As he paddled back to Claiborne, a hope flickered within Zeitoun that his siblings might see him on TV. Perhaps they would see what he was doing, that he had done something good by staying in his adopted city. The Zeitouns were proud, and there was plenty of sibling rivalry that had pushed them all to an array of achievements-all of them measured against the deeds of Mohammed. None of them had ever done something like that, none had achieved on his level. But Zeitoun felt again that perhaps this was his calling, that God had waited to put him here and now to test him in this way. And so he hoped, as silly as it seemed, that his siblings might see him like this. Why does the author include Zeitoun's thoughts?

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Celeste Compton

17 April, 16:21

As he paddled back to Claiborne, a hope flickered within Zeitoun that his siblings might see him on TV. Perhaps they would see what he was doing, that he had done something good by staying in his adopted city. The Zeitouns were proud, and there was plenty of sibling rivalry that had pushed them all to an array of achievements-all of them measured against the deeds of Mohammed. None of them had ever done something like that, none had achieved on his level. But Zeitoun felt again that perhaps this was his calling, that God had waited to put him here and now to test him in this way. And so he hoped, as silly as it seemed, that his siblings might see him like this. Why does the author include Zeitoun's thoughts?

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Cassius Richardson · Answer 1

The author includes Zeitoun's thoughts, so that the reader is aware of the thoughts and reasoning behind his actions. Without including his thoughts, the reader would only know that he was paddling. To include this inner monologue and series of thoughts while he paddles, however, lets this paddling act as a moment of self-reflection, and gives a chance for the author to give insight to the reader as to what Zeitoun is thinking, since there are not other characters around for him to verbalize these thoughts to.