The Arabesque
The titular arabesque is a complex pattern that is found on many pieces of Middle-Eastern art. It is not unique to Arabic culture because of the spread of Islam throughout the region. Although not explicitly mentioned in the novel the art form is symbolic of what the author is trying to achieve through the combination of disparate literary genres: the blending of odd patterns to come together and form an aesthetically pleasing whole, just like the eponymous arabesque.
The Duwara
Several of Anton’s childhood are full of quasi-myths; even familiar objects are imbued with supernatural properties—at least in his memory. A great example of everyday objects imbued with supernatural meaning is the Duwara, a large rock located within the Shammas family property. This rock, according to the stories passed on within the family blocks the entrance leading into a cave filled with treasures gathered and left there by medieval crusaders. This rock takes on an additional layer of meaning because it is here where a very young Anton the narrator hears the story about being named after his aunt’s allegedly deceased son who he then meets later on as Michael Abyad. The Duwara is symbolic of the Shammas family’s heritage of history enriched with fiction and fantasy, and by extension symbolic of Anton the narrator, a character who seemingly has two feet firmly planted on the ground but with his head up on the clouds.
The Red Feathered Rooster
Stories of the Duwara are closely tied to stories of the Red Feathered Rooster, the guardian of the cave filled with crusader loot. In the novel, Anton and a handful of other characters have close brush-ins with the fantastic fowl, blurring the narrative from historical fiction to fantasy and as such the red feathered/crimson rooster becomes symbolic of the novel’s composite nature as well as symbolic of Anton’s quest, which has now deviated from a journey to unravel his family’s past but now becomes a deeply personal journey about the discovery of himself.
Michael Abyad
Michael Abyad is the son of Anton’s aunt that had supposedly died in infancy. He is his namesake and later on the readers begin to see that he is more than just a doppelgänger presence but possibly an “alternate universe Anton the narrator.” This is critical to the progression of the story as it casts genuine doubt on the identity of the “real” narrator of the story, especially when he gives Anton a copy of his own version of his story of his supposed namesake. This literary bait-and-switch move makes Michael a symbolic of the author’s willingness to blur the lines of literary genres, leaving readers to wonder if they were reading a memoir, a work of fiction, or an odd mix of all that plus fantasy thrown in for good measure.
Laylah Khoury/Jurayyah Sa’id
The character Laylah/Jurayyah is symbolic of the interactions of different religious systems within the community that Anton had grown up in. She is perhaps the best representative of this melding and mingling of faiths as she enters into the narrative as a child coming from a Christian minority group then several years later she re-emerges as an Islamic woman.
