Home Is Not A Country By Safia Elhillo

Wanci Li

Mrs.Shin

ELA III

5/25/2023

As humans, we often grapple with the question of whether we should strive to become the person we desire or our true selves. In “Home Is Not a Country '' by Safia Elhillo, a first-generation immigrant teenager named Nima, lives in America but wants to live in her dreams of a homeland she never actually knew. From the beginning, Nima felt a deep sense of disconnection from her identity, her language, herself, and the notion of her identity provoked numerous doubts in her. Torn between her integration into American culture and her Sudanese heritage, she questions everything about the homeland, consequently she travels through the past. Through the role of symbolism and imagery, Nima gradually gains a deeper

Her mother, Aisa, is continuously overworked and unhappy, often crying tears. The absence of her father, who passed away before Nima's birth, has a significant influence on her life. Nima's sensitivity towards discussions about her father causes her to retreat and avoid conversations about him. Her father made a name for Nima , named “Yasmeen”, meaning a beautiful and shiny girl but she was named Nima instead of Yasmeen by her mother. In her perception, she wants to be a more attractive version of Yasmeen and she always imagines herself as Yasmeen: “bright and alive, mouth full and dripping with language easily in her charm and essence else she looks like me” (Elihillo 12). Yasmeen symbolizes the catalyst for Nima’s awakening, urging her to change herself, to challenge exploration, and to accept herself. In the beginning, Nima desires to be accepted and recognized and imagines being “bright and alive” as another confident and beautiful version of herself. Nima’s lack of confidence reinforces some anxiety about herself. Thus, she starts to practice smiling, laughing, and