Dignity In Dave Egger's 'Zeitoun'

Author, Dave Eggers, in his piece, “Zeitoun,” depicts the story of Abdulrahman Zeitoun and the people of New Orleans following the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Eggers’s purpose is to enlighten people about the impact of Hurricane Katrina and the prejudice against Muslims post 9-11. He creates a sympathetic tone to appeal to the audience’s emotions. Throughout “Zeitoun”, Eggers shows how people, including Zeitoun and his family, have to struggle with keeping their dignity after the disaster of Hurricane Katrina.
One example of dignity being lost is shown towards the beginning of the book. It is the section, before Hurricane Katrina, where Kathy goes to the DMV to get her license renewed. From the moment she steps into the building, she receives …show more content…
So when he was served “an omelet filled with bacon”(238) at the prison for breakfast, and other meals with pork for his other courses, Zeitoun was unable to eat any of it, making him malnourished. Zeitoun’s diet is similar to how Buddhists cannot eat beef. They are restrained from eating because they believe in not eating anything killed for the purpose of feeding them. Because Zeitoun is a good Muslim, he has a keeps a high sense of dignity to restrain the urge to eat pork. Once Zeitoun had finally been released from prison, he reflects back to his time spent there and feels ashamed. Throughout the duration of his stay in the two prisons, “he had been handcuffed, stripped, caged, [and] treated like an animal”(296). After living in these deadly conditions, Zeitoun wants to forget that any of it had happened. He feels as if he had turned into another person, who has been stripped of his old self.
Dave Eggers depicts the story of how the people of New Orleans, including Zeitoun and his family, have lost their dignity post-Hurricane Katrina. Eggers target is to enlighten people about the injustice on Muslim people after the tragic event of 9/11. By creating a sympathetic tone, Eggers connects to his audience’s