50 pages • 1-hour read
Ahmed SaadawiA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
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Meet the key characters, with insights into their roles, motivations, and relationships—spoiler-free.
Assembled from the body parts of bombing victims, this entity is brought to life following a fatal explosion. Elishva calls him 'Daniel,' believing him to be her missing son, while his creator refers to him as 'The Whatsitsname.' Driven by an urge to avenge the victims whose parts make up his physical form, he roams the volatile streets of Baghdad.
Creation of Hadi The Junk Dealer
Reanimated by the Soul of Hasib Mohamed Jaafar
Adoptive Son Figure to Elishva
Supported by The Magician
Supported by The Sophist
Animal Companion of Nabu
Hadi is a heavy-drinking junk dealer and local storyteller residing in the Bataween neighborhood. Grief-stricken by the loss of his close business partner to a car bomb, he collects human remains from explosion sites. He pieces together a complete corpse with the stated intention of providing it a proper burial.
Creator of The Whatsitsname, Or The Creature
Former Business Partner of Nahem Abdaki
Friend and Frequent Customer of Aziz
Neighbor of Elishva
Source of Stories for Mahmoud Al-Sawadi
Rival and Neighbor of Faraj The Realtor
Mahmoud is a young, ambitious journalist from Amara who relocated to Baghdad to escape local disputes in his hometown. Living in the run-down Orouba Hotel, he seeks to establish a successful career and record the violent reality of the city. He receives a digital recorder containing an unbelievable story that challenges his journalistic skepticism.
Protégé of Ali Baher Al-Saidi
Interviewer of Hadi The Junk Dealer
Romantic Admirer of Nawal Al-Wazir
Friend and Colleague of Hazem
Colleague of Farid
Investigated by Brigadier Sorour Mohamed Majid
Elishva is an elderly Assyrian Christian widow living in Bataween. She maintains an unshakable belief that her son, who went to war twenty years prior, is still alive and will return. She routinely converses with a portrait of Saint George and obstinately refuses her daughters' pleas to emigrate to Australia.
Mother of Daniel
Mother of Matilda
Mother of Hilda
Adoptive Mother Figure to The Whatsitsname, Or The Creature
Friend of Umm Salim
Resentful Neighbor of Hadi The Junk Dealer
Harassed Neighbor of Faraj The Realtor
Parishioner of Father Josiah
Grudge Holder against Abu Zaidoun
Faraj is an opportunistic realtor and conman operating in the Bataween neighborhood. He uses connections with the post-invasion regime to illegally acquire properties left vacant by fleeing residents. He persistently attempts to purchase homes from vulnerable neighbors to expand his local influence.
Abu Anmar owns the dilapidated Orouba Hotel, a business that formerly thrived before the American invasion. Because of his ties to the old regime, his fortunes steadily decline in the new political climate. He desperately attempts to keep his failing business afloat while watching his competitors succeed.
Business Rival of Faraj The Realtor
Hotel Landlord to Mahmoud Al-Sawadi
Hotel Landlord to Hazem
Brigadier Majid heads a secretive government intelligence branch tasked with investigating unusual crimes. A survivor of the former regime's purges, he employs a team of astrologers to help predict disasters. He deeply desires recognition and career advancement, feeling overlooked by his superiors despite his department's efforts.
Childhood Friend of Ali Baher Al-Saidi
Interrogator of Mahmoud Al-Sawadi
Employer of The Senior Astrologer
Employer of The Junior Astrologer
Saidi is the wealthy, well-connected owner of the al-Haqiqa magazine. He navigates the dangerous political climate of post-invasion Baghdad by relying on his charm and strategic alliances. He acts as a mentor figure in the journalism world but maintains secretive ties to powerful government officials.
Mentor and Employer of Mahmoud Al-Sawadi
Professional Associate of Nawal Al-Wazir
Childhood Friend of Brigadier Sorour Mohamed Majid
Employer of Sultan
Hasib is a young security guard working at a prominent Baghdad hotel. He attempts to stop a suicide bomber but dies in the resulting explosion. His disembodied soul wanders the city until it seeks refuge inside a patchwork body.
