61 pages • 2 hours read
Helene WeckerThe Golem and the Jinni
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 13-18Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 13 Summary
Arbeely attends Catholic Mass more often as Christmas draws closer. Ahmad accompanies him but finds the process ridiculous. One day, Arbeely and Ahmad argue. Arbeely goes to Mass, and when he returns, he finds a small silver owl that Ahmad has left him as an apology. Ahmad knows that his argument crossed a boundary, so he leaves the shop before the tinsmith can return from Mass. He starts to wander but quickly finds himself going to the Golem’s boarding house.
After Avram’s death, Chava tries to throw herself into her work and begins taking on sewing repairs from her neighbors. Upon poking herself with a needle, she watches the tiny wound slowly close itself and is fascinated, wondering how far she can push her body. She looks out the window and sees the Jinni smoking below. Eventually, he places an object by a lamppost and leaves. As the day dawns, Chava runs down to the lamppost and finds a small metal bird. The next night, Ahmad returns, and Chava decides to speak to him. Ahmad learns that she has barely ventured through New York and becomes determined to show her around the city. He takes her to the Aquarium, where Chava is amazed by the large tanks. She describes being on a ship when she first woke up and marvels at what lay under the waves. Chava explains her nature as a Golem and why she thinks having a master would be better than being on her own. The Jinni vehemently disagrees, and they argue. Eventually, they agree to go for a walk once a week. Ahmad returns to Little Syria, where Ice Cream Saleh approaches him and demands to know what he is. Ahmad is uncomfortable and quickly goes to his room.
Chapter 14 Summary
Schaalman is taken to Michael’s sheltering house. He poses as a kindly older man and quickly becomes intrinsic to the daily running of the shelter. Michael recovers from his fever two weeks later and is finally well enough to return to work. He meets Joseph Schaal, who reminds him of his uncle. Meanwhile, the Jinni and the Golem’s walks have led them to various iconic sites in New York. Chava insists that Ahmad wear a hat to cover his head during the cold winter. They continue to argue but enjoy each other’s company and get past the arguments quickly enough.
The narrative flashes back to Ahmad’s history in the distant past. The Jinni returns to Fadwa’s dreams, taking her back to his glass palace. He asks Fadwa about human nature, marriage, her family, and jealousy. She feels her body waking up in the real world, and the Jinni leaves. For the rest of the day, Fadwa feels like she’s in a dream, her eyes often closing to relive the hyper-real feeling of her time with the Jinni.
Chapter 15 Summary
Michael stops by the bakery and invites Chava to visit his uncle’s grave. Chava worries about leading Michael on, as she has no romantic interest in him. Michael asks her if she needs help with anything, but Chava declines his offer. It is clear to her that he is starting to develop romantic feelings for her as they connect over their grief and their drive to work. They return from Brooklyn, and he invites her for coffee. At the café, Chava and Michael talk about Chava’s past; she does her best not to lie, leaving things half-answered and mysterious. Chava tells him that she only wants to be friends, nothing more, and hopes he understands. Meanwhile, Schaalman performs a ritual at the Shelter House that turns him into a dowsing rod for what he desires. In this case, he seeks the key to eternal life. The next day, he begins his search, but although he confirms that the ritual was successful, he does not find any leads.
Chapter 16 Summary
Arbeely’s tin shop has become successful since Ahmad started working with him. The two have garnered a reputation for fast and beautiful work, and word has spread beyond Little Syria, bringing in all types of customers. Arbeely meets a man named Thomas Maloof, a wealthy Syrian immigrant who commissions Arbeely to create a tin ceiling that is also a work of art that his tenants can enjoy.
That night, Ahmad contemplates what Maloof wants and is inspired. The next day, Arbeely realizes that Ahmad has used months’ worth of tin plate on the project. Arbeely is angry at first, and the Jinni storms out. Then, as Arbeely reexamines the ceiling, he suddenly sees the beauty in the piece and goes to find Maloof. Upon arriving at the building for which the ceiling is commissioned, Arbeely finds Matthew, a quiet boy with a sick mother named Nadia. Matthew, who usually runs messages to Maloof, takes Arbeely to see the man. Maloof is impressed with the work and wants to meet Ahmad.
