Suong Ho
ENGL 2025
Ali Rezaie
8 March 2015
Test of Faith The novel Zeitoun, by Dave Eggers, recounts the story of a man by the name of Abdulrahman Zeitoun thrust into the life altering events before and after devastating Hurricane Katrina hit the city of New Orleans. Zeitoun is portrayed as an immigrant in the United States who struggles to achieve his goals of creating a better life for himself and his family, yet radical and religious prejudice intervenes. Coupled with the effects that Hurricane Katrina has wrought, Zeitoun faces many challenges throughout the novel. Even after the publication of the novel, revelations have come out on whether Dave Egger’s Zeitoun can really be seen a true work of non-fiction. The author Dave Eggers portrays…show more content… For Kathy, Zeitoun’s wife, before she first began having an interest in the Islamic religion, “there were so many basic things that defied her presumptions,” but she later learns that, “it was all very familiar, intrinsic to any faith” (Eggers 62). In this way, Eggers makes it so that readers can identify with the Zeitoun family and especially Zeitoun himself. Zeitoun's faith anchors him in that prison and encourages him to try to do the best for his family and survive the ordeal he has been put…show more content… I believe his intentions were to show the history of a truly devastating occurrence through one family and to show the impact it made on their lives and to the lives around them. This novel has led to widely ranged discussion on the issues of racism against Syrian-Americans, cultural differences, and the government’s total lack of response to the disaster. I believe the author’s main point is that in true strife there will be those who have the courage and strength to help others and there will be those who turn away in