In the graphic novel, when Jamil invites his mother to go to the U.S. with them, she refuses. She mentions that she has five other kids in Jordan, so she can’t leave the country. Jamil’s mother already has U.S. visa, so I think the reason that Jamil’s mother doesn’t choose to go to the family is that she doesn’t want to give too much pressure to her son. She concerns about her son’s circumstances, for she texts him immediately about Trump’s presidency soon after he was elected.
In another scene of the novel, Jamil meets with his brother’s family, where they talk about the possibility of harsh policy towards refugees. Soon after the two male characters evaluating the idea about moving to Canada, the wives reject them immediately and say “I’m tired of moving”. This demonstrates how tired they are in terms of constantly traveling for survival, which is really heartbreaking.
I think from the presentation he gave on Tuesday, I learned a lot about the responsibility as a journalist, as well as the dark side of the career. For example, he mentioned about one of the interviewers who wanted him to adjust the story a little bit to avoid the involvement of kids in the story, but after consulting with his editor he didn’t do it eventually: It’s his responsibility as a Journalist to maintain the authenticity of the story. In the other case when he discovered a fraud was taken place in investment, and actually went to confront the person, he was threatened. This, however, reflected how powerful journalists can be, or the person wouldn’t even bother dealing with Jake.
The part he mentioned about how him struggling after graduating from Yale, didn’t know what to do with his life gave me a really good reminder in terms of finding what I’m passionate about, especially before it’s too late. I think Jake’s speech overall is pretty provocative.