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Prejudice In David Egger's Zeitoun

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Prejudice In David Egger's Zeitoun
Although it is the 21’st century and prejudice seems to be a thing of the past, in David Egger’s non-fiction work Zeitoun, prejudice is everywhere. There are a few different types of prejudice in Zeitoun. Abdulrahman (Zeitoun) mainly faces ethnic prejudice, while his wife Kathy mainly faces religious prejudice because she is Muslim. Not only are the Zeitoun’s facing prejudice from others, but so are many people close to them. This includes people at their painting company and their close friends. Because it is so prevalent in Zeitoun’s experience, prejudice is the driving force of this book.

One main aspect of Zeitoun is how Zeitoun’s company deals with prejudice. Zeitoun’s work van had the painting logo on it and the logo was a rainbow. This
…show more content…
At the jail, Zeitoun faces more prejudice than he ever has before. Many people at the jail call him a terrorist, Al Qaeda, and part of the Taliban. Although Zeitoun is just a normal person. People see his skin color and immediately think he is affiliated with a terrorist group. Also at the jail, the people do not acknowledge his dietary restrictions due to his religion. Being a muslim, Zeitoun is unable to eat pork. But, pork seems to be the center of almost every meal. Zeitoun told a guard he could not eat the pork but instead of the guard trying to help, he simply said, “Then don’t eat it.” (223). But, if Zeitoun was a white man then the guard would probably have taken Zeitoun more seriously. Zeitoun faces prejudice so much that it has become an unacceptably normal part of his life.

In Egger’s Zeitoun, despite our society being open and unjudging, prejudice is found almost everywhere in Zeitoun and Kathy’s life, and is the main idea of the book. Zeitoun's company faces prejudice just for being diverse; Kathy faces prejudice for being muslim; and Zeitoun faces prejudice for being Syrian and Muslim. This book shines light on the very controversial topic of prejudice and how it negatively affects certain people's lives. Prejudice seems to not be a big deal to most people, but some people who are different than others like, Zeitoun and Kathy, it becomes a part of their

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