42 pages • 1 hour read
Khaled HosseiniSea Prayer
Fiction | Graphic Novel/Book | Adult | Published in 2018A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 6-7Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 6 Summary
The blue sky is brighter now, but the figures are all shown hunched or crawling rather than upright. In the rubble of the bombs, people scramble and explore the wreckage. Marwan inspires his father by turning these changes into opportunities, seeing the possibility of a pool in what is literally destruction. However, the narrator is not able to shield Marwan from the realities of these horrors; Marwan has already learned too much about blood.
The narrator addresses Marwan as a singular “you.” Marwan is isolated from other children and people at this time. None of the figures on the page march in groups or walk in pairs. Instead they traverse this climb alone. None of the objects in this section are drawn in enough detail to make out their importance. These materials are completely obscured, just as this place and its contents would be unrecognizable after an explosion.
However, Marwan is able to find other people hiding under the questionable safety of slanted concrete and building debris. These people rest together; they are close enough that the illustration represents detailed patterns on their clothing. The crowds have become smaller as the group travels up to the page. Instead of banners, they hold belongings and the hands of children. No words are said as the text is blank, showing a quieter, smaller group traveling a further distance.
Chapter 7 Summary
As the father and others traveling with them stare off into the water, the narrator reminds Marwan that their mother is here with them figuratively and emotionally but not literally. What has happened to the mother is unsaid but known to Marwan. The mysterious and unfair nature of her passing is shown by the things that remind him of her presence. The narrator feels her among the crying children, unknown languages, and worry. He is also surrounded by people whom he does not know, but he feels connected to them. He lists off all the nationalities that have come here for the same reason but does not separate or emphasize his own. All are equally allowed into the “us.”
While the narrator reflects on the danger represented by the inevitable sunrise, he takes the time to directly address the concern of being “unwelcome” at the end of the journey. All the figures on the beach watch the sea. The light of the moon reflects off the water and creates an unending white line to the horizon, marking their destination. Some sit and some stand, showing the unease they have while waiting. The narrator holds Marwan tightly, quoting words of comfort from the mother into Marwan’s ear. The two are focused on each other. The narrator stares at Marwan’s eyelashes as he sleeps. This reveals that everything that the narrator has said so far has been to a sleeping child. Marwan is one of many children being held that night in order to go to sleep.
Chapters 6-7 Analysis
The story converges on the present day for the characters in this section, building tension as the sense of danger looms closer. The verb tense stands out more as the narrator begins to use the present continuous. For example, there is no stop to the “women worrying,” reflecting the fact that their journey and troubles are ongoing. Neither is there a pause in how the narrator feels Marwan’s mother’s presence. Because the story has caught up to the characters’ present day, there is a stark contrast between the memories set in the past and this moment on the beach. This section introduces a central symbol of the piece: the sea. The first visuals of the sea are larger than any figure; it takes up most of the page (33). The white highlights on the water make up the brightest part of the page, which adds to the motif of brightness representing danger.
The characters give the sea their attention and emphasize its importance by facing it. By turning their backs to the reader in a unified way, they act as a group even as the narrator points out how different they are. Isolated by both experiences, nationality, and language, these are not people who would have ordinarily been together. Nevertheless, the sea captures their attention and their worry equally. Silhouetted in dark, saturated black watercolor, the narrator tries to combat their Loss of Identity by detailing the beach with the same specificity with which he described Homs. This is for the benefit of Marwan, who is sleeping through this experience.
These people, now removed from their homes, are no longer shown interacting anything other than the boat. The textless page where figures are shown marching through an empty space represents the dehumanizing process refugees go through in the pursuit of safety. The way these experiences can apply to so many is confirmed when the narrator says that the people on the beach do not just come from Syria, let alone Homs. This experience is not isolated to Marwan despite the narrative’s focus on his perspective. The narrator chooses to make this clear to Marwan through the letter, just as the illustrations make this point to the reader.
As the group is about to embark on this journey by sea, the narrator clarifies that they are not alone. He does this through the use of quotations. By quoting the mother and invoking another voice in this story, the narrator is able to lean on someone else’s authority. A sense of community is also conveyed through the most detailed illustrations of human faces. However, these details do not come from the narrator himself, implying that he doubts whether he has community or not. As he comforts his son, he relies on other people agreeing with him to make his point stronger. This is reinforced by the illustrations, which go from showing the pair of them to a larger group of adults comforting children.
The verb tense of the letter shifts in Chapter 7 and calls into question whether the narrator believes his own reassurances to his son. The letter narrates, “I look at your profile” (37), placing this moment in the present tense on the beach. The next paragraph begins in the past tense, “I said to you” (37), invoking a memory of the father saying this in the past. The shift from the present to the past tense suggests that the promise that “[n]othing bad will happen” is not something that he is saying anymore (37).
While the father and others worry, Marwan is able to get to sleep. The father interprets Marwan’s sleep to mean that he has successfully convinced Marwan to have faith in the plan. He is described as “guileless,” emphasizing his innocence in contrast to the deceit the father sees around him. Marwan’s sleeping also impacts his characterization as a young child. The illustrations focus on this moonlit night, suggesting that it is natural for a young child to be sleeping. Framing this book as a story told to a child before bed juxtaposes a typical bedtime story with the dangerous events the narrator speaks about through indirect language. This emphasizes Marwan’s innocence and vulnerability in contrast to the powerful vastness of the sea.
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By Khaled Hosseini
