As the oldest of three children, I would always want my younger siblings to have positive influences in their lives in any form, such as books. This past summer for my AP English class, we read a book called Zeitoun, written by best-selling author, Dave Eggers. Eggers tells the true story of a Muslim American, Zeitoun, and how he and his family endure cruel treatment from racial prejudices post 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina. Eggers paints Zeitoun as a heroic and admirable man. However, after the book was released, it was revealed that Zeitoun was not really the man Eggers made him out to be. In an article written by Victoria Patterson, we learn that Zeitoun was arrested on charges of domestic violence, and even when he was in…show more content… While reading about Zeitoun’s adventures, we grow to like the man, admire him, and pity him. However, those feelings change when we learn about the domestic violence charges against him (or his conviction for domestic abuse). In Victoria Patterson’s article, she states that the Zeitouns played a role in the editing process of the book, “If you had editorial privilege over your own story, would you whitewash?”. This makes students question the whole story along with Zeitoun’s character. Anything in the book could have been a huge lie. In the story, he expressed his love for his wife and it seemed like they had a strong, solid relationship. But we discover this isn’t the truth when we read about Zeitoun hitting her, and trying to kill her. Before, we thought he was a loving man, and now we think he is deceitful and not to be trusted. We start to question the credibility of this story, which in a way defeats Eggers purpose of writing the book, which was to change the way people think about Muslim Americans. Instead, this may lead people to confirm their prejudices because Zeitoun was manipulative, and Patterson describes him as “borderless and
