The Girl with the Mandarin Scarf The Girl with the Mandarin Scarf is written by Mohja Kahf and is a coming-of-age story where the main character, Khadra, tries to find her true identity. Khadra Shamy is the daughter of Syrian immigrants who moved to Indianapolis. Khadra grew up in a strict Muslim community and both her parents were very involved in the Da'wah Center. In the strict Muslim community where Khadra grew up, all children grew up believing in one definition of Islam and rejecting all other definitions and practices. Over the course of the book we learn how Khadra's parents lied to her about some of the Islamic teachings she thought were true during her childhood, which interferes with her search for her identity. There are several examples of social pressures and realities throughout the book that help shape Khadra's identity, many of which girls of any religion or culture would struggle in their own ways, making this novel relatable across different cultures. The first life-changing event that Khadra encounters involves the rape and death of her close friend Zuhura. Zuhura represented a hybridity in the sense that she was a strong Muslim woman, but she was not afraid to interact with Americans, unlike most of the community. Zuhura was like a sister to Khadra and also a mentor. After Zuhura's rape and death, Khadra tightened her grip on her religion. He saw Zuhura's death as what could happen if you try to interact with Americans and don't respect the community's strict Islamic teachings. Khadra gets married to Jumu'ah al-Tashkenti after returning from her trip to Saudi Arabia for the Hajj. Khadra marries him because she thinks he is a strong and ideal Muslim man, and that's what she thinks she... middle of paper... of a different religious background. She describes Khadra's journey not as her liberation from the rigid rules of the Muslim community in which she grew up, but rather as focused on the situational experiences that Khadra had to overcome to find her religious identity. It's a coming-of-age story in a way where Khadra experiences things that are realistic and relatable because they can happen to anyone on a daily basis. The novel depicts that how you react to social pressures also defines you, a concept that is often lost, but Mohja Kahf describes it clearly. The Girl with the Mandarin Scarf shows how social pressures and obstacles shape your identity, and without them you could be stuck simply adopting the same identity as your parents. Ashley Fleetwood Word Count: 1,040 Kahf, Mohja. “The girl with the tangerine scarf.” Public affairs. New York. 2006.