Trying to belong to multiple worlds at once results in belonging to none

Evidence

The Tunisian Jewish postcolonial thinker Albert Memmi wrote, “Just as I sat on the fence between two civilizations, so would I now find myself between two classes; and I realized that, in trying to sit on several chairs, one generally lands on the floor.” — Khaled A. Beydoun, The New Crusades_ Islamophobia and the…, 350

Categorization

• APHORISMS: A timeless, quotable observation about the impossibility of straddling identities — the chairs image is vivid and stays with you.
• XREF: Echoes the in-between position of Jihan and the author (‘two Muslims on the right side of civilization’) and resonates with the liminal identity themes in The Namesake and The Reluctant Fundamentalist.