Iweala, Uzodinma: *1982

Speak No Evil, 2018 - Thematic Parallels: Identity

Iweala, Uzodinma: Speak No Evil, 2018
The novel is an emotional coming-of-age novel about identity, cultural tension, and the painful journey of a Nigerian-American teen coming out to his conservative immigrant family.
The following books are thematically similar. They lend themselves well to being read in groups, compared with one another, or used to teach a similar topic over an extended period with a class:
- Cunningham, Michael: A Home at the End of the World, 1990, ~340pp
  This novel deals with identity, family, and social challenges.
  - Both novels portray children navigating extreme trauma caused by larger historical and political forces, emphasizing the loss of innocence, the human cost of violence, and the resilience of young people facing unimaginable circumstances. Their treatment of child suffering and survival creates a strong thematic parallel.
- Hosseini, Khaled: The Kite Runner, 2003, ~340pp
  This novel focuses on cultural identity, displacement, and personal relationships.
  - These novels share key similarities in portraying childhood and adolescence disrupted by trauma, the quest for family and belonging, moral growth, and identity formation under extreme circumstances.
- Mason, Bobbie Ann: In Country, 1985, ~240pp
  This novel tackles American identity and trauma connected to the Vietnam War.
  - Both works share a focus on trauma, environment-driven behavior, cycles of destruction, loss of innocence, character-driven storytelling, and a sense of fatalism. Essentially, both works explore how external forces and personal flaws combine to shape suffering and human experience.
- Smith, Zadie: On Beauty, 2005, ~440pp
  This novel addresses race, identity, and cultural dynamics.
  - Both works are harrowing coming-of-age stories that explore childhood under oppression, the effects of systemic violence, the struggle for agency, and the psychological trauma of growing up in hostile environments. They converge thematically around survival, identity, and resistance.
List of general discussion questions on Identity (pdf)
List of essay prompts on Identity (pdf)