Racism

Dave Eggers’ Zeitoun is a call to stop racism towards those of Middle Eastern descent or anything connected to the Middle East, such as the Muslim religion. Eggers proposes that America stop associating everyone of Middle Eastern descent to terrorists. Zeitoun compares and contrasts the minds of a normal American-Middle Eastern family, who are also Muslim, to the corrupted minds of the ‘racist’ United States. Unlike what the majority of the United States would think about Zeitoun, a person from Syria, Zeitoun is hard-working, amiable, and unselfish. On various occasions in the book, such as on page 13, Zeitoun is described as “working harder than anyone [he] knew”. Zeitoun is also an “honest man, honest to the core” (pg. 17). He had no racist ideals, as he “employed a number of… men from everywhere” (pg. 19). Eggers shows the mind of an American Middle Eastern, or Muslim isn’t full of thoughts of destroying Americans. After hurricane Katrina, Zeitoun did not have to stay back and look after people. He shared what he had in his fridge, and helped not only people, but animals such as dogs too. He stayed because “he could help when needed” (pg 108). In all, it shows that not all Muslims or Middle Easterners are bad people. Zeitoun had a good heart. Zeitoun didn’t have to stay back and leave his family. But he did, and saved human lives.
Eggers creates irony as to demonstrate the wrongful, unjust, and racist mind of the average American. Instead of Zeitoun being compensated for his good actions, he is prejudged, and receives consequences because of suspicions of his actions, and not really because of his actions, but because of his race. Eggers shows the degradation the U.S. government has had, as well as America’s degradation in moral. On page 37, a would-be client doesn’t hire Zeitoun just because he is Syrian. Zeitoun is imprisoned in the first place because the soldiers think he is part of al Qaeda (pg. 212). “[Zeitoun] and Kathy worried about the reach of the Department of Homeland security, its willingness to contact anyone born in or with a connection to the Middle East” (pg. 213), just because of suspicions of terrorism. But not only did Zeitoun have to have battle and fight against racism from the ‘outside world’, Kathy, his wife, also had to fight against the racism to the Muslim culture from within her family. On page 106, Kathy’s mother asks “Why don’t you take off that thing and relax? He’s not here. Be yourself” (referring to the hijab) as if to state that the Muslim religion was just a farce or mask, and not a real religion at all.
Zeitoun shows a similarity of the minds of the ‘white Americans’ during the period of segregation, as America now instead of segregating blacks, now segregate Muslims and those from the Middle East. Eggers tries to break that connection of Muslim-to-terrorist similarity that so many Americans have adopted nowadays. Eggers’ Zeitoun shows how closely related all Americans are to Muslims and those of Middle Eastern descent and that the only thing that matters is whether we are morally humans or not.