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See Exodus (disambiguation) for other meanings of the word.
Exodus is a novel written in 1958 by American novelist Leon Uris about the founding of the state of Israel.
The story unfolds with the protagonist, Ari Ben Canaan, hatching a plot to transport Jewish refugees from a British detention camp in Cyprus to Palestine. The operation is carried out under the auspices of the Mossad Aliyah Bet, translated (in the book) as "organisation for illegal immigration". The book then goes on to trace the histories of the various main characters and the ties their personal lives to the birth of the new Jewish state.
Main Characters
The main strength of the book is its vivid description of different people and the conflicts in their lives.
Ari Ben Canaan
The character around whom the story is woven, Ben Canaan was born and raised on a kibbutz, but goes on to become one of the mainstays of the Israeli freedom movement. He is extremely creative in devising techniques to bring into Palestine Jews from all over the world - more people than allowed by the British quota. This is his main occupation until Israel gains freedom, when he joins the Israeli army and is assigned to the Negev desert. He is often boastful about his good looks and sees himself as part of a new breed of Jew who will not 'turn the other cheek'.
Katherine "Kitty" Fremont
An American nurse, she meets Ari Ben Canaan in Cyprus. On a trip to the detention camp in Cyprus, she notices and develops a maternal attachment toward Karen Hansen Clement, a Polish girl. This attachment and her attraction toward Ben Canaan result in her getting involved in the freedom struggle. She eventually becomes irritated at Ari's lack of emotion towards violent deaths.
Bruce Sutherland
A British military officer (rank of brigadier) whose mother was Jewish. He is assigned to the detention camps in Cyprus and like many British aristocrats has a stifling, formal manner of speech. Internally, he is torn between his sympathies with the fellow Jews he watches over and his duties as a British officer. He is dismissed from the army after 300 youths led by Ari Ban Canaan manage to flee to Palestine; despite this he moves to Palestine and becomes good friends with Ben Canaan.
Karen Hansen Clement
A Polish teenaged girl who was brought up for a while by foster parents in Denmark. She was sent there by her family when Hitler invaded Poland. Her family were subsequently interned in concentration camps, where most of them met their end. Karen does meet her father again, after Israel gain independence, but he is a broken man and the experience leaves her unnerved and shattered. Despite this, she maintains her gentle and dainty personality. In Cyprus, we see the beginnings of a romance between her and Dov Landau, a survivor of the Warsaw ghetto and of Auschwitz.
Dov Landau
A quiet, introverted teenaged boy who lost his entire family to the Holocaust, Dov has not merely survived the horrors of ghetto life in Warsaw and of concentration camp in Auschwitz, but has learnt from them to turn circumstances to his advantage. A master forger, he narrowly escapes the gas chamber by displaying to the camp doctor his talent. The doctor is not able to tell the difference between his own signature and the five copies that Dov makes. He later joins the Maccabees, a Jewish terrorist organisation that is headed by Ari's paternal uncle. Karen is the only person for whom he feels anything.
Some interesting peripheral characters
Some of these characters add flesh and substance to the narration, making it more convincing.
Jordana Ben Canaan
Ari's fiery younger sister, she is initally hostile toward Kitty, believing that American women are no good for anything other than dressing up prettily. She changes her opinion when Kitty saves Ari's life.
A film based on the novel was directed by Otto Preminger in 1960.
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