Who Is Zeitoun's False Addiction?

“A time like this could change a man”, Abdulrahman Zeitoun thinks as he paddles the streets of New Orleans, first-handedly witnessing the devastating effects of Hurricane Katrina (138). This quote from the novel relates to an important assertion Dave Eggers makes. This assertion is that times of trouble can change a person, and can bring out his or her inner demons. This assertion is shown throughout the ending of the novel, where Eggers describes the effects of Zeitoun’s false imprisonment on Kathy’s mental state, through Kathy and Zeitoun’s relationship in the years following the storm and through Zeitoun’s trouble with the law in the years subsequent to the storm.

Kathy was once a woman prepared and willing to fight any battle. After experiencing the trauma of Zeitoun’s false imprisonment and staring racism right in the eyes, Kathy prefers to “retreat, reinforce her defenses” and “double the

Zeitoun is charged with three counts of violating Kathy’s Civil District Court protective order against him and with stalking a person under protective order. Zeitoun called Kathy on the phone on two separate occasions in 2014, and later showed up at his ex-wife’s house, banging on the front door and demanding to enter (Purpura). Before the storm, “Zeitoun’s romantic side was central to why” Kathy loved him (73). The two loved one another more than they loved themselves. Zeitoun “had turned out to be everything she had not believed possible: an honest man…hardworking, reliable, faithful, devoted to family” (17). Zeitoun lost all of these qualities. The novel, which was published in 2009, portrays a loving family who could make it through thick and thin. Zeitoun’s abuse after the publication of the novel strongly contrasts the relationship Zeitoun and Kathy share before the storm. He became physically and verbally abusive, and became the opposite of the man Kathy had fallen in love