The Bone Sparrow: Chapter 18 Summary & Analysis

The Night Sea came last night; the Shakespeare duck squeaked happily when he noticed it. Subhi found a photo of a man with a kind smile “full of stories.” Subhi tells the man to tell Ba that Subhi’s still waiting.

There’s an illness—a real one, not just a rash or a cough from the dust—going around the camp. Everyone is vomiting and running for the toilets, and the allotted six squares of toilet paper are nowhere near enough. The Jackets just stand back wearing masks so they don’t get sick. They hose the vomit beyond the fences, which Harvey grouses is “as useless as teats on a bull.” This just makes puddles that stink and make everyone feel ill, even those who didn’t eat the food. One Jacket tells Subhi that he wouldn’t have gotten sick if he’d washed his hands, and Subhi asks if they all forgot to wash their hands before vomiting on the man’s shoes. If Eli were here, he’d say that serving spoiled food was eventually going to make everyone sick.

In addition to the food poisoning, there’s also a “sad angry” floating over the camp. Queeny is sick, but she’s still taking pictures with her camera. Subhi wonders if the pictures will show the sad angry. Queeny comes to sit with Subhi and says the pictures might end up in the newspaper. She says that she’s tired of being invisible and of feeling like “a dead rat.” If people see the pictures, she won’t be invisible anymore. Subhi remembers watching new arrivals with Queeny. Those people looked happy for a while—but then, according to Queeny, they realized they’re invisible. Subhi never knew what that meant, but now he does: when Jimmie is here, he feels seen. He wishes he didn’t understand, since understanding doesn’t fix anything. It just makes him feel worse.

Fortunately, the rain washes away the puddles of vomit before Jimmie visits next. The “sad angry” is still floating around, though, and Subhi is thinking about feeling invisible when Jimmie sits next to him. She instructs Subhi to draw a spiral on some paper so she can tell his fortune. As Subhi draws, Jimmie talks about octopuses. This offends the duck, who tells Subhi to ask Jimmie for some duck facts. Jimmie says she only knows that ducks are delicious, causing the duck to faint—he and Subhi didn’t know people ate ducks. Subhi answers a few more questions and then Jimmie tells his fortune. He’ll live in a van, live with someone whose name starts with J, and they’ll have six kids or pets. Though most people in his family have been doctors, Subhi will be a storyteller. A storyteller is what Subhi has always wanted to be, but he doesn’t tell Jimmie this.

Jimmie asks what Subhi did today. He tells her about having to wait in line for breakfast twice because he forgot his ID card and about winning the lice race earlier. He also shares that Queeny is taking pictures, which makes him feel like “something bad is coming.” Jimmie punches Subhi’s arm and says that was the bad thing, which Subhi appreciates. Still, he doesn’t feel any better. He grabs at Jimmie’s book as soon as she pulls it out so he can escape into the story.

In the story, Anka gives birth to a baby boy two months early. For the first time, she sees colors in her mind, and a “song of pure love” comes out of her mouth. As she sings, miles away, Oto vows to find Iliya so he can find Anka. As he starts up the mountain, the sky bursts into color and Oto listens to Anka’s “love song.” He holds the Bone Sparrow and wonders if he’ll ever meet his baby. Two days later, Oto finds Iliya and hands over the Bone Sparrow. The two men pack up and begin their journey. They’re not sure of where they’re going, but they see the damage the war is causing.

One day, the Bone Sparrow necklace falls from Iliya’s neck. As Oto picks it up, Iliya steps on a land mine. Iliya is gone—except for his foot. Oto can’t find Iliya, but he still has the Bone Sparrow, minus the bird’s coin. He continues his journey. At this point, the story stops, and Jimmie’s mum has written directions to a friend’s house. Subhi wants to keep going. He wants his ba to keep walking this way so Queeny doesn’t have to feel invisible anymore. Looking concerned, Jimmie admits she doesn’t remember this part of the story. Subhi suggests that her mum skipped it, but Jimmie sniffles and says that sometimes, she doesn’t remember what her mum looks like. Subhi takes her hand and says that what she feels is what matters. Jimmie pulls out chocolate—a piece for each of them, and one for the rats.