Waleed Bishara Character Analysis in Refugee

Mahmoud’s 10-year-old brother. Mahmoud observes that Waleed is largely unfazed by most of the events of their journey, which worries him. Like Mahmoud, Waleed has grown up in traumatic war conditions and as a result, has been forced to be far more mature than the average child as the family faces the horrific trials of fleeing their home.

Waleed Bishara Quotes in Refugee

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

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 and Citation: 17

Explanation and Analysis:

When readers are first introduced to Mahmoud, he is walking home from school with his brother, Waleed, through the war-torn streets of Aleppo, Syria when he observes a boy being beaten for the bread he is carrying. Although Mahmoud wants to help, he instead chooses to keep his head down. This is Gratz’s introduction to a theme that becomes central to Mahmoud’s storyline: whether it is better to be invisible or visible in these times of danger and trauma. Although over the course of the novel Mahmoud weighs the two concepts and frequently vacillates between them, he begins his story 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 eaqu

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.

Waleed Bishara Character Timeline in Refugee

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

Invisibility and the Refugee Experience Theme Icon

...is “just inviting trouble.” When the bell rings in school, Mahmoud finds his 10-year-old brother Waleed to walk him home. He takes a different way every day, trying to find a... (full context)

As Mahmoud and Waleed turn down an alley, they notice two boys beating another boy up in order to... (full context)

Injustice and Cruelty vs. Empathy and Social Responsibility Theme Icon

...better than to get involved and averts his eyes, trying to be invisible. He takes Waleed on a different way home. (full context)

After school, Mahmoud, Waleed, and their mother, Fatima, do their usual afternoon prayer. They wash their hands and pray... (full context)

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

Mahmoud spots Waleed across the living room, covered head to toe in concrete dust. Waleed’s eyes are glassy,... (full context)

...get his family to safety. The soldiers ask which side he supports, cocking his gun. Waleed speaks up, saying that they’re against “whoever is dropping the bombs” on them. The soldiers... (full context)

Family, Displacement, and Culture Theme Icon

...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 soldiers run out... (full context)

...the city, and finds a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle toy that he can buy for Waleed. Mahmoud also notices a car driving through the city, with a young couple in the... (full context)

...a hotel, Mahmoud is amazed at how little rubble and destruction there is. Mahmoud asks Waleed if he remembers when Syria was like this, but Waleed says nothing. Mahmoud worries about... (full context)

Mahmoud then sees Youssef and Waleed swimming nearby. His father says that the life preservers are fake. Mahmoud is furious, but... (full context)

...a Coast Guard ship from Greece. At the front of the ship are Youssef and Waleed. They pluck Mahmoud and Fatima from the water. Mahmoud explains how they gave Hana away.... (full context)

That morning, Mahmoud, Waleed, Fatima, and Youssef take a ferry from Lesbos to Athens. The inside of the ferry... (full context)

Mahmoud then notices a refugee laying out a mat for prayer. Mahmoud and Waleed join him, but Mahmoud can’t help but notice the uneasy looks from some of the... (full context)

...to a nearby bus stop to get to the border. Just then, Mahmoud notices that Waleed had slept through the entire incident. He grows worried about his brother, who has been... (full context)

...holding cells. Hours pass without food or water, and Mahmoud and Youssef don’t know where Waleed and Fatima have ended up. (full context)

...Youssef line up, they pass another cell for women and children and find Fatima and Waleed—but the family is unable to be processed together. When they are processed, a man in... (full context)

...in a cold, muddy field surrounded by wired fence. They are reunited with Fatima and Waleed. Mahmoud can see that being beaten had broken his father’s spirit, and Mahmoud realizes that... (full context)

...the adults. The Hungarian guards yell after them, but don’t do anything to stop them. Waleed catches up to Mahmoud and asks what he’s doing. Mahmoud replies that he’s walking to... (full context)

For four weeks, Mahmoud, Waleed, Youssef, and Fatima live in a school in Munich, until a host family agrees to... (full context)

Frau Rosenberg gives Waleed a little stuffed rabbit, explaining through the translator that she is a toy designer. She... (full context)

Waleed Bishara Character Analysis

Waleed Bishara Quotes in Refugee

Mahmoud: Aleppo, Syria – 2015 (1) Quotes

Mahmoud: Aleppo, Syria – 2015 (3) Quotes

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

Waleed Bishara Character Timeline in Refugee