Abdulrahman Zeitoun has two identities, one as a Katrina hero, and the other as an abusive husband and father. The first identity is preserved in the book Zeitoun by Dave Eggers, while the other is revealed shortly after in the real world. After this information was released, one can only reevaluate the Zeitoun presented in Zeitoun. Although this new information does not change the actions of Zeitoun during hurricane Katrina, it is impossible to not view Zeitoun differently. The Zeitoun preserved in Zeitoun is described as loving, heroic, and credits his wife with much of his success. After learning the truth, one cannot help but wonder if the Zeitoun described in Zeitoun is a lie. The mind grapples with thoughts that suggest that the abuse began prior to Katrina, and that the man displayed as a hero and loving husband has always been a villain. As how can a man who credits his wife with his success attempt to kill her later? …show more content…
The actions of Zeitoun throughout Katrina feel irrelevant; as what good is a man that saves others when he abuses the ones closest to him? Even though logically one understands that what Zeitoun underwent during Katrina was inequitable, it begins to feel deserved. The lessons that the novel teach remain, but they have taken a major blow. The profiling feels less harsh and more deserved, because after all, Abdulrahman Zeitoun is a threat to society. The novel begins to feel ironic, as the point of the novel is that not a whole people is corrupt, by using one of the few that actually is corrupt. In the novel, Zeitoun is placed on a pedestal and is used to represent all of the innocent victims of prejudice. Perhaps the information would feel less shocking had Eggers described Zeitoun with more flaws and a more dynamic
In the Lilies of the Field by William E. Barrett, Homer and Mother Maria both display straightforward, hardworking, and stubborn character traits. Firstly, Homer and Mother Maria both display a straightforward personality by being brutally honest about their opinions. For example, when Mother Maria asks Homer to build a chapel, Homer speaks his mind by telling her he does not want to build it. Mother Maria shows her straightforward behavior during Homer’s stay at the convent. One morning, when Homer sleeps in late, Mother to becomes extremely upset and is not afraid to show how she feels about him. Secondly, both Homer and Mother Maria display a hardworking spirit. Homer is a hardworking man because after finally agreeing to build the chapel,
Dave Eggers’ novel Zeitoun is labeled as a work of non-fiction. It tells the story of a Syrian-American man named Abdulrahman Zeitoun, also known as Zeitoun, who chose to stay in New Orleans to ride out one of the worst natural disasters in American history, Hurricane Katrina. Zeitoun, a family man and devoted to his business, stayed in the city as the hurricane approached to protect not only his home and business, but also his neighbors’ and friends’ properties. After the storm, he traveled the flooded city in a secondhand canoe, rescuing neighbors, caring for abandoned pets and distributing fresh water. Soon after the storm, Zeitoun and three others were arrested without reason or explanation at one of his rental houses by a mixed group of U.S. Army National Guard soldiers and local police officers.
A storm such as Katrina undoubtedly ruined homes and lives with its destructive path. Chris Rose touches upon these instances of brokenness to elicit sympathy from his audience. Throughout the novel, mental illness rears its ugly head. Tales such as “Despair” reveal heart-wrenching stories emerging from a cycle of loss. This particular article is concerned with the pull of New Orleans, its whisper in your ear when you’ve departed that drags you home. Not home as a house, because everything physical associated with home has been swept away by the storm and is now gone. Rather, it is concerned with home as a feeling, that concept that there is none other than New Orleans. Even when there is nothing reminiscent of what you once knew, a true New Orleanian will seek a fresh start atop the foundation of rubbish. This is a foreign concept for those not native to New Orleans, and a New Orleanian girl married to a man from Atlanta found her relationship split as a result of flooding waters. She was adamant about staying, and he returned to where he was from. When he came back to New Orleans for her to try and make it work, they shared grim feelings and alcohol, the result of which was the emergence of a pact reminiscent of Romeo and Juliet. This couple decided they would kill themselves because they could see no light amongst the garbage and rot, and failure was draining them of any sense of optimism. She realized the fault in this agreement,
This illustrates that Zeitoun is a responsible, powerful, trustworthy, and unselfish person. During the hurricane, Zeitoun was using a canoe to rescue people. Due to the lack of rescue work, many people didn’t get enough support at that time. Zeitoun had the courage to sacrifice his family, safety, and selfish needs to save the people. Zeitoun could courageously confront all the frustration and live under any conditions because he had experienced a lot.
I am a junior currently enrolled in the AP Language and Composition class. For our summer reading assignment, incoming juniors were required to read the famed novel, Zeitoun, written by Dave Eggers. Zeitoun is a non-fictional story about a Muslim-American named Abdulrahman Zeitoun who resides in New Orleans during the events of Hurricane Katrina. Throughout the story, the audience learns to sympathize, while also builds up an instantaneous affection towards Zeitoun. Although, initially I had sympathized for Zeitoun before, the profuse amount of controversy surrounding the truth makes me reconsider why I have ever evoked a strong sense of sympathy for this man. Others argue that Zeitoun should be continued to be read because of the main intention
Sméagol, from the movie Lord of the Rings, is a 589 year old hobbit creature who lives in the dark caves of the Misty Mountain, where his diet mostly consists of raw fish. He is lanky, pale, malnourished, and overall very sickly looking. We first saw Sméagol’s second personality when he was introduced to the “One Ring”. One day when Sméagol and his relative, Deagol, were fishing, they found the “One Ring” in the river. When Sméagol saw it for the first time, he automatically knew that he had to have it. This is the first time that we meet Gollum (in the movie). When Deagol refused to give it to him, Sméagol (acting as Gollum) strangled Deagol to death. After he was shunned by his family, he went off to live
Zeitoun by Dave Eggers tells the story of a Muslim-American man named Abdulrahman Zeitoun and his family who were caught in the chaos that followed Hurricane Katrina when it struck New Orleans in 2005. Katrina destroyed the entire city of New Orleans and took many lives along with it. However, the hurricane ultimately displayed the flaws in American policies. Dave Eggers book, Zeitoun, captures the failure of the government to handle the disaster effectively along with the ongoing "war on terror" in the United States.
