Abdulrahnam Zeitoun and his family’s experience with Hurricane Katrina is summarized and documented in the novel Zeitoun, by Dave Eggers. Throughout the events of the novel, the reader learns its purpose is to inform the audience of the shocking tragedy and burden the storm placed on the Zeitoun family. Rhetorical appeals, the Muslim religion, media, the government’s involvement in the city, and the audience the book was trying to reach all play important roles in the story of the storm that devastated all of New Orleans. Egger’s novel not only informs, it also entertains, explains, and exposes, as well as documenting the events of the storm and the Zeitoun family’s story. The purpose of Egger’s novel is achieved thorough the use of style details, emotions, status of characters, and facts.
Many of the small details made as big of an impact as the larger events and detail did. Kathy’s repetition of the idea that the family was not worried about the storm kept the idea fresh in audience’s mind. On more than one occasion Kathy made a point to say they always stayed in town during storms, and had no doubt this time would not be any different. Not until Katrina became a category three did Kathy begin to consider leaving and not until Katrina became a category five hurricane did she and the children leave town. After reading multiple times the family did not worry about storms, this sudden change of heart about leaving showed the reader the severity of the situation. Eggers chose many different angles to use to appeal to our emotions.
Pathos was the author’s strongest appeal. He used family, religion, sympathy, worry, and many others to keep the audience feeling a wide range of emotions throughout the story. The reader experiences joy,. .iences still share the same purpose from the novel when they become aware of Zeitoun’s story, how he was treated because of his faith, how it affected his family, and how it affected his life in New Orleans.Dave Eggers used all three of the appeals as well as a few style detailing to get the purpose of his novel across.
All of the different angles he used give the reader a better understanding of what exactly his purpose was. The details of this text flow together wonderfully to reach a variety of readers and let his purpose be known subtly. Rhetorical appeals, the Muslim religion, the media, and the government have roles in Zeitoun’s story; they also have roles in help Eggers achieve his purpose. The tragic events Zeitoun experienced were told to the world because Dave Eggers informed, entertained, explained, and exposed it to every reader of his novel, “Zeitoun”.
