Apeirogon

“Beyond their immediate calls of distress, it is not known exactly how, or even if, different species of birds communicate with one another.”

Here, McCann is continuing his allusions between birds and humans, particularly the birds that move through the West Bank region. This quote can be seen as an allegory for the Palestinian and Israeli people—they are unable to communicate, except in times of great distresses like the distress call of birds. This is immediately reflected in the story of Bassam and Rami’s relationship, which develops out of extreme distress.

“Bassam and Rami gradually came to understand that they would use the force of their grief as a weapon.”

This sentence comes early in the novel, before the reader has a complete idea of the trajectory and scope of Bassam and Rami’s connection and friendship. The force of the sentence is apparent, particularly within the context of the extreme loss that both men have gone through. What is important is that this sentence, which takes up a whole section, comes after McCann has just been discussing an actual weapon, Semtex explosives, and the harm it can cause. 

“The route over Palestine and Israel has long been known as one of the bloodiest migratory paths in the world.”

This sentence has a double allusion with references to both readings in the preceding sections. First, it is about the birds that fly through the area on their migratory pathways. Second, it is about how difficult it is for both Palestinians and Israelis to move through the area, as evinced by the many police checkpoints, road closures, and gridlocks in the area. McCann is suggesting a natural (given that it’s this way for birds) and inherent violence of the geography.

“anything which creates emotional ties between human beings inevitably counteracts war.”

This is a paraphrase from Freud’s response to Albert Einstein on the question of what can be done to prevent wars in regard to human psychology. McCann spends time to elucidate the correspondence between the two men, which occurred at the time Hitler came to power in Germany. There is a clear parallel to Rami and Bassam’s story and their creation of an emotional tie through the fog of war, conflict, and loss.

“A community of feeling. A mythology of the instincts.”

This is a quote from Freud’s response to Einstein’s query into whether anything can be done to suppress the part of human psychology that erupts in violence and warfare. Freud doesn’t believe there is anything to do on that front but offers as a suggestion that what is needed is more emotional engagement and less reliance on the idea that aggressive tendencies are instinctual and therefore uncontrollable. Notably, McCann includes this quote both in context and as its own section.

“Bombing operations in Gaza and raids into the West Bank are often referred to by Israeli officials as mowing the lawn.”

This sentence, which occupies its own section (Section 327) is telling of both the dehumanization of the Palestinian people by Israeli leadership and administration and the sheer violence and terror one faces by living as a Palestinian in occupation. The act of bombing itself is horrid, but to have the Israeli officials refer to it so casually and idiomatically with something as trivial as “mowing the lawn” only suggests the true depths of suffering the Palestinian people must endure both physically, psychologically, and emotionally.

“In my case, a picture is a sum of destructions. I do a picture—then I destroy it. In the end, though, nothing is lost: the red I took away from one place turns up somewhere else.”

McCann includes this line, a quote from Pablo Picasso, after he writes about Rami thinking he sees Smadar’s face in some wall art. The inclusion of this quote, which occupies its own section, subtly suggests that while things are destroyed, such as Rami’s daughter’s life, traces of them crop up elsewhere. Even more telling is that Picasso chooses the color red, a violent color, which has associations with blood and death. Therefore, another reading could be that violence and destruction is eternal and keeps reccurring in new occasions.

“Freedom, he said, begins between the ears.”

This quote comes from Matti Peled, Rami’s father-in-law, a famous Israeli general, who, despite his history in concocting attack plans against Palestine, was against the Occupation and the effect it had on both sides. This quote summarizes how he felt the way out of it could begin; there must be deep thought about how to attain freedom and, moreover, one must free his or her mind before the body can ever become free.

“Lazarus pills: when possible, they can be picked up and used again.”

This line, which occupies its own section and has been referenced previously in Section 281, is a reference to the nickname given to rubber bullets, such as the one that killed Abir. Lazarus, according to Scripture, was resurrected by Jesus after he died. Like Lazarus the bullets can be used again and again, which also suggests the cycle of violence that is implicit in the technologies of warfare.

“Riot, from the Old French, rioter: to dispute, to quarrel, to engage in argument. Riote: noise, debate, disorder, rash action. Also, perhaps, from the Latin rugire, meaning to roar.”

McCann presents the etymology of the word “riot.” Giving the reader this information presents the vast history of the word and the wide-ranging meanings. Most important is the last sentence, which suggests that it is also to make yourself heard or to warn that something is going to happen.

“In storms and crosswinds the birds adapt and create new shapes—power curves and S-formations and even figure eights.”

