45 pages • 1 hour read
Malaka GharibI Was Their American Dream: A Graphic Memoir
Nonfiction | Graphic Memoir | Middle Grade | Published in 2019A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Symbols & Motifs
Punk Culture
As Gharib becomes a teenager and young adult, her increasing interest in punk culture becomes a symbol for her uniqueness and cultural hybridity. Even though Cerritos High mostly has students of color, Gharib says that “even amongst minorities, I was a minority” (79). Being “ethnically ambiguous and whitewashed, to boot” (80) makes it difficult for Gharib to hang out with the Filipino kids. Instead, she hangs out with “anyone who would have me,” which turns out to be “a motley crew of pink kids” (81). They do not share cultural backgrounds, but they do share an interest in punk culture.
Punk culture is characterized by a DIY aesthetic and defiance of social norms. Within a punk context, not fitting in with the mainstream culture or establishment is a preferred attribute. By nature, punk is an undefinable genre. Gharib has trouble defining her cultural identity throughout her teens and young adulthood; Therefore, punk aesthetics become an outlet for her own difficult-to-define cultural hybridity. Gharib finds a home in high school with the punk clique and eventually gets the yearbook superlative “Most Unique.” Her experience teaches her to have pride in herself. Though she “always felt like an outsider. A misfit. A weirdo,” she learns that this “was totally okay. Maybe that’s what made me cool” (82). Rather than being estranged for being unique, her involvement in the punk subculture teaches her to appreciate it.
Paper Doll
Gharib’s memoir is full of interactive games, quizzes, and activities. One of these is a paper doll version of herself, which symbolizes how she drastically changes her style and personality to fit the dominant aesthetic of her surroundings. Gharib struggles with feeling like a “true” Filipino, Egyptian, or American. Even though her Cerritos High friends call her “whitewashed,” when she attends Syracuse University, Gharib finds that she “didn’t know crap about white people” (92). She studies their cultural references and cues, believing that she must become more like them to be successful. She alters her clothes, accessories, and personality to assimilate in different contexts.
Gharib has made a two-page spread of paper dolls, including outfits and accessories. The various styles for the paper doll denote her attempts “to look more like [white people]” (96). The paper doll of Gharib has a “hangin’ in the quad look,” a “game day look,” a frat outfit,” and a “business school outfit” (97). The instructions read: “Cut out this paper doll of Malaka. Then cut out the clothes and accessories. Dress her up to dramatically transform and alter her personality!” (96) Gharib uses this interactive paper-doll activity to symbolize how, during her college years, she streamlines her look and personality to fit her surroundings, rather than expressing herself as she truly is.
Felicity
As a teenager, Gharib loves American pop culture. Like her father, American media influences Gharib’s idea of what Americanness is. Her favorite show, Felicity, reflects Gharib’s initial idea of what it means to be truly American. Felicity is a college drama that ran for four seasons through the late 1990s and early 2000s, wherein the main character Felicity moves from her home in Palo Alto, California to attend the fictional University of New York. Gharib watches Felicity and “wanted what she had” (69).
Like how her parents list material objects that they believe encompass the American Dream, Gharib lists the things from Felicity she wants to emulate: “A circle of smart gal pals who were into songwriting, getting good grades, and witchcraft. A love triangle between guys like Ben and Noel. Sophistication in the form of Anthropologie sweaters and Dean & DeLuca coffee” (68). The illustrations accompanying these things feature almost entirely white people. Gharib’s idea of what the ideal American experience looks like is based on fictionalized experiences that center wealth and Whiteness as a Cultural Norm. Gharib lists expensive brands and white boyfriends as part of her ideal American experience.
Felicity represents “true” Americanness for Gharib, and she structures her future around emulating it: She applies to New York University, “where I thought Felicity went” (84). She is unable to get into any of the universities in New York City but is still desperate to go to New York, as she believes it symbolizes the type of Americanness she is striving for. She ends up at Syracuse University, “which was technically in the city. Just five hours by car!” (84) When Gharib cannot get as close to what Felicity represents as she would like, she settles for adjacency, believing that will result in the type of life she thinks she wants. When she gets to Syracuse and sees that everyone there is white, Gharib remarks: “It’s just like Felicity!” (91). While this thinking structures Gharib’s decisions as a young adult, she eventually comes to find empowerment in her unique identity.
