Material Goods in "Second Person Singular"

As I was reading Second Person Singular I couldn’t help but notice how Kashua utilizes material goods as tools to differentiate the socioeconomic status of individuals. More specifically, its often used to differentiate Arabs who are living in a Jewish-centric Jerusalem. From the beginning of the book a great amount of detail is placed on material wealth as its often perceived as an outward manifestation of one’s status in society. The opening of the book provides a set of examples to contextualize the nature of the lawyer as well as act as a social commentary on Jerusalem. The lawyer being an immigrant to Jerusalem felt that the burden to prove his place squarely fell on him. From the moment he left his village to study in Jerusalem he began to notice the treatment he received solely based on the way he looked. This could be the point where he realized that the way someone looks and carries themselves is subject to intense scrutiny due to the tense social and political environment between Palestinians and Jewish people. After being subject to many searches and documentation inspections in his college days, the lawyer soon realized that Israeli law enforcement “will never stop anyone dressed in clothes that seem more expensive than their own” (Kashua, 21). The way one looks and carries themselves goes a long way in Israeli society thus the lawyer has had to carefully curate his appearance. In order to better integrate into a society that is often not welcoming to people of his background. Thus the lawyer is sure to craft his appearance with luxury good such as Ralph Lauren ties, a black Mercedes Benz, and a spacious pricy office. This is not to say that the lawyer is a pretentious individual who is obsessed with material goods but instead he is so carefully interested in his appearance because it’s instrumental to his success in Jerusalem. In order for him to be a successful lawyer he must give the appearance of belonging to the higher class, this is not to say that he is necessarily proud of his material wealth. At moments the lawyer insinuates how he would be happy with a more affordable car or satisfied with simple home cooking instead of spending half a teachers salary on sushi. The lawyer is a man who is true to his roots but must not appear like it. The subsections provided in the opening all insinuate elements that are associated with a higher status: Bratz Bedding, School (how his daughter is party of the Israeli school system), King George, Sushi. These are all elements that the lawyer must curate his appearance on in order to succeed. Kashua uses him as an example of how Israeli society forces Arabs to adopt a more polished version of themselves if they want to be taken series. A crucial aspect to being taken series in not education or character but instead appearance.

 differentiating factor