Martyrs' Crossing (50-208)

This excerpt occurs shortly after the border incident, Ibrahim's death has become international news and the Palestinians are rallying around his cause. For their security, the Israeli army has protected the identities of the border guards, and with good reason. Graffiti has appeared all over the country boldly ordering the enraged Palestinians to "find the soldier." Lieutenant Doron has been removed from his position, pending further orders. Everything is in a state of limbo for him. The excerpt takes place in one of the p.r. buildings Doron is visiting, where he will be told what happened to him that night.

She and the rest of them in The Building - all now spending their precious non-coffee break moments going over his dossier looking for sexual perversion or drug abuse or instances of juvenile delinquency - they were the people who killed that boy, Doron told himself. It was their fault, with their long purple nails. Putting Doron on hold, forcing him to call Tel Aviv, making him listen while that computer-generated mouse music played ragtime, and Marina Raad sat there watching him with her iron eyes, her rain-soaked hair hanging down over Ibrahim's like a mermaid's. Doron had been afraid to return her regard. He was ineffectual, she could see that, and the situation was desperate, he could see that. He remembered the end-of-the-world sound of each rasping breath the boy could not quite take. (81)

This quote really stuck out to me because of the emotion behind, Doron is typically a very calm man. Yet in this passage we see the true passion he has for that night, his wall of emotion falls for a fleeting moment before rising up again. In context, this paragraph stands out even more, it is surrounded on both sides by the normal progression of the story, as if Doron's little outburst never occurred at all. For one moment, Doron lashes out and blames the bureaucrats surrounding him, allowing us to see the turmoil raging in his head. This passage allows true insight into an otherwise stoic and unemotional soldier.

Martyrs' Crossing (1-49)

Martyrs' Crossing by Amy Wilentz is an intriguing fictional story set in modern day Israel.  The book provides intresting viewpoints from both sides of the conflict, both Israeli and Palestinian, that reveal the effect politics have on everyday life in the area. Currently in the story, the border to Jerusalem is closed due to a pair of suicide bombings earlier in the day; checkpoints aren't allowing anyone into the city, no exceptions. A small boy close to death, named Ibrahim, is among the mob forming around the border. His mother, Marina tries desperately to get her son inside the city to the medical care he needs. Unfortunately, the guard at the checkpoint lets them through too late. A passage that moved me takes place when the boy's grandfather, George, allows his mind to wander at his grandson's funeral:

Why did the time after death seem so different from the time before birth? You've already managed not to exist quite nicely during the one, he thought. You'll probably get through the other. You couldn't say that one black period was longer than the other, or qualitatively better or worse. But having been alive, you felt somehow a morbid nostalgia for living when it came to flinging the mind forward into the grave. History-dinosaurs, wars, harvest festivals, trilobites, druids, plagues diplomacy, droughts, music, and the like, worms, snails, and starfish-came before birth, full of facts and events. Eternity, empty and blank and possibly unpleasant, came after. (49)

This thought-provoking excerpt interested me for two reasons. Firstly, the question it proposes sheds light on typical human response to loss, why are we so terrified of death? The answer will vary based on a person's religious and philosophical beliefs or lack thereof, it forces you to analyze the way you think. Taken in the context of the story, this passage is incredibly moving.

The second reason I chose this excerpt, is to analyze how the author, Amy Wlentz, decided to write this passage, and the book in general. The setting of Martyrs' Crossing is a hotbed of religion, the book reflects this, jumping from narrator to narrator, from religion to religion. This style allows the reader to see the reasoning behind the actions taken by both sides. The afterlife is a very religious topic, because of this, it may seem odd that Wilentz chose to write this passage from an almost areligious point of view. However if you take the aim of the book into consideration, her reasoning is sound. Martyrs' Crossing attempts to have an equal impact on readers, regardless of their beliefs. This goal is accomplished when religion is taken almost completely out of  the passage. It will be just as effective in delivering it's message to all people.

Wilentz, Amy. Martyrs' Crossing. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2001.