Characters As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow Zoulfa Katouh

Layla: Symbol of Guilt, Love, and Resilience in As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow

Overview

Layla is Salama’s pregnant sister-in-law and the wife of Salama’s brother Hamza. She is killed by a regime sniper early in the Syrian civil war, before the novel’s main timeline. After her death, Salama hallucinates Layla as a living presence, interacting with her daily. This hallucination represents Salama’s profound guilt over breaking her promise to Hamza to get Layla to safety, as well as her deep love for the family she lost. Layla is not a physical character after the first few months of the story—instead, she functions as a psychological anchor that forces Salama to confront trauma, hope, and the decision to flee Syria.

Plot Role

Layla’s primary role is to motivate Salama’s central conflict: the choice between staying to treat the wounded or escaping with Layla to Germany. The promise Salama made to Hamza—to get his pregnant wife out of Syria—drives the entire plot. Layla (as a hallucination) echoes this promise, urging Salama to act. At the same time, the real Layla’s own fierce desire to leave, expressed before her death, becomes the moral compass Salama cannot ignore. When Kenan reveals Layla’s death in Chapter 28, the plot pivots from denial to acceptance, forcing Salama to grieve and finally commit to escaping for herself.

Motivations and Traits

Explicit facts from the novel:

  • Hope and defiance: Layla argues that “the revolution is about reclaiming our lives” and uses a cancer metaphor to explain that painful change is necessary for freedom. She tells Salama, “Don’t you think the Syrian dictatorship is more like a cancer?” (Chapter 4).
  • Nurturing and artistic: She braids Salama’s hair, dreams of painting Norway’s unique blue hue, and names her unborn daughter Salama. Her art (a seascape) becomes a symbol of imagination persisting through war.
  • Courage after trauma: After surviving a sniper attack herself (Chapter 13), she becomes “adamant about leaving Syria,” showing that direct experience of violence solidified her will to escape.
  • Self-awareness as a hallucination: Though the reader only learns this retrospectively, Layla’s later conversations carry an eerie, knowing quality—she looks at Salama “as if she has one foot in the afterlife” (Chapter 14), which can be interpreted as foreshadowing her true status.

Interpretation: Layla embodies the version of Salama’s conscience that chooses life and hope. She is the counterweight to Khawf (fear), and her persistence in Salama’s mind reflects Salama’s own buried desire to survive, not just exist.

Chronological Arc

  1. Before the novel: Layla lives with Hamza and Salama, a happy newlywed and aspiring painter. After the revolution begins, Hamza is arrested, and Layla’s parents die.
  2. Early chapters (real Layla): Chapters 1–4 show genuine interactions: Layla argues for leaving, comforts Salama, shares the cancer metaphor, and reveals she will name her baby Salama. She survives a sniper attack in October, which solidifies her wish to flee.
  3. Layla’s death (off-page): Between Chapter 4 and Chapter 28, Layla is killed by a sniper. Salama represses this memory, and Layla continues to appear as a hallucination.
  4. Hallucination period (Chapters 5–28): Salama interacts with Layla daily. Layla encourages her romance with Kenan, pushes her to seek joy, and reassures her that leaving Syria is right. Key hallucination scenes: Layla’s reaction to Kenan’s identity (Chapter 9), the memory of Layla and Hamza’s wedding (Chapter 14), and the “I promise to look for joy” scene (Chapter 14). The hallucination is so vivid that Salama prepares to bring Layla on the boat.
  5. Reveal and grief (Chapters 28–29): Kenan gently tells Salama that Layla is not real. Salama recalls the burial—Layla died from a sniper’s bullet months ago. She finally grieves and begins to heal.
  6. Post-reveal: Layla reappears only in memories and the epilogue, where Salama prays that Layla and Hamza are together in heaven.

Relationships

  • With Salama: Layla is Salama’s sister-in-law and closest confidante. Their bond is that of sisters. After her death, the hallucination allows Salama to continue the relationship, but it also traps her in denial. Kenan calls Layla “a hallucination” (Chapter 28), and Salama’s acceptance of this truth is a turning point.
  • With Hamza: Layla’s love for Hamza is presented through the wedding memory and her refusal to leave him initially. She only agrees to flee because of their child.
  • With Kenan: Layla never meets Kenan in reality, but the hallucination “meets” him when Salama brings him home. Kenan sees Salama talking to empty air, and his gentle intervention helps Salama face reality. This shows that Kenan’s love is grounded in truth, not delusion.

