Joy Jordan-Lake's Blue Hole Back Home

When most people think of the word “home,” they imagine a safe environment where they feel as though they belong as they truly are. This conceptualized environment includes friends, family, traditions, and memories. No matter where someone goes—as long as they are with what that they find peace and happiness in—they will be content. However, not everyone can find this sense of security and belonging so easily. Joy Jordan-Lake’s novel, Blue Hole Back Home, displays the rough transition of Farsanna Moulavi and her family from an unprivileged life in Sri Lanka to the unwelcoming, xenophobic realm of the Southern United States. Their integration into southern life would be impeded and ultimately cut short by the local temperament towards

Farsanna’s father chose America as a means to escape the Sri Lankan caste system under the impression that it would be truly different. Farsanna quotes her father, “In America, everyone is equal. In America, everyone is free. In America, everyone does as he wishes, and no one for stopping” (Jordan-Lake 156). However, it becomes obvious rather quickly that America is not as perfect as they were hoping, at least in the South. In an early conversation that Farsanna has with Jimbo, Turtle, L.J., and Emerson, Farsanna asks if the South is as hospitable as it is rumored to be. Sarcastically, Turtle responds, “It’s what we’re known for. Hospitality. That’s us. The South” (Jordan-Lake 37). Everyone is aware of how exclusive “southern hospitality” is in terms of who gets it. It comes as no surprise that a darker complected family of Muslims does not necessarily fit these

The first thing to happen in the book is the shooting outside of a bar in a predominantly black area. Even though this event may not have been particularly aimed against Farsanna, the very motive for the shooting itself and the media’s portrayal of the story demonstrates the racial bias and lack of social justice for black people. For example, the paper does not even mention the fact that someone was injured in the shooting, probably in an attempt to lessen white guilt and invalidate black peoples’ lives (Jordan-Lake 99). Another example of racial—and possibly religious—discrimination is highlighted when Farsanna’s father does not receive the job that he had been promised. As a result, he is forced to work in an inconvenient paper mill even though he received a degree from the University of Sri Jayewardenepura (Jordan-Lake 143). The other major events rests with the actions of the Ku Klux Klan both creating a road block (Jordan-Lake 205) and burning a large cross in Farsanna’s front lawn that eventually engulfs her entire house (Jordan-Lake 283-285). Both of these actions receive no attention from the justice system, only perpetuating the systemic racism present in the