Themes and message

The main themes explored in the story “My Son the Fanatic” by Hanif Kureishi are the conflict between
generations, cultural differences, and identity. The writer’s message with the short story is not explicitly
stated. However, the conflict between Parvez and Ali illustrates that cultural differences challenge
relationships. Neither Parvez nor Ali has a clear identity

Conflict between generations

Cultural differences

Identity

Conflict between generations

This theme is explored throughout the story and is reflected in the relationship between Parvez and Ali.

At first, we learn that Parvez is a father who worked very hard to provide his son with a good education
and everything he might need to prepare for his profession as an accountant. Parvez wants his son to
have this profession because it is well-paid and because he wants Ali to be able to start a family.

The story suggests that Ali followed his father’s plan for most of his life – he was a good student and
excelled at various sports, making his father proud. However, something changes and Ali gives up on this
plan completely. Instead, he focuses on his Muslim faith and becomes convinced that the West is a
source of corruption and persecution for Muslims.

Parvez fails to see this…

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Cultural differences

The writer explores cultural differences through the whole plot of the story. The conflicts in the story are
a result of the fact that Parvez embraces Western culture, and Ali, his son, rejects it. Through different
symbols, the story emphasises how cultural differences affect how the characters think and behave.
Parvez represents a mix of Pakistani and English culture: although he maintains traditional roles as a
father and provider for his family, and expects his efforts to be met with gratitude and for his wife to …

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Identity

The theme of identity is explored in the short story in connection with religion and culture.

Parvez does not follow any religion – it does not play a part in his identity. Moreover, a difficult
experience in his youth has made him reject religion altogether. Because of this, he cannot understand
why Ali starts to follow the Muslim faith.

Parvez and Ali both live their lives according to their beliefs: Parvez identifies more with the West, and so
he enjoys the freedom it provides. He believes life is for personal enjoyment and encourages Ali to take
pleasure in it. He also adopts the more materialistic perspective of the West and wishes for Ali to have a
well-paid job. With the help of Bettina, he tries to be more liberal in his attitudes…

Symbols

The story “My Son the Fanatic” by Hanif Kureishi includes several symbolic elements which are
connected to its characters and themes.

All the characters are symbolic in various ways. Parvez is a symbol of the mix of traditional and liberal
beliefs that might be found in first-generation immigrants. Although this is not necessarily a bad thing, in
Parvez’s case, they make him too indulgent with himself and too strict with Ali. He also sees himself as
superior to Ali and believes Ali should obey him and be grateful for his sacrifices. Ultimately, because Ali
criticises him and refuses to adopt his perspective on life, Parvez becomes angry and violent.
Ali is a symbol of young people who, in search of their identity and spirituality, can become involved with
extremist groups. This is also suggested by Bettina: “Many young people fall into cults and superstitious
groups. It doesn’t mean that they’ll always feel the same way.” (p. 199, ll. 28-30)

Ali’s beard is also emphasised as a symbol of his devotion. At the same time, Parvez’s friends mock “the
local mullahs walking around with their caps and beards, thinking they could tell people how to live” (p.
196, ll. 16-17). This shows that ...

One of the meanings within Kurieshi's "My Son, the Fanatic" is its indictment of fanaticism.

Even though published in 1994, Kurieshi's story speaks to a reality with which the world is struggling
today. The issue of so-called "radicalized" youth concerns many people in our world today. "My Son, the
Fanatic" insists that when we encounter that which is different, we must try to understand it. While our
reactions might embrace courses of action that eliminate dialogue, the story reminds us that such knee-
jerk reactions should be avoided.

Parvez's problem is that he cannot communicate with his son. Ali's desire to maintain a passionate
embrace of Islam is something that Parvez could have echoed. Instead of being offended and dwelling on
his own hurt, Parvez could have shown greater acceptance towards his son. For example, Parvez could
have accompanied Ali to the mosque or spoken with leaders of the religious community to whom Ali has
declared allegiance. Dialogue and understanding is replaced with misunderstanding and a lack of trust.
Kurieshi's story equates fanaticism with silencing discussion. When Ali refuses to hear Bettina or his
father, it is just as much a form of fanaticism as when Parvez beats his son. The story's powerful
meaning is emphasized in its ending, where no one wins in a world of fanaticism.

