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46 pages 1 hour read

Dave Eggers

Zeitoun

Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 2009

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Chapters 7-9Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 2

Chapter 7 Summary: Friday September 2

After feeding the dogs, Zeitoun decides to go and see what has happened to his office. He’s determined to assess the damage, but as he approaches, he sees a gang of armed men across the street, looting. This is the first time Zeitoun has seen anything like what they’d been reporting on TV. He decides not to get too close, and when one of the men in the group sees him, he faces Zeitoun defiantly, showing he’s holding a gun. Zeitoun wonders if he can reach the office another way without the men seeing him, but finally decides he should leave, and goes to the Claiborne house.

When he talks to Kathy, he doesn’t tell her about the armed men. Friends have been calling Kathy to check on them, and realizing that Zeitoun was still in the city, asked if he could check on their property. Zeitoun is happy to have a mission and tells Kathy he’ll check on the properties. Their friends, the Burmidians, want him to check on a few building on the Tulane University campus, and, as Zeitoun knows the place, he agrees. Before setting out, he calls his brother Ahmad who again urges him to leave the city.

Arriving at Tulane, he realizes the buildings are fine as the campus is on elevated ground. He’s about to look inside the property when an old acquaintance, Nasser Dayoob, emerges. Though not good friends, Nasser is also from Syria, and his story of arriving in the U.S. is similar to Zeitoun’s, so the two are happy to see each other. Nasser’s home was flooded, and so he had sought refuge in the Tulane property. As Nasser also wants to see what has become of the city and his home, he joins Zeitoun. As they paddle, Zeitoun learns that Nasser had also been helping to feed dogs that had been left behind. They paddle by a post office that has become a staging ground for evacuations, and Zeitoun asks Nasser if he wants to leave, but Nasser says he isn’t ready to yet. Zeitoun tells him that he can stay at the Dart or Claiborne house if he’d like, and that he can use the phone there as well. As Nasser needs to inform his relatives that he’s alright, they head to the Claiborne house.

Arriving at the Claiborne house, Zeitoun hears someone calling out for him and realizes that the Williamses, an elderly couple, have also remained in the city. However, the couple is now ready to leave, having exhausted their food supplies. Alvin is wheelchair bound, which makes it impossible for Zeitoun to evacuate him in the canoe. He tells the couple to wait while he goes for help. First, Zeitoun goes to Memorial Medical Center, where he is told to leave at gunpoint. The soldiers there tell him they can do nothing for him, and that he needs to go to St. Charles if he wants help. Zeitoun is baffled. How can these soldiers not be able to help with all of their technology and supplies? They won’t even contact St. Charles on his behalf. Flustered and tired, Zeitoun heads to St. Charles. When he arrives, he finds a soldier who agrees to help the couple; he gives the soldier the couple’s address, and is told that they’ll be evacuated in an hour. Relieved, Zeitoun returns to the Williamses and tells them the good news.

Kathy and Ahmaad finally meet up, and Ahmaad drives nonstop to get them to Arizona. He tells Kathy not to listen to any more news reports, but every station is reporting news about New Orleans. Kathy takes comfort in the fact that more troops are being sent to New Orleans.

Zeitoun and Nasser continue helping those they can, but upon returning to the Claiborne house, they discover that the Williams have not been evacuated as promised. Zeitoun is angry and apologizes to the couple. He returns to the Claiborne house to try and decide what to do. Reaching the house, he sees that Todd Gambino is back and has a small motorboat, the perfect vessel to evacuate the Williamses. Todd agrees to help the couple, as he’s been doing much the same thing for other people all day. Zeitoun is overjoyed; he once though Todd was a drifter, but now sees that the disaster has made a good man even greater.

Back at the Dart house, Zeitoun is unable to sleep. He begins looking at photos and reminiscing about joining his brother Ahmad on the open sea, about all of the places they visited together and the things they experienced, all of it culminating in him arriving in New Orleans and meeting Kathy. He prays for Kathy and the kids, and then is finally able to sleep.

Chapter 8 Summary: Saturday September 3

As the food in his freezer will soon thaw and rot, Zeitoun decides to give what he can to the dogs and barbeque the rest on the rooftop with Nasser, Todd and anyone else he can find. He takes the hamburger meat out and paddles across the street to feed the dogs.

With Yuko’s husband, Ahmaad, driving almost nonstop through the night, Kathy and the kids arrive in Arizona on Saturday afternoon. The kids immediately forget their worries and go swimming. Exhausted, Kathy tries to relax as well.

Paddling around the flooded streets with Nasser, Zeitoun spots a helicopter flying low over the water. He and Nasser paddle closer to see what’s happening and notice something in the water that looks like a shiny tire. Paddling closer, they realize it’s the bloated body of a dead man. Initially thinking the helicopter was trying to rescue someone, Zeitoun realizes that someone in the helicopter is taking pictures of the body. After taking a few more photos, the helicopter leaves. Zeitoun wonders if the dead man is one of his neighbors. He doesn’t want to look at the man’s face in case it’s someone he knew.

