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Summary
Chapter Fourteen
In the wake of Hell’s Fortnight and Haven-Hurst’s murder, the Maccabees begin changing their headquarters often. Now, Akiva, Dov, David Ben Ami’s brother Nahum, and Ben Moshe move to a basement apartment in Tel Aviv. One day Dov and Akiva are alone in the apartment and an aging Akiva who is full of regrets tells Dov not to be so serious. Dov is restless to go on raids just so that he has the chance of dying. Unbeknownst to the Maccabees, the British tracked the four to Tel Aviv, and they capture Akiva and Dov. The two are sentenced and placed in Acre jail. This sets off a firestorm among the Maccabee sympathizers.
The situation looks so bad for the British politically that they decide to be merciful. They offer Akiva a few years in Africa, and then he will be set free. Akiva refuses, maintaining that all the Maccabees have done is fight for their country and their rights. The British feel painted into a corner and sentence the two to hanging. In the process, they are creating two martyrs who are the face of the resistance against the British. British officers beg Akiva and Dov to reconsider as their hanging draws near because the situation looks so bad for them.
Chapter Fifteen
Karen goes to see Dov while he is in jail and urges him to talk to her. Dov cries when he takes Karen’s hand through the small slot in his cell door.
In front of the United Nations Special Committee on Palestine (UNSCOP), Yishuv leaders argue the Jewish case. The Palestinian Arabs refuse to argue theirs. The UN delegates will go back to Geneva and weigh the options. Barak will be in Geneva during the deliberations, so the family has a farewell dinner. Jordana is happy that Kitty will be leaving for America, but Ari is surprised to learn the news. Barak asks Ari to make sure Akiva is not hanged by the British.
Chapter Sixteen
Ari goes to see Ben Moshe and Nuhum Ben Ami. The men have a jailbreak and escape plan in place for Akiva and Dov, but there are weaknesses in it. Ari hates the two men, but he tells them he will help with the escape because he knows it will fail if he does not. Ari starts assembling the team that will save Akiva and Dov shortly before they are scheduled to be hung. With precision, the team carries out Ari’s plan and they are inside Acre jail in six minutes. The entire escape takes twenty-one minutes. Other prisoners are able to escape along with Akiva and Dov. All seventeen people in the rear-guard protecting Dov’s escape car die. Akiva is in a car with Ari moving in a different direction. Both men are shot, and Akiva dies. The men in the car are sworn to secrecy about Akiva’s death. Ari buries him and says a prayer for him. He promises that someday, everyone will know where he’s buried.
The UN vote is nearing, and there a deathly calm over Palestine. Everyone is waiting for news of their future.
Analysis
In Chapter Fourteen, Dov and Akiva appear alone together for the only time, and their similarities become even more apparent than previously in the novel. Both men have allowed their hatred to dictate their actions. Dov is restless, almost like a caged animal, reminiscent of a younger Akiva. He always wants to be doing something to distract his mind from what he is missing. If he is not working on forgeries, he wants to be out wreaking violence by carrying out a Maccabee mission. He has become more dangerous than ever because he doesn’t care if he dies. Akiva tells Dov not to be so serious and intense, revealing that at this point in his life, Akiva is regretting some of his more impetuous actions. All Akiva wants is to wake up and tend to his land and be with someone he loves. Akiva has none of these things. He could not possibly live in peace in the current tense climate of Palestine, but in addition to that, he has missed out on all the time he could have spent with loved ones. He has lived much of his adult life away from his land and with no comforts at all, even alienated from his closest family. Dov knows that there is some truth to what Akiva says because he misses Karen so much. As Maccabees, the two men have little to look forward to and seem resigned to the fact that they will either be killed or get caught and executed.
Karen again visits a man she loves with no idea what to expect when she arrives. Dov initially refuses to speak to Karen, but Akiva pleads with the boy to speak to her. He cannot watch Dov go to his grave maintaining a festering silence like the one standing between him and Barak. Dov has seemingly reverted back to being the cold and angry boy that Karen first met at Caraolos, but it is only a façade. He is in love with Karen and struggles to keep this cold exterior while she visits. He has made his decision to leave Gan Dafna and join the violence of the Maccabees. He will let Karen go to America for a better life even though it causes him so much pain. Dov cries for the first time that he can remember when Karen leaves, revealing the depth of his feelings for her. Similar to the day Karen said goodbye to her father at German train station as a little girl, Karen leaves Acre jail thinking she will never see Dov again.
Ari’s military skill and stoic confidence has afforded him great autonomy, even in his youth. He became a leader at Ha Mishmar while just a teenager, he has led Mossad Aliyah Bet missions, and even moved quickly into a leadership role even when he enlisted with the British Army. He is typically giving orders and not taking them. In Chapter Sixteen, he takes an order from Barak when his father tells Ari to save Akiva from being executed by the British, and then employs his leadership skills to make this reality. Ari knows that there is at best a fifty-fifty chance of success and that they must give every ounce of their effort and intensity in order to pull of the escape from Acre. Sure enough, seventeen men and women in the rear-guard covering Dov’s escape die in order to ensure the escape. Ari also understands that if the British know Akiva has died, they will claim it as a success in the propaganda war. Again, Ari is quick to take action and completely focused. His ability to do this even after being seriously wounded by a bullet to the thigh, shows Ari’s immense capacity for focus under pressure. Ari’s skill and effort pay off, as the Palmach has made the British look foolish by infiltrating their well-guarded jail and escaping Acre with two prized prisoners of war.
