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Sunni’s Maa
In “Aviation,” Bill and Susie are an elderly couple who live next door to Sunni and Sunni’s maa. They used to watch Sunni while his mom was at work, but after the September 11 terrorist attacks, they make excuses to cut off contact; in reality, prejudice against Middle Eastern people motivates their actions. They’re just one example of the rampant discrimination and unfair judgment Sunni and his mother receive following the terrorist attacks.
Bill and Susie Quotes in Foreign Soil
The Foreign Soil quotes below are all either spoken by Bill and Susie or refer to Bill and Susie. 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:
).
Aviation
Quotes
Sunni used to climb over from their apartment’s balcony to the balcony of Bill and Susie’s place. It was a cheeky thing he did: surprising them with a visit, sneaking in through the sliding balcony door to leave a drawing he’d done of them, or some cookies he and his maa had baked. After the bad men in planes, Bill and Susie had stopped looking after him, stopped looking at him with kindness in their old-person eyes. […]
The next week, old Bill and Susie had put plants up against the concrete divide where their balconies joined Sunni’s place. Sunni pointed the beautiful pink flowers out to his mother.
“You can’t climb over and visit anymore,” she’d said, her voice shaking. “They’re poisonous flowers. That’s oleander.”
Related Characters:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire Foreign Soil LitChart as a printable PDF.
Bill and Susie Quotes in Foreign Soil
The Foreign Soil quotes below are all either spoken by Bill and Susie or refer to Bill and Susie. 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:
).
Aviation
Quotes
Sunni used to climb over from their apartment’s balcony to the balcony of Bill and Susie’s place. It was a cheeky thing he did: surprising them with a visit, sneaking in through the sliding balcony door to leave a drawing he’d done of them, or some cookies he and his maa had baked. After the bad men in planes, Bill and Susie had stopped looking after him, stopped looking at him with kindness in their old-person eyes. […]
The next week, old Bill and Susie had put plants up against the concrete divide where their balconies joined Sunni’s place. Sunni pointed the beautiful pink flowers out to his mother.
“You can’t climb over and visit anymore,” she’d said, her voice shaking. “They’re poisonous flowers. That’s oleander.”
Related Characters:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
