Short Story Review || Camouflage (2024)
"Siblings driving through the ruins of a city ravaged by war, attempt to make it to their destination unscathed."
: 🌕 : SPOILER ALERT : 🌕 :
Perhaps the story whose goal is simply to raise awareness might be forgiven for neglecting to include structure at all. The incorporation of aspects of realism—the inclusion of reality in its entirety—might draw forth the reader who cares naught for the semblance of ease that arises from reading something of the preferred fictional realm of literature. Yet, the author has endeavoured to pen something important when declaring themselves the teller of stories; who are they if there is no story to tell?
“Her brother immediately stops the car and ducks as the first stone crashes onto the roof, while she remains in her seat, following with her eyes what is happening all around, her face contorted in astonishment.”
Although further engagement with the introduction’s sentiment would benefit the reader &, in some sense, myself, this review will lean closer to the curious questions that remain after having read this short story. Many readers who remain alert to the news & geopolitical flow of the modern world will recognize the author’s name. I had quite forgotten who she was but, as with all stories, I nestled comfortably with my ears & eyes open, awaiting what she had to say.
‣‣‣
This is not a story in the traditional sense, one that might encumber the mind to draw parallels with what one knows or what one has heard. Shibli has explicitly written with the galvanized reality experienced by the mortals whose lives have been cut short by the same situation as encountered by the characters. Their roaming car through the city either known or foreign, remarks the destruction of war, the likes of which we often pretend have no place in society though it acts as the familiar face of our own monstrous making.
To be clear, Shibli writes about adult siblings driving through an unnamed city. They arrive at a road check & the brother—the driver—is interrogated & his papers checked. As they move past the road their car is attacked by a group of individuals whose affiliation is not dictated. Once the brother waves his Kufiya, the group disbands & returns to their hiding place within the ruins.
‣‣‣
I am seldom a fan of stories that require the reader to insert all of their knowledge for the plot to be upheld & worthy of reading. Although the author includes the frustration exhibited by the brother towards his sister’s impertinent questions & the temperature of the car; the story itself is shadowed by what is never named. Why has the author not made clear what is happening & why?
These are not questions I ask because I am ignorant of the situation that exists between Israel & Palestine, one witnesses the dedication, at writ large, to dissonance. What then does this story offer but one’s ability to continue to ignore what has been taking place since 1948?
‣‣‣
Should a reader come upon this story with hope for a victor or a story with a firm end they may leave disappointed. The ambiguity of the plot allows the reader too much freedom to decide who plays which role in this story & this therefore lends itself to misunderstanding.
Do the siblings carry around a Kufiya because they want to trick the Palestinian group into thinking that they are one of them? Or do they carry this symbol with them to guard their traditional essence? Are the guard members of Israel’s military or are they Palestinians watching over ravaged land?
Certainly, a reader might believe that the roles are clear; why would there be a Palestinian roadblock? Why would one need to pretend allegiance with the Kufiya? Here one notes that the reader is inserting their awareness of the real situation into the gaps of the story. Indeed, the characters do nothing but moan to one another, the sister offering benign questions about the situation she finds herself in, namely charged with removing the Kufiya from view. Why would she be ignorant as to the reasons why this would need to be done?
‣‣‣
I grew frustrated with the little provided in this story that was structured & confident in itself. Ambiguity is one thing but allowing ignorance free reign is quite another. Had the author had the gumption to make clear that her characters were nationals from X-State, driving through X-city, needing to be passive for X-reason, the snapshot into their lives would have carried weight. One can insert any number of rationales into their behaviour; perhaps they hate one another & their exchange had more to do with this than the fact that their home is suffering from a devastating & long-standing conflict.
‣‣‣
One knows what is happening if one is aware. Although the sister seems intent on forgetting herself & her circumstances, preventing the short story from petrifying the simplistic vernacular through the page & onto the fingers of the reader. I grew weary of her necessity to ignore any rationale. Why would her brother need to dictate to her why everything was happening as it was? Had she not been there with him this whole time? Did she not understand what was at stake?
‣‣‣
Ultimately, the necessity of the story to be more than what it was, ruined what it could have been. Whether attempting to bring forth witnesses to terror, Shibli evokes naught sentiment of intrigue or compassion for the ambiguous circumstances noted the world over, namely the crude exchanges of siblings.
Her inability to be firm with the context of this story, focusing on the rain outside the window rather than the affiliation of either group of men, triggers the guns in the backdrop into a numbing silence.
This situation has been spoken of with fortitude in life, you may think it crude to demand the author do the same in the written word. Yet, forget not that those who dwell in ignorance need fewer occasions than others to bend the truth & dilute reality into the corpse of the fallen Chameleon at the end of this story, who blinks his eyes, alive after all.
If you would like to read this story, please visit this link — « Camouflage » by Adania Shibli
C. 💌