The Collaborator

1. The inciting incident takes place in the first chapter. Of what symbolic significance is the British Webley VI antique revolver mounted on the wall in the Saba household?

2. “His father cowered in the bedroom because he was accustomed to the corruption and violence of their town. He lived as quietly and invisibly as he could, because Christians were a minority in Bethlehem, and so Habib Saba was careful not to upset the Muslims by standing up to them. George learned a different way of life during his years away from Palestine. He put his hand on his father’s shoulder and then touched the old man’s rough cheek.” [p10] Do you sense that the story takes sides with the Arabs and Israelis or is it impartial? The area is obviously contentious. Do you get the author’s view early in the story?

3. “Behind the Abdel Rahman house at the head of the valley were the ancient wells known as Solomon’s Pools, which fed the main aqueduct of Herod’s Jerusalem. With springs across the vale, the people of Irtas allowed themselves a luxury barred to other rural Palestinians, who strained to eke out the fetid contents of their cisterns through the eight dry months of summer: in Irtas there were tall, shady pine trees, as well as the squat, functional olives to which most villages were limited.” [14] How does the sense of place inform on the people? Is setting character? Does history dictate a social perspective?

4. Omar Yussef is first introduced in Chapter 3.”He spent a great deal of his time, too much of it, angry with these children. He tried not to be, but he couldn’t stand to listen to them when they rolled through the political cliches of the poor, victimized Arab nation, subjugated by everyone from the Crusaders and the Mongols to the Turks and the British, all the way to the intifada. It wasn’t wrong to see the Arabs as victims of a harsh history, but it was a mistake to assume that they bore no repsonsibility for their own sufferings.” [p19]To what extent has he, as a teacher, been able to impact his ideas upon his young students? If not successful, then why not?

5. What is Omar’s relationship with Steadman, the head of the school? Do you think either has a point? Is it time for Omar to retire? Is Steadman out of touch?

6. ” Do you see that if I let these things happen without taking any action, I’ve been lying to thousands of little children for decades? Most of all, I’ve been lying to myself.” What prompts Omar to motivate himself to act beyond the classroom?

7. Khaled Shukri’s benevolence and goodness falls on poor ground and grows nothing. “The curfews and gunfights had destroyed his career, murdered his father and made his mother suicidal. This was the reward for goodness. Yet the gunmen thrived, they whose accomplishments and talents were of the basest nature, they who would have been obliterated had there been law and order and honour in the town.” [p126] Though it may appear to be ironic how good is not rewarded, would you say that there is no evidence of change, of decency or humanity evident or of any moral compass at play in this chaotic world?

8. The title of collaborator is aimed at George Saba and Omar takes on the job of detective to clear his name. Who is the real collaborator?

9. Omar looks upon the Aqsa Martyrs Brigades as villainous characters who are misinformed. “There were factors common to most of the Dehaisha youths who died like this, as far as Omar Yussef deduced. Usually they had something to prove. Sometimes they were mentally unbalanced after they had witnessed the death of someone close to them in an Israeli attack. But most of the bombers wanted to show everyone that they were not the person people believed them to be, that they were selfless and honourable and brace. Their lives generally were worthless, or had become so, because of some social transgression or indiscretion, and they tried to redeem themselves and the reputation of their families through martyrdom.” Would you debate his observation at all?

10. The final confrontation takes place in a church. “This building is the history of Christianity in the Holy Land. You always taught me that history was the essence of life, that its study gave us the key to a better future….This place represents a past when the Muslims and Christians lived together peacefully and the chance that it could be so again, when all of this madness is over.” [p199]. Is there any concession to this point of view by the end of the novel, or does it remain relentlessly fatalistic to the end?

11. Of what symbolic significance is the inscription in the bible on page 235?

12. Of what significance is the title?