# III: Via Dolorosa explained — The Book of Khalid

> Chapter companion for The Book of Khalid by Ameen Rihani.

## What happens

Khalid and Shakib are smuggled out of Beirut, enduring the hardships of steerage passage to America. Khalid's initial enthusiasm wanes as he experiences a prophetic dream, pensive moods, and a tearful moment, signaling a shift in his character.

## Themes in this chapter

### East-West Clash

The contrast between the dream of a Western paradise and the harsh reality of the voyage, and Khalid's nostalgic pull toward the East.

### Spiritual Quest

Khalid's dream of being crowned king in a desert city hints at a deeper spiritual calling and prefigures his later journey.

### Alienation and Identity

Khalid's pensive mood and tear reflect a growing sense of displacement and inner conflict as he leaves his homeland.

## Character check-ins

### Khalid

Shows a new pensive and emotional side, dreaming of kingship and feeling nostalgia for Baalbek.

### Shakib

Observes Khalid's transformation, noting his first dream, pensive mood, and tear.

### Najma

Mentioned as the cousin whom a seasick Syrian girl resembles, evoking Khalid's tear.

## Key lines

> In their baggy, lapping trousers and crimson caps, each carrying a bundle and a rug under his arm, Shakib and Khalid are smuggled through the port of Beirut at night, and safely rowed to the steamer.

Khalid and Shakib, dressed in traditional attire, are secretly taken to a ship from Beirut at night.

_Describes their clandestine departure._

> And the boatmen and officials of the Ottoman Empire can better read a gold piece than a passport.

Ottoman officials are more easily persuaded by bribery than by official documents.

_Highlights corruption in the Ottoman Empire._

> In the heart of this, pointing to the lute, and in the heart of me, there be more poetry than in that book with which you would kill me.

Khalid believes his lute and his own soul contain more poetry than the book Shakib reads.

_Shows Khalid's preference for intuitive art over formal literature._

> I am thinking of the paper-boats which I used to sail down the stream in Baalbek, and that makes me sad.

Khalid is saddened by memories of his childhood in Baalbek.

_Reveals his nostalgia and inner turmoil._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_book_of_khalid_se/chapters/iii-via-dolorosa
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_book_of_khalid_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_book_of_khalid_se/chapters