How does the theme of hope surface within Chapter 17?

When the elderly woman talking to Amal realizes that the bus driver is watching Amal in the rearview mirror to gauge her reaction to the radio reports he is blaring through the bus, she becomes angry. She excuses herself from her conversation with Amal, stands up, and shouts at the driver to "turn that nonsense down" since she and Amal cannot hear themselves "talk with that rubbish on full blast!" (161) The driver grumbles, but turns down the radio.