comment on structure

The story is structured in a linear fashion, beginning with the narrator’s childhood, and ending with the beginning of the family’s risky journey across the sea. The story opens with a focus on memory, first illustrating memories of the narrator’s childhood, and then focusing on the few years between Marwan’s birth and the outbreak of the war. These memories illustrate the peaceful and fulfilling lives that the main characters had before the outbreak of war. The story then immediately juxtaposes these memories with emotionally trenchant allusions to the horrors and destruction of war. This contrast is designed to evoke the profound sense of tragedy caused by the effects of the war.