Chapter 12

Mo starts receiving threats and picketers start protesting outside his house. He is now a public celebrity. Meanwhile, his relationship with Laila is deepening. The combination leads him to spend a majority of his time at her apartment. Almost more time than Laila. She actually lets him move in under the pretense that his apartment "may not be safe."

Mo reads a news article from the New Yorker saying that he, Mo, has "every right to proceed with his memorial" but asks whether he should proceed. The New Yorker is traditionally more left leaning and this puts Mo aback. He was expecting support from that audience, but now it seems like he's getting bashed on all sides. He is still receiving plenty of support (Tim Robbins, Susan Sarandon, ect.) , but seeing it in print throws him off. Mo starts analyzing the difference between Mo Khan and the fictitious Mohammed Khan that all the journalists are feeding on. They misrepresent Mo and one even said he had a jihadist brother (Mo is an only child). Mo's become an overnight phenomenon, a trend that is dividing America.

Paul and Sean meet for breakfast. They go to a fancier restaurant which makes Sean feel uncomfortable and out of place, giving Paul home field advantage. Sean attempts to be hard with Paul, but is smitten with the aristocratic manner of the restaurant: he's interrupted by underlings trying to impress Paul and impatient waiters. This causes him to come off as weak in the eyes of Paul and Sean leaves bitter. But Paul did give him a small bit of advice, "'Go lie down on the site if it will make you feel better.'"

Two anti-Khan groups, Save America from Islam (SAFI) and the Memorial Defense Committee (MDC), are now joining forces. The MDC is headed by Sean while SAFI is led by Debbie Dawson, a white America divorcee with a militant agenda. Sean finds SAFI to be an unruly, aggressive group of mostly middle-aged housewives. They are obsessed with "dhimmitude" which they describe as the "voluntary submission to being second-class citizens under Sharia law." While they don't see eye-to-eye, Debbie and Sean decide that mobilizing together.

Asma has tea with her landlady, Mrs. Mahmoud. Mrs. Mahmoud is a larger woman who loves to gossip. Asma bears it out of appreciation for all the hospitality and help the Mahmouds have offered her since her husband's death. They disagree over whether Khan should build the memorial; Asma thinks he should while Mrs. Mahmoud thinks otherwise.

Paul is at a fundraiser for his younger son, Samuel. Samuel is a prominent leader in the gay rights movement. While listening to "a windbag" talk about an incompetent employee. Rather than firing his underling, the man gave him enough meaningless tasks that he quite out of aggravation. Paul hopes to use this method on Mo. Paul starts by demanding Mo choose an landscape architect to help with the design. Then he pushes Mo to alter the design of the Garden. Mo doesn't take the bait, and Paul realizes that his respect for Mo is rising. He sees a drive that he himself had.

Chapter 11

Claire and Mo meet for the first time at Paul Rubin's house. She thanks him for the Garden. Paul is throwing a "Congratulatory reception" for Mo, formally recognizing him as the jury's choice architect. While there, Ariana backhandedly insults Mo and his design and there is a group picture to document the event. Mo is the only person who smiles.

After he leaves the party, Mo calls Laila Fathi, his lawyer, to have a drink. He knows that she is "not his type" but he wants the company never the less. While from different worlds, the two connect based on their shared Muslim heritage and culture and prejudice experiences. They leave the restaurant and head back to Laila's place. They have to be careful though; Laila believes that no affection can be displayed in public due to their professional relationship.

Claire looks at the group photo and is bitter that Khan did not express pure gratitude to her; she was expecting him to appreciate her pushing his design more. Claire then reads the Times Arts section where there is a column on the Garden. Traditionally a liberal author and audience, the article points out the similarities to Islamic gardens in the memorial. Some more conservative pieces are going as far as to call it a "martyrs paradise." People are being offended by the Garden now, looking at it as a slap to the face from the Islamic world; they think that this Garden will encourage more Muslims to commit act of terror.

Lou Sarge is a conservative radio pundit who the Gallagher family listens to. He believes that Khan may be conspiring to plant something (a bomb) in the Garden. The Governor comes on and addresses the idea of it being an Islamic Garden. She says that if it is, it may be "unconstitutional" and she will veto the jury's decision. Sean listens and while his family berates the Governor and complains he vows to crush the Garden for his mother's sake. He sees her pain first hand and can't stand to see one of her son's grave built by a Muslim. Sean thinks about his visit to Claire's house and hopes he scarred her. And he wishes he had thrown the rock into her house.

Chapter 10

Asma visits the local grocery to buy some food. While she reads the paper she over hears two men in front of her discuss the memorial competition results. They compare it to the 1970 Pakastini suppression of the Bangledesh election.

