“He calls himself my father.
So why is sending me away?
Thais the question
I’m tired of asking.”
This is a novel written in verse. It is also a novel that tells two different stories that parallel each other. Ishmael is a name that many people may associated only with the narrator of Moby-Dick. Herman Melville named his narrator of Ahab’s madness after a character from the bible. And it is that Ishmael that is telling his story in this novel. Ishmael is the son of Abraham, one of the most potent figures from the Old Testament. Indeed, the Judeo-Christian-Islamic God worshipped by billions is often referred to as the God of Abraham. So, the book explores on one level what it means to be the son of one of God’s favorites. Making it more complicated is that Ishmael himself goes from being Abraham’s favorite to second place.
“The moving van
pulls away from the curb,
cutting off my air supply.
My anger a stammer,
I stare through the window
at the guy loading his car
for the move from Brooklyn to Manhattan.”
The other story running parallel to that of the retelling of the biblical story takes place in the present day. Sam is another son who is having a complicated relationship with his father. Like Ishmael, he feels a sense of betrayal involving his father. In his case, it is the decision by his African American father to abandon Sam’s mother for a white woman which produces a son. So, an analysis of the novel will be sure to include explorations of themes related to father/son relationships and betrayal. Though quite different in context, the subject of both stores are intricately connected.
“I scanned the story of Abraham,
and heard a voice
deep inside of me.
Slow down, it said.
Take a closer look.
And there he was—Ishmael,
someone a lot like me.”
The thing about the twin stories is that while Ishmael can have no concept of Sam, Sam can know the entire story of Ishmael. The biblical story does not exist merely within the space of the book itself; it is a known entity that is easily accessible. The stories move along a continuum which inevitably come together in the far distance as parallel lines always eventually will from the perspective of a viewer. Or, in this case, a reader. It is not a convergence made possible through time travel, but rather understanding and awareness.
