44 pages • 1 hour read
Jokha AlharthiCelestial Bodies
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2010A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Symbols & Motifs
The Well
The well where Abdallah’s father punished him becomes a metaphor for the character’s struggles to come to terms with the relationship with his father. As the only character able to provide a first-person narrative perspective, the image of the well appears time and time again in Abdallah’s thoughts. It is teased out gradually, the image appearing before the explanation. Eventually, when Abdallah gives the full story as to how he came to be dangled in the well, it has taken on an almost nightmarish quality. The image of the well itself is fraught with emotional descriptions. Whenever the well appears in Abdallah’s mind, he recalls how it affected his sensory perception of the world.
From the open, expansive desert which makes up the majority of Oman’s local ecology, Abdallah suddenly found himself trapped in a dank, dark, claustrophobic space from which there was no escape. The walls closed in on each side, the cold water caught his breath and made him fear for his life. The son of a rich merchant, Abdallah wanted for little as a child, but the harshness of his father’s punitive measures is striking, leaving such a deeply traumatic impression on the boy that he was never able to truly escape that moment. Additionally, the thematic links between being tied up and his father’s history as a slave trader are clear: in every respect, Abdallah wants to escape his father’s actions, reputation, and memory.
As a result of the punishment, Abdallah conflates his feelings for his father with the fear of the well. He finds it impossible to separate his idea of his father from this moment of sudden pain and fear. Whenever he thinks of his father—whether his father is in hospital, in his home, or already dead—he instantly thinks about the well. Thus, the well begins to inform Abdallah’s conception of parenthood. It represents the kind of parent he does not want to be. When he thinks back on his own parenting mistakes, he thinks about the well. He worries that he will affect his own children in a similar way and is desperate not to traumatize them. Though he does not always succeed in this regard, that Abdallah tries and remains conscious of the issue demonstrates that he is a sympathetic and likeable character.
Books and Literature
In the relatively isolated town of al-Awafi, books and literature become vehicles of ideas and stories that are not localized. Whether it is trashy romance books, the works of famous poets, or books for helping children learn English, the residents of the village can expose themselves to new and interesting ideas based on their acquiring of literature and books.
For Asma and her father Azzan, literature becomes a way to bond at difficult times in their lives. While everything else is in uproar (whether due to death, marriage, or childbirth), they can find solace in a shared enjoyment of literature. They quote poetry to one another, and Asma reads aloud critiques and reflections on certain poets to entertain her father. To them, literature is a means of strengthening their social bonds. To Asma as an individual, literature provides a means of rebellion. When she wants to question the wisdom of her elders, she searches through the Hadiths and other books to equip herself with the knowledge needed to challenge society. Her father’s love of literature has not only brought them closer together, but it has helped Asma to define herself as an individual.
Asma’s love of literature is not unique but it can be slightly pretentious. Her sister Khawla also loves to read, though their tastes are different. Khawla prefers romance novels, books which Asma dismisses as trashy and worthless. While both sisters disagree on the type of literature, both of them evidently have their ideas of romance informed by books. Asma marries an aspiring poet, impressed by his work. Khawla marries Nasir, who treats her terribly, but she is determined to make her life conform to the kind of romances she has read in novels. Khawla’s love of romance novels informs her identity and prevents her from leaving Nasir at a sensible time.
Literature affects London in a similar way. She too marries an aspiring poet, but Ahmad’s behavior quickly helps her realize his worthlessness. When he beats her, London sees through the mask of literature. She is not his muse, she realizes. Literature blinds her and then, eventually, helps her to process the truth.
Coffee
The various class differences extant in Oman become more evident during certain social events, many of which involve the serving of coffee. At social gatherings—after weddings, births, and funerals, for example—the women gather and have coffee. On these occasions, Zarifa is the person who serves the coffee, while Asma is not to be present. These minor allusions (often little more than sentences in the text) serve to illustrate the accepted social conventions. The serving of coffee becomes a ratification of social status; those who are (and are not) in attendance is telling, as is the identity of the person who is serving the drink.
Zarifa’s role in these ceremonies highlights her position as the highest-ranking slave (or former slave) in the household. As the head of the household and Sulayman’s lover, she has a certain level of importance and authority. The image of her serving the coffee is clear; she decides who is served, as well as when (and in what order). Other servants and slaves would not have this level of authority. However, Zarifa finds herself pressed up against a glass ceiling in terms of social status. While she might serve the coffee, she will never sit and drink it as an equal. Her social status, her race, and her character all inform this problem, though Zarifa seems to have internalized and accepted this lack of equality. She would not accept any other way.
As well as Zarifa, Asma’s reaction to the serving of coffee is telling. Asma, as an unmarried young woman who has yet to have a baby, is not permitted to sit with the women and drink coffee at certain times. In contrast, her sister Mayya has recently been welcomed into the circle. Though Asma does not truly value the conversation, she values being a part of the inner circle. She tries to make religious and literary justifications for her inclusion but knows that they will not be successful. This partly informs her unexpected decision to accept Khalid’s marriage proposal. Once married and a mother, she will be allowed to drink coffee and hold conversations with the other women. Asma covets the social status afforded by coffee drinking and wants desperately to be included.