This sentence, which ends a section entirely about the utility and purpose of formations to flying birds, operates on a highly figurative level. McCann is referencing that even when material and political conditions shift rapidly, groups of people will reform into new shapes and formations to resist the storm.

“What can you do, personally, in order to try to help prevent this unbearable pain for others?”

This is the conclusion Rami arrives at after years of suffering from the death of his child. After he felt he needed violence to cope, he turned toward understanding, and this line is at the center of his drive toward peace. This question is what propels him to keep working, for he doesn’t want others to have to suffer through the same atrocity as he and his family did.

“As I have always said, it’s a disaster to discover the humanity of your enemy, his nobility, because then he is not your enemy anymore, he just can’t be.”

This is a line from Bassam’s speech. For him, it comes from not believing the Holocaust happened. In prison he watched a documentary on it and realized the Israeli people were victims and, thus, the Palestinians were victims of victims. Finding this out changed his whole perspective on seeing the “enemy.” As he says, once you recognize the struggle and humanity of your enemy, they cannot be that anymore. This is a basic advocation for understanding of your fellow human.

“But here’s the key—we are not voiceless, no matter how much silence there is.”

This is another line from Bassam’s speech. It presents his belief on how people must fight back against oppression, the Occupation, and inhumanities committed anywhere. Bassam is carrying out the very essence of this quote when he is giving a speech. He is showing he has a voice and providing a way for others to do the same.

“Water dissolves more substances than any other liquid, even acid.”

This line comes during a span of sections that focus heavily on water, either through the daily usage in the West Bank region or in the story of Christopher Costigin. Water, which is so often viewed as the most important resource on the planet besides air, can have different effects over time, such as dissolving substances. One interpretation of this line would be how water can be fought over by different groups.

“The civility of the disobedience was part of its power.”

McCann includes this line in an anecdote about Bassam’s time in prison when he brought in a philosophy student to discuss Gandhi’s view on civil disobedience. What it references is Gandhi’s idea that true progress toward equality comes from a disobedience that is still civil and a civility that is still disobedient. It is in the paradoxical connection between the two that one could dismantle oppressive systems.

“Harmless to both nature and people.”

This is the phrase given by Odortec, the company that manufactures the riot control spray SKUNK, to explain how eco-friendly their product is. The irony, of course, is that while it is non-lethal and may be made in a way that causes no environmental damage, its very purpose is to harm people into submission and to stop any form of protest.

“Forgive us our longing, Ghazzawi wrote, if it intensifies.”

Ghazzawi was a Palestinian writer who received the same literary award as Nurit. Ghazzawi’s son was shot and killed in a schoolyard by Israeli snipers. This quote suggests that longing does not diminish as time goes on but intensifies. His death two years after receiving the prize, ostensibly of grief and suffering, only amplifies the personal truth in the line.

“There is life worse than death, and there is death greater than life.”

This is a quote from Meir Feinstein, a Jewish fighter who was scheduled to be executed for planting explosives in a Jerusalem train station in 1947 to oppose the British occupation of the area. He wrote this in a letter at the time. It is a call to arms over what one should sacrifice to live a good life or to help others live a good life. He was willing to die for his cause, which is a life greater than dying.

“The average life expectancy for a Palestinian is 72.65 years. An average Israeli expects to live almost ten years longer.”

The average life expectancy statistic, which occupies its own section, illuminates the difference in living conditions and amount of danger faced by two groups of people essentially living in the same area, one similarly sized to the state of New Jersey. It has nothing to do with weather or geography but rather living conditions, access to resources (like water, food, and medicine), and the danger of being the occupied rather than the occupier.

“Survival, in fact, is about the connection between things.”

This is the key quote of the entire book, and it is important that it is made by Palestine’s most important thinker of the 20th century, Edward Said. It reflects the entire thematic and rhetorical propulsion of McCann’s novel, which is to say that he and Said believe it is our connection, even in the face of violence and tribalism, that is the pathway to survival. This is evinced in the connection between Rami and Bassam.

“As a whole, an apeirogon approaches the shape of a circle, but a magnified view of a small piece appears to be a straight line.”

For McCann, the apeirogon functions as a symbol for the world. It is an object that appears as a circle, but as you get closer it has an infinite number of straight lines and sides. The key line above is that because the totality of the thing is incomprehensible it also means that there are infinite possibilities, many of which are not visible to us.

“The only interesting thing is to live.”

This simple line can be taken as a life ethos. Both Bassam and Amir have led interesting yet difficult lives in vastly different yet linked ways. They have both faced tremendous grief, yet they continue to live, fight, and advocate for a better future.