The art of writing or storytelling is telling infinite possibilities with our imagination. There are many ways to tell a story. As society progresses with more trendy and innovative technologies, there will be more mediums for storytelling. However, books are the only one that will stand the test of time and that is why people continue to write. Writing is a powerful device to relay messages when telling has become difficult. People often know little to nothing about the Arab world or culture. The voices of Arab Americans or even just Arab immigrants in particular is important in storytelling because they are such an oppressed group. Immigrant writers who are writing their life stories are often mistaken for writing on par with the stereotype …show more content…
Like her name suggest Nidali has gone through so many ups and downs that the life stories of her family and her own are impressive to hear. She was born in Boston to a Palestinian father and an Egyptian-Greek mother. Despite the fear of realizing her dream of wanting to become a writer, she secretly applies to a college in Boston. She goes head to head with her parents with neither side showing any signs of backing down. Her parents finally gave in after she ran away from home for ten days. Her mother, who has been collecting pieces of Nidali’s writing handed the box to Nidali before she left for college. Nidali’s mother says, “These are your writings. These are your words. You will be a writer, no? You must keep all of this for posterity. I want you to write.” (289). From an early age, Nidali’s mother saw her daughter has a talent with writing. Nidali’s father’s talent for writing has been taken away because he couldn’t overcome an obstacle. However, Nidali was a stubborn and rebellious child who was honest about her passion by staying true to herself. By giving back the writings to Nidali, her mother is encouraging her daughter to pursue her dream. With the blessing of her parents, Nidali will find happiness in …show more content…
Like many others he understood the risk, but then again he had nothing to lose. As the story progresses, his character is developed more and we get to know more about him. We come to know Murad as an avid reader who loves literature which is the reason he pursued an English degree in college. He grew up listening to the stories his father told him. After telling a story to two tourists, he finally realizes something. In the chapter “The Storyteller”, Lalami writes, “There was no use reading stories like this anymore, he needed to write his own. He thought about his father, who’d told stories to his children, and how they were already almost forgotten today” (186). Murad has been constantly reading stories written by others that he wants to read one he wrote himself. There is no meaning in recounting the stories of others when he has none of his own. But if he writes his own, it would be impossible to forget