“My son the Fanatic” is a short story which was written by Hanif Kureishi and published

in 1994. In the text, a third- person narrator unveils the disordered relationship between
a young student, Ali, and his father, Parvez, who is a busy taxi driver. When Parvez no-
tices that his son’s behaviour and interests have changed drastically, naturally, the mid-
dle aged man starts worrying as this change has been accompanied by a severe feeling
of isolation and communication issues. On his journey to figure out what could have
caused this sudden alternation, he manages to ascertain that Ali’s relationship with the
religion of Islam to be the root of his worries. Despite unveiling the cause for Ali’s be-
havioural change, their relationship only seems to be worsening from there on.
Their continuous estrangement can be linked their lifestyles, which could not be more
different.
Ali, on one side, devotes his life to the religion, causing the boy to adapt his lifestyle and
attitude to said religion. On the other hand, what we learn of his father, Parvez, in detail
throughout the story is quite different.
The protagonist is a busy man working “long hours” (p.188, l.22) as a taxi driver, who
prefers “to work at night” (p.189, l.8). Due to his profession, it is only natural to meet all
sorts of people. We see Pavez being open-minded about his customers, such as the
“local brassels” p.190, l.15). Moreover, it’s clear that he does not judge anyone because
of his friend and counsellor- Bettina- a woman working as a prostitute.
Also, Pavez shows multiple times that he cares for his son and his future. When first
suspecting that Ali might’ve become involved with some unsavoury business as a drug
addict, the concerned father treats his son with “constant observation” (p.190, l.15).
Thereby, he shows that he is truly invested in his son’s wellbeing. Furthermore, he ex-
presses his desire for his son to find “well-paid work” (p.196, l. 24), which is also con-
nected to his own work ethic, as it was stated that he works so much to be in a position
where he’s able to “pay for Ali’s education” (p.188, l.23).
Additionally, it’s possible that the aspirations he wishes for his son to fulfil have a con-
nection to the mindset the Pakistani has adapted in England. Taking
this into account, Pavez’ wishes for his son to “get a good job, marry the right girl, and
start a family” (p.189, l.21ff.) could be equated to the man’s own need to “do well in
England” (p.189, l.23f.). Therefore, his concern for his son and the way he is changing
his life can be explained by his adaption to - what he perceives to be- Western culture.
Moreover, it’s clear that the taxi driver feels a lot of pressure in England, due to the fam-
ily having “to fit in” (p.194, l.27) as he admits himself.
This is not simply a theory but an acknowledged fact by his son, who calls him out for
being “too implicated in Western civilisation” (p.194, l.31f.).
At last, the reader learns about the protagonist’s view on religion. Him being “puzzled
but relieved” (p.192, l.8f.) when finding out about Ali’s dedication to Islam, shows that
his unprejudiced mindset goes far beyond his work.
In addition, he described that he “yearned” (p.192, l.29) to find out as to how Ali had
found his way to the religion.
However, Pavez abandoned the religion himself, despite being “taught the Koran”
(p.192, l.14) while growing up in Lahore. He says that the indignity of being punished
when he would fall asleep while reading drove him away from the religion. He goes as
far as to make “jokes about the local mullahs” (p.192, l.18f.). It is concluded that he ob-
viously does not share Ali’s attitude when it comes to Islam, exclaiming that “we are
only human” (p.194, l.2) when his son confronts his continuous disregard for its com-
mandments.