The story is very relevant to our world today. Its meaning reminds us how fanatical displays of violence
will not solve any of our problems. Such paths lead to more disdain, resentment, and future fanatical
displays. The story insists that communication is the only way to understand something different and
embrace it as a part of our world. Youth like Ali are lost because they do not feel they are being heard.
This reality is addressed in Kurieshi's story and what we experience today. Looking at Parvez's example
and figuring out how to do things better is the ultimate meaning of the story. It is a message that is
more relevant today than ever before

Structure

The structure of the short story “My Son the Fanatic” by Hanif Kureishi includes literary techniques like
foreshadowing and backstory. The characters portrayed are relatable, especially at the beginning of
the short story, when the narrator focuses more on their father and son rol…

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What do you expect?

Title : The title of the story is “My Son The Fanatic’ and the word that caught my attention is “fanatic”.
Since the word fanatic means a person filled with excessive and single minded zeal, I expected the
story to narrate lives and relationship of a son, who has extreme political or religious cause with that
of his mother/father. The first paragraph of the story explains the transformation the father observes
in his son which in turn “bewilders” him. This made me curious as to what caused the son’s
transformation

What happens in the story?

-My Son the Fanatic, is a short story that revolves around the theme of generational tensions and
conflicts and the influence of fundamentalism.

– The story is of a father-son relationship, in which the son in his youth, is highly influenced by the
Islamic religion and starts to strictly abide by the rules and regulations of the Quran. While the father,
who loves the place they live in (England) and is fully captivated and absorbed in the Western Traditions,
is extremely vary of this newly found behaviour of his son.

– Parvez, the father of the teenage boy Ali, begins noticing changes in his son’s behaviour and at first
sees this as a good thing. He believes that his son is finally growing out of his teenage attitude and taking
more responsibility. However, when Ali begins throwing out valuable belongings and his friends starts
avoiding him, Parvez starts getting seriously worried. –

-He confesses of this change of behaviour to his friends and they all believe that -Ali has a drug problem
and that he is selling all his belongings to buy drugs for himself. He shortly after finds out that Ali has
become interested and fascinated by the religion Islam, and that he spends all his time praying or going
to the mosque.

-Parvez cannot help but feel frustrated and afraid of this behaviour of his son. After several
disagreements between Parvez and Ali, in which Ali utters his distaste towards his father’s friendship
with an English woman and his consuming of alcohol and him not growing a beard and relishing pork,
basically, not following the rules of the Quran.

Parvez could not handle his own son telling him his wrong doings and in the final scene he ends up
beating him, to which his son does not retaliate. His only repose is the statement; “So who’s the fanatic
now?”.

How is the story narrated?

“My Son the Fanatic” follows the emotional turmoil experienced by a father when he watches his son
undergo drastic changes in his life. It has been narrated in the past tense, in third person. The narrator
here is not a character in the story; it seems to be an outsider who is reporting all that has happened,
but it takes the perspective of the protagonist Pervez, describing to us his thoughts and feelings, his
fears, and his reactions. The story seems to have been said through the eyes of Pervez so we don’t know
how the other characters feel or what they think, we only know what Pervez perceives of them and how
he reacts to them.

Who are the characters?

– This story consists of 3 main characters: Parvez, his son Ali, and Bettina, who is a prostitute and a very
good friend of Parvez’s. Although Parvez lives with both his wife and son, his wife’s name is never
mentioned. She’s almost invisible throughout the story except for when she is mentioned with
comparison to Bettina, who Parvez finds easier to confess things to.

-Parvez who is the protagonist of the story, is a hardworking cab driver, who has strived all his life to earn
a living to pay for his son’s education. He has always wanted to make his son an accountant to help him
lead a decent life in England. A painful experience at the hands of his religious teachers during his youth
has sworn Parvez off organized religion. According to him, “Life is for living”, and an occasional drink
does not do any harm, quite contrary to the beliefs of his own son. Parvez also believes that one should
improve upon all the opportunities that life affords. To that end, he is disappointed and grieved that Ali
has failed to take full advantage of all the options available to him by way of his education.

-Ali is a sincere and idealistic young man who has been seduced by radical voices. He has found solace in
the religion of Islam and has turned into a conclusive and mysterious man. Which can be seen when his
father asks him why he doesn’t play his guitar anymore and he replies by saying, “ There are more
important things to be done”. He does not approve of his father’s relaxed way of living and is highly vocal
about it which is what leads his father to the brim of his temper in the final scene of the story.

-Bettina, who is a prostitute, acts as a pillar of support to Parvez through the course of the story, helping
him with the trouble he was having with his religious son. She comes across as a very strong woman,
who is not ashamed of her profession and believes that she too, like any other woman, deserves to be
respected. Which is seen when she retaliates to Ali’s crude remarks by saying “What kind of woman am I
that deserves to be spoken like that?”