Zeitoun and Nasser paddle to the Claiborne house, shaken by the sight of the dead body. The image seems like something from wartime, and Zeitoun wonders if the man had needed help, if he could have possibly saved him. At the Claiborne house, Zeitoun receives a call from his brother Ahmad, urging him to leave. He tells him the entire family is worried, though Zeitoun insists that everything’s fine. His brother’s concern reminds him of a time when Ahmad called Zeitoun and told him that, if he went to the corner of Bourbon and St. Peter then Ahmad could see him via live webcam. Zeitoun had gathered up the family and went to the spot Ahmad mentioned. He didn’t know where the camera was, and so stood on every corner. Returning home, he called Ahmad to find that he had seen Zeitoun and had taken a screenshot of the family and emailed it to Zeitoun. Ahmad was like a guardian angel, always protecting him.

That night, Zeitoun, Todd and Nasser barbeque the rest of the meat from Zeitoun’s freezer and they talk about FEMA and the situation at the Superdome. They’re all glad they didn’t go to the Superdome for shelter as the evacuation plans aren’t working out well. They also talk about what the city will look like when all the water has receded. Zeitoun thinks that they’ll have to get horses to trudge through the streets with all of the sludge. As the sky grows darker, Zeitoun sees an orange light in the distance and realizes that a fire is burning near his office. He has an office full off flammable materials, and so he and Todd quickly paddle there in his canoe. Luckily, his office has been spared but the fire is only about twenty feet away. If the wind shifts, it will all be over. Zeitoun and the others who have gathered there realize that nothing can be done to fight it. They watch as an entire block of houses goes up in flames.

The flood and the fire, as well as the stars out in the sky, remind Zeitoun of Biblical tales, and also of a time when he had a conversation about the existence of God with the captain of a tanker. The captain didn’t believe there was a God, but Zeitoun told the man that just as the stars are held together and kept from falling because they are guided by some higher being, so too is man kept on course by God. 

Chapter 9 Summary: Sunday September 4 – Tuesday September 6

Zeitoun feeds the dogs some leftover barbeque from the night before and then drops Nasser off at the Claiborne house. He heads out alone, noting how quiet the city seems. There are fewer people around and the water is filthy, polluted with all types of debris. While paddling around, Zeitoun is shocked to see three horses grazing on a small patch of dry land. The sight is surreal, and Zeitoun wonders how the animals got there. He continues on through the streets and suddenly hears a woman calling out to him, asking for a ride. He picks the woman up and realizes that she’s a prostitute. He’s already offered her a ride so he can’t say no, but wonders if she’s still working while the city is in the midst of a disaster. 

Zeitoun paddles to the I-10/Claiborne overpass again and realizes that the people he’d met there before are now gone. Reaching the overpass, he notices a dead dog and, getting out of the canoe for a closer look, sees that the ten or so dogs—mostly puppies—that had been there before are all dead. They’ve been shot repeatedly. Zeitoun gags at the sight, and heads back to the Claiborne house, shocked. He calls Kathy and tells her about the shootings. They try and think of a reason why the dogs might have been killed but can’t think of one. It simply means that chaos has replaced reason in New Orleans. Perhaps, Zeitoun thinks, it is time for him to leave.

Back at the Dart house, he thinks again of the dogs and why anyone would want to harm them. He thinks about all of the strange, apocalyptic events happening around him and recalls passages from the Qur’an. Zeitoun also wonders how he can protect himself if he’s faced with violence. These thoughts lead him to remember a time in Jableh, when he and his brother decided to keep and train carrier pigeons. His father had told them that the birds must be freed, and that he would release them and take down the cages while the two were at school. When they returned home, however, they found that the birds were still there. Their father had apparently gone to release them and the birds flocked around him, softening his heart. A few years later, their father died. Zeitoun imagines his death was the result of a broken heart over Mohammed’s death.

After feeding the dogs on Monday morning, Zeitoun heads to the Claiborne house. He calls Kathy and learns that two police officers have killed themselves. The news hits Zeitoun hard, as one of the officers, Sergeant Paul Accardo, was a notable figure in New Orleans who always seemed to exude calm. Kathy tells Zeitoun about the roving gangs of armed men, the toxic chemicals and all the other reasons why he should leave the flooded city and join his family, but Zeitoun simply agrees to call her later.

Their friend Rob has asked Kathy to see if Zeitoun can look in on their cat that was left behind. Zeitoun agrees to look for the cat and, with Nasser, sets off for Rob and Walt’s house. On the way, they decide to stop by Nasser’s house to see if anything can be salvaged. Upon reaching his house, however, they find that the water is up to the eaves; there’s no way inside the house, and no way to salvage anything. They reach Rob and Walt’s house but find no trace of the cat. Zeitoun tries the door and considers jumping over the fence but doesn’t want to be mistaken for a vigilante. The police are looking for looters in the city, and he doesn’t want any trouble.

