Zeitoun+By+Keaton+Pellino

By: Dave Eggers
Abdulrahman Zeitoun, the main character in the book, is a Syrian American living with his family in Louisiana. Zeitoun and his wife, Kathy, make their living by owning their own contractor company, and renting out a couple of buildings that they own. Everyone knows the Zeitouns, and they are widely respected in Louisiana. In the beginning of the story, we learn a bit about Zeitoun’s life as a kid up until the present. As a boy he grew up in Syria, and was a fisherman like all the rest of his family. When he was older, he worked on an oil tanker that docked in Louisiana. He met his soon to be wife, Kathy, and decide to make Louisiana his new home. He and Kathy raised three children. He had always been a hardworking man, and soon started his own company. As the story goes on, the family hears about a hurricane forming up in the Gulf of Mexico, and they think nothing of it. Hurricanes threaten Louisiana a few times a year, and most people who live there dismiss the threats as nothing to worry about.. The hurricane quickly escalates, and is expected to hit Louisiana hard. This threat of a severe hurricane worries the residents of Louisana, particularly Kathy. Kathy decides that they should leave for a couple of days to wait out the storm. Zeitoun being the stubborn man he is doesn’t want to leave his business behind and urges the family to go without him. The family soon leaves, and Zeitoun is left in the house by himself while the ferocious hurricane heads straight for Louisiana.

I enjoyed this book very much, Eggers does a good job in helping the reader visualize what is being written. He makes you side with the main character, Zeitoun, you believe in Zeitoun's decision to stay back. Eggers creates a feeling of dramatic irony within this part of the story. The whole time you are reading the book, you know that the hurricane is much worse than the residents could have imagined, but Zeitoun doesn’t think twice about it. You feel legitimately worried forZeitoun and his well being. I also like how he includes some history about what happened around the day the hurricane hit, which most people who live outside Louisiana wouldn’t have realized.

- Hurricanes in Louisiana
Journal #2 Pgs 74-146

The storm hits, and it is tragic. The whole city of New Orleans is flooded, and Zeitoun is doing all he can do to try and protect his house from the storm. He succeeds in saving part of his house. The first floor and basement are flooded, but Zeitoun tries to minimize this damage by salvaging anything possible, and taking it to dry land. Zeitoun is now forced to sleep and live on his roof. During the first day after the hurricane hit, Zeitoun uses a canoe he bought to travel around the city to see the extent of the storm and how it has affected the city. While he is surveying the damage on his canoe, he hears a cry for help. A lady is trapped inside her house, and she calls on Zeitoun to help her. Zeitoun and his neighbor proceed to save the lady, and this gives Zeitoun a new sense of purpose. He now feels obligated to help anyone he can; with other people’s assistance he proceeds to help many of the residents find a secure place to get rescued. The whole time that he is helping others Zeitoun's wife, Kathy, is worried sick about him. She wants him to leave the city immediately, because she is fearful of looters, and his well being. Zeitoun proceeds to explain that he feels that it is his duty to help rescue people. He tells her that he will not leave and that he is perfectly fine. At the end of the day, Zeitoun finds different pictures of his brother that he has managed to save. We then learn about his brother's life as a champion swimmer, and all the swimming competitions that he has won, before dying in a car crash. Zeitoun is having trouble sleeping, because he hears the cries of many abandoned dogs trapped in houses around the neighborhood. He decides that he is going to do something about these dogs and makes a point to visit them every day to feed and water them.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It is very inspiring that a regular person can help people after such a tragic event. Zeitoun is a true hero. The author portrays Zeitoun in such a way as to make everyone think of him as a role model. I’d have to say that Zeitoun is my role model, because he isn’t thinking selfishly, he thinks about the bigger picture, and puts others before himself. The author also gives the reader more knowledge and understanding about the hurricane and what it entailed.


