Chapters 5-6 Summary

Because of the ongoing war, very few people attend Saeed’s mother’s funeral. Nadia keeps her record player hidden in Saeed’s room because the militants forbid music. One night, the militants kill an upstairs neighbor for being from the wrong religious sect.

The following night, Saeed and Nadia make love on the couch while Saeed’s father is asleep. They’re both “semi-terrified” because the militants are putting unmarried lovers to death. Later, Saeed and Nadia look for a way out of the city through the doors. People have started believing in the doors now that “even the most reputable international broadcasters” are acknowledging their existence. Saeed and Nadia eventually find a way to escape. At the last minute, Saeed’s father insists that they leave him behind.

Nadia and Saeed enter a door in an abandoned dentist’s office and emerge in a public bathroom. They make their way to a refugee camp and learn that they are on the Greek island of Mykonos. People gather around fires, “speaking in a cacophony that [is] the languages of the world.” Nadia and Saeed buy supplies and set up camp. Meanwhile, a woman in Vienna goes to a zoo to help protect migrants from “anti-migrants.” Saeed and Nadia read about the riot in Vienna on their cell phones in real time.

The next morning, Saeed and Nadia try to enter a door to Germany, but men in uniform stop them. Days pass. Running low on supplies, Saeed and Nadia buy a fishing rod and spend the day fishing, but they do not catch any fish. They stay until dark and notice four men heading toward them. Saeed and Nadia walk away quickly and realize the men are following them. While trying to avoid being mugged, they drop the rod. Nadia falls and cuts her arm.

Spring arrives. Saeed and Nadia venture into the little town on Mykonos to see a doctor for Nadia’s now-infected cut. Nadia befriends a teenager who dresses her wound, and the girl helps them find a doorway off the island.

Chapters 5-6 Analysis

These chapters hint at real historical places and events. The details about the militants’ restrictive rules and violence suggest the Taliban, al-Qaeda and ISIS, militant Islamic groups that contributed to conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria, especially between 2011 and 2015.

People have fled these troubled areas in large numbers. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees claims that 1,000,573 refugees from the Middle East and North Africa landed in Europe in 2015. Around 850,000 landed on the Greek islands between Turkey and mainland Greece. Hamid’s choice to include riots in Vienna, Austria, provides another clue. Many migrants were smuggled into Austria between 2011 and 2015. At this point, “even the most reputable international broadcasters” acknowledge the existence of the doors. It is as if the mass migrations require an epic response from the universe.