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Sami
Mohammed is a seven-year-old boy who Nuri first meets in Istanbul, waiting in a smuggler’s apartment with numerous other refugees. Mohammed is wearing all black and has black hair and black eyes. Although he does not look like Sami, the inquisitive child reminds Nuri of his lost son, and Nuri looks after Mohammed as they make their way across the sea. On several occasions in the present, Nuri sees Mohammed in the English bed and breakfast where he and Afra are staying. While it is unclear whether Nuri is dreaming or hallucinating, flashbacks eventually make it clear that Mohammed is not actually in England, because he disappeared when Nuri and Afra arrived in Greece. Flashing back to that time, Nuri waits for Mohammed for a month before leaving the island without him, though he worries for the boy’s safety constantly. Nuri’s visions of Mohammed in the bed and breakfast are surreal, with the boy telling him to look for a key and leading him through mysterious doors that transport him back to Aleppo. When Afra finally reveals to Nuri that she does not know who Mohammed is, he realizes he unknowingly created the boy as a substitute for Sami. Mohammed’s words and fears are Sami’s words and fears, and they allowed Nuri to confront his son’s memory from a safe distance.
Mohammed Quotes in The Beekeeper of Aleppo
The The Beekeeper of Aleppo quotes below are all either spoken by Mohammed or refer to Mohammed. 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 7
Quotes
I catch sight of my face in the mirror above the sink, and I pause with my hands by my ears. I look so different now, but I can’t quite put my finger on how. Yes, there are deep lines that were not there before, and even my eyes seem to have changed—they are darker and wider, always on the alert, like Mohammed’s eyes, but it’s not that; something else has changed, something unfathomable.
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As I stood there with Afra and Mohammed and the other families, I felt lost, as if I was out alone in a dark cold sea with nothing to hold on to. This was the first time in a long time that I had felt any safety, any security, and yet in this moment the sky felt too big, the rising dusk held an unknown darkness.
Chapter 8
Quotes
I put the key in the lock, turn it, and open the door. An intense light dazzles me, and when my eyes adjust I see that I am high up on the top of a hill, looking down over Aleppo. There is a full moon, close to the horizon, full of the colors of the desert. A blood moon.
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Chapter 10
Quotes
“[…]sometimes our bodies can find ways to cope when we are faced with things that are too much for us to bear. You saw your son die, Mrs. Ibrahim, and maybe something in you had to shut down.”
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Mohammed Quotes in The Beekeeper of Aleppo
The The Beekeeper of Aleppo quotes below are all either spoken by Mohammed or refer to Mohammed. 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 7
Quotes
I catch sight of my face in the mirror above the sink, and I pause with my hands by my ears. I look so different now, but I can’t quite put my finger on how. Yes, there are deep lines that were not there before, and even my eyes seem to have changed—they are darker and wider, always on the alert, like Mohammed’s eyes, but it’s not that; something else has changed, something unfathomable.
Related Characters:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
As I stood there with Afra and Mohammed and the other families, I felt lost, as if I was out alone in a dark cold sea with nothing to hold on to. This was the first time in a long time that I had felt any safety, any security, and yet in this moment the sky felt too big, the rising dusk held an unknown darkness.
Chapter 8
Quotes
I put the key in the lock, turn it, and open the door. An intense light dazzles me, and when my eyes adjust I see that I am high up on the top of a hill, looking down over Aleppo. There is a full moon, close to the horizon, full of the colors of the desert. A blood moon.
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 10
Quotes
“[…]sometimes our bodies can find ways to cope when we are faced with things that are too much for us to bear. You saw your son die, Mrs. Ibrahim, and maybe something in you had to shut down.”
