50 pages • 1 hour read
Anthony MarraA Constellation of Vital Phenomena
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2013A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 7-9Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 7 Summary
The novel jumps back to the year 1996, shortly after Natasha returned home to the apartment. Natasha sleeps all the time. Sonja learns that Natasha was in Italy and can tell by scars on Natasha’s feet that Natasha was using heroin. Sonja suggests that Natasha speak to a psychiatrist, but Natasha refuses.
At the hospital, Sonja saves the life of a man named Alu who was injured by a land mine. Alu’s brother promises Sonja a favor in exchange. Sonja requests medical supplies and psychology books. Later, in the bazaar, a merchant tries to sell her an ice machine, promising that freezing is the only way to get pure water. Sonja recognizes the man as a former teacher who was inappropriate to her, though the merchant doesn’t recognize her. Sonja leaves after the man makes a rude comment about how she is dressed.
At home, Sonja decides to try to make a pair of pants. Sonja never learned to sew, and the pants are too tight. Natasha, seeing Sonja struggling, agrees to help make them both new clothes.
Later, Sonja runs into Alu’s brother. He takes her to a stolen truck filled with first aid kits. The brother expects Sonja to refuse the stolen supplies, but Sonja is grateful; “for all she cared, the drivers could be hog-tied and beaten, since she now had the ointment to disinfect their cuts, the gauze the bandage their wounds” (117). Finally, Sonja asks the brother for the ice machine from the bazaar and for new clothes.
A few weeks later, Sonja overhears Natasha and Laina talking in Laina’s apartment next door. Natasha tells Laina about her experiences in Italy and tells Laina, “I like talking to you,” to which Laina replies, “We’re staying alive” (120).
Chapter 8 Summary
Akhmed is still traumatized by the amputation he performed as he walks home from the hospital. On his way home, Akhmed runs into Khassan burning the pages of his book in the woods. As Akhmed passes the remains of Dokka’s house, he runs into Ramzan too late to avoid him. Akhmed wonders how Ramzan could have turned into someone who would betray his own friends, as “they had been born in the same village, had gone to the same school, had their knuckles purples by the same meter stick” (125), and remembers how he, Ramzan, and Dokka used to play chess together. Ramzan tells Akhmed that the Feds weren’t able to find Havaa. Ramzan tries to manipulate Akhmed into revealing Havaa’s location, but Akhmed won’t reveal anything. At home, Ula tells Akhmed that she was visited by Akhmed’s father, mistaking Khassan for Akhmed’s father. Ula says she saw a birthmark on Akhmed’s mother’s stomach, again mixing up Khassan’s story. As they fall asleep, Akhmed wonders how Ula knew his mother had a birthmark on her stomach.
Chapter 9 Summary
Chapter 9 appears in italics and is addressed to “you.” This is the manuscript Khassan is writing to Havaa about her father Dokka. Khassan notes how Dokka taught Havaa Arabic. Dokka was a chess player and owned a beautiful, hand-carved set purchased by Havaa’s great-grandfather. Dokka only ever lost three matches. Once was on Havaa’s sixth birthday, when Dokka let Havaa win. Dokka could also peel a plumb without breaking the skin. Dokka always pretended to prefer the skin so he could give Havaa the whole fruit.
Chapters 7-9 Analysis
This section explores gender roles. Throughout the novel, characters are surprised that Sonja is a doctor since women are expected to stay at home and care for their families. When Sonja is at the bazaar, she runs into a merchant who asks to speak to Sonja’s husband, saying, “I’d like to have a word with him about how he allows you to dress,” and telling her, “If you dress with your hair and your face uncovered for the devil himself to see, the Russians will come back, make no mistake, and you women will be responsible” (111). Akhmed is also baffled by Sonja and surprised to meet a woman who is so independent and sure of herself. Sonja faces discrimination as a female doctor, illustrating the expectations for men and women in this society.
Another theme that takes center stage here is the question of morality during wartime. When Alu’s brother offers Sonja the stolen medical supplies, “she could feel him testing her, ready to blunt the slightest edge of moral outrage with a lecture on relativism in war” (117). Ultimately, Sonja accepts the stolen supplies because she knows how hard it is to come by medical supplies and her priority is to help her patients. Throughout the novel, characters face moral decisions that are more difficult to resolve than they would be in peacetime.
Chapter 9 introduces a new point of view. This chapter appears in italics and is addressed to “you,” and it is up to the reader to realize this is Khassan’s letter to Havaa. Reading Khassan’s writing allows the audience to feel close to him and get a better sense of his character.
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By Anthony Marra
