Homeland Elegies is a memoir-like novel that combines autobiography with fiction. Its narration avoids the standard linear approach, favoring a fragmented narrative that reflects the narrator’s experience as a Muslim American. The novel tells the stories of Ayad, the author and protagonist, and of his father, Sikander, who attempted to achieve the American dream for his family. In the narration, Ayad creates a symphony of voices and characters, showing how they have shaped the way he perceives America. Through various conflicts, Ayad demonstrates that he has never been embraced by the country of his birth. Particularly after the attacks on September 11, Ayad’s vision of himself is shattered when he is immediately associated with terrorism because of his appearance. Through a series of fictionalized recollections, Ayad portrays himself as an exiled man in America, standing distinctly outside America’s cultural center. The structure of the novel reflects this sense of disconnection, offering a collage of memories and meditations that communicate deep, conflicting, and often painful truths about the Muslim American experience.

One theme that emerges from Ayad’s various conflicts is the warped reality of the American dream. Ayad argues that in a quest to attain upward social mobility through hard work and ingenuity, American culture has prioritized wealth above all else. This is one reason Ayad’s mother never feels at home in America; she sacrificed her homeland and traded it for what she saw as a cheap substitute. Fatima laments the loss of a culture that holds its elderly in high esteem, and she longs for the traditional reverence associated with the end of life. She yearns, too, for a culture that valued people over capital, and she critiques America for its role in the Muslim world, believing that the American government is responsible for generating conflict in Pakistani and surroundinging regions. These feelings separate her from her husband.

Sikander, on the other hand, so fully embraces American culture that he does not recognize the ways in which he is disconnected from American society. He has been deeply motivated by the idea that he could come to America and create a successful business for himself. Indeed, he appreciates the opportunity and the freedom of thought offered in America, feeling that the innovative research he pursued would have been impossible in Pakistan. Achievement is paramount to Sikander, and he prides himself on becoming so successful in his field that he is able to provide medical advice to the future president of the United States. 

Ayad recognizes the validity in both of his parents’ perceptions and assembles his own unique perspective on his position in America from the fragments of their experiences. Ayad recognizes the value of capitalism, and when he is given a taste of the exorbitant lifestyle that money can provide, he never wants to return to a life of credit card debt and servitude to lenders. He makes no apologies for this quest of increasing his financial standing and doesn’t make any pretense that he is doing so for noble causes, as Mike Jacobs and Riaz Rind do. But for all his appreciation of the American dream, Ayad also recognizes the value of his mother’s perspective. His relationship with Asha indicates that he longs for deeper human connections, and he particularly values Asha because she reconnects him to his Pakinstani heritage. In addition, Ayad recalls that his childhood memories of being in Pakistan bring him happiness, whereas in America his demeanor is typically serious and sober.

It is impossible to separate the voice of Ayad, the fictional narrator, from that of Ayad Akhtar, the author. Certain details of the fictional...