Eagan
Cornerstone Colin Section 03
9/06/2011
Liberal Arts In a Post Katrina World
Trapped in a horrific, tragic, and devastated post Katrina New Orleans we find
Abdulrahman Zeitoun choosing to stay in the chaotic hell hole to carry out what he
believes is Gods mission for him, and what does this man have to help him on his crusade
through the underwater city? Nothing but an aluminum canoe, his guts, and his liberal
arts skills. Zeitoun and all the other characters in this book exhibit constant example of
their liberal arts skills.
Zeitoun himself I feel is the most well rounded character in the story on his liberal
education. In every decision he makes he thinks clearly about what he is doing and what
the consequences could be. While he may not be the most highly educated in the story to
me he acts the most holistic. He is careful, calm, and precise. His overall view of life
and the way he approaches situations like the storm with a certain calm and confidence.
Some could call this ignorance and stubbornness but I see it as the way he was brought
up as a child. His farther and brother educated him on the workings of the sea. Zeitoun
acts as a constant problem solver in situations that require quick decision making. Its easy
to view him as the most well rounded character with Zeitoun being the main character,
but still overall he is the best choice for the most educated character in the story.
The story also sites many different cultural perspectives. This was one of the more
major issues that I noticed happening throughout the book. One of the main concerns is
Kathys conversion to Muslim with the rest of her family and in particular her mother.
Every time Kathy is without Zeitoun wearing her hijab her mother constantly asks her to
take it off and relax for a while indicating that Kathy isnt being herself when she is
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wearing it she is just trying to be something that Zeitoun wants her to be. Kathys mother
cant see it from her perspective she doesnt see that Kathy being Muslim is who she
really is. When Kathy and the kids are forced into her families house in Baton Rouge she
feels like a stranger there just because of the religion she has chosen for her. She is
annoyed to the point where she cant take it anymore and snaps driving the kids all the
way to Phoenix to her friend Yukos house.
While reading the book I was upset at the way that Zeitoun was treated in the
camps and it was awful and horrific to go what he had to go through in these camps. This
was example an of the guards perspective being swayed by post 9/11 America. We lived
in constant fear that at any moment a terrorist attack could happened which cause the
guards to not see the American that Zeitoun was only the Syrian.
Many of the soldiers had no idea what they were going into all they knew was
what they could see from the news. Which consisted of vicious gangs, death, and
violence. This put every solider on the edge and they just reacted with harsh force many
of them thinking that they were doing what was right to make the city a better place.
When actually they were just reacting the way that they were instructed to do.
This whole experience changed Kathy and Zeitoun for the rest of their lives. Kathy had to
go through the possibility that her husband may be dead and she could do nothing to help
To knowing that her husband was alive but he was in jail and she was unable to get to
him even thought he was no longer a person of interest. Zeitoun himself of course went
through all the sleepless nights in prison, the pain in his side, and the content hunger and
mistreatment he experienced while in Hunt and at Camp Greyhound. The worst pain of
all was that fact that he knew he was ok but his family had no idea, and there was no way
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for him to let them know. He could only imagine the pain and suffering that Kathy and
his children must being going through and there was nothing that he could have done
about it at the time. Going through all this left both Kathy and Zeitouns lives beaten
broken but not destroyed. Both of them still suffer from aftershock from the emotional
stress that they went through. Kathys mind becomes clouded at times and she gets
confused very easily and Zeitoun cannot pass the camp in the city where he was
incarcerated because he is ashamed of what happened to him there.
Katrina and the events occurring after were an awful experience for this country
and the millions of people that it affected. The city New Orleans is still rebuilding to this
day six years later but there are some parts of the city that will never be the same. Along
with some families that have been forever changed by this tragic event. They are forced
to cope with and accept what happed and just try and move on. Families like the
Zeitouns are lucky to still have one another but still have scars from the events that they
were forced to go through. They come out of this stronger knowing that the fought for
their loved ones and were reunited once again.