 * [|Category 5 hurricane]
 * [|Hurricane Katrina Relief Efforts]
 * [|Animal Rescue after Hurricane Katrina]
 * Reaction of Louisiana citizens after the Hurricane
 * Turmoil after the Hurricane

To view the destruction of the hurricane click here: []

__Journal #3__ __Pgs 146-216__

Zeitoun goes on saving people and soon learns about the different looting, rapes and other terrible things that have been happening in the city via Kathy. Everyday Zeitoun contacts Kathy through a working landline in a neighboring house. Nonetheless, Kathy still worries about him. He tries to keep her worrying at bay by calling her every day and telling her what he has been doing. Zeitoun always tells Kathy the same thing that he is doing fine, and not to worry about him. He has found many of his neighbors who and stayed in town during the storm, and one of his fellow Muslim friends that keep him company and try to do anything they can to try to help others around them. Everything is going somewhat smoothly until one day while Zeitoun was making his daily phone call to Kathy, police show up at the door and arrest Zeitoun. The police don’t say what he is being charged for, but take him to a makeshift prison facility where prisoners are treated very poorly. This facility is called Camp Greyhound. It was set up in a bus station. The conditions are terrible. The prisoners barely get enough food and water to get by, and are punished severely if they don't do what they are told. Many of the policemen watching Zeitoun think that he is part of Al-Queda and treat him like dirt. This baffles Zeitoun. As an Arab American living in the United States post 9/11, this was/has been one of Zeitoun's greatest fears. Zeitoun cannot do anything about this, no matter how much he tries to explain himself, the guards are insensitive and do not listen. Meanwhile, Kathy is worried sick. She has not heard from Zeitoun in days, and fears the worst. She grieves, and worries. She still holds on to the possibilty that her husband is still alive. Zeitoun's relatives keep calling her to see if she has heard anything, and this pressures Kathy. She doesn't want to admit that she hasn't heard from Zeitoun, because she doesn't want to face the fact that Zeitoun may possibly be dead. Kathy succumbs to crying fits, and constantly prays for the safety of Zeitoun.

In this section of the book, the author, Dave Eggers highlights the faulty police system set in place after Katrina hit. He also highlights the worries of the government about Arabian Americans post 9/11. The author does this eloquently, and makes you really think about our country, and how far it has come post 9/11. The author also reminds us that many people were treated badly for crimes they didn’t commit, and how unfair and corrupt the police system was after Katrina.
 * [|Camp Greyhound]
 * [|False acusitions of looting after Katrina]
 * Prisoners after Katrina
 * Post 9/11 view on Arab Americans
 * Police system after Hurricane Katrina

Journal #4 Pgs: 215-end

The prisoners get moved, and Zeitoun gets taken into a more secure facility called Hunt. Things seem to just be getting worse for Zeitoun. He is locked up, and treated poorly. He gets increasingly more heartbroken as he realizes that his wife had not heard from him in a while. He desperately tries to find someone that could get him a phone, or has access to one. He can do nothing but wait for someone that might take pity on him, and listen to his story. His chance comes when a priest walks by and listens to Zeitoun. The priest feels sorry for the man and promises him that he will call Kathy. This puts Zeitoun at a short lived state of ease, he is still worried that the message won’t be sent. Meanwhile, Kathy gets a phone call from the priest, and finds hope. She now realizes what has happened to Zeitoun and furiously tries to get him help. She calls everyone possible, telling them that Zeitoun is alive, and asks if there is any way that they could help get him out. She finally contacts a lawyer, who calls the prison facility, and tries to straighten things out. He tells Kathy to meet him back in Louisiana, and they will try their best to get Zeitoun out. All the while, Zeitoun doesn’t know what all is happening, and feels more and more depressed. He’s losing a terrible amount of weight, and feels sickly. He then gets called out by a guard, and Kathy is there waiting for him. They have to compromise one of their houses to get Zeitoun out, and they do. Zeitoun gets back to reality, and nearly a year later moves back to New Orleans, and helps make the town he once loved a better place again. Zeitoun and Kathy's life is never the same ever again. Kathy develops Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and is not as sharp as she used to be. This whole traumatic experience really aged the both of them quite severely. They now have to rely more on others help to get things done.

This part of the book makes you feel very empathetic towards our main character. You almost get choked up when Zeitoun and his wife reunite. There is so much emotion in this last part of the book, which the author conveys perfectly. It is very inspiring, that after such a traumatic event happened to a man like Zeitoun, he would go back and help build up his community. I personally didn’t know that regular people stayed behind after the hurricane and did everything the could to help out. I also didn’t know that prisoners could be taken into custody without doing anything illegal, like Zeitoun’s case. It really makes you think about the government, and how it handles such disasters. This book as a whole was very good. I would recommend it to anyone looking for a good read.
 * Government and Katrina
 * · Abdelrahman Zeitoun
 * · Prisoners taken into custody after Katrina
 * · Looters after tragedies
 * · Animal Shelters post Katrina