Summary Of Guidelines By Lisa Suhair Majaj

The poem, “Guidelines,” by Lisa Suhair Majaj, was written in 2009: during the War on Iraq. While vital details such as the identity of the speaker and the setting of the poem are omitted, one key feature is included; the speaker, or at least the person being spoken to, is Arab. This is noted in the initial stanza and is an essential detail in the remainder of the poem. The tone of the poem is set from an early stanza; while an important topic is being discussed, sarcasm and humor, mixed with ubiquitous ambiguity, are sure to be present. This poem is an attempt to portray a sense of peace and subsequent comfort during times of hate directly related to the idea that everyone who resembles the appearance of a Middle Eastern individual is a terrorist.

In the fifth and sixth stanzas, the narrator discusses being accused of not being an American, and how to handle an ordeal of this type. At this point in the poem, it appears that the people making the accusations have had enough of the narrator’s responses, or what they might think of as excuses, and have started to lose control of any sense of hospitality that they possessed. The narrator claims that instead of proving one’s citizenship via a driver’s license, it would be better to recall the Bill of Rights or the Constitution. This is the narrator at her satirical best. She is making the case that because someone is not American, or does not have the appearance that one would associate with being an American, that they do not know the documents that the country was founded

For instance, it is odd that the people harassing the narrator take the time to ask her if she is white, especially at this junction in the poem. It has been evident up to this point that they dislike her based on her appearance. Furthermore, it seems that this question would be better suited to be asked earlier in the poem. It appears, though, that they are using it as sort of retaliation. They have just been embarrassed by her wit, so they resort back to the basics. Her response, though, is clever. It is as if she has given up on trying to reason with them, and instead has resorted to embracing the idea of being humorous. Although, it is possible that she is questioning what it means to be white, or the nature of race, itself. The idea of her abandoning the attempt at reasoning with them and embracing the humor of the situation is a satisfying image. She can’t seem to make up her mind on an answer, so she decides on all of them. Any response has become acceptable, and that makes the entire situation oddly comforting. Up until this point she has known exactly what to say, but now she is indecisive. That indecision is gratifying in terms of making her seem even more realistic. She has portrayed a sense of realism throughout, but this establishes that sense of a realistic persona to a further