Blog Post 2

I've actually finished the book, so I hope I don't give too much away because I don't remember what happens in this section, and I don't have the book with me.

Zeitoun's family has proven to be quite religious up to this point, but I think this portion has shown how much they value their faith. From personal experience, I know it's hard to not know where your dad is or what he's doing. My dad is in the Army and when he was deployed to Iraq, there were times where it was too dangerous for him to tell us where he was, and he wouldn't talk to us for weeks at a time. To see Kathy rely on her faith so much is astounding, rather than to turn and wonder why this was happening to her and her family. She didn't even know if he was dead or alive, yet she kept firm in her faith. I think that many people would lose hope at that point, or turn against, wondering why them.
I think that her faith is what grounds her. Kathy could have definitely lost it more than she did. Considering the circumstances, and the fact that she had 4 children to consider also, yet she remained mostly calm, doing what she thought was best for her family.
What also amazes me is how grounded Zeitoun is. He was arrested and put in jail for what seemed like terrorist charges, yet he still took the time to pray with his friend Nasser every day. He wondered why it was happening to him, but not in a way that he was turning against his faith, but just because he was a good man, and wasn't doing anything wrong. He also wasn't able to talk to his wife, and had injuries that weren't addressed. If it were me, I would probably be mad, and wondering "Why is this happening to me? What did I do to deserve this?", yet Zeitoun kept praying. He also made do with his circumstances, using dirt to clean himself off. He really didn't dwell on how bad he had it. On a little side note, I thought the love he had for Kathy and the kids, and how hard he worked to get ahold of them was really sweet.
Hurricane Katrina brought together many people in churches. Between the relief effort and churches coming together to provide for people in need, religion played a big role. But Kathy and Zeitoun got through the hurricane, and this was worse than that, yet they still held strong. I feel like that amount of faith in something is really inspiring, whether you're religious or not. The ability to believe in something so strongly, and not falter such as Kathy and Zeitoun did.