Zeitoun (Vintage) by Dave Eggers
Zeitoun - A Teacher's Review
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A New York Times Notable Book
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An Entertainment Weekly Best Book of the Decade
The true story of one family, caught between America’s two biggest policy
disasters: the war on terror and the response to Hurricane Katrina.
Abdulrahman and Kathy Zeitoun run a house-painting business in New
Orleans. In August of 2005, as Hurricane Katrina approaches, Kathy
evacuates with their four young children, leaving Zeitoun to watch over the
business. In the days following the storm he travels the city by canoe,
feeding abandoned animals and helping elderly neighbors. Then, on
September 6th, police officers armed with M-16s arrest Zeitoun in his
home. Told with eloquence and compassion, Zeitoun is a riveting account
of one family’s unthinkable struggle with forces beyond wind and water.
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With the recent controversy over the Ground Zero Mosque, it is crucial that
teachers incorporate literature into the curriculum that highlights the fact
the Muslim religion is not equated with terrorism; terrorism is not a religion.
Eggers successfully documents the trauma of the Zeitoun family following
the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. The novel is based on a series of in
depth interviews of the Zeitoun family, friends, and relatives, as well as,
other central figures who share Zeitoun's fate. Abou t two thirds of the book
is spent focusing on the bond between Zeitoun and his family, which
extends to his community at large; a community that Zeitoun, even after
Katrina, finds value in, from the disabled to the able-bodied, to the animals
left behind. It is within this post-Katrina community, however, that Zeitoun
is falsely accused, tortured, and degraded by the U.S. government
because he is thought to be associated with terrorist activity. Although
Zeitoun's imprisonment is one of the defining characteristics of the book,
Eggers also touches upon what it means to be a Muslim woman in
America today. Through Kathy, Zeitoun's wife who is an American woman
that converted because she felt the religion gave her power and control
over her own life, we learn that the hijab, which is often seen as a sign of
suppression by a patriarchal culture, actually becomes one of liberation.
It is within the pages of Eggers narrative that educators will find the
opportunity to teach students how to embrace and understand other
cultures beyond what is reported by media outlets. By not including this
book in our curriculum, or a work that confronts the same issue, we are
doing our students a disservice, which will eventually become extensions
of further ignorance and intolerance. Making students aware of how 9/11
has changed what it means to be American will only foster the knowledge
of real situations, situations like Zeitouns that forever altered a man and his
family; a situation that forever altered Americans.
An interesting aspect about this book is the title because Zeitoun
represents the man, the family, as well as, the extended network of friends
and relatives of Zeitoun's (the man) around the world. It may be an
interesting aspect to bring up in class discussion after reading the book.
This book also contains a comprehensive list resources on rebuilding New
Orleans, support for, and education about the Muslim community. Utilizing
these sources in the classroom would be excellent an way to get students
involved in the reality of the text they have just read.
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