Good People

Concerns about reputation inform what other characters say about the Sharafs, as well as what the Sharafs themselves do. The media framing of Zorah’s death as a potential honor killing implies that this concern is specific to the Afghan American community. However, the novel refutes this idea, showing that reputation structures broader US society as well, if sometimes in ways that conflict with the values of immigrant cultures.

The first part of the novel shows how Rahmat makes several attempts to build his wealth out of nothing, even turning to his peers to borrow money from them to pursue potential business opportunities. By building his wealth, Rahmat effectively elevates his social status, such that Sayed Nawab comes to aspire to entering the family through various means, from partnering with Rahmat to marrying his son into the Sharaf family. Rahmat goes from being the object of his peers’ ridicule to a being respectable member of their community. Simultaneously, his purchase of a home in an upscale neighborhood telegraphs his success in archetypically American fashion—through status symbols—reminding the reader that concerns about reputation are not unique to Afghan culture.

Soon, however, this American framing of reputation in terms of economic prosperity comes into conflict with other readings of public image.