“Don’t you see?” Lito said. “The Jewish people on the ship were seeking asylum, just like us. They needed a place to hide from Hitler. From the Nazis. Mañana, we told them. We’ll let you in mañana. But we never did.” Lito was crying now, distraught. “We sent them back to Europe and Hitler and the Holocaust. Back to their deaths. How many of them died because we turned them away? Because I was just doing my job?”

Related Characters: Lito/Mariano Padron (speaker), Josef Landau, Isabel Fernandez, Mahmoud Bishara, Ruthie Landau/Rosenberg, Aaron Landau, Rachel Landau
Related Symbols: Boats
Page Number: 276
Explanation and Analysis:
Mahmoud: Hungary – 2015, 17 days Quotes

Whether you were visible or invisible, it was all about how other people reacted to you. Good and bad things happened either way. If you were invisible, the bad people couldn’t hurt you, that was true. But the good people couldn’t help you, either.

Related Characters: Mahmoud Bishara, Samih Nasseer
Page Number: 281
Explanation and Analysis:
Mahmoud: Berlin Germany – 2015, Home Quotes

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), Josef Landau, Mahmoud Bishara, Rachel Landau, Hana Bishara, Saul Rosenberg
Page Number: 315
Explanation and Analysis:

He was filled with sadness for the boy his age. The boy who had died so Ruthie could live. But Mahmoud was also filled with gratitude. Josef had died so Ruthie could live, and one day welcome Mahmoud and his family into her house.

Related Characters: Josef Landau, Mahmoud Bishara, Ruthie Landau/Rosenberg, Lito/Mariano Padron
Page Number: 316
Explanation and Analysis: