Facing Plot Narrative in Kanafani's A Hand in the Grave

Mahatma Gandhi once commented, "To a true artist only that face is beautiful which, quite apart from its exterior, shines with the Truth within the soul." ("The Mind of Mahatma Gandhi"). By Gandhi's terms, author Ghassan Kanafani is certainly an artist in the deep characters he creates. These characters' faces appear to readers, giving a window to their souls. "A Hand in the Grave" appears to be a simple, surface-level story; however, Kanafani infuses the story with emotion by symbolically using the face to carry the narrative of the plot.

The face may seem a rather simplistic thing to use for such strong symbolism, but it is important to understand that a symbol does not need to be complex to convey great meaning. In an article directed towards an audience of journalists, Paula LaRocque comments, "Skillful writers [implying journalistic writers] excel at appropriate figurative language. There's no shortage of metaphor. Good figurative images needn't be--probably shouldn't be--intricate or curious. They need only be natural and visual and right." Using the face as a symbol is exactly that- natural, visual, and right. Considering his extensive experience as a journalist, Kanafani would have likely agreed with LaRocque's statement. In "A Hand in the Grave," his choice of the face proves to be unique and effective, although quite simple.

In the exposition, Kanafani uses several references to the characters' faces, primarily focusing on Nabil's face, to show Nabil's internal conflict, as well as the conflict between him and his father. In the exposition, when Nabil is at home in the early morning, preparing to go out and rob a grave, much of these first few paragraphs focus on how he is washing his face. First Kanfani says Nabil "began to look at [his] face in the mirror," and then he continues on describing him soaping, rinsing, and then drying his face (601-602). While this may seem like a normal part of the morning routine, the detail that Kanafani goes into, mentioning the word "face" several times, sets up the fact that the face is going to be very important in the story. The act of washing it symbolizes something that Nabil is feeling- perhaps guilt- creating the emotional setting of the story. It is as if Nabil is trying to preemptively wash off the sin he is about to commit. This makes a lot of sense if you think about what exactly robbing a grave entails. They will be digging up a grave and pulling out a skin; this is not exactly the cleanest of tasks, thus there seems no real necessity to be washing his face yet.

Additionally, the exposition of the story includes an interesting exchange between Nabil and his father, where the father remarks on how pale Nabil's face is. The father is convinced that it is because Nabil was out too late the night before, implying that he had been up to no good. This discussion continues for several paragraphs, ending only when Nabil gives several medical reasons for "facial pallor," impressing his father (602). The many descriptions of Nabil's pale face, which "looks as though it's been bleached," (601) keys us into the one reason for facial pallor that Nabil does not mention- fear. Although the reader does not yet know that the story is going to drift into an almost ghost story feel, there is already a sense of something eerie.

The rising action of the plot begins when Nabil states very matter-of-factly that he is going to rob a grave, knowing how much this will upset his devoutly Muslim father. A confrontation between Nabil and his father ensues, and again Kanafani uses the face to outline and progress this confrontation. Although Nabil announces his plans "in a calm tone" of voice, it is noted that he says this "without turning to face [his] father" (602). His unwillingness to show his face to his father while he says this, leads us to an understanding that he does not feel as calm as he acting.

Gathering courage for the confrontation with his father, he "turned and faced him, trembling" (602). Here, the face seems to be a symbol for the friction between Nabil and his father. With the few details about the characters, we get the idea that there are definitely some generational differences between the two men. The father seems to be significantly more religious than his son, while not quite as educated as his son. The father's overbearing attitude, and Nabil's reaction to it, also shows us that Nabil feels a desire to stand up to his father, as if he has something to prove. This presents the first conflict in the story and provides a possible motivation for Nabil's actions.

As the rising action continues with Nabil's argument with his father, the face is used to show how Nabil seems to be gaining confidence. Preparing to leave, Nabil lifts the sack with his shovel, "thrusting it into his [father's] face," and the very next sentence shows the father's shock as he is "unable to take his eyes from [Nabil's] face" (603). The confidence he seems to gain in this instance carries him into the rest of the action, as he struggles to keep that confidence with his friend, Suhail.

The overall tone of the story changes when he and Suhail meet, foreshadowing the intense climax. Here, the faces allow the reader to see what is really going on inside the two men, despite their confident words. Nabil says he knows that Suhail is frightened, "without looking at his face" (603), and as their journey continues, they continue in trying to avoid looking at each other's faces. They walk to the cemetery with their heads bowed (604), which not only shows that they are inwardly fearful about the impending task, but also symbolizes the humbling nature of what they are about to do. The men are stealing a skeleton because neither of them can afford it, which is certainly not something that they are proud of. They also have been raised in a strict religion that has taught them to have great respect for the dead.

It is here that an understanding of the story's culture setting is important. In Islam, there are rigid ritualistic practices involving death, such as that the person "should be turned toward the direction of prayer" (Hedayat). The body is treated sacredly, "washed by a Muslim, wrapped in a white shroud and buried"(Hedayat), never cremated. A guide for medical practitioners states that Islamic beliefs require that "autopsy is not permitted unless deemed necessary for forensic purposes" (Hedayat). Understanding this helps us to see how these men would have been feeling about this task. While they desire to prove themselves in the medical faculty, they also understand that their beliefs absolutely do not condone the study of the dead body.

Leading up to the climax, the men reach the concrete slab covering the grave, and the face shows the change in tone. Suddenly, an excitement seems present as Nabil "raised [his] head to [Suhail]" (605). Then the next paragraph shows that they continue on, this time apparently looking at each others' faces, each easily making out "the expression on his companion's face without difficulty" (605). The fact that they are now looking at each other's faces heightens the anticipation of the reader, building up to the story's climax.

The climax occurs when Suhail is reaching into the grave, and the descriptions of his face represent the touch of death he experiences. As he slides his arm into the grave, he is forced to lay flat with "his face touching the ground" (606). This prostrate position represents how humbling this glimpse of death will be for Suhail, as it ultimately leads to his expulsion from the medical faculty. In this moment, the face tells the moral lesson of the story, which is along the lines of "pride cometh before the fall." The end of the story reveals that the men did not truly need the skeleton, but more wanted it to prove something about their place in the medical faculty. The result of their actions is the opposite of what they had hoped to achieve, and this face-to-the-ground moment perfectly symbolizes the humbling results.

As Suhail tries frantically to pull his arm out of the grave, Kanafani describes "his face grazing the gravestone" (606). The imagery here is suggestive of there possibly even being a scratch on his face from the gravestone, a reminder of the desecration of death they have attempted. Then Nabil describes Suhail's appearance much like one might describe a dead person, "There was no colour in his face, and his eyes were reddened circles" (606). As the face represents the inner life of these men, in a sense, this scene represents an emotional death for Suhail. In the resolution of the story, he essentially goes crazy.

The denoument of the story is basically in the last few paragraphs, where it describes the end of their medical careers and the final plot irony; however, the final tension of the plot is resolved when Suhail yells at Nabil, where again the face plays an important role. It is not just that Suhail shouts, but specifically he "shouted in [Nabil's] face, forcing the words out between his teeth" (606). The imagery here is that of the two men face to face, now having no though of avoiding each other's glances. This face-to-face confrontation and emotional breakdown symbolizes the fact that it is all over for the boys. The grave robbing, their friendship, and their medical careers- all are symbolically over at this moment, as a result of their actions.

Many people believe that the eyes are the windows to the soul. In this story, it is as if the face itself is the window to the soul. Through the faces of the characters, Kanafani ingeniously tells us a much deeper story than what is presented on surface level. He does, through literature, what many actors do so well. They present the lines of a script, but often tell the story just as much through their facial expressions.

Works Cited

Hedayat, Kamyar M., and Roya Pirzadeh. "Issues in Islamic Biomedical Ethics: A Primer

for the Pediatrician." Pediatrics 108.4 (Oct 2001): 965. General Reference Center Gold. Thomson Gale. Ventura Library - Black Gold. 31 Oct. 2006
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Kanafani, Ghassan. "A Hand in the Grave." Worlds of Fiction. ed. Roberta Rubenstein

and Charles R. Larson. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company, 1993. 601-606.

LaRocque, Paula. "Don't be afraid to write stories that read like fiction; from similes to symbolism, literary tools bring work to life." The Quill 82.n5 (June

1994): 55(1). General Reference Center Gold. Thomson Gale. Ventura Library - Black Gold. 30 Oct. 2006
"The Mind of Mahatma Gandhi." Mahatma Gandhi's Collected Writings. 2006. Bombay

Sarvodaya Mandal and Gujarat Vidyapith, Ahmedabad. 9 Nov. 2006.