Jerusalem

It is significant that the speaker’s father is wounded by a stone his friend throws, not a stone thrown by his enemy. It is never clear how the speaker’s father, as a boy, reacted to his friend in the moment. The speaker implies that her father simply got up, and he and the other boy remained friends. Later, this friend confesses he was trying to hit a bird with the stone. The speaker seems to take him at his word, showing that she, and her father, trusted the story and trusted the friend who told it.

This is emblematic of the way Shihab Nye is suggesting how all people of the Middle East should treat one another. After an act of violence, the injured party gets up, the one who perpetrated the violence admits their wrongdoing, and they go on being friends. This is not because each person is innocent but because both people have suffered. One was hit by the stone, but the other must have felt embarrassed or afraid to admit that they had hit their friend, which is why the friend does not confess until later. Even Shihab Nye’s language suggests the non-confrontational attitude she takes towards the friend in the story. She writes “a stone hit [my father] on the head” (Line 6) rather than “a boy threw a stone at my father.” In her language, the stone seems to come out of nowhere, and she does not attribute the violence to any person. Removing the blame makes it easier to focus on the wounded instead of on the perpetrator. The point is not to focus on the one who caused the fight but on healing.

As Shihab Nye notes, “each carries a tender spot: / something our lives forgot to give us” (Lines 16-17). This is a justification for why it is necessary to forgive. Life will forget to give every person all the things they need. Ergo, it is unnecessary for people to punish one another. Rather, those who understand that their suffering is mutual should seek to forgive one another and move on.

Looking at the instance of the boy who threw the stone, it is unclear why he does so. It may have been an act of unkindness, but it is also possible that it was an act of necessity. People who live in more agricultural communities often have to battle with birds to protect their crops, and pear trees and olive trees are constantly under attack from birds. The boy is already doing battle to protect his food-source in a universal quest for survival. It is also certainly a reference to Palestinians throwing rocks at Israeli soldiers, as has often happened in lopsided skirmishes across territorial lines.

The father, caught in the crossfire, understands this. He knows this struggle is part of life. Rather than bemoan his fate or seek vengeance, he looks at the pears, and “The pears are not crying” (Line 12). Nature does not feel sorry for itself or seek retribution. It just goes on, so the father goes on, even though he has a “tender spot” (Line 8). It makes him kinder instead of making him cruel. This is the benefit of forgiving others.