The GiRl In tHE tAnGeRiNe ScArF

"The Girl in the Tangerine Scarf," by Mohja Kahf brings up a lot of issues about how immigrants view Americans and how they see themselves outside of "American life." At the beginning of the novel, there were many instances showing how Khadra's family looked down upon Americans and would never think of labeling themselves as Americans because after all, they were dirty and immoral. Khandra' mother ran the laundry twice in the laundry room because she said, "You never know with Americans. Americans don't care about impurities"(4). Another instance when Khandra and her brother Eyad were eventually found by their parents after an adventure by the creek, caused Khandra's mother to become furious and exclaim, "We are not Americans, We are not Americans!"(67). She was implying that that they do no leave their children wandering in the streets, like American do. Because Khandra was raised in this type of environment, where she was never identified with being American, she hated when she actually had to become a citizen. As Khandra grew as a person and broke away from her "old self," she began to realize that she was American, but still not the same type of American as the typical "Indiana Hoosier." She looked at her American identity through an Us vs. Them lense, which clouded the way she viewed herself and others even more. Finally at the end of the novel, she began to look at the world around her without a lense and embrace who she truly was. While at the race track, she observed the "Midwestern Hoosiers" around her, who were set in all of their ways, who valued God, and who were afraid of change. It was at that moment that she realized that "they" were just like her and her family. The Us and Them coincided, atleast for that moment.