The Imagery of Rasha’s Resignation - “Rasha”
Bayoumi writes, “But, just as Bergen, time at MDC dragged on, and Rasha began to feel that they were never going to get out, that she wasn’t going to see her friends again, that she was not going to graduate college, get married, and move to the next phases of her life. She slowly resigned herself to these facts. At least if she had commuted a crime, she would have stood in front of a judge and answered the charge against her. If convicted, she would have been properly, sentenced, and then she would know exactly how long she was to be there." The detention is torturous because its timelines are not defined. Being detained brings the whole family's life to a standstill. Rasha is resigned because she is not sure about the duration which she will be detained. Rasha’s experience mirrors that of detainees who are arbitrarily held in the detention centers without being judged. Rasha loses hope because of the non-existent communication about the course of actions which would follow in her life in detention. The anxiety and uncertainty kills her hopes for a better future and the American dream.
The imagery of an Absolute Arab - “Sami”
Sami complains, “ I’m like the most far-off Arab you’ll find…You have to be a Muslim to be an Arab. You have to listen to Arabic music all the time to be Arab. You have to be in love with going wherever your parents are from. You have to marry an Arabic girl to be Arab. Certain things. You’re not a real Arab if you’re like me. I don’t listen to Arabic music. I don’t watch Arabic programming. I hate going to Egypt. I hate going overseas. I date a Puerto Rican female.” Sami is frustrated because his friend do not consider him to be a true Arab. Although his parents are Arabic, he is considered to be unArabic due to his penchants which do not endorse Arabic ideals such as music. Accordingly, he finds to fit in with his comrades at the club because he is deemed to be a problem.
