Symbolism in The Beekeeper of Aleppo by Christy Lefteri (Book Analysis)

Around the world, millions of people are forced to flee their homes as a result of war, famine, drought and a number of other reasons. These refugees struggle to reestablish themselves in society, and are left on the outside of society without aid. In the novel The Beekeeper of Aleppo by Christy Lefteri she outlines some of the struggles these people face through the usage of symbolism. One of the primary symbols utilized by Lefteri is bees. Bees represent a number of concepts, ranging from refugees as a whole to the individual feelings of the characters. Through the representation of bees in the novel, Lefter depicts the individual struggle refugees face and humanity as a whole. 

Lefteri demonstrates the struggles faced by refugees through the portrayal of the wingless bee in the garden. Shortly after arriving in England, Nuri discovers a singular bee in the garden of the place they are staying. The bee does not have any wings, nor does it have a colony. Nuri notices this and takes care of the bee.. He explains the bee’s situation, saying “she’s been banished from her colony because she has no wings” (Lefteri 26). This portrayal is synonymous with the experience of refugees as a whole. Nuri speaks to the experience most refugees encounter when he says “the people who did not have tents were wrapped in blankets, sitting on the ground” (Lefteri 131). Lefteri draws these parallels to illustrate the trials that refugees face. The bee has been forced out of its home and left on its own to survive. This correlates with the experience that most refugees face, they have been similarly forced out of their home, and they too are made to rely on themselves alone. The refugees are left on the fringes of society, as illustrated by the lack of care they recieve when they are seeking asylum. They are forced to sleep outside with little more than a blanket to stay warm. Additionally, Nuri’s compassion for the wingless bee is symbolic of the treatment refugees face. Refugees are in a vulnerable position in our society, often at the mercy of the people around them. However, many refugees do not receive the same kindness displayed by Nuri. Instead, they are denied their basic needs and denied a place in the country they have fled to. Thus the bee in the garden is symbolic of refugees who are ostracized by society and left to rely on aid and compassion from those around them. 

Throughout the novel, bees are portrayed as symbols of familiarity and home for Nuri. Before he was forced to flee Aleppo, Nuri was a beekeeper with his cousin Mustafa. Together they maintained and nurtured a collection of beehives on the edge of the desert. They cared for the bees, and then they collected and sold the honey. Nuri found solace in the apiaries on the edge of the desert. They served as an escape for him, however they were destroyed during the war; burned to the ground while Nuri and Mustafa were away. Throughout his and Afra’s journey, we see Nuri reminisce about his old life in Syria, most often about the bees. He says, “I think of the field  in Aleppo before the fire, when the bees hovered above the land like clouds, humming their song. I can see Mustafa taking a comb out of a hive, inspecting it closely, dipping a finger into the honey, tasting it. That was our paradise, at the edge of the desert and the edge of the city” (Lefteri 76). Nuri was at peace from the bees, he loved taking care of them with Mustafa. The destruction of the apiaries marked the end of any semblance of normality for Nuri in Syria. After that, Mustafa was forced to flee, Sami was killed, Afra lost her sight, and then Nuri and Afra had to start their journey out of Syria. As they make their way across Europe to England, Nuri continues to express a longing to remain in Syria with the bees. He states “I wanted to feel the land beneath my feet and the sun on my face, to hear the song of the bees” (Lefteri 78). Nuri frequently references the song of the bees. With every mention of the song comes a yearning for the familiarity of the bees and the home they provided for him. When Nuri arrives in England, he is left in an unfamiliar place with few comforts to remind him of home. However, he takes refuge in caring for the wingless bee in the garden. Caring for bees is something Nuri knows how to do, although his life in England is filled with uncertainties. Ultimately, the bees provide solace and refuge to Nuri in a time when everything else around him is unfamiliar. 

Additionally, Lefteri uses bees to illustrate an ideal version of society. Nuri idolizes the way a beehive operates. He admires the way the bees work together to find food and care for the colony. In contrast, Nuri has lost faith in human society after encountering people seeking to kill, injure, or exploit him and other refugees. Nuri claims “the bees were an ideal society, a small paradise among chaos” (Lefteri 12). Nuri thinks of the beehives as orderly and safe, an optimal way for a society to operate. The bee colonies are in sharp contrast with the world around Nuri. In Syria, everyone had to fend for themselves, people were killed for no reason. Throughout Nuri and Afra’s journey through Europe, they encounter people who exploit others, refugees in particular, for their own personal gain. In an email to Nuri, Mustafa states “People are not like bees. We do not work together, we have no real sense of greater good - I’ve come to realise this now” (Lefteri 68). The people Nuri and Mustafa have encountered during their experience have exposed to them the inherent failure in human society, at the same time outlining the bees as an idealized version of society. Thus, the bees are representative of an ideal society in which every person works for the other, and neither is harming others or struggling to survive. 

Bees are portrayed as a symbol of hope for Nuri throughout the novel. The hardships Nuri endured during his journey to England has left him with little hope for a life in England. He struggles to move on from his life in Syria, and the process of gaining asylum has caused him to lose sight of why he is going to England. Whereas, the bees remind him of that hope. Nuri states “I  recalled Mustafa’s British black bees and kept my eyes closed tight until I could see purple fields and rolling hills of lavender and heather, spilling over the edge of the world” (Lefteri 178). Mustafa has hopes of rebuilding their life, starting over with colonies of bees in England. Nuri uses these hopes to carry on with his journey when all other hope seems lost. He states “I wished to make it to England. I looked up and I let the wish fill my mind. I imagined the  black bees and the hives. I thought of Mustafa’s email. I remembered my response. I will find a way” (Lefteri 191). After being forced to remain in Athens for so long, Nuri was losing hope that he and Afra would ever make it past Greece, that they would be stuck there. But Mustafa’s promises of colonies of black bees for them to care for in England pushed him to not give up, not lose hope for their journey. Towards the end of the novel, when Nuri is struggling with realizations about himself, Afra reminds him of the bees, which once again help him to keep going. Ultimately, Lefteri uses bees as a symbol of hope for Nuri and Afra on their journey to England. 

Lefteri uses the novel to portray refugees and the struggles they face, as well as society as a whole using the symbolism of bees. Throughout the novel, bees are used to illustrate the hardships endured by refugees each day, to portray a symbol of familiarity and home, to highlight the flaws in our society, as well as embody feelings of hope for a better life. Thus, these issues and emotions put on display through the use of symbolism highlight the refugee experience, drawing attention to the trials refugees face and how we can give them hope.