Guantanamo Boy (39 page)
Authors: Anna Perera
Define enemy combatant.
Why is this term used?
p. 94
:
The one thing [Khalid] wishes he could change right now is the religion he was born into.
Discuss why Khalid would want to change his religion.
p. 95
:
[Khalid] curls into a ball on the floor and cries. He’d always thought of himself as strong . . .
Discuss if anyone would be able to be “strong” if they had to go through what Khalid goes through.
p. 101
: Khalid reacts to the shaving of the prisoners’ beards:
It ignites a terrible anger in Khalid, who knows the shaving of the man’s beard—an important part of his Muslim identity—is the final insult for him.
Discuss why a man’s beard would be an important part of his Muslim identity.
p. 104–5
:
[Khalid is mad] at the Americans for seeing them as just that: Muslims. Dangerous foreigners whom they can’t even tell apart. Angry too at the Muslim religion for getting him into this mess. He once heard a newsreader say it was the fastest-growing religion in the world. Khalid remembers wishing the media wouldn’t say stuff like that. People don’t want to hear those facts, and he doesn’t particularly want to be lumped together with loads of people he doesn’t know, Muslim or not. And Muslims aren’t all the same, just like Christians aren’t all the same. He’s Khalid—himself, not a result of any religion. He hasn’t even done anything with his life yet.
What stereotypes exist about Muslims?
Explain how Muslims are not all the same.
p. 120
: A Red Cross worker approaches Khalid with a question:
“I’m with the Red Cross. Do you want to write a letter to anyone?” “A letter?” It’s the first time Khalid’s thought about it. “Just one letter? Can’t I do more?” “However many you want!” The soldier opens the cell and hands Khalid three pieces of paper and a black pen. Plus a cup which holds a card with a number. His is 256.
Why was a member of the Red Cross allowed to speak with Khalid?
Why is Khalid referred to by a number instead of by his name?
Define dehumanization. Is Khalid being referred to as a number an example of dehumanization?
p. 129
: Khalid’s reaction when being allowed to see the sky:
Khalid gazes at the sky as if for the first time and the sudden, searing light makes him feel drunk as anything. It’s so wonderful and perfect . . .
What ordinary things would you miss if they were taken from you?
p. 132
: Khalid on his solitary confinement:
It’s a room Khalid gets to know well, because every single half-hour over the next three days the soldiers barge in to wake him. He fades in and out of the most disturbed sleep ever conceived as his mind wanders to thoughts and images he had no idea were even stored there.
How is this an example of torture?
Is torture an effective way to find out important information from someone who does not want to cooperate?
p. 139
:
. . . If [Khalid] can close his brain down for a bit, then maybe he can forget? Perhaps if the guards stay away, he can fall into a long, timeless sleep instead of the half-hour here and there before another bitter wake-up . . .
Why did the guards not allow Khalid to sleep?
p. 145
:
Footsteps down the corridor sound inside a mind of shadows so dark, [Khalid] can hardly remember what day it is anymore . . .
How did Khalid survive the torture?
p. 150
:
Eyes closed, [Khalid’s captors’] hands pressing down on his shoulders, Khalid hears the jug being filled with water at high velocity. A cloth lands on his face. More hands hold it down, so that he breathes in the smell of gauze bandages, and at the same time a trickle of cold water pours through the cloth and down his nose and mouth.
Explain if this is an example of torture.
What is the purpose of this type of interrogation?
p. 152
:
The suited man to Khalid: “This procedure will continue until you confess your part in the worldwide bombing campaign you planned with known accomplices,” the man says firmly.
Discuss why Khalid would confess to doing things he never did.
Do you think there would be people who might think Khalid is guilty even if they are aware of how the confession was obtained?
Discuss the consequences of his signed confession.
p. 167
: On torture:
“It’s a stupid way of finding anything out. Whenever my brother twists my arm up my back, it hurts so bad I say anything he wants me to just to get him to stop. So what’s the point in torturing someone if all you get is lies?”
Answer Khalid’s question: “So what’s the point in torturing someone if all you get is lies?”
p. 176
:
Since he arrived in Guantanamo, Khalid hasn’t really seen anyone. Just the food trolley man and the soldiers. The only sounds that keep him company day and night are terrifying screams from the other end of the building and then someone who coughs and coughs—he doesn’t know which is worse. Plus the constant slamming of metal flaps gives him a headache, like a pneumatic drill in the side of his skull.
Discuss what it would be like if you had to go months with almost no contact with other people.
p. 190
: Masud to Khalid on his imprisonment:
“This I’m knowing for sure is against the law they set in Geneva. Certainly. No one here has received a trial. They cannot keep a child like you on your own. This is cruel torture.”
What were the laws that were set at Geneva?
What has happened to Khalid that could be against the law?
p. 197
:
“I want a lawyer,” Khalid says.
Discuss why and how Khalid can be held for this amount of time without access to a lawyer.
Why has Khalid not had a trial?
