The Dilemma of the Muslim Simulacra:

A Modern Cultural Prejudice in the Face of Crisis

In Dave Egger's Zeitoun, we experience, through the character of Abdulrahman Zeitoun, a modern manifestation of a cultural prejudice which results from a mass-media created simulacrum. This simulacrum associates the images of Middle-Easterners who appear in the press, often as terrorists, with all peole of the Islamic faith and in the process, create false beliefs that all Muslims are involved with terrorism. In my paper I will address the Muslim simulacrum, how the U.S. government worked to develop it, and how even in the face of a catastrophic natural disaster, the simulacrum still held strong. Zeitoun's story is one which displaces the sense of cultural security and equality in American society that many imigrants and American citizens depend upon. Yet, as we will see, even our own government and free press manipulate its citizen's trust and use it to their advantage.