Theme: Islamophobia

 One of the most prominent themes in the story that I'm really interested in is islamophobia in the story—the difference in the characters’ reactions to islamophobia precisely. Karamat Lone, who used to be Muslim, reacted to Islamaphobia in Britain to assimilate into the country and “betray” other Muslims. He became a strict enforcer of security issues when he became home secretary and wholly abandoned his cultural identity as a Pakastani as well as being a Muslim. He becomes so against the religion that he even cracks jokes about the religion in an offensive manner about the chastity of Muslims. This even translates to the rest of his family as Eamonn, who also acknowledges that he used to act the same way as his father and crack jokes about Muslims. Another person in his family calls Aneeka a “hojabi”, which is incredibly Islamaphobic. On the other hand, Isma’s family reacted to Islamaphobia by protecting their values and fighting against it. Isma continued to wear her hijab, and even though she was quieter, she was also one of the most religious in terms of following the laws set by Islam. Aneeka also followed what Isma did and protected her religious values. Even being spat at by someone on the train did not make her lose her belief in Islam. She prayed every night as shown by her time with Eamonn and abstained from alcohol and pork which shows her faith in God has not lowered at all even when faced with all Islamaphobia. The difference between these two families' reactions ties in with the theme of islamophobia as it shows how islamophobia can affect people’s lives in the world.

Comments

  1. Monique Cov.October 7, 2022 at 8:02 AM

    Hey Paulos! I have found the information that you have states in your post interesting. You have pointed out to me the stark contrast between the two different families and how they react to Islamophobia. Even though Isma acknowledges that it exists and that they need to be aware of it in order not to fall into this hatred, she still hold her customs, traditions, culture, and practices close to her. She is away what society thinks and tries not to overly draw attention to herself but still manage to not change these core aspects of herself.

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  2. James MaddenOctober 7, 2022 at 10:12 PM

    Hey Paulos! I agree that the two families that Shamsie shines a spotlight on have two very different ways of reacting to the Islam religion. Isma still holds onto her beliefs even though she acknowledges the existence of Islamophobia. Karamat does not hold onto the beliefs that he was raised on.

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  3. Noah English 11H BlogOctober 9, 2022 at 4:41 PM

    There are two ways to have a cohesive society: have everyone be accepting of differences or have everyone be the same. Karamat understood this, and after seeing how divided Britain is, he seems to draw the conclusion that the former is pragmatically impossible, and the former much more realistic. Therefore, Karamat support assimilation into a strict society.

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    Replies
    1. Critical Thinkers and WritersOctober 10, 2022 at 7:29 PM

      Given the result of Karamat's decision, do you think that the novel as a whole then makes the argument instead that a society should be accepting of differences?

      Delete
  4. Eloise DanielloOctober 10, 2022 at 12:24 AM

    Hey Paulos! It is interesting how hypocritical Karamat Lone seems to come off. I wonder how his upbringing was and what caused him to make such radical changes in his beliefs. He either had a traumatic experience or just thought that in order to achieve his dream of becoming Home Secretary he would have to conform.

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