Zeitoun by Dave Eggers

We Must Have Hope

Zeitoun by Dave Eggers

Alyssa Sieja

Thesis

"Hope is the dream of a waking man." This quote by Aristotle helps me understand what hope truly is. Hope is like a dream while we are awake. We are hoping for something that isn't reality, yet. Sometimes our hopes become reality and sometimes they do not. Hope is essential to life for without hope, what will inspire us to do something with our lives? In the book Zeitoun by Dave Eggers, hope is a recurring theme.

We Must Have Hope

There is hope throughout the entire story of Zeitoun and an example can be found in each section. In section I, Kathy hopes that her husband, Abdulrahman, will accompany his family to vacations in Florida. Sometimes her hopes came true and sometimes her husband decided to stay back to keep their business running. Then, Kathy hoped that Abdulrahman would evacuate with the family to her family home in Baton Rouge due to the oncoming hurricane named Katrina. This set the stage for the entire story to unfold since Abdulrahman chose once again to stay back in New Orleans to tend to their business and watch over their home.

In Section II, Abdulrahman weathered Hurricane Katrina and used his canoe in hopes that he could help people and animals. He canoed around New Orleans for miles to feed dogs, check on his and his friends' properties, and pass out water to people who needed it. If someone needed help, he would try to get help. One lady was stuck in her house but was too large to fit in the canoe so he flagged down a small fishing boat to help her. The hope that he could make a difference and provide help to those that needed it, gave him the strength to survive the horrible conditions after the storm.

One of the most powerful displays of hope occurs in section III when Kathy could not reach Abdulrahman by phone and did not know if he was alive or dead. She had hope that her husband was still alive. Her hope waivered as the days went by and as she was starting to lose hope that she would find Abdulrahman alive, she received a call from a missionary telling her that her husband is alive in a prison at St. Gabriel. Abdulrahman's brother, Ahmad, also shared the same hope and urged Kathy throughout her ordeal that she should go to New Orleans to find her husband.

A few years ago, my dog DJ got out of the house and disappeared into the neighborhood. My parents both went to look for her. My mother drove around and my father searched on foot. After hours of searching, no sign of DJ. We were all hoping for the best and that DJ will be returned to us soon. Then, our hopes became reality as DJ showed up on our front doorstep like nothing had happened.

Another instance of hope in this book can be found in section IV when Abdulrahman was