Homeland Elegies: A Novel

10 years before writing Homeland Elegies, Ayad remembers driving back to Harlem from upstate New York when his car began to overheat. A Pennsylvania state trooper, Trooper Matthew, stops to render aid, and the interaction between the two of them—a white policeman and an ethnic minority—seems innocent enough. However, Ayad feels uneasy, the aftermath of 9/11 requiring him to constantly intercept people’s “fearful, watching glares” (90) and answer questions to stifle their curiosity about his origins. When the trooper asks about Ayad’s name, he responds that his family is from India and his name is Egyptian, intentional deviations from the truth; he does not want to stimulate any thoughts of countries associated with terrorist acts. Trooper Matthew continues asking questions and becomes more and more critical of Ayad’s responses. Ayad claims he was born in Wisconsin—another lie as he was born on Staten Island; he felt that Wisconsin sounded “safer” than New York, the go-to place for immigrants. This tentative exchange comes to an end when the trooper calls for a tow truck—only for him to return after a call to his precinct to remind Ayad that he was born on Staten Island, indicating that he requested information on Ayad’s license.