The Submission

Mohammed “Mo” Khan is Indian American by heritage. He works as an architect, and his design for the 9/11 memorial is questioned throughout the novel. Mo never struggles with his American identity. Like many second-generation immigrants, he is fully immersed in American culture, completely part of it in a way his parents never could be. When asked throughout the book what he “is,” he always states that he is an American. That said, he does struggle with his Muslim identity. We see this when he nominally celebrates Ramadan by fasting and when he watches the young men both in America and in Kabul pray. The fact that he never “owns” his Muslim identity completely indicates not necessarily that he is ashamed of it or worried he will lose the contest. Rather, it is one of the book’s strongest indications that Mo is indisputably American, and that there is a diverse range of backgrounds and heritages represented in the American people.

Claire Burwell is the second most important character in the book. She is a woman of extremes. Before Mo’s identity is known, she actively solicits others to take her side in support of his submission. Even after Mo’s identity is revealed, she strongly supports his project.