The Submission-How would you feel in Mo's postion?

[Madelyn]

Shortly after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Mohammad Khan's design was chosen anonymously to best suit the memorial for the deceased. After his design was chosen, people began questioning whether or not he is the best candidate because he is a Muslim. How would you feel in Khan's position?

[Andrew]

I think this is really tough but, in my opinion, you must stand up for your own design. It is no longer about "winning" but if he acquiesces and doesn't advocate for his cause, he is making himself and the entire Muslim people guilty. I understand the desire to stay back to avoid controversy but I think if he did this he would be furthering the belief that it is not a radical group who planned 9/11 but rather the entire Muslim people (or anyone with a traditionally Arabic/Muslim name).

I loved this book because it pulls you in so many different directions while making you reconsider your previously held beliefs.

[Rebecca]

Just finished this the other night, in prep for the Sept book group, and I agree with Andrew completely. I also think that that is why the ending of this book is so powerful!!! And the fact that one's struggle with the issues this book brings up never leave you .......even after the book does.

[Debbie]

When I first started to read this book, my thought was (and still is) who cares who the architect is? It's about the memorial and its being a place where families and survivors can honor the victims and find peace. While my opinion has never changed, the characters in the book swallow you up into their lives, their needs, their thoughts and their beliefs. It is this seeing something from several points of view that causes you to pause and reflect on your ownself and on your own values. Mo absolutely was right in defending his design whether or not he was a practicing Muslim or not. If he did not defend his belief that his design was the right design, he would have come off as someone less than.

[Baljit]

I spent the weekend reading this books and was really impressed.
ever since 9/11, people make this assumption that terrorists are Muslims. they have forgotten that in the 1970s-1980, the IRA was planting bombs in London, due to the conflicts between Northern Irish Catholitics and Protestants. Same goes for the sectarian violence in Sri lanka between Tamils and Sinhaleese.
In this novel the jury deliberately voted for a design, and then chose to reveal the identity of the architect. an american architect, plain and simple. Just as his gender and sexuality does not come to be questioned, his religion should not be an issue. however the media hype up his ethicity and draw parellels between his design and muslim influences. can a garden be muslim, christian or buddhist?

[Chickenlips422]

Just finished this book. Although years after 9/11 and the issues that came about with the interfaith center that did not happen in NYC, this book still makes one think about what is important and what is not. It just makes you think about the subtle racism that still exist, sometimes deep in people's hearts.