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Ahmed’s Mum
In “David,” Nile is the young Sudanese woman and Ahmed’s young son. At the beginning of the story, the young Sudanese woman has just bought a bicycle and is looking forward to taking rides with Nile. The story implicitly contrasts Nile with Asha’s young son, David, who was killed during the Sudanese Civil War.
Nile Quotes in Foreign Soil
The Foreign Soil quotes below are all either spoken by Nile or refer to Nile . 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:
).
David
Quotes
These children, born in this country, do you think they feed their babies the aseeda for breakfast? Do they drop it on the little one’s tongue to show them where is it they come from? Do you think they have learned to cook shorba soup? I tell you: no! They feeding them all kinds of rubbish. McDonald’s, even. They spit on their grandmothers’ ways. They spit in our bowls, in our kitchens.
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I felt awkward, had no idea what she was talking about, but felt like I was somehow supposed to. Auntie took up her grocery bag from the ground, smoothed some dirt from her skirt, walked away slowly, down toward West Footscray Station.
I stood there for a minute, staring after her. The rain had stopped. A small puddle of water had settled in the baby seat. Nile would be getting testy. It was half an hour past when I usually collected him. I threw my leg over the bike, started pedaling down the street. The Barkly Star was a dream to maneuver—smooth gliding, killer suspension, sharp brakes. Felt like I was hovering above the wet tar, flying. Like there was nothing else in the world except me and my wheels. David. I slowly rolled her brand-new name around in my mouth.
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Get the entire Foreign Soil LitChart as a printable PDF.
Nile Quotes in Foreign Soil
The Foreign Soil quotes below are all either spoken by Nile or refer to Nile . 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:
).
David
Quotes
These children, born in this country, do you think they feed their babies the aseeda for breakfast? Do they drop it on the little one’s tongue to show them where is it they come from? Do you think they have learned to cook shorba soup? I tell you: no! They feeding them all kinds of rubbish. McDonald’s, even. They spit on their grandmothers’ ways. They spit in our bowls, in our kitchens.
Related Characters:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
I felt awkward, had no idea what she was talking about, but felt like I was somehow supposed to. Auntie took up her grocery bag from the ground, smoothed some dirt from her skirt, walked away slowly, down toward West Footscray Station.
I stood there for a minute, staring after her. The rain had stopped. A small puddle of water had settled in the baby seat. Nile would be getting testy. It was half an hour past when I usually collected him. I threw my leg over the bike, started pedaling down the street. The Barkly Star was a dream to maneuver—smooth gliding, killer suspension, sharp brakes. Felt like I was hovering above the wet tar, flying. Like there was nothing else in the world except me and my wheels. David. I slowly rolled her brand-new name around in my mouth.
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