Discussion #2

At first I (ignorantly) imagined the setting to be a small African village in the middle of the Sahara. I thought this because the Suleiman and his mom take midday naps and seem like the don't have anything better to do. As I continued to read, I realized that they lived in a very modern town, on the outskirts of Tripoli. The author had mentioned that they lived in Tripoli, and the year was 1979, but I hadn't realized it was a city then. The setting impacts Suleiman, because he often goes swimming in the sea, at his will. Also, since his mom takes afternoon naps, he is able to go and walk around his neighborhood without supervision. To me, the book would still make sense even if it wasn't in Libya. The perspective of Suleiman, leads the reader to believe that Tripoli is just an ordinary city. If thee story was narrated by an outsider, a different mood would be set. Tripoli could be in the middle of Mexico, and the story would be exactly the same. Suleiman and those he knows are shaped by their surroundings: he gains a view of the outside world by Calzoni. Calzoni's restaurant, which is located by the sea, always reminds the owner of his hometown of Italy.