A City Underwater in "Zeitoun"

A City Underwater in "Zeitoun"

Zeitoun and his wife, Kathy

In the second third of Dave Eggers' "Zeitoun," Zeitoun is forced to realize the dangers of staying in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina has passed.  As the author has previously shown, Zeitoun is a stubborn man.  He decides to remain in the city of New Orleans well after it became dangerous to remain. Even though the hurricane has already passed, the flood that it left behind makes the city quite treacherous.  The water in the city was becoming progressively more polluted, and Zeitoun was also running out of food.  Despite this, Zeitoun remains in the city.  Eggers states that Zeitoun believes he is doing a service to the townsfolk, evidenced by the fact that he saved the life on an old woman who was unable to flee her house when it was flooding.  The author then points out that Zeitoun's urge to stay in New Orleans is getting steadily more treacherous, and that the amount of reasons Zeitoun should leave are only growing.  Some new dangers include armed robbers and policemen acting of their own accord.  Even with his wife calling him every day on the single working landline remaining, Eggers emphasizes Zeitoun's unwillingness to leave the town.  He argues that because of all the good he has done so far, such as feeding some dogs left behind by town residents, more opportunities for good deeds will soon arise, and many more lives will be saved.  While this may be true, Zeitoun's wife continues to urge Zeitoun to leave the city and return to his family.  She worries constantly about him.  Eggers concludes this portion of the novel by focusing on Zeitoun's growing realization that he no longer has sufficient reasons to stay in the city, and that if he didn't leave soon, he is bound to fall into some dangerous circumstances.

Eggers, Dave. Zeitoun. San Francisco: McSweeney's Books, 2009. Print.

Large Scale Injustice

Topic: Injustice and Inequality

Essential Question:  What should powerful nations do with countries that commit genocide or atrocities?

Claim:  Powerful nations should intervene in nations that commit genocides or atrocities.

Kim Jong Un, the dictator of North Korea

Reason:  Intervening in countries that commit genocides and large scale atrocities helps liberate the people of the world.  Many countries have had, and currently have, oppressive rulers, many of them including dictators. When people don't have a say in their own government, it can lead to terrible conditions for the entire populace of the country.  In some countries today, people still live in constant fear of being killed by their government.  A prime example of this is North Korea, where the oppressive ruler has all of his subjects in constant fear of him, and forces them to do whatever he wants.

A fictitious example of the falsified media that subjects of an oppressive ruler must watch.

Surviving Hurricane Katrina in "Zeitoun"

Surviving Hurricane Katrina in “Zeitoun”

Cover of the book, depicting Zeitoun during the flood

In the true story “Zeitoun” by Dave Eggers, the protagonist Zeitoun,  recounts the days both prior to Hurricane Katrina, the impact of the hurricane in New Orleans, and the many lives that he was able to save during the hurricane because he elected to stay in the city. The author introduces Zeitoun as a stubborn man, one who would not be swayed to leave his home by any storm.  While the rest of his family evacuates New Orleans in anticipation of the oncoming storm, Eggers emphasizes Zeitoun’s unwillingness to be swayed by news reports of the magnitude of the storm and the city mandated evacuation orders.  Eggers explains that Zeitoun feels that he has responsibility to protect the valuables left in their house while the rest of the family evacuates.  While most of the houses in the city were damaged beyond repair, Zeitoun managed to save most of the valuables in his house during the flooding.  The author even emphasizes the notion that Zeitoun believed it was God’s will for him to remain in the city. After his family evacuates the city, Zeitoun assures them that he will be perfectly fine surviving on his own, and that there is nothing to worry about.  Of course this only makes his wife worry more, but after the storm he finds one of the few remaining landlines and calls her, putting worries to rest.  Eggers points out that even though she does not support her husband staying in New Orleans, she believes that he will be fine on his own, and she trusts him to watch over their house. Due to his own stubbornness, Zeitoun was able to save the lives of many townsfolk that were unable to flee the path of Hurricane Katrina.  Eggers concludes that even though Zeitoun began with no clear motive for remaining in the city, Zeitoun was able to do a lot of good for many residents of New Orleans by staying behind.

Eggers, Dave. Zeitoun. San Francisco: McSweeney's Books, 2009. Print.

Injustice Survey

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/HMDNBVW

The results of the survey were quite interesting.  Mass murder and slavery were tied for worst injustice, showing that most people value life and freedom above all else.  To change how the country is run, most people preferred peaceful protest.  If you had to give up something, most people chose either the right to bear arms or a powerful government.  Overall, most people preferred to have moral justice before any other kind of justice.  Lastly, most people thought that injustice was common or rampant in the world.

Living with Insanity

"Evaluate Daisy's decision to continue living with Edmond, and predict whether Daisy still has feelings for Edmond or not."

Daisy thinks of Edmond often

Finding Edmond without a map was difficult

Daisy from How I Live Now continues to love Edmond, even after being separated from him for years during the war and despite his post traumatic stress disorder.  Daisy spent so much time with Edmond during her first stay in Britain that she developed an incredibly deep relationship with him. This relationship has proven time and time again to be the single reason that Daisy wants to survive.  When Daisy returned to her old home and discovered that it was completely empty with nobody home, only the thought of Edmond made her look to the future.  When they are apart, Daisy constantly thinks about Edmond and the time that they spent together.  She even believes that their connection runs so deep that she is able to hear Edmond even when he is not with her.  Daisy's connection with Edmond runs so deep that she thought, "I know exactly where I belong.  Here.  With Edmond" (Rosoff, 2070).  The love that Daisy has for Edmond is so potent that she wants to stay with him no matter what his current state of health.  Edmond has become the one person that Daisy lives every day for.  All in all, Daisy is incredibly devoted to Edmond, and wishes to spend the rest of her life with him.  Even though Edmond is not in a healthy mental state, Daisy still cares enough for him to continue living with him.  She truly believes that this is the one place in the world where she can be happy.

The Hard Life on the Run

"Compare and contrast Daisy's life on the farm with her cousins to life on the run with Piper, and determine which of these two scenarios Daisy prefers."

Farm life in Britain is simple and beautiful

Nobody is safe in a war

In the book How I Live Now, Daisy greatly prefers her life on the farm with all of her cousins to her life on the run with Piper.  While on the run from what the story only names as "The Enemy," Daisy and Piper spend every day afraid that they will not survive until the next.  They live in constant fear of being killed, and even some of their friends, including their caretaker Major McEvoy, are killed.  When on the run, Daisy also has to ration the little food that she still has to make it last for as long as possible.  Daisy finds this quite difficult, and she becomes even thinner than she was before.  On top of all this, Daisy is separated from Edmond, her lover, and is constantly missing him.

Compared to this, Daisy's life on the farm is quite pleasant.  Daisy gets all the food that she needs, and spends most every day having fun with her family.  There is no worry of being attacked, and life on the farm is relatively easygoing.  Daisy gets to see Edmond every day, and Daisy remains relatively happy with her stress-free life on the farm with her cousins.  When she is forced to leave her life on the farm, Daisy thought, "All I could do was stare at Edmond and Isaac and even Osbert and try to keep from crying" (Meg Rosoff, 755).  Daisy's first reaction to realizing she would be separated from her family was to cry.  This suggests that, from there onward, Daisy fears she will never have a fun, carefree, relaxing day with her family ever again.  All in all, Daisy's time on the run is an incredibly painful experience for her, and she much prefers the time she spent with her family.

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