Key Decisions and Consequences

Layla’s decision to leave Syria after the sniper attack (Chapter 13): This is a turning point. Her real motivation—survival of her baby—leads to the plan to escape. Consequence: She dies before she can board the boat, leaving Salama with unbearable guilt.

Salama’s decision to hallucinate Layla: Rather than grieve, Salama unconsciously creates a coping mechanism. Consequence: This delusion protects her from trauma but delays her ability to move forward. It also endangers her (she believes Layla is coming on the boat).

Salama’s decision to accept Layla’s death (Chapter 29): With Kenan’s support, she allows herself to weep. Consequence: It frees her to truly want to live—not just survive. She later plants a lemon tree in Toronto, a symbol of Layla’s spirit.

Theme/Symbol Connections

  • Survival vs. Living: Layla articulates this theme directly: “Life is more than survival” (Chapter 1). She pushes Salama to find love and joy even in Homs. The hallucination embodies Salama’s struggle to choose living over mere existing. Read more about Survival vs. Living.
  • Hope and Resilience: Layla’s faith in a better future, despite her own death, is symbolized by the lemon tree. Qabbani’s epigraph (“Every lemon will bring forth a child”) connects Layla’s unborn daughter to generational hope. Salama’s final lemon tree grows because of Layla’s legacy. Explore Hope and Resilience.
  • Trauma and Guilt: Layla’s hallucination is the direct expression of Salama’s PTSD and survivor’s guilt. She cannot forgive herself for failing to protect Layla. The hallucination’s disappearance after acceptance mirrors the beginning of healing. Learn about Trauma and Guilt.
  • Sacrifice and Duty: Layla’s existence (both real and imagined) reminds Salama of her duty to Hamza. Salama sacrifices her own well-being to care for Layla, and later sacrifices her pride to barter for the boat. See Sacrifice and Duty.
  • Resistance and Documentation: While Layla herself is not a documentarian, her art—painting—is a form of resistance. She captures beauty that the regime tries to erase. Salama later documents Syrian stories in memory of Layla. Discover Resistance and Documentation.

Key Questions and Answers

1. Why does Salama hallucinate Layla after her death?

Salama suffered a head injury during the bombing that killed her mother, which triggers PTSD-induced hallucinations. More importantly, she made a promise to her brother Hamza to get Layla out of Syria. After Layla dies before they can escape, Salama’s guilt and love combine to create a coping mechanism: a hallucinatory Layla who still needs her protection. The hallucination allows Salama to continue her mission and avoid confronting the trauma of failure.

2. What does Layla’s cancer metaphor reveal about her view of the revolution?

Layla compares the Syrian dictatorship to cancer and the revolution to necessary surgery. She says removal is risky but better than submitting to the disease. This metaphor reveals her belief that the uprising, despite its pain and casualties, is a life-saving intervention. It also shows her intellectual and compassionate nature—she frames horror in terms Salama, a pharmacist, can understand.

3. Is Layla aware that she is a hallucination?

The novel does not explicitly state that the hallucinated Layla knows she is not real. However, several scenes suggest a eerie awareness. For example, after the reveal, Layla’s earlier words—“I have one foot in the afterlife”—can be interpreted as hinting at her true status. This ambiguity reflects Salama’s subconscious knowledge that Layla is gone; she just refuses to accept it until Kenan forces the truth.

4. How does Layla’s death affect Salama’s decision to flee Syria?

Layla’s death is the catalyst for Salama’s eventual escape. While alive, Layla argued they must leave. After her death, the hallucination continues that argument. When Salama finally accepts Layla is dead, she realizes she is not escaping for Layla but for herself. The guilt transforms into a commitment to live the life Layla wanted for her. In the epilogue, Salama’s lemon tree represents that reclaimed future.

5. What is the significance of Layla naming her unborn daughter Salama?

Layla’s choice to name her baby after Salama shows their deep sisterly bond and Layla’s trust. It ensures that even if Salama survives and Layla does not, the name will carry on. Symbolically, the baby Salama never survives (since Layla dies mid-pregnancy). However, the name echoes in the epilogue when Salama plants a lemon tree—the “child” of the epigraph’s promise. Layla’s act of naming binds Salama to hope, resilience, and the next generation.

Conclusion

Layla is more than a character; she is the emotional and symbolic heart of As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow. As a real person, she is a hopeful artist and courageous survivor. As a hallucination, she embodies the guilt and love that haunt Salama. Her death forces Salama to confront trauma, and her memory ultimately propels Salama toward a life worth living. Through Layla, Zoulfa Katouh explores how the dead influence the living, and how love—even when it manifests as a ghost—can be a source of strength. For a full understanding of Layla’s impact, explore the novel’s overview and ending explained.