“The second time Doaa nearly drowned, she was adrift in the center of a hostile sea that had just swallowed the man she loved.”

The narrative begins in-media-res, thrusting the audience into one of the defining moments of Doaa’s life. Though this actual moment is technically toward the end of the narrative, the scene of intense fear and grief contrasts here with the relative bliss opening chapters. By opening on such a dramatic scene and then examining Doaa’s early life, the text creates a clear distinction between the abject fear brought on by the war and the relative peace in Syria which existed beforehand. 

“Doaa confided that she felt trapped as a girl. Why couldn’t she be independent and build her own life? Why did it always have to be linked to a man’s?”

Doaa’s desire for independence and her determined resilience will help her through the difficult times ahead. The sense of unfairness which affects her as a teenager will only increase by the plight of trying to escape a civil war. But moments such as this, when Doaa complains to her mother about feeling trapped, help to foreshadow the qualities in her character which will help her to survive when all hope seems lost. 

“She realized that everything she’d grown up believing about her country was wrong.”

The power of the protests isn’t limited to the change in political regime. The violence in the streets opens Doaa’s eyes to the true nature of the government that she has known her entire life.