It is this fear that is one of the main factors that forces the man to move his family to America, risking everything to do so. Lalami, in one of the chapters from the perspective of the man who dies, depicts a world where a young man, on his way home, witnesses government officials beating civilians senselessly, and is forced to hide until the streets are deserted, running home still paranoid that he was followed to be killed. I very much appreciated the manner in which Lalami tells the stories of the narratives of the immigrant families in the novel. At the same time, the novel actively provides the account of the man who was killed, Efrain, providing some background to the events leading to his death. From there, the novel switches between the perspectives of the individuals in this community (his daughter Nora, his wife Meryam, Nora’s childhood friend Jeremy, etc.) as they all deal with this ordeal in some in their own ways. Set in modern day California, the novel opens with the death of Driss, a Moroccan immigrant killed by a hit and run on his way home from work in his diner. The novel, The Other Americans, shines the spotlight on interconnectedness of the human experience while also actively representing the immigrant experience in a country like the United States.
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