Habibi by Naomi Shihab Nye
Moving to a foreign country is one of the hardest things to do. People must adapt to the culture, the lifestyle, and make new friends. In Naomi Shihab Nye’s Habibi, Liyana and her family move from the United States to Palestine, where Liyana’s father was born. Liyana tells her story in great detail about adapting, the meaning of family, and making new friends in her new life. Habibi is a wonderful, compelling story about Liyana and her family adjusting to the atmosphere, people, and the conflicts surrounding them in their new home, Palestine. Of the many motifs in this novel, the unavoidable Arab and Israeli conflict of the 1970’s, (most of which still continues today), is the most powerful.
Motifs in Habibi are mainly universal; love and family, adjusting to change, etc. However, there are two motifs which stand out: “war and peace,” and “race, ethnicity, and culture.” War and peace is the basis of Nye’s novel. It is the core theme, and propels the story and characters. The ongoing Arab-Israeli conflict galvanizes the characters to stand up and make a change in their lives, and to be compassionate. It also highlights the racial and cultural tensions between Arabs, Armenians, Jews, and Greeks; though the main warring factions are Arabs and Israelis.
In Habibi, Naomi Shihab Nye intermingles “American” and ethnic words to make conflicting cultural norms (between America and the Middle East) stand out, and to mark the gradual acceptance of the Abboud family to their new home in Palestine. She also incorporates meaningful words and poetic imagery to add voice to, and animate, Liyana’s thoughts. Liyana’s character, throughout the novel, has a dreamy and dramatic quality, (not unusual in the typical teenager), and her diction is mainly informal. In the beginning, when Liyana is at the airport with her family she notices an “Indian lady in a purple sari crying, [who is] the size of good-bye” (8), and uses the whole idea of the sad Indian woman to make tangible her own sadness at having to say goodbye. As the time nears for the Abboud’s departure, Liyana’s words become heavier and have a bittersweet quality to them. However, the sadness and homesickness soon begin fleeting once Liyana and her family reach Palestine. There, at the Tel Aviv airport, they are greeted by less-than-friendly “Israeli agents … [who] look ready to jump on them” (36). Nye, beginning in...