Physical and Emotional Displacement
In his exile, Barghouti struggles with feelings of displacement. He has been separated from not only his home and family but from his culture. He passes thirty years as a wanderer, constantly moving but never finding a place which makes him feel at home. During his travels, he remains painfully conscious of his status as an outsider everywhere. He travels the globe but observing people in their natural habitats only serves to remind Barghout that he has no home. Mirroring his physical distance from Palestine, his emotions also suffer from the distance. In his travels Barghouti is constantly challenged by his foreign environments. He struggles to connect with people because he cannot speak their languages fluently. His body is constantly at odds with his mind also because it is not accustomed to the various climates, foods, and allergens which he encounters. The result is a constant physical and emotional displacement.
Re-conceptualizing Home
Upon his return to Ramallah at last, Barghouti carries with him thirty years of expectations. He has carefully preserved an image of his home before leaving. Although he knows his elder brother won't be there, he anticipates few other changes. For this reason he despairs upon seeing what little remains of his memory in Ramallah thirty years later. His image is shattered, remaining only an illusion. Barghouti is forced to contend with the full weight of his identity. If he has spent thirty years waiting to reclaim his home only to discover that home is not what he expected, then what does Barghouti really desire? He learns that change is the real thing he dreaded. He has remained uncomfortable with change all these years, hoping that in the preservation of his last memory of home he could resist the effects of time. In the end, his homeland is regained, but it is different than anticipated. Barghouti learns that the true value of home is in a person's interaction with home. He had carried his concept of home along with him through every country, and that was sufficient.
Violence
In his exile, Barghouti naturally devotes much attention to Israel's occupation of his homeland. He pushes through resent in order to find peace for himself in this situation. Rather than blaming the people of Israel, he finds critical perspective. In his travels, Barghouti observes how people of everywhere are various. Some are good. Some are bad. The distinction is violence. He learns to hate the violence inflicted upon his country in its seizure, but he does not hate the people. Barghouti begins to meditate on this phenomenon and writes poetry to that extent. He writes poetry for people free of violence, who will notice nuance without suspicion of threat, for its own sake. In his rejection of violence, Barghouti finds beauty and liberty.