Reanimating Soul of The Whatsitsname, Or The Creature
Nahem is Hadi's former business partner who shared an old dwelling known as the Jewish ruin. Despite maintaining a cleaner, more traditional lifestyle than Hadi, the two shared a close bond before Nahem perished in a car bombing.
Former Business Partner of Hadi The Junk Dealer
Umm Salim is a resident of Bataween who lives near Elishva. Unlike others who pity the old widow, Umm Salim reveres Elishva, believing she possesses special spiritual powers that protect their neighborhood from harm.
Wife of Abu Salim
Friend and Admirer of Elishva
Abu Salim is Umm Salim's husband and a passive observer of the neighborhood. He spends much of his time watching the events of Lane 7 from his balcony and relies on his network of local contacts when trouble arises.
Husband of Umm Salim
Neighbor of Hadi The Junk Dealer
Aziz is an Egyptian expatriate who owns a local coffee shop in Baghdad. He serves as a sounding board for the community, frequently listening to his patrons' wild stories while trying to parse fact from fiction.
Friend of Hadi The Junk Dealer
Acquaintance of Mahmoud Al-Sawadi
Nawal is a successful film director working in Baghdad. She is fiercely independent and strictly maintains professional boundaries, though she frequently deals with the advances and rumors created by her male colleagues.
Professional Associate of Ali Baher Al-Saidi
Professional Associate of Mahmoud Al-Sawadi
Father Josiah is a local priest who ministers to the dwindling Christian community in Baghdad. He attempts to provide spiritual and practical guidance to his parishioners, particularly regarding the safety of emigrating abroad.
Priest to Elishva
Conspirator with Matilda
Abu Zaidoun is a local barber who draws the intense hatred of Elishva. She holds him personally responsible for dragging her son away to military service decades earlier.
Target of Resentment from Elishva
Daniel is Elishva's missing son who departed for a war twenty years prior. His absence defines his mother's existence, as she meticulously maintains his old clothes and awaits his impossible return.
Matilda is one of Elishva's daughters living in Australia. She constantly worries about her mother's safety in the violent climate of Baghdad and actively schemes to extract her from the country.
Hilda is Elishva's other daughter residing in Australia. Like her sister, she wishes to reunite her scattered family in a safer environment far away from the war zone.
Hazem is a photographer and friend to Mahmoud. He navigates the difficult landscape of Baghdad by seeking distractions through nightlife and eventually embeds himself with military forces for work.
Friend and Colleague of Mahmoud Al-Sawadi
Hotel Tenant of Abu Anmar
Farid is a journalist working at the al-Haqiqa magazine. He acts as a connection point, bringing his talented friend into the publication's chaotic orbit.
Colleague of Mahmoud Al-Sawadi
Employee of Ali Baher Al-Saidi
The Senior Astrologer is an occult advisor employed by the Tracking and Pursuit Department. He reads cosmic signs and cards to predict threats, operating in a constant state of bureaucratic and spiritual rivalry with his junior counterpart.
Employee of Brigadier Sorour Mohamed Majid
Rival of The Junior Astrologer
The Junior Astrologer works under Brigadier Majid, attempting to map the movements of dangerous figures. He utilizes mystical tools to manipulate events, often clashing with his senior colleague over methodologies.
Employee of Brigadier Sorour Mohamed Majid
Rival of The Senior Astrologer
The Magician is a follower who claims he was sent by a djinn to assist the patchwork entity. He helps keep the creature safe during missions and possesses a cynical view of humanity, arguing that everyone harbors some measure of criminality.
Follower of The Whatsitsname, Or The Creature
Rival of The Sophist
The Sophist is another acolyte drawn to the mysterious savior figure. He is capable of arguing any point from any angle without fully believing in his own rhetoric, leading to deep ideological divides among the followers.
Follower of The Whatsitsname, Or The Creature
Rival of The Magician
Sultan serves as the personal driver for the wealthy magazine owner, Saidi. He acts as a quiet observer to his employer's secret dealings and eventually attempts to flee the violent capital to transport his employer's family.
Driver for Ali Baher Al-Saidi
Rescuer of Mahmoud Al-Sawadi
Nabu is a stray cat who inhabits the Bataween neighborhood. The feline forms a quiet bond with the strange entity occupying the abandoned buildings.
Animal Companion of The Whatsitsname, Or The Creature