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Motifs are recurring structures, contrasts, or literary devices that can help to develop and inform the text’s major themes.
Music
Music appears throughout the book, often in times of turmoil and stress, and brings a sense of normalcy to children and adults alike. The survivors of the concentration camps of World War II have witnessed unspeakable violence and cruelty. One of the first things Mossad agent Shimshon Bar Dror does when he arrives at Auschwitz after liberation is set up a school and an orchestra. By doing so, he brings something beautiful to a place that has been filled with unimaginable horror. This improves the mental state of the survivors as they wait to leave the camps. Similarly, music is a regular part of life for children living in Gan Dafna, and this continues even when they are forced into bunkers after the camp is attacked. Music brings Ari respite as well. Though he is a stoic and serious person who often engages in violence and risky rescue missions, he is drawn to the beauty and calm of music. He brings both Dafna and Kitty to see musical performances when they are out together, always against the backdrop of unrest. Music offers characters a universal glimpse of beauty, safety, and freedom.
Land
Barak and Akiva immediately set about working the land of Palestine when they arrive, and the agricultural success of the settlements remains important to both of them throughout their lives. The land also becomes a focus for the sabra, or people born in Palestine. It is a physical representation of hope for the future, and the lives of many Palestinian Jewish people eventually revolve around the kibbutz. They proudly expend all of their physical and mental energy painstakingly reclaiming swamp land and bringing life to a place that once looked barren. This results in a kind of mystical connection to the land for the Israelis. Their collective hatred of life in ghettos, a system that prescribed for them a place to live, and their need for freedom and self-reliance unite them in their work. As he nears the end of his life, Akiva asks Ari about his beloved kibbutz Shoshana. After a lifetime away, he still yearns for his land. Even after they take dramatically different directions, Barak and Akiva always share the wish to have been able to spend their lives quietly tending their fields.
The Bible
While most of the characters are not overtly religious, they are familiar with the Bible and often use biblical references to name their missions and to communicate with each other. Both the ship on which three hundred children escape to Palestine and the title of the novel reference a book of the Bible. In the Old Testament, Exodus tells the story of the Jewish people escaping their bondage in Egypt. When trying to secure passage for the boat Exodus from the oppressive British forces, Ari references Moses’s defiant demand to the Egyptian pharaoh to “let my people go.” Both the Jewish people of ancient times and the passengers of Exodus risk their lives for the promise of freedom from their bondage. David dubs the Exodus mission Operation Gideon, after the three hundred soldiers that Gideon chooses to defeat the Midianites in the Bible. The Old Testament is, in fact, the impetus for Barak and Akiva’s journey to Palestine in the late nineteenth century. Their father Simon is killed during a pogrom trying to protect the Torah, the first five books of the Bible, and the brothers must flee Russia when Akiva avenges his unjust death. The books and verses of the Bible create a deep and unifying connection between all the Jewish immigrants who come to Palestine from different cultures all over the world.