When Asma gets home, she realizes that her bag of rice has been leaking since leaving the grocery. She returns to the store and explains what happened. The shop owner, Mr. Chowdhury, claims that she is lying and refuses to compensate her. She shows him the trail but Mr. Chowdhury refused to change his mind.

Paul visits Governor Bitman one morning at her request. Bitman is using this event as a political move to win over more Conservative voters. She claims that Paul doesn't "'have a grip on the process.'" Paul realizes that the Governor had called him out of friendship to warn him that she was going to start to target his jury for their decision.

Alyssa sits in apartment trying to draft a new topic for her article. Since she left the Daily News, she had been hired by the New York Post as a Columnist. Her new editor, Chaz, encourages her to "tell what people to think." While brain storming she thinks back to an old flame she had with another reporter named Oscar. Not particularly handsome, the law enforcement reporter and her had a fling that she missed. Back to the column Alyssa types out, "' The problem with Islam is Islam.'"

Mo sees Thomas for the first time at work. Thomas shoves Mo up against a wall, furious at his friend. Then he starts laughing. While still angry, Thomas is still friends with Mo because "the man couldn't hold a grudge." Mo then meets with his boss, Roi. Despite his bitterness, Roi vows to support Mo in his endeavour. Still, Mo feels insecure.

Claire is told by Lanny to check the column by Alyssa Spiers. In it, Spiers says that Claire is "sleeping with the enemy" and that she has a soft spot for Khan. The next morning she starts to disconnect all the landlines so other reporters can't contact her. Sean Gallagher then comes to her house. Claire hides and refuses to answer the door. Sean waits but eventually leaves but not before taking rocks from one of her cairns with him.

Chapter 9

Mo meets with Issam Malik, leader of the Muslim American Coordinating Council (MACC). The members present at the meeting argue whether the MACC should back Mo or not as he does not seem particularly excited to rally for their Islamic cause. Ultimately the group agrees to support Khan. Laila Fathi, a young female lawyer who is also helping out Asma, also works with the MACC and becomes the Mo's personal spokesperson.

Claire goes to central park with her two children to make a path of stone stacks as a small memorial for her husband. She is worried that the majority of families who lost loved ones will protest the Garden because of it's designer's religion. The charge is already being led under the leadership of Sean Gallagher. 

At a speech in a high-school auditorium, both Sean and Governor Bitman address a crowd of surviving family members. The Governor tells them that even though the jury has decided, the public still may weigh in. When Sean goes up on stage, he specifically calls out Claire for not properly representing the family members. Claire then steps out of the crowd. She takes the stage and addresses the issue and defends the Garden, without bringing up Khan.

Clarie runs into Edith, Sean's mother, once she comes off stage. Edith catches Claire off guard and makes her feel very uncomfortable. Claire is then mobbed by Alyssa Spier. She avoids the reporter by quickly dashing to her car. She heads home, worried that Cal won't get his proper memorial.

Alyssa watches helplessly as Mo reveals himself as the winner of the memorial competition during a press conference hosted by the MACC. While she initially the mystery Muslim, he was no longer a mystery, thus Alyssa lost her advantage in the press. 

To combat this, she researches Khan's associates. She comes across Thomas Kroll. She visits his house where she interrogates him for all he knows. He personally was offended when he found out because Mo never told of his plan. His wife, Alice, is pissed because she's afraid that the publicity will put their family at risk. Despite Alyssa's biased prying, Thomas remains steadfast in his support of his friend. Other reporters find out about Kroll but Alyssa tells them not to bother, trying to maintain the advantage. 

Chapter 8

Asma Andwar is a twenty-one year old immigrant from Bangladesh. She lost her husband, Inam, in the attacks on the World Trade Center. They were in America illegally and thus there was no record or identity for her husband to die under. Since his death, Asma had been living off her Mosque's Widow and Orphan Fund and the generosity of her landlords, the Mohmouds. A little while after the attack, she gives birth to a baby boy, who she names Abdul Karim.

Asma receives counsel from the community leader, Nasruddin. Asma is a traditional Muslim woman as is her community. He takes her to meet a lawyer named Laila who wants to help Asma obtain compensation for her husbands death. Laila strikes Asma as odd since even though she is Muslim, Laila doesn't cover her head. Despite this, Asma agrees and walks away with $1.05 millions.

She still has to live modestly, but now she doesn't worry about where the money's coming from. She then hears Lou Sarge, a conservative talk show personality, say that illegals' names should not be included on the memorial. This angers Asma but the mayor reassures the public that aliens should be included as well. While this relieves Asma, she's still shaken to know that her husband is now just a name.

Chapter 7

Sean Gallagher lost his brother, Patrick, during 9/11. Patrick had been a firefighter and since his death, Sean had started volunteering everyday to clear the rubble and ash. He comes each night to his wife who complains that he smells like death. Sean, however, considers the ash to be "holy" and saves it.

