In Mohja Kahn’s novel, The Girl in the Tangerine Scarf, the author explores the difficulty that Muslims face fitting into the Indiana environment in which they live. She describes multiple families that all have different struggles in fitting into the community. The main character, Khadra Shamys, gives insight into the thoughts and feelings of her family specifically. In this paper, I will argue that the Shamys family has trouble fitting in with the Indiana environment because they hold strong prejudices against those who are different than them. This is displayed through their judgments of both Americans and other Muslims in their community.
One of the first instances of the Shamys family’s prejudices is displayed when Khadra questions Aunt …show more content…
Throughout the novel, there are countless instances of the Shamys family saying how wrong the American life is. They tell their children that the Americans put pig in everything, are dirty because they have pets and let their children run wild, just to name a few. Khadra also makes a strong generalization against Americans by saying, “Generally speaking, Americans cussed, smoke, and drank, and the Shamys had it on good authority that a fair number of them used drugs. Americans dated and fornicated and committed adultery. They had broken families and lots of divorces. Americans were not generous or hospitable” (Kahn, 68). In this statement, Khadra is generalizing all Americans using a pretty negative tone. The Shamys family ostracizes themselves by making such harsh judgments on the people of the community that they live in. It would be very difficult to assimilate into American life while holding these sorts of beliefs about Americans.
In Mohja Kahn’s novel, The Girl in the Tangerine Scarf, the Shamys family has difficulty fitting into their community because they cannot accept those who are different from them. This was shown in the novel through Khadra’s inner dialogue in which she shows how her family believes that there is only one way to be a good person or a good Muslim. The Shamys family makes judgments about Shias, Elijah Muhammad’s followers, and
One of the first instances of the Shamys family’s prejudices is displayed when Khadra questions Aunt …show more content…
Throughout the novel, there are countless instances of the Shamys family saying how wrong the American life is. They tell their children that the Americans put pig in everything, are dirty because they have pets and let their children run wild, just to name a few. Khadra also makes a strong generalization against Americans by saying, “Generally speaking, Americans cussed, smoke, and drank, and the Shamys had it on good authority that a fair number of them used drugs. Americans dated and fornicated and committed adultery. They had broken families and lots of divorces. Americans were not generous or hospitable” (Kahn, 68). In this statement, Khadra is generalizing all Americans using a pretty negative tone. The Shamys family ostracizes themselves by making such harsh judgments on the people of the community that they live in. It would be very difficult to assimilate into American life while holding these sorts of beliefs about Americans.
In Mohja Kahn’s novel, The Girl in the Tangerine Scarf, the Shamys family has difficulty fitting into their community because they cannot accept those who are different from them. This was shown in the novel through Khadra’s inner dialogue in which she shows how her family believes that there is only one way to be a good person or a good Muslim. The Shamys family makes judgments about Shias, Elijah Muhammad’s followers, and