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Nasir
Oto was Jimmie’s great-great-great-grandfather; he’s one of the main characters in the story in Jimmie’s mum’s book. He meets his future wife, Anka, when she’s a baby, and they marry when Oto is in his early twenties. When Anka becomes pregnant a few years later, Mirka warns them that they need to leave their village—but the couple refuses. When the soldiers come soon after and abduct Anka, Mirka gives Oto the Bone Sparrow necklace and sends him to find Iliya, a healer who she insists can help Oto find Anka. Oto remains motivated by his love for his wife and his baby, even as Iliya seems to die. He and Anka ultimately reunite on a ship bound for Australia.
Oto Quotes in The Bone Sparrow
The The Bone Sparrow quotes below are all either spoken by Oto or refer to Oto. 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:
).
Chapter 33 Quotes
I look at Harvey. I think of Oto and Anka and Iliya and Ba and Maá and Queeny and Eli and all of us. All of them all that time ago, and all of us now. Just trying to find somewhere to be safe. Just walking our journey to peace. I can hear Queeny’s words in my head and now they make sense. I get it now.
‘We’re the dead rats, Harvey. Just like Queeny said. Left out to rot so no one else bothers to try. There’s no keeping safe for us.’
Harvey looks at me like he’s never seen me before. But he doesn’t say I’m wrong.
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Oto Character Timeline in The Bone Sparrow
The timeline below shows where the character Oto appears in The Bone Sparrow. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 11
...there. But his sister, Mirka—who’s old and wise—tells the townsfolk to get the baby out. Oto, a six-year-old boy, rescues the baby. He loves her immediately and vows to protect her....
(full context)
Chapter 14
In the story, Oto and Anka become immediately inseparable. Oto is a lot like an older brother or cousin...
(full context)
Chapter 17
...little bit. The story picks up with the soldiers arriving at night. By morning, only Oto and Mirka are left alive; everyone else has been murdered or marched away. Mirka nurses...
(full context)
Chapter 18
...a “song of pure love” comes out of her mouth. As she sings, miles away, Oto vows to find Iliya so he can find Anka. As he starts up the mountain,...
(full context)
One day, the Bone Sparrow necklace falls from Iliya’s neck. As Oto picks it up, Iliya steps on a land mine. Iliya is gone—except for his foot....
(full context)
Chapter 27
...want to hear her singing anymore, and they hope she’ll be safe. Anka just hopes Oto will be able to follow her.
(full context)
Oto, for his part, has been working and traveling for months, and he finally has enough...
(full context)
Chapter 33
Subhi looks at Harvey, thinking of Oto, Anka, Iliya, Ba, Maá, Queeny, Eli, and everyone else in here. They’re all just trying...
(full context)
Chapter 35
...anymore: her dad is back for good. And he shared with her that he knows Oto and Anka’s stories and others, too, and he’s going to tell them to her. As...
(full context)
Chapter 36
Picking up Oto and Anka’s story, Iliya doesn’t die when the land mine explodes. Rather, villagers rescue him...
(full context)