Two years later, Sean is having dinner with his family and members of the Memorial Support Committee that he heads. They are responding to the Post's report saying they will do everything in their power to prevent a Muslim from building the memorial.

In Sean's past, he dropped out of school, opened up a handyman business, and became an alcoholic. Five months before the attack, Patrick and Sean became estranged. After the attacks and the loss of his brother, Sean started giving speeches on the rescue and recovery efforts around the country. He moved back in with his parents where his mother, Eileen, makes it perfectly clear that she preferred Patrick over Sean. Sean realizes that the attack brought out the best in him.

Alyssa Spier basks in the glory of her story, appearing on talk shows and becoming a hit in the journalistic world. Everyone is talking about the "mystery Muslim." Even the Mayor was forced to bring it up. For her, this was the pinnacle of her success up unto this point; what she had been waiting for her entire professional life. And she only dreams of greater things.

Paul meets with Mo at a small bistro. Mo had since grown a beard, which puts Paul aback when first meeting. Paul reveals to Mo that the jury decision is not final yet, which incites a negative response from Khan. The two parlay with words for a while, finally leading Khan to bring up Paul Rubin's Russian, Jewish heritage and consequently name change from Rubinsky. They get the check and head separate ways.

Paul gets home to learn his eldest son, Jacob, has swung by to ask his father for money. Jacob is a forty-year old "filmmaker." He refused to "sell out" and thus lived on donations from his father. Tired from the "Khan situation" he snaps at his son. Paul realizes that he respects Mo more than his own son.

Chapter 6

Paul reads a detailed report on Kahn. Kahn was 37, went to University of Virgina and the Yale School of Art and Architecture, and has moved his way up the architectural food chain. His mother and father emigrated from India in 1966, relocating to Alexandria, Virginia. Nothing suggests Kahn is an extremist or anything less than a successful architect. Paul looks at the photo of Kahn, a "handsome young man, his skin pale brown, his hair black, curly, and short, his brows dark and paintbrush thick over a wide, strong nose." Paul, despite the reasons to go with Kahn, thinks of ways to fittingly let the jury know they need to pick a new winner.

Paul is called early in the morning by Lanny, the jury's chief assistant, who tells him that the New York Post just published an article saying a Muslim won the competition. Paul picks up a copy of the paper, revealing the article was written by Alyssa Spier.

Mo stops by a news vendor and picks up a copy of the Post. He reasons that it had to him that won the competition. When he gets home, he pastes a copy of his submission photo over top of the article's "generic Muslim photo" and hangs it up on his wall.

Chapter 5

A year after the attack Mo is pestered by his mother to get married and have children. He is nearing forty and his mother wants him to have a family.

Mo is expecting to be promoted to project director at his architecture firm. Emmanuel Roi, the firm's founder, calls Mo into his office and tells him Percy Storm, some other architect not important to the story, is being promoted. Mo presses for a reason, but comes up empty handed. He wonders if it has to do with his religion.

On the subway, Mo watches four African-American teens throw condoms at passengers. No one says anything except an older black man who yells at them to stop. Mo views this intervention as the man feeling tainted by the action of other blacks.

At home, Mo tells his girlfriend Yuki about the incident. They start to watch Fox New and get into a fight over the ethics of airport security. The fight leads to the two breaking up.

Mo goes to a lecture by Henry Moore, a defense expert, on how to create building to be defensively sound. He is sent to Kabul, Afghanistan on behalf of ROI to compete for designing the new American embassy. After his flight, Mo notices how drab and sad the architecture is. He takes a nap in his rough hotel room. Once he awakes he heads over to the embassy for a debriefing and a tour of Kabul. For dinner they go to a French restaurant where the other architects comment that it's like a Muslim paradise. When one jokes that he's surprised the Muslims aren't "blowing themselves up to get in" another comments, "'Some don't have to'" while looking at Mo.

Chapter 4

Claire is swimming at her home. She remembers swallowing her pride and quiting her job to become a stay-at-home mom. While she came from meager backgrounds, her husband was born into wealth. While this makes her life comfortable, she feels that she is now at the command of her husband. She still loves Cal, but she wish that she wasn't "the social secretary for a four-year-old." Cal even paid off her student debt, which Claire apprecieated but was hurt because she felt it took away her self-sufficiency. It turns out, that the day she is swimming is 9/11.

The day after choosing the Garden, Claire goes into her late husband's study. Cal was a man of wealth, but rebelled against his family. He apprecieated the arts, attempted to reform the Democratic party, and created a charity to support teen mothers through their schooling. He kept a collection of all these things and more that interested him in organized folders.

