After I found out that Zeitoun was imprisoned for domestic abuse and stalking of Kathy, it made me rethink Zeitoun the book. I also found out that it was not only after the book that the domestic abuse began, but there was a long history of Zeitoun abusing Kathy before Katrina hit. I am conflicted now on both Dave Eggers and the legitimacy of the book Zeitoun. Part of me wants to discredit the whole story. What else did Eggers leave out in telling this story? How could he leave out such a crucial aspect of that marriage? Why would he lead us to believe they had a happy and healthy relationship? As a reader, I feel deceived. We talked about how people leave out aspects of their life when they tell their story, but at what point does the story they tell differ too far from the truth to be legitimate?
When I consider that it was not Zeitoun that wrote the story but that it was Dave Eggers, it further complicates things. I must force myself to consider why Eggers decided to write this story despite the ugliness that occurred and was untold. I believe that he thought that the Zeitoun family’s experience of Katrina was too important not to be told. Despite the abuse that occurred, Eggers could still capture imperative aspects of American life that he may have felt important to expose. It is true that the ugly hidden truths of American identity and government were vividly exposed to us as readers. We saw the islamaphobia, the backwardness and inefficiency of FEMA, the abuse of power in the justice system and law enforcement, the deprivation of civil liberties in the name of a disaster, and the detrimental effects Katrina had on the people of New Orleans. In these ways, Zeitoun is still incredibly important and meaningful. Do these things make it okay that Eggers published a book that idealized a man who abused both his wife and kids? I’m not sure that there is a clear answer to it, but it does make us rethink both the purpose and sacrifices made in telling a person’s story. Here is the link to the article on the Zeitoun family after Katrina: kathy_zeitoun_interview.html
The interview with Kathy Zeitoun that you linked is completely heartbreaking. There’s this horrific sort of irony that Dave Eggers’ Zeitoun portrays Zeitoun as being jailed without charge and on false pretenses, while Zeitoun, in real life, walks free after strong evidence that he attempted to assault and kill his wife. This situation is so complicated because there are so many factors at hand, like you said: Islamaphobia, domestic abuse, gendered dynamics, government neglect, systemic injustice, the “War on Terror,” etc. Another interesting thought: does Dave Eggers have a responsibility to comment? Or should the author let the work stand by itself? For me, the only assuredly true sentiment to take away from this mess of a situation is that books, or even stories more broadly, communicate one version of events. There is no way to account for a completely true account, even if (or maybe especially if) the account is written by the person who experienced it. Maybe the broader lesson is that more than one thing can be true: Zeitoun was a victim of systemic injustice when he was incarcerated during Katrina, but he also became a perpetrator of violence and abuse. It’s not strictly binary.
I also had a very strong response when I learned the truth about Zeitoun’s horrific abuse of his family. It definitely changes the way that I view the story. Obviously, biographies and autobiographies can never paint the full portrait of a person’s life–people are simply too complicated to be completely captured in a story. However, when something this serious is underlying the whole story, I think it is quite different. Like you said, as a reader, I feel deceived. Although it is unclear whether Dave Eggers knew the truth about Kathy and Zeitoun’s marriage at the time he was writing the book, everything that he wrote about their relationship is tainted in my eyes. While it is still important to convey the whole story about the miscarriage of justice and the suffering of Zeitoun, the relationship between Zeitoun and Kathy was a fundamental aspect of the story. Even as they both suffered through this horrible experience, Eggers made it seem like their relationship is what carried them through this whole ordeal. Although they were separated from each other, knowing that the other one was out there helped them survive the tough times. Now, I don’t know how to view the story. Is it possible that Eggers knew that their seemingly loving and stable relationship was all an act, or did he believe it? Clearly, nobody has a perfect relationship, but is it possible that he knew their relationship was not at all how he portrayed it? Furthermore, would Eggers still write the story if he knew about their marital problems? I would hope not, but maybe he felt that the rest of Zeitoun’s story was important enough that he needed to share it with the world. I doubt that is the case, but it is still possible. Overall, I think that you said it well. After learning about Zeitoun’s actions, I feel deceived, and the story feels at least partly discredited and tainted to me.
I think that the truth about Zeitoun detracts from the story for me personally. As a feminist, I cannot move past the domestic abuse, much like I cannot move past the truth about Woody Allen in order to appreciate his films. On top of that, Zeitoun, in the book, stood as a model Muslim citizen. Eggers spent energy to disperse negative ideas about Kathy and Zeitoun’s marriage and Kathy’s conversion to Islam. With the information about their true relationship, it seems as though whatever American Dream the Zeitouns represented is somehow untrue. It should not be necessary to use loving Muslim couples as evidence against the “evils of Islam,” a rhetoric that is so common in national and international conversations.