Dr. Ziad: The Unyielding Anchor of Homs’s Hospital

Overview

Dr. Ziad is the head surgeon and acting hospital director in besieged Homs. A retired endocrinologist who returned to service when the revolution began, he becomes the steady hand guiding a crumbling medical facility. More than a colleague, he functions as a father figure to protagonist Salama, offering discipline, compassion, and the rare permission to hope. His quiet authority and relentless dedication make him one of the novel’s most grounding presences.

Plot Role

Dr. Ziad appears early in the story as the senior figure who manages the constant flow of wounded. He alerts Salama to incoming casualties, assigns her impossible surgeries, and forces her to rest when she collapses. He grants photographer Kenan permission to document the hospital, recognizing the value of bearing witness. Midway through the novel, he delivers two crushing blows: he informs Salama that her brother Hamza is alive in Sednaya Prison and that her father has died. Later, he presides over Salama and Kenan’s wedding, officiating a brief ceremony that becomes a defiant act of joy amid war.

When government soldiers storm the hospital, Dr. Ziad leads the Free Syrian Army resistance that saves Salama from a sexual assault and throat-slashing. After a bomb destroys the building, he emerges carrying the bodies of two premature infants and vows to build underground hospitals. In the final chapters, he approves the evacuation of patients and bids Salama farewell as she prepares to leave Syria.

Motivations and Traits

Dr. Ziad’s primary motivation is duty. He could have remained in Lebanon with his family, but he chose to stay in Homs because the hospital needed him. He treats the wounded without regard for his own safety or comfort. His traits include:

Compassion: He asks Salama about her well-being, notices when she is breaking down, and sends her home to rest.
Authority: He commands the chaotic emergency room with a calm voice, assigning roles and making triage decisions.
Resilience: Despite the death of countless patients and the destruction of his hospital, he immediately plans to rebuild underground.
Fatherly warmth: He smiles warmly at Salama, congratulates her on her marriage, and treats her with the tenderness of a parent.

These traits are shown through actions: he never hesitates to deliver hard news, he shares his office for private moments, and he fights alongside the FSA to protect his staff.

Chronological Arc

Dr. Ziad’s arc moves from authority figure to mentor to embodiment of defiance.

Introduction: He is the overworked head surgeon, his salt-and-pepper hair disheveled, his eyes wrinkled from exhaustion. He alerts Salama to the Al-Ghouta bombing and directs triage.
Mentorship: After two young girls are killed by snipers, he sends Salama home, reminding her to care for herself. When she collapses from exhaustion, he forces her to rest. He praises her quick thinking after the surgery on Lama.
Bearer of tragedy: He reveals Hamza’s survival in Sednaya and Baba’s death, showing that even the bearer of dire news must remain composed.
Marriage officiant: He conducts the wedding ceremony, offering a moment of normalcy and happiness. He gives the couple his office for privacy.
Crisis leadership: During the sarin gas attack, he confirms the agent and directs treatment. When the regime forces invade, he organizes the resistance.
Final stand: After the hospital is bombed, he emerges with dead infants in his arms and vows to continue underground. He supports Salama’s decision to leave.
Farewell: He remains in Homs, representing those who choose to stay and fight despite the cost.

Relationships

With Salama: The core relationship. He is her mentor, taskmaster, and surrogate father. He pushes her to perform beyond her training, yet also offers emotional shelter. In the epilogue, Salama does not mention him by name, but his influence is evident in her ability to heal others and persist.

With Kenan: Dr. Ziad grants Kenan access to the hospital, recognizing the importance of documenting the war. He trusts Kenan enough to allow him near patients and later officiates his marriage.

With the hospital staff: He leads by example, performing surgeries, coordinating supplies, and never asking anyone to do what he would not do himself.

With the FSA: He coordinates with the Free Syrian Army to receive intelligence and, when attacked, fights alongside them to defend the hospital.

Key Decisions and Consequences

Sending his family to Lebanon: This allows him to focus entirely on the hospital, but it also isolates him, making the hospital his sole home.
Staying in Homs: He chooses to remain when he could have left. This decision costs him his retirement and exposes him to constant trauma, but it saves countless lives.
Forcing Salama to rest: By sending her home after breakdowns, he preserves her mental health enough for her to continue working and eventually escape.
Officiating the wedding: He risks using hospital time for a personal ceremony, but the act boosts morale and gives Salama and Kenan a memory of joy.
Evacuating the hospital: When Salama convinces him the hospital is no longer safe, he authorizes the evacuation, saving many patients minutes before a bomb destroys the building.
Vowing to build underground hospitals: After the bombing, he refuses to give up. This decision ensures that medical care will continue even under siege.

Theme and Symbol Connections

Survival vs Living: Dr. Ziad represents the choice to live fully despite constant danger. He does not merely survive; he actively heals, marries, and plans for the future. His underground hospital is a literal and metaphorical continuation of life.
Hope and Resilience: His unwavering commitment, even after the hospital’s destruction, embodies the novel’s central message that hope persists as long as people keep fighting.
Trauma and Guilt: He carries the weight of every patient he could not save. The two dead infants he cradles are a haunting symbol of this burden.
Sacrifice and Duty: He sacrifices family, comfort, and safety for the duty of healing. His decision to stay is the novel’s purest example of selfless duty.
Resistance and Documentation: By allowing Kenan to film, Dr. Ziad endorses the act of bearing witness as a form of resistance. The hospital itself becomes a site of both medical and documentary defiance.

Questions and Answers

1. Why did Dr. Ziad stay in Homs instead of leaving with his family? He sent his family to Lebanon for safety but chose to remain because the hospital had no other senior surgeon. The hospital became his home and his mission, and he felt an obligation to serve the wounded of Homs.

2. What was Dr. Ziad’s professional background before the war? He was an endocrinologist with a private practice who was easing into retirement. When the unrest began, he took over as head surgeon after his predecessor died in a raid.

3. How does Dr. Ziad treat Salama during her lowest moments? He notices when she is overwrought and sends her home to rest, telling her she must care for herself. He also praises her medical achievements, acknowledges her trauma, and officiates her wedding, showing that he sees her as more than a worker—he treats her like family.

4. What happens to Dr. Ziad after the hospital is bombed? He emerges from the rubble carrying the bodies of two dead premature infants. He is devastated but immediately vows to build underground hospitals so that medical care can continue despite the regime’s attacks. He remains in Homs, still working.

5. What does Dr. Ziad symbolize in the novel? He symbolizes unwavering duty and resilience. He is the anchor who refuses to abandon his post, the mentor who nurtures the next generation of healers, and the proof that hope and resistance can coexist with grief. His underground hospital plan mirrors the lemon tree in the epilogue: life finds a way to grow even through concrete and rubble.

To explore more about the novel’s themes of endurance and moral choice, see the main book page, the ending explained, or the themes section.