Between Two Kingdoms

The motifs of travel and home support Between Two Kingdom’s theme of living with uncertainty. The idea of kingdoms is introduced into the narrative through the title but also through Suleika’s history of moving and travel. Having established the back-and-forth of travel early in the book, the ideas and language of travel amplify the gravity of Suleika’s illness. Jaouad notes, “I was crossing over into a new land. And with every step I was feeling less like Suleika” (67). The motif grows in significance at the beginning of Part 2 when Jaouad introduces Sontag’s quote: “Everyone who is born holds dual citizenship, in the kingdom of the well and in the kingdom of the sick” (199). This quote expands the space between the two as an inevitability and increases the ties between her travel and health in-betweens. A few lines later, she applies the language of kingdoms and citizenship to her situation: “It is where I find myself now, on the threshold between an old familiar state and an unknown future. […] I’m left with the question of how to repatriate myself to the kingdom of the well, and whether I ever fully can” (200). Applying the language of citizenship reiterates the complexity of health and wellness.