The development of a person's identity is often influenced by the perceptions of the people around them. The novel Does My Head Look Big in This (2005) by Randa Abdel-Fattah explores how the beginning of discovering one's identity leads to a personal journey that can be plagued by the judgments of one's environment. Often, biases arise from misconceptions about what an individual actually believes. Abdel-Fattah suggests that a person's identity should not be judged based on their traditional culture or stereotypes associated with their religion or gender, as this can have terrible effects on the individual. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Prejudice results from misconceptions about a person's beliefs, culture, or gender. In the novel, people have a negative perception of Islam due to the media and a lack of personal understanding towards Muslims. This prejudice leads the main protagonist, Amal, to suffer from Islamophobic views and discrimination, as evidenced by her hesitation to openly discuss with her friend in colloquial language: "I'm afraid she'll think, 'Oh, Muslim weirdos typical. Lock their daughters in the house” (p. 281). Colloquial language was used here to create a conversational tone for readers to connect and think about these issues. [AN1] This problem of cultural and religious prejudice is even more visible when the bus driver increases the volume while the radio declares the imperative "Australians are under threat of being attacked by these people brandishing the Koran" (p 152.). The metaphorical term “Quran wielding” conveys to readers the misconception that Muslims are using the Quran as a weapon to attack Australians. Throughout the novel, the theme of adolescent insecurity and social norms is presented to the reader. Simone's fear of fitting in and character's insecurity can be linked to all the stories we hear about young teenagers committing suicide simply because they didn't feel like they belonged or because people were making them feel bad. believing they weren't good enough. . Simone is experiencing what most teenage girls experience at one point or another at that age. She struggles with major body insecurities as she continues to plan a "new diet" p. 41 “every week” p. 42. She thinks she's overweight, even though no one else seems to see it. “Simone is incredibly self-conscious about her body...really voluptuous and curvy and beautiful with blue eyes, creamy, radiant skin and lips…” p. 42. Using descriptive language makes the audience think about the standards of beauty they use to meet acceptable social standards. This is further explored through Josh's character when he refers to the model in the magazine "She's about to break down twice in two... you could sneeze in another suburb... she'd run into the face..." p. 118. Her character conveys the idea of ​​our social norms by using hyperbole to emphasize that women/girls don't need to change their body image to be perfect, they are perfect because of who they are. This feeling of extreme insecurity and need to meet society's standards can be related to the daily life of an average teenager. Most of the time, individuals are unhappy with who they really are and try to adopt a new identity in order to feel like they belong to a community. Their thoughts are often influenced by other opinions even if they are completely in.