The Symbol of Haji and the Birds: Collective Action and Legacy
What Is the Symbol of Haji and the Birds?
“Haji and the Birds” is a family fable passed down through generations of Mona Hanna-Attisha’s Iraqi-Chaldean family. In the story, a young man named Haji falls from a date palm tree and breaks his leg. After laughing at a tiny bird that offers to help, hundreds of birds gather, each taking hold of his dishdasha, hair, and toes. Together they lift him and fly him to a Baghdad hospital, where a kind doctor heals his leg.
The fable first appears in the book when Mona’s daughters, Nina and Layla, ask for a bedtime story (Chapter 4). It reappears in the epilogue (Chapter 29), where Mona overhears her mother telling the story to the girls. Each family member tells the fable differently, emphasizing different values. The story is rooted in real life: Mona’s grandfather, also called Haji, was that young man, and the fable reflects his character and the support he received from his community.
Where the Symbol Recurs and How Its Meaning Changes
The fable recurs three times in the memoir, each version highlighting a distinct lesson:
| Occurrence | Teller | Emphasis | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chapter 4 (pages 65‑66) | Mona | Haji’s life story—his factory fire, employees’ generosity, his humanism. The birds are not described in detail; instead, Mona uses the fable to introduce her grandfather’s ideals: equality, respect, and helping others. | The fable becomes a foundation for Mona’s own activism: her belief that individual care and collective action can overcome systemic neglect. |
| Epilogue (Chapter 29) | Mona’s mother (“Bebe”) | The sensory details of the garden, Baghdad’s beauty, and the magic of the birds lifting Haji. Bebe emphasizes that Haji loved all people and creatures and that the story must be passed down. | The fable represents cultural memory and the transmission of values across generations. It is a source of strength and identity for the family. |
| Epilogue (shortly after) | Mona’s brother (when telling his sons) | Haji’s skepticism that one tiny bird can help—until he sees the power of all the birds working together. | A direct metaphor for community organizing: individuals may feel powerless alone, but when united they can achieve the impossible. |
| Epilogue (Mona’s own version) | Mona | The hospital and the lady doctor. She adds a reminder that Haji treated everyone with respect and received the same in return. | The fable becomes a prescription for how to live: simple acts of kindness generate reciprocity and security. It is also a nod to Mona’s own role as a female doctor. |
Each telling adapts the fable to the listener’s age and the teller’s perspective, but the core message of collective uplift remains constant.
Connection to Characters and Themes
Mona Hanna-Attisha embodies the fable’s lesson. As a pediatrician fighting the Flint water crisis, she was initially one person raising an alarm. But like the birds, she gathered allies—Elin Betanzo, Marc Edwards, Jenny LaChance, LeeAnne Walters—who each contributed their expertise. The [[doctors and scientists]] page can be linked for more details. Mona also echoes Haji’s humanism by treating Flint families with respect and fighting against government betrayal (see [[government betrayal theme]]).
Haji (the grandfather) is the moral anchor of the memoir. His life story demonstrates the fable in practice: when his perfume factory burned, his employees offered money and encouragement, allowing him to rebuild. This real-life event mirrors the fable’s birds lifting Haji. Mona connects this to the theme of [[resilience]]—communities can overcome trauma through mutual aid.
The themes of [[hope]] and [[activism]] are woven throughout. The fable proves that even when a situation seems hopeless (one tiny bird, one doctor against a water crisis), collective effort creates change. The epilogue ends with Mona feeling Haji’s presence “lifting me up,” just as the birds lifted Haji. This ties directly to the book’s subtitle: A Story of Crisis, Resistance, and Hope in an American City.
[[Environmental injustice]] is also present. The fable’s setting in Baghdad—a city that was once a center of civilization but later torn by war—parallels Flint, a once-thriving industrial city now poisoned by its own government. Both places required outside help and community solidarity to heal.
Study Questions and Answers
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How does the fable of Haji and the Birds illustrate the importance of collective action in the fight for environmental justice?
Answer: In the fable, one bird cannot lift Haji, but hundreds together succeed. This mirrors how the Flint water crisis was only exposed and addressed when a coalition of scientists, doctors, community leaders, and activists worked together. Mona Hanna-Attisha’s research alone might have been ignored, but alongside evidence from Virginia Tech researchers and pressure from residents, the crisis gained national attention. The fable teaches that no individual is strong enough to overcome systemic injustice; solidarity is essential. -
Why does Mona’s brother emphasize Haji’s skepticism in his version of the story, and what does that reveal about the theme of hope?
Answer: Haji laughs at the tiny bird because he doubts it can help. This skepticism represents the feeling of powerlessness many people face when confronting large problems. The brother’s emphasis shows that hope is not naive; it must be proven through action. When the birds demonstrate their combined strength, Haji’s doubt gives way to trust. Similarly, in Flint, residents and doctors initially trusted official statements, but after seeing evidence, they turned skepticism into determined action. -
How does the fable serve as a tool for passing down values across generations?
Answer: Each family member tells the story differently, adapting it to their listeners. Bebe focuses on Baghdad’s beauty to keep her grandchildren connected to their heritage. Mona adds the lady doctor to model female empowerment for her daughters. By telling and retelling the fable, the family preserves Haji’s values of generosity, respect, and community. This mirrors how oral tradition can sustain cultural identity and moral lessons more effectively than written rules. -
In what way does the fable connect the personal trauma of Mona’s spinal injury (from the prologue) to the collective trauma of Flint?
Answer: In the prologue, Mona survives a car crash that breaks her jaw and spine. Years later, she comforts a child in similar pain. Her personal injury taught her that recovery requires both medical care and emotional support. The fable of Haji and the birds reinforces this: Haji is physically broken but is healed by the combined effort of the birds and a doctor. Flint’s children, poisoned by lead, also need a community of caregivers—doctors, nutritionists, early educators, and advocates—to “lift” them toward health. The fable therefore connects individual resilience to communal responsibility.