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1-Page Summary of Exodus

Overall Summary

Exodus is a novel that explores themes of faith, duty, sacrifice, and freedom through the tale of the creation of Israel. It begins in Cyprus in 1946 with Mark Parker meeting his childhood friend Kitty Fremont. Although he says he’s there on holiday, British soldiers are concerned about him documenting them confining Jews to refugee camps so that they cannot travel to Palestine. Elsewhere David Ben Ami and Ari Ben Canaan discuss a plan to illegally move 300 Jewish children to Palestine by using a ship called Exodus. When Ari meets Mark he also meets Kitty who shares an instant attraction with him. He asks her for help working at the camp but she initially refuses until she sees how miserable the refugee children are especially Karen who becomes her ward and assistant

300 children board the Exodus and set off. Ari’s plan is to send a news report on what’s happening, which will alert the British army to block them. This allows Ari to tell people that they’ll explode if boarded and that the kids are on hunger strike. The public turns in favor of these Jews, so the British have no choice but to let them go. Kitty can’t understand how Ari would risk 300 lives for his cause, but Mark explains it by telling her about Jossi and Yakov (Ari’s father and uncle).

Two young shoemakers named Jossi and Yakov live in the Pale of Settlement, which is the only region in Russia where Jews are allowed to reside. After their father is murdered during a pogrom, they move to Palestine. However, when they arrive there they find it’s not as prosperous as other countries. They work hard and fight for Israel’s independence from Britain against Palestinian Arabs during World War I and later serve as soldiers in an underground militia called Haganah that defends Jewish settlers from attacks by Palestinians. Growing up, Ari also joins Haganah but his fiancée Dafna dies at the hands of Palestinian Arabs while he fights for Israel’s independence with his brother Akiva who becomes a terrorist leader.

Back in 1946, the Exodus reaches Palestine. After he shows her the country, Kitty develops stronger attractions to both Ari and Palestine, although she still wishes to take Karen to live in America. They find Karen’s father but discover that he went insane when the Nazis tortured him and killed his wife and sons, so he can no longer recognize his daughter. As back-and-forth terrorist actions between anti-Jewish British and the Maccabees escalate, Kitty convinces Karen to leave for America. However, before they can depart, Ari’s uncle Akiva is arrested as a member of the Maccabee group while trying to rescue Dov who was also captured by British soldiers. Instead of going to America with her mother after all this time away from home on such an adventure for her daughter’s sake alone (Kitty), she chooses instead stays behind with Ari because of how much she loves him now that they’ve been through so many trials together during their trip out of Europe together—all leading up until now where it seems like things should finally be getting better for them as a couple; but not without more hardship ahead first…

As Britain withdraws from Palestine, there are many tensions between Jews and Arabs. Ari falls out with his Arab friend Taha after he refuses to drive extremists out of Abu Yesha, the Arab village Ari and his father helped develop. He helps lead the Jews to victory at Safed in a rumor that they have an atomic bomb which causes terrified Arabs to withdraw. The Jews also fight off attacks from neighboring Arab countries who refuse to leave their homes after the war ends.