On their way back to the Dart house, they pass the post office, which is now a staging ground for helicopter rescues. There are no helicopters, but a few rescue workers are milling about. Zeitoun asks Nasser if he wants to leave the city yet and Nasser says no. At the Dart house, they pray together, eat and then fall asleep.

Tuesday morning arrives and, after feeding the dogs again, Zeitoun returns to the Dart Street house and finds that Nasser is ready to leave the city. The two men paddle back to the post-office parking lot to drop Nasser off, but on reaching it, they find that the orange helicopter which would take Nasser to safety has crashed and is inoperable. With dampened spirits, the two head to the Claiborne house. Zeitoun calls Kathy but doesn’t mention the incident with the helicopter. He also doesn’t mention that he’s considering evacuating as well. With fewer people around to help, there isn’t much for Zeitoun to do anymore. Kathy implores him to leave, even telling him about the forced evacuations ordered by the mayor, but Zeitoun maintains that he’s needed in the city and not yet ready to evacuate.

While paddling around to see if he can help, Zeitoun is stopped by a reporter. He talks to the reporter briefly, and then heads back to the Claiborne house in good spirits. He hopes that he’ll be on TV. He feels he’s doing some good in the city and that God wants him to remain and help others. He wants his siblings, who have always been high achievers, to see the great job he’s doing in New Orleans.

Returning to the Claiborne house, he meets a man named Ronnie. Ronnie saw that the house still had a working phone box and has been using the phone every now and then. Zeitoun thinks about the situation, not wanting to tell Ronnie to leave. As Ronnie needs the help, Zeitoun finally agrees that it’s fine for him to use the phone when he needs to. Going upstairs, he finds that the water still works and takes a shower for the first time in a long while.

After his shower, Zeitoun calls Ahmad in Spain. Ahmad tries to reason with him again and asks him to leave the city and join his family. As he’s talking, Nasser calls him to the front door where men are asking if the two need water. Before Zeitoun can get to the door, the men burst through the front door and Zeitoun sees that they are all armed.

Chapter 7 – Chapter 9 Analysis

Though Zeitoun didn’t give much thought to the grisly images Kathy mentioned seeing on the news, these chapters force Zeitoun to wake up to the reality of the situation he’s in. As he paddles around, Zeitoun notices the increasingly polluted state of the water; it has become too dangerous to wade through. The change in the quality of the water is symbolic of the overall turn in the situation in New Orleans. Things are getting worse in the city and the darkness that will soon descend on Zeitoun is first suggested here in the descriptions of the polluted water.

Zeitoun’s innocent and altruistic wanderings in the canoe are interrupted by the group of armed men near his office building. This is the first time Zeitoun encounters what the media is portraying as the reality of New Orleans after Katrina. He is shocked, and in an attempt to avoid trouble, he leaves in a hurry. The fact that he doesn’t tell Kathy about the incident, so as not to worry her, means that the tide of Zeitoun’s thinking has changed. The city is not the awe-inspiring and safe place he imagined it initially. The mob rule reported by the media is a real presence—and a real threat—which foreshadows Zeitoun’s imminent arrest.

Life in the city is beginning to leave an impression on Zeitoun. His encounters with the horses on a dry patch of land, the prostitute he gives a ride to and the dead body being photographed, all leave deep marks on his psyche. They point to a city without rules or reason. Zeitoun begins to wonder if it’s time for him to follow Kathy’s advice and leave the city. This new, lawless city of was no place for Zeitoun and his altruism. The discovery of the murdered dogs really shakes Zeitoun; his faith in humanity is tested, and he knows that he is no longer living in the “new world” he enthusiastically explored in the early days of the flooding.

These chapters provide more flashbacks to key moments in Zeitoun’s life, including events that join him to Nasser Dayoob. Though he is not family, Zeitoun takes comfort in having a friend such as Nasser with him. This new friendship also highlights the importance of connection and family for Zeitoun. Nasser, like Zeitoun, has been feeding dogs when he can. Nasser, then, is like Zeitoun, which compounds the picture painted by the narrative of Islam as a religion in which altruism and altruism are important.

The theme of bearing witness is made more explicit in these chapters as well, primarily through the motif of photographs. Zeitoun’s photos highlight his reliance on his family; not just Ahmad but also the memory of his brother Mohammed. Zeitoun’s memories show us that altruism runs in his family and flashbacks to his brothers and his life in Syria show how he became the man he is. His religious faith and his belief in his fellow man are so strong that, even when the men barge into his home on Claiborne, he simply imagines they have made a mistake.

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