Rizk's description of youth is interesting for several reasons: First, it was not common at the time for Syrian immigrants to depict their journey to the United States.[1] Second, Rizk leaves out the obvious fact that his native language is Arabic[2] and distances himself from the Muslim aspects of Syrian culture.[11] Third, despite being dazzled by New York City,[12] Rizk's depiction of America "resembles nothing so much as Hell"; it is not until he returns to his homeland and sees the problems facing both the Middle East and Nazi-era Europe (including the large numbers of Jewish refugees to Palestine) that he recognizes the fulfillment of his American Dream and begins to become a vocal advocate for American values, using his own immigrant status as the grounds for his expertise.[5] In this regard he joined the company of such immigrant writers as Mary Antin and Louis Adamic, who extol the virtues of assimilation[13]