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“Dawan did not relax. He stood, a scrawny savage, willing himself a foot taller than he was,” (McBride 54).

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“For a second, I am afraid that I will not be allowed to come to school again, but thinking that makes me almost throw up, and because I cannot throw up on Mrs. Monaghan again, I just make the thought go out of my head. I pretend that I am in a movie, and I walk into Mrs. Monaghan’s classroom with my movie face on,” (McBride 44).
Explanation - Bashkim clearly explains that through fear, he puts on a "face" that he would usually see in movies. Actors are people who pretend to be someone else, so Bashkim is trying to mask his feelings.At the same time Bashkim puts aside his feelings for the sole purpose of being nice to Mrs. Monaghan. This act leads me to believe that he is also wearing the superhero mask.

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Emotional Avoidance Mask
“It wasn’t what I wanted from him. If I let myself remember Rodney as he was and then think about how his life turned out, I feel ill, but if I let all those images go, then I think that he is happy enough with his life - as happy as anyone else I know,” (McBride 110).

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Emotional Avoidance Mask:
“I try not to think the next thought, the one that wonders how she got it, the one that thinks of Nate, of how Nate has been these last months. I don’t want to think about this right now, at the very moment when Nate is about to achieve a dream he has had since he was eleven years old,” (McBride 30).

When Avis sees Lauren’s bruise, she immediately thinks that Nate caused it via domestic violence, but instead of confronting these feelings, Avis chooses to hold them in and focus solely on the ceremony, rather than the problems at hand.

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Breaking out of the Strength Mask:
“I’ve spent most of my life making sure I could not be mistakened for my mother, and Jim looks physically repulsed when I say this, but I think that my language is perfectly appropriate and that I am not like Sharlene at all.” (McBride 64-65).

As explained by Avis, she spent the majority of her life holding back her emotions in fear of becoming her mother, but in this moment she's able to let those emotions go by yelling at her husband about what she thinks about him.

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"I prayed a lot when i was in Iraq. I probably prayed every day, every single time I felt fucking scared. It was automatic. I didn't let anyone know I Was prying, certainly not Sam, but I couldn't really stop it. I was just always talking to God, always just hoping that maybe someone was listening." (McBride,148-149)

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Perfection Mask
“It never occurred to me that Nate needed those shin guards. Nate never did tell us when he was hurt. Where did he get that idea? That he couldn’t tell us if something hurt?” (McBride 85)

Instead of telling his mother that he needed shin guards, Nate kept silent about his pain. In addition, this quote is juxtaposed with Avis' finding out about his abusive relationship with Lauren. Both instances show Avis finding out about a secret that Nate's held hidden for quite a long time.

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Luis Strength Mask/Emotional Avoidance Mask

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Luis Strength Mask/Emotional Avoidance Mask

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"It's such a relief: to have her here but not to have to tell her why I'm here. She knows of course. If she didn't know, she would ask. I wonder how much she knows. Dose she know about Sam? About that day in the market? About the the boy in Las Vegas?" (McBride 127)

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"Lauren and I are fine. I love Lauren. I would never hurt her. You'll have to trust me." (McBride 115).

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Perfection Mask
"... I am laughing too, because I can't remember when I last saw Nate laugh, because I am so grateful to Rodney, grateful because Nate loves him so much"(McBride 111).

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Assimilation Mask
“People in America always ask what religion I am. I don’t like to say Muslim because Americans don’t like Muslims”(69)
Islamophobia

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Perfection mask
“Lauren sees Nate first. She hurries toward him, and he grins as he wraps his arms around her. They look young and happy"(McBride 33).
This is perfection mask because despite the abuse that Lauren faces at home she puts on a mask to hide that. She acts happy and like everything is okay for the sake of Nate, his family and everyone else who was at the event.

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Assimilation mask
"I don't like to say muslin because Americans do not like muslims" (McBride 69).

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Assimilation mask
"I play soccer for the Las Vegas storm. we have orange uniforms with blue letters, and every kid has his own bag. I am number 4, and my bag has my number on it too. That way, everyone knows it is mine."(McBride 139).
This is the assimilation mask because Bashkim is trying to be like everyone else by saying he plays soccer like the other kids he knows.

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"I play soccer for the Las Vegas Storm, we have orange uniforms, with blue letters, and every kid has his own bag. I am number 4"(McBride 139).

When writing letters to Luis, Bashkim tries to fit in like the kids around him by telling Luis that he is a soccer player.

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“I play soccer for the Las Vegas Storm. We have orange uniforms, blue letters, and every kid has his own bag. I am number 4, and my bag has my number on it too. That way, everyone knows it’s mine” (McBride 139).

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Assimiliation Mask:
“I think this is the best day I have ever had at school, and I wish that it wasn’t going to be Thanksgiving so soon. Mrs. Monaghan asks me if I want to say something in Albanian for my talent, but I say no,” (McBride 97).
Explanation:

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Removes the Emotional Avoidance Mask
"I mean, I really start crying. No one's around. I cry because I miss Sam and because he wanted to live and because he should have lived. I cry because the war doesn't make sense, and because there are so many of us over there, and because the people in Iraq are so... poor...And right then, right while I am feeling all that sadness about Sam, I also feel something that is sort of like joy about that little girl"(McBride 151).
Explanation:
Luis has been in the hospital for a long time and he never wanted to talk about anything that happened to him or Sam. He was suppressing all of his emotions because he didn't know how to deal with them or exert them in a healthy way. He finally allows himself to cry about Sam and the boy that he killed, but he also shows that he feels joy for the little girl who loves her clothes.

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Assimilation mask:
"I play soccer for the Las Vegas Storms. We have orange uniforms, with blue letters, and every kid has his own bag. I am number 4, and my bag has my number on it too. that way, everyone knows its mine"(McBride 139).

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Mask / Removal of a Mask
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Explanation