Characters As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow Zoulfa Katouh

Hamza: The Missing Brother Who Drives a Promise

Overview

Hamza is the absent yet central brother of Salama in As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow. Though he appears only in memories and hallucinations, his arrest by the regime at the start of the war propels the entire plot. He made Salama swear to get his pregnant wife Layla out of Syria, and this promise becomes the moral compass that guides every difficult choice Salama makes. Hamza represents everything the war destroys—family, security, and the future—while also embodying the love and duty that Salama fights to honor.

Plot Role

Hamza’s capture occurs before the novel opens, but his presence is felt in every chapter. He is the reason Salama refuses to leave Homs at first, because she feels bound to the hospital where he would have worked as a surgeon. He is also the reason she ultimately decides to flee: she must fulfill her vow to protect Layla. The main page of the novel notes how the entire narrative hangs on Salama’s internal conflict between staying to heal and leaving to save her sister-in-law. Hamza is the invisible third character in that conflict—his face appears in Khawf’s hallucinations, twisted into accusations, and his voice pleads from Sednaya Prison when news arrives that he is still alive.

Motivations and Traits Shown through Actions

In the flashback to his wedding, Hamza is shown as openly affectionate and proud of Layla, kissing her knuckles and declaring he will “show her off.” This moment, preserved in Salama’s memory, reveals a man who loved deeply and without reservation. His decision to attend protests—despite the danger—demonstrates a commitment to freedom and justice. He is idealistic, brave, and fiercely protective. The promise he extracts from Salama (“You would save Layla. And yourself.”) underscores his priority: family survival above all. Even in the apparition, his tone is bruising but not cruel; he pushes Salama not out of anger but out of desperation for his wife’s safety.

Chronological Arc

  • Pre‑novel: Hamza marries Layla, attends protests, and is arrested by the regime along with his father. His mother is killed in a bombing.
  • During the novel: Hamza exists only in memory and as a tool of Khawf’s manipulation. Salama dreams of him, Khawf conjures his apparition to reinforce the promise, and she pleads for his release at a prison.
  • Chapter 18 (outline): Dr. Ziad reveals Hamza is alive in Sednaya Prison and that Baba has died. This news shatters Salama but also hardens her resolve to leave.
  • Epilogue: In Toronto, Salama searches daily for news of Hamza on social media, praying he has become a martyr. His fate remains unknown, but his memory lives on in the lemon tree she plants and in the activism she continues with Kenan.

Relationships

With Salama: He is her older brother, her protector before the war, and the person who entrusted her with Layla’s life. Their bond is one of deep trust; Salama feels she failed him by not being able to save their mother and by hesitating to leave Syria. The promise she made to him is both a burden and a source of strength.

With Layla: Hamza’s love for Layla is shown in the wedding memory and in the way Salama describes his devotion. He gifted her a gold necklace and always had eyes only for her. Layla’s grief is hidden behind a brave face, but her determination to leave Syria mirrors the promise Hamza extracted from Salama. After Layla’s death (revealed as a hallucination in chapter 29), Salama’s quest to save her becomes even more poignant—she was trying to save a ghost for a brother who might never return.

With his parents: Hamza was the son who followed their father to protests, continuing the family’s tradition of resistance. Baba’s death in prison further compounds the loss.

Key Decisions and Consequences

Decision to protest: Hamza chose to join the revolution, leading to his arrest. This decision removed the family’s male protector and forced Salama to take on the role of provider and surgeon.

Decision to extract the promise: Before his capture, he made Salama swear to get Layla out of Syria. This promise becomes the central driver of Salama’s actions—she negotiates with a smuggler, sells valuables, and even endangers a patient (Samar) to afford the boat. The consequence is that Salama carries immense guilt for the compromises she makes along the way, but it ultimately gets Layla (albeit as a hallucination) and herself to the boat.

Consequences of his absence: The hospital loses its designated surgeon, layering additional trauma onto Salama. Layla becomes a political prisoner of sorts, trapped in Homs. The family’s story becomes one of sacrifice—Hamza gives up his freedom so that Layla might have a future, even if he never sees it.

Theme/Symbol Connections

Hamza connects directly to multiple themes explored on the Survival vs. Living and Hope and Resilience pages. He embodies the idea that freedom is worth dying for, a core tenet of Resistance and Documentation. His capture is a result of the regime’s brutality, linking to Trauma and Guilt. The promise he made represents Sacrifice and Duty—Salama’s entire journey is an extension of his love. Symbolically, the lemon tree that grows at the end of the novel is planted in his memory; as long as it grows, hope for Hamza’s soul and for Syria endures. The epigraph by Nizar Qabbani (”Every lemon will bring forth a child and the lemons will never die out”) echoes through his unborn child and the continuation of his name through Salama’s activism.

Questions and Answers

  1. Why is Hamza important to the plot even though he never appears in person?
    Hamza’s arrest is the inciting event that forces Salama to choose between staying to heal and fleeing to protect Layla. His promise drives every major decision she makes, from refusing to leave early to eventually selling everything for boat passage.

  2. What promise did Hamza extract from Salama?
    He made her swear to get his pregnant wife Layla out of Syria and to save herself. The promise is repeated in Khawf’s hallucinations and in Salama’s own reflections, acting as her moral anchor.

  3. What happened to Hamza in the story?
    He was arrested by the regime at a protest along with his father. Midway through the novel, Dr. Ziad reveals he is being held in Sednaya Prison. His ultimate fate is left unknown; in the epilogue, Salama searches for his name among released prisoners and prays he died a martyr.

  4. How does Hamza appear in the narrative?
    He appears through memories (the wedding, the day of his arrest) and as an apparition conjured by Khawf to manipulate Salama. These appearances are always painful reminders of her obligation and loss.

  5. How does Hamza connect to the lemon tree symbol?
    The lemon tree Salama grows in Toronto is a direct tribute to him. It represents the endurance of his memory and the hope that his sacrifice was not in vain. The epigraph’s promise that “lemons will never die out” mirrors Salama’s hope that Hamza’s legacy—through Layla, their child, and the revolution—will live on.

For further analysis of the novel’s ending and Hamza’s role in it, see the ending explained page. For thematic connections to duty and sacrifice, visit Sacrifice and Duty. More discussion questions can be found on the questions and answers page.