The Submission

“[B]ut we’re talking about something more profound than taste here. Judgment. Having family members in the room—it’s like we’re letting the patient, not the doctor, decide on the best course of treatment.” 

This quote comes from Ariana’s attempt to persuade Paul to vote for the Void rather than the Garden. Ariana has a strong idea of what a 9/11 memorial should look like, and she staunchly prefers the Void. She recognizes that Claire, a widow of a 9/11 victim, holds considerable sway over the vote. That Ariana targets Paul is no coincidence. As the jury’s leader, Paul’s voice also holds power.

“He was the middle-class Muslim son of an engineer, a profile not all that different from some of the terrorists. Raised in another society, raised religious, could he have become one of them?” 

This passage draws a parallel between Mo’s background and that of the 9/11 terrorists. In doing so, it raises questions about identity and about the role society plays in shaping a person’s personality and beliefs.

“Paranoia, no less than plasticine, could be molded.” 

Despite rumors that Mo will be promoted to project director, the job goes to someone else. Having experienced racial profiling and discrimination of late, Mo wonders whether he lost the promotion due to his Muslim heritage. Although Mo has no evidence this was the case, his paranoia persists, which reflects the complicated reality facing Muslim Americans in the wake of 9/11.

“‘A Muslim country would never let a Jew build its memorial,’ she said. ‘Why should we do any differently?’” 

As he meets with Khan for the first time, Paul recalls this line spoken by his wife Edith earlier that morning. Paul admits that Edith’s words express a sentiment he relates to but would never espouse himself, which reflects the internal battles people wage daily against their biases and prejudices.

“They say that when you watch the movies, you root for the cowboys, but when you read the history, you root for the Indians. Americans are locked in a movie theater watching Westerns right now, and we’ve got to break down the walls.” 

MACC member Ansar says this during the organization’s meeting about whether to support Mo’s cause. He alludes to the fraught history between America and Indians to question why they should support this initiative when so many Muslim lives have been lost while the US stood by. They also have to contend with the current cultural narrative that portrays Muslims in an unfavorable light, meaning any effort to support Mo is likely to fail.

“Do we use our limited capital to fight for his rights to design a memorial that, by ignoring the far greater death toll in the Muslim world from American actions, obscures America’s complicity in its own tragedy?” 

This quote also comes from Ansar, who continues his role as a voice of dissent during the MACC meeting. He again reminds the group that this effort might be futile, as they have limited funds. He believes their capital would be better spent on initiatives that shine light on America’s actions in the Middle East.

“Mo dreamed of drought, the dry ground hard. He dreamed of floods, his garden turned to swamp. He dreamed of locusts devouring plants and swarming him…” 

Mo has this dream three nights before the public hearing about the memorial design. These images of drought, floods, and locusts are biblical allusions to the plagues of Egypt that foreshadow Mo’s disastrous presentation during the hearing.

“Claire now could create a matryoshka of just herself—Claire within Claire within Claire.” 

Claire’s husband Cal once commissioned a series of nestled matryoshka dolls to represent their family. Now they represent Claire’s fraught journey of self-discovery. As Claire tries to determine whether her beliefs are her own or whether she simply adopted Cal’s, she imagines Cal as the largest doll, an exterior that conceals Claire’s true self, as represented by the smaller ones.