53 pages • 1 hour read
Saadia FaruqiYusuf Azeem Is Not a Hero
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2021A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Symbols & Motifs
Heroism
The title asserts the idea of heroism, and before the reader consumes a word of the story or knows anything substantial about Yusuf, they know that Yusuf isn’t a hero. The motif supports the theme of Countering Monolithic Representation. Though calling someone a hero is typically a compliment, the term can function reductively, particularly for people from historically marginalized identities. For example, in The New Jim Crow (2012), the contemporary writer, lawyer, and activist Michelle Alexander critiques the trope of “exceptional” Black people, arguing that it fetishizes them and legitimizes a biased system. Alexander argues that Black people shouldn’t have to be extraordinary to succeed or receive honorable treatment. They should receive adequate and equitable care because they’re humans.
By negating his heroism, Yusuf stands up for his humanity and his Muslim values. He’s not saving the world or acting with uncommon courage, but he’s being a normal Muslim, behaving as his family and friends would. As Yusuf tells Danial, “I wasn’t being a hero! I had to do that. It was my duty as a Muslim” (205). The heroism takes attention away from the selflessness of Islam and directs it to the individual actions of Yusuf. When Yusuf stands up to Ethan, he’s not trying to grab the spotlight but to help people. What motivates Yusuf is a genuine sense of spiritual altruism. He doesn’t want accolades or the confining designation of hero.
Abba complicates the motif of heroism. People think Abba is a hero for his actions during the robbery, and he embraces the term, keeping a plaque that reads:
TO MOHAMMAD AZEEM,
FOR YOUR COURAGEOUS BRAVERY
IN THE FACE OF DANGER.
APRIL 18, 2011 (54).
Yusuf calls out Abba’s self-aggrandizement when he quips that Abba cleans the plaque at least twice a day. Yet Abba doesn’t view the term as a symbol of selfishness but as representative of acceptance. Due to his hero status, Frey embraces Abba, and Abba, due to his background, wants to fit in more than Yusuf or Amma.
Football
Football is a popular sport across the US, but high school football is particularly prominent in Texas, as the journalist Buzz Bessinger explains in his nonfiction account of a high school football team in Odessa, Texas, Friday Night Lights (1990). Faruqi applies the preoccupation with high school football to middle school. The Frey Coyotes receive plenty of attention, with the narrator describing them as “only the most important team in town” (84). To fit in, adults force Danial and Yusuf to attend the practice football game, with Danial quipping, “Can’t believe we have to spectate such a violent sport” (113). The sport’s fundamental violence represents the bellicose elements of Frey and the US. Football dominates the town, similar to how the US dominates the world. Faruqi advances the noxious symbolism by turning Ethan into the star football player. During the game, Ethan “tore headfirst into a seventh grader” (118), making him a bully on the football field and off it.
In Chapter 38, Principal Williamson gives the robotics club the kind of attention typically reserved for the Coyotes, and people show up for the practice TRC run the way they attended the practice football game. Faruqi juxtaposes the STEM area with football, making the former positive.
Yusuf’s Locker
The first words of the novel are “You suck,” and they appear on a note in Yusuf’s locker. Right away, Yusuf’s locker becomes a symbol of fear. When he finds another note in his locker, Yusuf “gripped the locker door and swallowed again” (38). Yusuf is frightened. He doesn’t know who’s writing the notes or their motivation, and the mystery unsettles him. He tries to downplay the notes, telling Danial that they’re likely a joke, but his body belies his flippancy. After the second, Yusuf feels his stomach lurch. The notes impact his physical well-being and they make him afraid.
As the locker is the source of the terror, Yusuf avoids it, and he starts carrying all of his books with him. The symbolism becomes explicit when the narrator describes Yusuf opening the locker “slowly like something out of a horror movie” (186). The simile turns the notes into monsters or ghouls; however, Yusuf doesn’t let the fear immobilize him. He tells himself, “Man up. You’re not a baby. If your dad can handle a robber, you can definitely handle a few notes” (186). As Yusuf confronts the source of the notes, Ethan, he transcends his fear, demonstrating a courageous ability to put his Muslim values into practice.
