Having read the first part of "Zeitoun", I started getting a feel of Zeitoun's character. He is a quite man, very religious, wise with few words, and not very animated. His character is in contrast to his wife's, Kathy. Kathy on the other hand is very lively and talkative and simply out there. The contrast of their personalities gives the readers a nice contradiction to see how they deal with each other. The fact that he is 13 years older than her makes a lot of sense to why they behave the way they do. In this quote however, I found it very interesting that the author brought out the mundane and funny side of Zeitoun. He is the kind of guy who does not like making mistakes and who is very withdrawn and collected. Yet in this quote, Eggers showed that Zeitoun can make mistakes and can be quite funny in his seriousness. Here, it was a memory of where he wanted to "stalk" Kathy before she met him so he can see how she looks like. He wanted to watch her, and little did he know, she started walking towards him - or that's what he thought - and he freaked out. The little passage about the memory made me smile because beneath all the hardness and manliness, there was still a little boy who got scared when he felt that he was caught. I also really liked the switch back and forth between past and present, because that gives you a little more details about the characters along the way.
I thought this quote was cute as well. It takes you back to your childhood crush, and how we once acted too. I really like how you told about the contrast of the two and how them being different works for their marriage. I also like the idea of how Eggers shows Zeitoun having a soft side under that manly exterior. Great analysis!
ReplyDeleteI can agree how the fact that he is 13 years older can make them so different and have some opposing views on life and everything, but as they say, opposites attract, right? They definitely create that balance in their relationship.
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