History books Quote by Jonathan Safran Foer
““When we found each other, I was very flabbergasted by his appearance. This is an American? I thought. And also, This is a Jew? He was severely short. He wore spectacles and had diminutive hairs which were not split anywhere, but rested on his head like a Shapka. (If i were like Father, I might even have dubbed him Shapka.) He did not appear like either the Americans I had witnessed in magazines, with yellow hairs and muscles, or the Jews from history books, with no hair and prominent bones. He was wearing nor blue jeans nor the uniform. In truth, he did not look like anything special at all. I was underwhelmed to the maximum.””
About This Quote
Source Novel: Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, 2005
The narrator is shocked by how the person defies stereotypical expectations of nationality and religion, feeling underwhelmed by the lack of distinct traits.
In simple terms: He expected obvious cultural signs but found none.
Key Takeaway
Avoid judging people by stereotypes.
Themes
identity
expectation
stereotypes
culture
surprise
Mood
confused
reflective
neutral
Type
observational
literary
When to use this quote
- meeting strangers
- travel
- reading literature
- cross‑cultural interactions
Key Concepts
cultural perception
identity formation
bias
Questions to Reflect On
- How do stereotypes shape our first impressions?
- What does “underwhelmed” reveal about his expectations?
A Different Perspective
Stereotypes can oversimplify complex identities.
![“But the participants [in war] never forgot the details of their experience, and like the Wandering Jew, they were condemned to remain their own history books, each containing a story they could not pass on to others and from which no one would learn anything of value.” quote by James Lee Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/320/james-lee-burke-2289_book_but-the-participants-in-war-never-forgot_31146.jpg)
