This novel really took me by surprise. I didn’t know what to expect it to be about. What Michael Ryan is trying to say with this piece is that words and people can be totally criticized or maybe generalized into categories without people even realizing it because it’s a cultural norm. One big reference is when he talks about the word terrorism. What he says is that people automatically think of a Muslim person. The bush administration took the word terrorism and tacked it to the Muslim faith. I literally had no clue that I myself do this all the time! It never occurred to me in that order how much I used this cultural norm. In today’s modern world when we see a man who is Middle Eastern with a long beard we get on edge but why do we? We don’t know them they may be more “Americanized” than us. We have been taught to fear these people and hate these people who have been labeled terrorist. Back in 2010 a mosque was due to be built in New York City about 3 blocks from ground zero. The people of New York were furious! They protested that it was not right and they won! The mosque could not be built in New York City. That is a perfect example of how big these cultural norms can be put on a whole society making unable to inhabit an area. How can we do this? People can’t say, well I met an obese person so I know all Americans. How can we take some words and label a society with them? These cultural norms go unnoticed every day and they will continue to for the rest of our lives.
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