What If?

I changed my opinion of Amy Waldman's novel, The Submission, almost as often as the characters themselves did about the memorial and each other. As the characters questioned their beliefs on religion, cultures, and identity I began wondering which I found the most important. While the novel raised important questions, I resented its ending for not giving enough answers. I felt like Claire, who felt the need to question Mo's reasons for his memorial and shared her dissatisfaction and frustration when I too felt like I only created more questions for myself. Although I sometimes became annoyed with Mo's arrogance and stubbornness, I admired him for believing so much in his memorial that he willingly subjected himself to the media's close scrutiny and the public's harsh criticism and violence. However, by the end of the novel he gives up on the memorial and flees the country, forcing me to question what anyone learned from his fight to protect the memorial. While many begged him to give up so that America could heal, decades later, Muslims in America "were...if not embraced, accepted. Trusted" (324). After months of violence and cruelty to Muslims and the loss of countless lives, for Muslims to become simply "accepted" made it seem like Mo lost his battle for the memorial for nothing.      His life never truly amounted to anything, because although he became well-known and wealthy, he always felt alone and wondered about what might have occurred if he had fought harder. The novel emphasized the importance of democracy and the public's opinion, yet in the end, prejudices prevailed and conformity triumphed. I believe the defeat of Mo and his memorial symbolized a defeat for cultural understanding and the embracement of diversity. How can such a decision remain democratic when it ignores the rights of so many people? The last few pages of the novel focus on the regrets of main characters, mostly about how they wished they fought harder because they will always question what could have happened if they had. Life is short and if people accept the limitations society places on them and give in to pressure, they could spend the rest of their lives forced to wonder about their decisions and their impacts.