During this time, Ahmad goes to Sophia’s mansion looking for her. Ice Cream Saleh sees him and decides to follow. Sophia’s rooms are empty and Ahmad spooks a housekeeper. He quickly runs away, discovering Saleh on the grounds of the mansion; he is exhausted from following the Jinni. Ahmad lifts Saleh and the two eventually go to a café. As a rational medical doctor, Saleh refuses to acknowledge the supernatural, but Ahmad realizes that Saleh was possessed by an ifrit, a type of lower Jinni, and sees that a spark is left behind. Ahmad proves that he’s a Jinni. Shocked, Saleh tries to flee and knocks himself unconscious when he runs into a pole. Ahmad takes him to the Faddoul’s coffee shop and leaves him there. Upon returning to Arbeely’s shop, he hears about Maloof’s positive reaction to his work. Arbeely apologizes for his anger and tells Ahmad that he still wants to work together. He promises to put Ahmad’s name on the sign of the tinsmith shop alongside his own. Ahmad considers this, frustrated that his identity as a Jinni is being erased.
Chapter 17 Summary
Ahmad and Chava explore the rooftops of New York City, discussing their experiences of fitting in to human culture and suppressing their abilities. Ahmad thinks Chava could do much more than baking, but she explains her worries about losing control or becoming overwhelmed by anger. Ahmad dismisses her concerns. Eventually, Chava tries to remove his iron cuffs, but they hold firm.
Later, Arbeely and Ahmad install the tin ceiling. Their work quickly catches people’s attention all over Little Syria. Matthew watches Ahmad work daily. Growing a vague fondness for the boy, Ahmad makes him several tin animal figurines. Word continues to spread, and the ceiling installation draws the attention of several newspapers. Once the crowd fades, Ahmad admits to Arbeely that the desertscape in the ceiling is the same one from where he previously lived. He points to a place on the ceiling that depicts the place where his glass palace used to be. The two discuss Ahmad’s Jinn nature and eventually leave, unaware that Matthew has overheard them.
Meanwhile, Chava is distracted by the now-pregnant Anna’s chaotic thoughts and fears. One night, when Chava and Ahmad go for their walk, the Golem shares her concerns, and the two walk to the Angel of the Waters fountain. Chava marvels at the sight. They talk about how wonderful it is to be out at night when things are quiet and she is not distracted by the wants and needs of others. She wishes she could go anytime, but she knows that her status as a woman makes solo exploration unsafe during certain times. Ahmad asks if she could get Michael to take her, and she sharply protests, explaining that she refuses to lead Michael on. They argue, and Chava accuses Ahmad of being inconsiderate and failing to consider the consequences of his actions. However, they soon make up, and Ahmad encourages her to run at full speed. She runs so fast that he can barely keep up. By the end of the evening, Chava reaches into the earth and finds a tiny sprout peeking out of the mud.
Chapter 18 Summary
Schaalman accompanies the shelter’s cook to Radzin’s to pick up bread. At the counter, Schaalman sees Chava, the Golem he made for Rotfeld. The dowsing spell comes to life, and Schaalman wonders what connection Chava could have to the eternal life he seeks.
Anna’s pregnancy is becoming difficult to conceal, and she knows that she will soon have to tell the father, Irving. Chava worries about Anna, but, the next day, Anna excitedly announces her engagement and invites Chava to go to a dance with her and her friends and meet her fiancé, Irving. Chava dresses up for the dance and meets Anna’s friends, Phyllis and Estelle. Estelle teaches Chava how to dance. Suddenly, Chava remembers that she is supposed to be walking with Ahmad, so she leaves the dance briefly and brings the Jinni to the dance hall to meet everyone. She teaches Ahmad how to dance, and other couples make room for their impressive skills. Phyllis cuts in and tells Chava that Irving and Anna are arguing. Chava marches off to find them in an alley behind the dance hall. When she sees Irving slap and insult Anna, she loses control and beats Irving nearly to death. Ahmad manages to stop her, causing her to pass out. He warns Anna not to say anything about what happened then lifts Chava and runs.