Discuss the demands Khalid is making, and explain if these are valid demands.
p. 198
: An interrogator to Khalid:
“You will tell us what you know about al-Qaeda!” Bruce says menacingly. “If not now, then tomorrow or the next day. I hope you’ll think about how your actions are harming innocent people.”
Define irony.
Discuss how the statement made by Bruce is ironic.
p. 204
:
. . . Khalid hears the sounds of Ramadan start up again.
What is Ramadan?
Discuss how fulfilling Ramadan is difficult for the Muslim prisoners.
p. 221
: Ali to Khalid:
“Islam is not a medieval culture . . .”
Discuss how the culture of Islam is relevant in modern-times.
Why would someone assume that Islam is a “medieval culture”?
p. 232
: Khalid after seeing his face in a mirror while getting his hair cut:
Was that really his face?
Describe how Khalid reacts to seeing his face.
p. 241
: [
Khalid feels] deep-seated hatred and contempt . . . for his cousin.
Explain why Khalid has feelings of hatred toward his cousin.
Are these feelings justified?
p. 254
: Tariq to Khalid:
“I said your father is a fund-raiser for extremists. I lied to stop them beating and driving me to insanity. Told them many lies about everyone. I’m asking for your forgiveness, cuz.”
Discuss if Khalid should forgive Tariq for his lies against his father.
p. 266
:
“Hi, Khalid, I’m your new lawyer. Name’s Harry Peterson.”
Describe how Khalid might feel when he realizes that he finally has a lawyer.
Discuss who is supporting Khalid’s release.
p. 275
:
From now on, Khalid wants to be seen as honest and sincere, brave, forgiving and kind, so he thinks hard. Knowing once his words are taken down, they’re written in stone and he never wants to be caught out again.
Discuss if Khalid has been brave since he was kidnapped.
p. 281
: [
The] religion [Khalid] once ignored and avoided because he thought it was uncool has become a major source of comfort, giving him something to turn to.
Discuss how religion has become an important part of Khalid’s life.
Discuss how and/or if religion can help people when they are in desperate situations.
p. 292
:
“I’m going to sue you for all of this. Just so you know,” Khalid says. “I think you’ll find you were never arrested,” Major Leeth tells him, smirking. “No, that’s right, I was kidnapped, wasn’t I? You suckers better apologize for torturing me.”
Discuss what the major means when he tells Khalid that he was never arrested.
Discuss what type of compensation (if any) Khalid should receive for being kidnapped.
p. 297
:
But not only does Khalid find this Rochdale stuff hard to believe; it seems incredible that from now on people will think he’s special, though not for anything positive, just for spending time in that prison.
Explain why Khalid is not excited about being seen as special.
p. 306
:
“Your dad’s on the phone!” Khalid freezes in shock. “Dad! Dad!” Khalid grabs the mobile. Holding it close, he turns away from Harry as Dad’s soft, gentle voice passes through him in a wave of longed-for pure pleasure.
Discuss what Khalid and his father would talk about on the phone after not seeing one another for two years.
What would you talk about with your family?
p. 307
:
“Sorry to keep you waiting. I’m Professor Wolfson. My job is to help you settle back into normal life as soon as possible.”
Give examples of the difficulties Khalid might have adjusting to normal life.
p. 315
:
Then there’s all the people knocking on the door, day and night. The local imams, Muslim leaders, journalists, friends and neighbors—even the guy who owns the restaurant where Dad works. Their constant voices, welcomes, and polite inquiries cause exhaustion and pounding headaches for Khalid.
Discuss how Khalid reacts to all of the attention.
How would you react in his situation?
p. 322
: Mr. Tagg to Khalid:
“There’s only one thing I ask, Khalid. Will you come and help me do an assembly on that awful place you’ve been? There’s a lot of anti-Muslim feeling building at the moment and we want to keep the school and Rochdale free from that kind of sentiment.”
Explain why it could be difficult for Khalid to tell about what happened to him while imprisoned.
p. 326
: Khalid on preventing violence: “
. . . I’d say the only way to prevent violence is to stop being violent, stop thinking nasty thoughts about other people. Stop hurting other people. Stop lying and cheating. How come the world doesn’t get that?”
Explain if you agree with what Khalid says about preventing violence.
p. 338
: Khalid’s letter to Tariq: There’s not much more I can tell you, cuz,
Khalid writes quickly.
I don’t think that feeling of total misery will ever really go away. Soon, I promise, you’ll get home.
Discuss the possibility of Khalid’s cousin being released.
p. 340
:
. . . Khalid’s heart lifts and the past collapses into a little burst of happiness. The kind of happiness that a loving family brings.
Discuss how this statement means more to Khalid at seventeen than it did when he was fifteen.
SOURCES FOR TIMELINE
www.cfr.org/publication/20018/us_war_in_afghanistan.html
projects.washingtonpost.com/guantanamo/timeline/
www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4715995
www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2007/dec/19/politics.terrorism
www.guardian.co.uk/world/2003/apr/23/usa
www.guardian.co.uk/world/2003/apr/24/usa.afghanistan