While in Cal's study, Claire's son, William comes in. He has a drawing of himself and his father in the future Garden. Claire tells him sometimes it will rain in the Garden. In response he draws an umbrella over the two of them.

New facts about Claire:

• Dartmouth undergrad, Harvard Law School
• rags to riches story

Paul awakes in his house and is questioned by his wife, Edith, about who won the competition. He doesn't respond and instead looks at a photo of himself with Governor Bitman. He then receives a call from a reporter named Alyssa Spier. She asks if a Muslim won the competition. Paul neither confirms nor denies the claim and quickly hangs up.

Paul arranges an meeting with the editor of the Daily News, Fred. Alyssa works at this paper. Paul convinces Fred not to allow a story to run with the delicate information.

Chapter 3

A week after 9/11 Mohammed (Mo) Kahn is flying home from Los Angeles to New York City. He is stopped by two security agents, one called Pinball, who interrogate him.
Questions asked:

• Where were you born?
• Do you love this country?
• What are your thoughts on jihad?
• Aren't you a practicing Muslim?
• Know any Muslims that want to do harm to America?
• Do you believe you'd go to heaven if you blew yourself up?
• Do you know any Islamic terrorists?

The interrogation goes nowhere and after fingerprinting Mo, he is allowed to go back to NYC. When he gets home, he finds that his baggage had been rummaged through yet due to the atmosphere of the city, Mo is not that angry. He wonders about what type of Muslim really does represent Islam and how he fits into the religion. And he reminisces about the buildings while eating in a small, Indian restaurant and only feels nostalgia for the towers. 

Mo works for an architecture firm, ROI. Generally brusque, he becomes more polite since the attacks which annoys himself. He is cocky and has a lot of pride which often makes him unlikeable. He is not very religious and describes himself as agnostic. His parents immigrated to the US in the '60s.

Chapter 2

"Jesus fucking Christ! It's a goddamn Muslim!" yells Bob Wilner, representing the Governor at the jury. The jury starts to discuss their predicament and their descriptions reveal them to be all upper-middle class intelligentsia (art critics, university professors, ect.) Most everyone seems to be reconsidering their choice, except Claire who is steadfast in her support for the Garden and it's architect, Mohammad Kahn.
Ethics discussed:

• Tolerance to Muslim community
• offensive to the families
• Narrow-minded Midwesterners
• Is Mohammad Kahn a terrorist?
• Fairness of process
• Protection to Muslim community/backlash

During this time, Ariana reveals Claire's suspicion to be true that the designer of the Void is an acquaintance of Ariana's.

They reach an inconclusive decision, but because it's so late, Paul dismisses the jury. He urges them not to speak to the press. As the group disperses, Paul unfairly thinks to himself, "Did Muslims ruin whatever they touched?"

Chapter 1

At the Gracie Mansion, a room full of jury members trying to decide on which memorial should be built to commemorate the 9/11 attacks. It has been two years since the attack. On one side, Claire Burwell, the only person on the jury who had lost a family member during the attacks, is trying to convince her peers that the Garden should be built. Meanwhile, Ariana Montagu, a New York artist, is pushing for a structure called the Void which is a giant, dark structure. The two go back and forth, describing why each of their designs should be deemed the winner. Claire goes as far as to suggest that Ariana knows the designer of the Void meaning Ariana would have an unfair bias.

Paul Rubin is the chairman of the jury. He is a friend of the governor which is how he obtained the role of chairman and takes pride in his leadership skills. He is a retired investment banker and appreciates the arts. It is also revealed his heritage is that of Russian Jewish peasants. Paul is shown to respect Claire more than Ariana, and even sexually find her attractive. However, Paul refuses to commit to any design as Chairman unless there is a tie.

Claire then follows Maria, an art curator and fellow juror, outside to convince her to vote for the Garden. While attempting to persuade Maria, we learn that Claire lost her husband in the Twin Towers and since then has been the poster child for the widows of 9/11. She successfully convinces Maria to vote for the Garden.

Eventually, it becomes a close deadlock, but the Garden wins in the end.

Paul then reminisces on the events of the attack. He remembers his wife, Edith, calling him and sobbing and his Muslim driver, Sami, saying, "I hope it's not the Arabs." Later Sami would ask to go back to Palestine to be with his dying father which relieved Paul who replaces Sami with a Russian driver.

In the present Paul makes a meager, sentimental speech and opens the letter to see who won the architecture competition.

Introduction

To whom it may concern,

This blog gives a brief synopsis and analysis of The Submission by Amy Waldman. This site is not a substitution of the novel and does not mean to compete with the book. However, it will provide a brief summary of each chapter to help you better understand the plot and characters. It should be used with the book in order to assist the reader to understand Ms. Waldman's brilliant piece of literature.

-Mo