The narrative shifts to Ahmad’s distant past. Fadwa and the Jinni discuss marriage and the manner in which her father will choose her husband. He believes that Fadwa’s married life will be boring, and she explains they can’t all live in palaces. The Jinni asks about her wedding, and suddenly, Fadwa is transported to her tent, covered in henna, on her wedding day. She turns and sees that her husband is the Jinni. Someone tries to wake Fadwa, and the Jinni quickly pulls away from her, tearing himself from the dream world. As he leaves in his incorporeal form, he hears the cries and screams of Fadwa’s family as she does not wake.
Chapters 13-18 Analysis
In this section of The Golem and the Jinni, Wecker delves deeply into the complexities of the human condition, and the relative naiveté of her two protagonists provides her with a unique freedom to analyze aspects of human nature that are frequently left unspoken and implicitly understood. As both the Golem and the Jinni study human behavior in order to better inhabit their own chosen disguises, they chafe under the many convoluted societal expectations that govern how a “normal person” should act. Despite their struggles to fit in, both are fascinated by humanity’s many contradictions. However, their walks together also reveal fundamental differences in philosophy, for while Chava wants to forget her Golem nature and become as humanlike as possible, Ahmad feels trapped as a human and longs to embrace the full range of his supernatural powers. While they argue with each other and struggle to understand the people around them, Wecker uses the characters’ observations and interactions to articulate her own keen insights into the human condition.
Perhaps the most prominent such example of this dynamic can be found in Ahmad and Arbeely’s argument about religion and the common human belief in God. Because Ahmad does not know how to navigate religion without dismissing it, his attitude toward the concept alienates him from humanity. As the narrative states, “The bickering about religion had taken its toll on the Jinni as well. Never before had humans seemed so foreign to him” (194). With this crucial failure to connect with Arbeely on a topic that the man so clearly finds vital, Ahmad longs for a connection with someone who will understand his experience, like Chava, and ironically, this urge to connect betrays a deeply human desire on his part. Thus, almost without realizing it, Ahmad finds common ground with humankind in his intrinsic need for connection.
Chava has an empathic ability to peer into the minds of humans, reading their emotions, wants, and needs. Yet within this talent lurks the danger of codependency, and Chava must strike a careful balance between helping people and concealing the fact that she knows too much about their innermost thoughts. For example, Chava overhears Anna’s internal panic over being pregnant, and her friend’s distress distracts her, making her worry about Anna’s fate. When Chava refrains from blaming Anna for her predicament in accordance with the learned sensibilities of the community, her empathy suggests that despite her inhuman nature, she understands human complexities and views people with kindness rather than maintaining a clinical distance from them. Through Chava, Wecker illustrates the unique abilities of humans to understand and sympathize with those whose situations differ from their own.
In a new twist on the theme of The Importance of Community and Shared Cultural Background, Ahmad refuses to let Chava shy away from the connection they have, for he is desperate to speak with someone who understands the strange feeling of pretending to be human. In this way, the protagonists form a unique “community” that consists of only two members, and when they compare notes on humanity, they find themselves connecting over their mutual observations on the subtler aspects of human behavior even as they commiserate over the struggle of hiding their natures. They bond over the feeling of alienation that comes with being something other than human, and as two immigrants in the foreign sea of humanity, they help each other to understand the complexities of human nature, even when it appears illogical, confusing, or frustrating. This mutual connection creates a bond that is far stronger than any relationship that either person has forged with a human, for when Chava crosses the line that she set for herself and violently beats Irving, Ahmad risks himself to pull her out of the resulting predicament. However, while the narrative often emphasizes the protagonists’ inhuman natures, it is important to note that the rage and protectiveness Chava feels are part of a very human response to injustice. Thus, while Chava will eventually condemn her own behavior as unacceptable and inherently inhuman, Wecker uses the scene to highlight the character’s essential humanity by describing the all-consuming emotions that Chava experiences on behalf of her human friends. Ultimately, as Ahmad and Chava navigate the pitfalls of human nature, they find a unique connection with each other that allows them to gain a deeper understanding of humanity.
