Why do you think the author decided to have Nuri narrate the story instead of Afra? How would the book have been different if it was told from Afra's point of view?

Why do you think the author decided to have Nuri narrate the story instead of Afra? How would the book have been different if it was told from Afra's point of view?

Allowing Nuri to narrate the story let the reader into his delusions and imagination. Without that point of view, we would not have met Mohammed. We wouldn't have seen the journey, since Afra was blind. We wouldn't have felt Nuri's demise and breaking under the losses he had suffered. Choosing him, offered the author more opportunities to show the story.

Nuri's narration provided a lot of additional context to the story since he could see what was happening. I do think it would be another fascinating story told from Afra's perspective, as she noticed non-sight things Nuri would miss.

Maybe the author told the story from the man's perspective since culturally the husband would be responsible for the family's well being and safety.

I think the story from Afra's point of view would have been too emotional and too hard to read or write for that matter. From Nuri's point of veiw we were able to know that the women lost children and it was hard for them, but the conversations and the feelings they were having were not expressed in detail.

The story would have been very different as Niru was leading the migration and Afra was following. That said, I would love to hear her side of the story and understand what she is “seeing” inside her head and memories.

Nuri's imagination added to the book. He was also playing the role of Afra's caretaker which allowed him to hide the grief he was going through. It would be an entirely different story if told by Afra.

I think telling the story from Nuri's point of view allowed the reader to have a deeper and more meaningful understanding of the men who are fleeing from their home countries. Sadly, there has been a lot of negative media attention on the men who arrive as refugees from Syria and Afghanistan- -mostly that the men are not fathers or victims, but members of Al Qaeda, the Taliban, or ISIS, who want to destroy Europe through acts of terrorism.

The BeeKeeper of Aleppo introduces us to numerous male characters, men that Nuri interacts with daily, who have arrived in England seeking asylum. They are fathers, brothers, sons, husbands, cousins, and friends. This gives a more balanced view of who is leaving and why. Nuri fled because he was going to be forced to fight in a war (or be killed) that had destroyed his livelihood, his family, his wife's sight, his home, and his peace of mind. Nuri was a victim, not a perpertrator.

By hearing from Nuri we were allowed to see a Syrian man not as an Islamic terrorist, but as someone very much like us- -a father and a husband who loves his family and wants to protect what is left of it. Nuri is suffering trauma from all that he has seen and experienced. When have we ever been presented with a viewpoint of a Syrian man in this position?