The Eye-Opener

As a student in a predominantly Caucasian, upper-middle-class, and Republican town, racism stands as a topic not often spoken, but one that lies on the cusp of everyone's lips when a stranger suddenly roles into the community. After reading Amy Waldman's novel, The Submission, my eyes have only widened at the amount of prejudice that many Americans face everyday. As an Asian-American, I every so often here jokes about the things that "my people" did to deserve the repercussions of the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 or the bombing of Pearl Harbor. However, nothing compares to the daily stereotypes that Muslims face in the United States following the extremely sad and unfortunate events that occurred on the morning of September 11, 2001. Especially after I finished analyzing Waldman's work, I grew indignant to the constant racism that innocent individuals like Mohammad Khan (Mo) and many others face because of their religious and ethnic upbringing. The hypocrisy in the United States today astonishes me each and every time I walk into an airport and see security guards putting extra eyes on a man because he stands clad in a suit with a turban around his head. What happened to equality for all men? Yes, no laws specifically discriminate against any American citizen; however, the stereotypes and extra attention go unsaid when it comes to American Muslims. In one specific moment in The Submission, my mouth dropped at the ridiculous suggestion of treating every Muslim different because of the actions of a terrorist group in their native country: "separate security lines for Muslims" (45). Disgust and anger fill me as I page through the repeated stereotypes within this novel as I continuously hope that characters will one-by-one realize their folly mistake in taking Mo as a terrorist simply because of his genetics. In many moments, I agreed with Claire that the argument against Mo's submission "[is] a betrayal of... this country" (23). Therefore, I found myself justifiably disappointed when Mo gave up his right to build his memorial. I had hoped that he would stand and fight for his ability, as an American citizen, to claim his winning prize. Waldman's everlasting assertion throughout the novel that Americans remain unreasonably skeptical and prejudice toward American Muslims has truly given me great disgust in the liberty of our "great nation." I guess that I can only hope that one day we, as a whole and unified nation, will recognize our mistakes to pass judgment on innocent citizens of our once equal nation.

A Writing Wizard Among Mere Mortals

Rarely do I thoroughly enjoy an author's writing style without any criticisms; however, contemporary novelist Amy Waldman has captured me again through her melting pot of individual victim's anecdotes regarding the aftermath of the described terrorist attack. Setting herself apart from a typical novel, Waldman not only follows a main character's struggle to find justice in a cruel and condescending world, but she also includes information of background characters to add depth to her work. For example, Waldman's main focus remains on memorial council member Claire Burwell and submission winner Mohammad Khan. Yet, at the same time that she describes Khan's struggle to claim his winning prize, Waldman introduces characters like Asma Anwar to give diversity among the subjects potentially affected by the chosen memorial. Asma's husband, an illegal immigrant, fell under the category of "undocumented [and] uncounted" as stated by New York officials (77). By simply adding this small piece of information about a seemingly insignificant character, Waldman allows the reader to make his or her own opinion on the conflict of whether or not Khan can deservingly build the memorial or not due to his ethnicity. I truly appreciate Waldman's approach to telling this story through the eyes of different victims. While some lost a brother, others lost a husband or wife. The diversity among the author's characters stands as an atypical approach to telling a story, therefore making the novel a more unique and interesting piece of work.

Alyssa Spier: Ambitious Sneak

Pleasant surprises truly stand as one of life's greatest gifts. So, as I began the habitual and mundane task of summer reading, Amy Waldman caught me off guard in her national bestseller, The Submission, as she pulled me into the novel introducing me to several dynamic and interesting characters from the get-go. Sadly, one of said characters found no trouble in claiming a spot on my bad side. Which character you may ask? The New York Post journalist, Alyssa Spier. Waldman brings Spier into the heat of the novel as New York City finds out that a Muslim has won the privilege of building a memorial for deceased victims of a terrorist attack by the Islamic nation. Spier first broadcasts her name to the wallowing city as she publishes an article, "Mystery Muslim Memorial Mess" (57). Through the alliteration and negative diction of "mess," Spier only encourages the panic and guardedness of the New York population. While the memorial's council already finds a massive struggle in sorting out the confusion, Spier uses manipulation to instill fear among the people only to increase her chances of an acclaim to fame. Similarly, as Waldman furthers the intensity of her writing to reveal the identity and personality behind the anonymous Muslim, Spier takes drastic measures to prying into the unknown man's personal life. The nosy reporter takes to Thomas Kroll's home, friend of said Muslim. Upon her arrival, Kroll's wife exclaims, "tabloids are here. At our house" (105). Through Waldman's use of short and blunt sentences, she creates guilty pathos from reporters that repeatedly intrude on the personal lives of innocent people. In this situation, the intruding reporter happens to stand as Spier herself. This moment represents the time when I truly realized my disrespect and annoyance with Spier's character. Her negative ambition to reach the top at any cost remains impudent to undeserving characters and a great aggravation to myself. Especially during such a sensitive and obviously difficult time, I find it extremely displeasurable to read about Spier's rude manor and total selfishness as she apparently attempts to put ideas and values into her reader's heads instead of allowing them to make their own conclusions. Oh, Alyssa Spier, how I can foresee my total aversion to your overall existence.