Hurricane Katrina, the third strongest hurricane to touch the United States, caused the displacement of thousands and wreaked havoc in New Orleans. In the nonfiction memoir Zeitoun, Dave Eggers reveals the story of a muslim couple that struggled through the aftermath of hurricane Katrina in 2005. The book comes four years after the disaster and reflects on how one of the main character’s stubbornness to leave led to many issues. The book is geared towards muslim americans and people involved in natural disasters. It points out the severity of the situation in New Orleans and the inefficiency of the government’s response. The characters represent a well known muslim family, the Zeitouns, with the main character being a Syrian. The family owned several properties affected by the storm and were well liked by the customers of their painting business. The author demonstrates a reflective tone through the language strategy of reflecting on prior events and exposes the characters throughout the story by reflecting on their childhoods. The allusions to prior times are directly connected with the actions of the characters and the plot.
In 2005 Hurricane Katrina completely changed the lives of the many affected New Orleans citizens. It had a death toll of 1,833 and its overall destruction path caused the demolition of more than 800,000 buildings. The media coverage for the hurricane was very suspicious and made the situation seem worse. This led to many false beliefs about what had happened during this tragic event. Dave Eggers an acclaimed author took the lack of knowledge about the hurricane as a chance to write a book to educate people. He ended up writing the book “Zeitoun” which was a powerful narrative nonfiction account about the Zeitoun family. The Zeitoun’s were a lovable family and the book makes readers develop a special connection to the family.
In some ways, Sebastian seems to personify everything you'd imagine about the Faustian demon. He's handsome, charming, and sly, able to easily manipulate and lead people as he wishes. He's ruthless and quite clearly considers humans nothing more than something that exists for his amusement and meals. But at the same time... He's also a very odd demon. While he may be suave and charming, on the other hand, he's also a borderline neurotic perfectionist that takes the duties of a butler very seriously and loves cats enough to keep thirteen of them in a closet to save them from being outside. He may be a demon, but he's not exactly the cool, flawless being that he may seem to be on the surface.
During the year of 1941, Japan drafted America into the second world war and as a result the nations of Canada and the United States reacted in a such a way that caused a barrier between the citizens of Japanese descent and whites which still remains in effect of today. The initial reaction of the nations was to exile a whopping 22,000 Canadian Citizens into internment camps without a verifiable trial or reason yet it was justified because it was a form of national defense. In Joy Kogawa’s historical fiction Obasan, the author explores the life of a fictional character named Naomi through the recollections of memories as this character goes through the phases of discrimination before, during, and
When frustration comes, the blaming game become an excuse of the matter. Since Zeitoun happen to be in a place where blaming others was the way to save their reputations, he was accused because of who he was, a Muslim living in America. In the Zeitoun, Dave Eggers states, “Every time a crime was committed by a Muslim, that person's faith was mentioned, regardless of its relevance. When a crime is committed by a Christian, do they mention his religion? ... When a crime is committed by a black man, it's mentioned in the first breath: 'An African American man was arrested today...' But what about German Americans? Anglo Americans? A white man robs a convenience store and do we hear he's of Scottish descent? In no other instance is the ancestry mentioned” (Eggers, 41). This quote shows the stereotype that occurs during this time, especially when things needed to be resolved. Judging others for their religious beliefs or the color of their skin colors will only emphasize the differences. The single story here has created a danger in American society therefore they sentence the man who was serving social justice to save others the government couldn’t save. The consequence of not understanding the value of social justice is; it robs people dignity as we seen in Zeitoun. If we keep playing the blaming game to save our own good, the reality is social justice will never occur in our
Fink, Sheri. "Hurricane Katrina: after the flood." The Gaurdian. N.p., 7 Feb. 2014. Web. 17 Apr. 2014.
When we gather all the facts, notions, beliefs, prejudices, and all the things that encase human perception of other humans, what truly defines a “good” or “bad” person? Is it even really clear who is “bad” and who is “good” in the world? Are there definitive factors, such as crime or sinful actions, that are critical in determining the conclusion of whether someone is righteous or immoral? Are we even capable of dictating the difference? One might think that someone who seems to disregard the law, consistently, or someone who commits sinful acts, religiously based or morally based, would be decided as a “bad” person due to their overall disrespect to rules and normality, according to societal standards. In the film Yojimbo, a lonely samurai
“Home is the one place in all this world where hearts are sure of each other. It is the place of confidence. It is the place where we tear off that mask of guarded and suspicious coldness which the world forces us to wear in self-defense, and where we pour out the unreserved communications of full and confiding hearts. It is the spot where expressions of tenderness gush out without any sensation of awkwardness and without any dread of ridicule”, said Frederick W. Robertson. Zeitoun by Dave Eggers, emphasizes the crisis during and after Hurricane Katrina, the sixth strongest hurricane in American history. The story narrates the experience of the Zeitoun and his family, the plot describes the family’s feelings, perspective and problems they had to face during and after the natural disaster. Islamophobia and the importance of home is affected through the events and situations that the two main character, Kathy and Zeitoun, had to live with during and after the dreadful natural disaster Hurricane Katrina.