Eastern vs. Western European Cultures

The author introduces the theme of Eastern vs. Western Europe through Mahmoud Ezzedine's experience as a proverbial 'fish out of water' traveling from his home in Constantinople to England and then Scotland. Perhaps the most significant cultural difference is that Ezzedine and his entourage are Muslim and the English and Scottish are Christian. Ezzedine does not understand the longstanding conflict between Protestants and Catholics in this region because to him the two sects of Christianity are basically the same with a few minor differences in ritual (and in his opinion as a Muslim, “they are both wrong!” (21). When Ezzedine realizes he must stay in England, he converts to Protestantism, not because he has a change in religious belief, but because he knows he will never be accepted among the English as a Muslim.

The treatment that Ezzedine is subjected to throughout the...