54 pages • 1 hour read
Etaf RumEvil Eye: A Novel
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2023A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Character Analysis
Yara
Yara, the novel’s protagonist, is a Palestinian American woman who is a mother to two daughters. She lives in North Carolina with her husband, Fadi, and, at the novel’s beginning, teaches a course in art history and works as a graphic designer at a local college. She is a complex figure who is characterized through her modern identity, the value that she places on work and education, her love for art and cooking, her interest in race and social justice, and the way that she is shown to heal from generational trauma.
Yara feels caught between traditional Palestinian culture and liberal American values. While she is more modern than her conservative family would like, she also finds fault with much of white American culture. Yara desperately wants to be allowed to define her own identity and not be forced into an entirely traditionally Arab or completely American mold. Although there is much about her culture that she values, she is not deeply religious, does not wear a hijab, and feels ill at ease among her mother-in-law’s more traditional friends. They all think that Yara is “too modern,” and she feels judged by them.
Although no one in her family truly supported her in her endeavor, Yara pursued a college education and then, after the completion of her degree, obtained a position at a university. Her desire to work outside of the home, too, is seen as transgressive by her family and community members. Fadi does not object to her job as long as she performs her duties at home, but he is also consistently vocal in his opinion that her work is unnecessary and that she would be happier as a stay-at-home mother. As in her orientation toward modern ideas and values, Yara’s commitment to work and education speaks to her desire to forge her own path and define her own identity. She often muses about how “[e]verything in her life ha[s] been a succession of things she hadn’t really wanted to do” (61). Education and work represent Yara’s interests.
Yara is a gifted artist and talented cook. Through her art, she both creates portraits of her family and opens up a space for artists of color in a field dominated by white creators. Through her cooking, she maintains a connection to the portion of her cultural identity that resonates the most strongly with her. That so much of her interests lie in the culinary and aesthetic realms speaks to her creativity as a person as well as to her desire to focus on life’s beauty. Here, too, she goes against tradition. Everyone in her family would prefer her focus to remain solely on her husband and children. Yara wants more from life than that.
She is also passionate about race, representation, and social justice. She bristles against the many small acts of racism that she encounters, but she also wants to introduce her students to a world of artists beyond the white, male figures typically taught in art history courses. That she ends the novel with a goal of creating a space for artists of color to show their work and come together speaks not only to Yara’s interest in equity and representation but also to the value she places on art as a vehicle for connection and communication.
Yara’s mental health journey is the focus of much of the book, and through her depiction of generational trauma in Palestinian American communities, Rum helps spread awareness for not only the plight of the Palestinian people but also the way that complex trauma might function in other immigrant communities. As Yara’s therapist Esther notes, generational trauma is common in underserved and immigrant populations, and there are many connections that can be drawn between Yara’s struggle, the difficulties of Palestinian women, and the trauma that women in various communities face every day. That Yara is able to move beyond her trauma with the help of people who see her for all of her complexity and individuality is an argument for the possibility of healing from trauma.
Fadi
Fadi is Yara’s husband. At the beginning of the novel, Yara is grateful that Fadi is not abusive like her own father, but as the story progresses, it becomes evident that Fadi is responsible for much of Yara’s unhappiness. Fadi struggles in his relationship with his own father, but he represses his emotions. He is a workaholic who self-consciously views his own identity entirely through the framework of being a “provider” for his family, and does not see Yara as a complex, multi-faceted individual, but rather as a wife and mother. He is disrespectful to Yara, does not allow her to pursue her passions, and is ultimately revealed as dishonest.
Fadi’s father wanted him to work in the family business, but Fadi chose to strike out on his own. This created conflict in their relationship, and Fadi always feels as though he cannot measure up to his father’s expectations of him. Because he struggles with his own family, it initially seems as though Fadi has compassion for Yara. She, too, has fraught family relationships, and both she and Fadi understand what it is like to be the children of immigrants with high hopes (and strict rules) for the next generation. For Fadi, identity is entirely tied to work, money, and providing for his family. He was never encouraged to explore himself beyond his role as a provider, and although he resents that, he feels that there is little he can do about it. However, Fadi, at least from Yara’s perspective, is not self-reflective and has no interest in exploring the ways that his fraught family relationships have impacted his life. He would rather binge-watch American television shows like Law and Order or The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air than talk about his past. When Yara begins to unravel the way that her family difficulties shaped her, Fadi becomes angry and accuses her of wallowing in self-pity.
Fadi does not physically abuse her, but he does have a tendency to minimize her feelings and question her perception of situations. Their marriage was arranged, and as long as she cooks, cleans, and raises their children, he is happy with her. Ultimately, Yara realizes that he would treat any wife the same and that what he was looking for was someone to fill the role of wife and mother, not an individual. She reflects that he “ha[s] never known her, ha[s] not even tried to” (314). Yara feels that Fadi looks through her, and she repeatedly tries to talk to him about her unhappiness with their relationship, but he is unwilling to listen. As their conflict grows, so does his verbal abuse, and ultimately much of their conversation is rooted in his unexamined, deep-set lack of regard for Yara as a person.
Fadi ends up losing his job as a result of unethical behavior at work, and although he tries to lie about the reasons that he is no longer running his company, Yara finds out the truth from his partner. Even in their final conversations, Fadi refuses to take accountability and is not willing to reveal the full truth of what happened at work or in their marriage.
Silas
Silas is Yara’s only friend within the novel. He is a culinary arts professor at the college where Yara works, and they meet in the counseling center. Like Yara, he loves cooking, and he is somewhat of a misfit in his traditional community. Silas is gay, and though he is now close to his mother, he went through a long period of denying his identity. He recalls being stereotyped as effeminate when he was a young boy and judged for his lack of interest in traditionally masculine activities. Instead of sports, he enjoyed being in the kitchen, and he muses to Yara, “It’s not a very manly activity, cooking with your grandmother. I think my Nana knew I was gay before I did” (167). When he and Yara meet, he is engaged in a custody battle with his ex-wife over their young child. Unlike the rest of Yara’s colleagues, he makes an effort to get to know her and does not view her solely through the lenses of difference and stereotype.
Silas’s relationship to food is one of his most important traits. He loves cooking European dishes but got his start in the culinary world of his family. Like his mother, he enjoys traditional, Southern American cuisine. There is much about his traditional upbringing that he finds fault with, but food is one aspect of his culture that he does appreciate, and it becomes a way for him to maintain a sense of connection with his roots. He shares this position with Yara, who sees Palestinian cooking as a way to stay connected to a culture with which she has a fraught relationship.
Silas is also important for the role that he plays in Yara’s life and for the willingness he shows to look beyond stereotypes in his interactions with her. He initially makes the mistake of thinking that Yara is foreign born, and when she responds with bitterness to his question about where she is from, he apologizes rather than taking offense. He values Yara as a human being and wants to understand the complexities of who she is. He also encourages her to seek professional help for her mental health struggles and provides emotional support to her.