Thus, it is very clear that all three characters in Hanif Kureishi’s story are very different in the sense that
they all have distinct characterstics, opinions and beliefs about life and the overall way of living.

What is the setting, direction and time of the story?

-The story seems to be set in modern England, in London to be exact. There are two main settings, the
house and the taxi. The story begins with a description of Ali’s room in paragraph 1 and then shifts to the
taxi office in paragraph 2. The house exudes a fairly comfortable style of living while the taxi has a more
homely feel to it. It is obvious that Parvez feels more comfortable in his taxi than in his own home.

From there on there is a constant back and forth between the house and Parvez’s taxi with a brief visit to
a restaurant in between.

-The direction of the story remains linear until paragraph 34 where there is a visit to the previous day
when Parvez is recounting certain events to Bettina, the story then goes back to it’s linear style in
paragraph 58. It remains linear until the end of the story.

What does the story mean ? Can you express it’s theme or themes?

-The major theme of this story is “cultural clash” . This story showcases the cultural differences between
generations. The narrator brings in the curiosity out of the reader by presenting certain events that
created suspicious outlook in Ali’s character. Westernization is another theme as the father being a
Pakistani immigrant who once lived under the rude practices of his religion is now largely influenced by
the freedom which westerners enjoy. He has been living well with his desires and embraces the customs
and opportunities offered in England. Parvez wants his son Ali to become an accountant, instead his son
has taken up the Islamic fundamentalism.The narrator shows the subverting generation about how
people like Ali whose young are influenced by the moral teachings of Qur’an and parvez who belong to
the old generation is behind the western practices of living.

-TONE AND MOOD:-The story has a vivid tone and sad mood , because it shows the father son
relationship getting affected by two different concepts i.e Islamic fundamentalism and western culture.
This also portrays the father’s helplessness to reach his son, at the same time the son criticizing his
father for his wrong deeds. These two instances are highlighted by the narrator and the conflict
continues and its not ending .While part of this reflects inter generational conflict, a son breaking from a
father, more significantly, it shows the deep divide in worldview between the secular west and
fundamentalist Islam.The reader is curious and also worried because it hasn’t solved anywhere but the
father lost his good companion bettani who helped him in giving advices and his son for the reason.

-Style and vocabulary used is simple in the story and its not complicated .The narrator wants the reader
to reach the characters and there will a realization within the reader and they would connect it to their
own way of living and it would be easy for them to change if they are following the wrong path. The
sentences used are direct and the character ali uses harsh language to reply his father, and this writing
style shows that not the father nor the son are ready to listen about their opinion , and there is a
continous avoidance between the son and father, the son is not easily approachable, this led the father
to engage himself into drinks and his friend Bettani.They cannot communicate because neither can
understand the other. In the end, violence results.Kureishi is saying that we have to learn to listen to and
understand each other before we can hope to solve differences in outlook

Identity Crisis in Hanif Kureshi’s My Son the Fanatic

Postcolonial subjects find it difficult to self-define their identities in territories of colonizers. Study
implies the postcolonial ideology of Kaletha that “search of identity has become a pressing fact in the
global world” (02) upon Hanif Kureshi’s short story My Son The Fanatic. Asians migrated to the Britain
colonies tend to mimic the white residents in order to discover their identities by assimilating with the
dominant culture. The colonial subject reconstructs themselves in all social domains of tradition,
customs, behavioral pattern, and language in order to assimilate in Britain society. Assimilation can only
occurs when any black resident of society tries to abandon his personal ethnic identity in favor to adopt
ideals of Britain society.

In the story “My Son the Fanatic” we can observe that there are ethnic and racial tensions, because Ali,
Parvez’s son is struggling to maintain and stick to his roots and Pakistani culture, but he lives in England.
He goes through a drastic change: he stopped seeing his girlfriend, his friend, sold his material things,
etc. He completely got rid of his old, typical English lifestyle and took up one that was more related to his
ancestors and to religion. “Initially, Parvez had been pleased: his son was outgrowing his teenage
attitudes.” “without explanation Ali had parted from the English girlfriend”.

In contrast, his father was constantly trying to fit in with the British society. Parvez lived a non religious
life. He wanted his son to become a British stereotype: he should marry and start a family and get a good
job. He felt that Ali was not appreciating his efforts.”It was for Ali that Parvez worked for long hours”.

“Parvez kicked him over (…) The boy’s face was bloody (…) He only said, through his split lip: “so who’s
the fanatic now?”. There is a tension between these two characters which represents the anger and
struggle between the two cultures. There is a clash of identity