New Languages Library - English Department / My Son the Fanatic

In keeping with the focus theme 'Post-colonialism and migration - Ethnic communities in 21st-century Britain' Why does Ali, the son of a Pakistani immigrant, who is doing very well with a rewarding job and an English girlfriend, decide to throw everything overboard to become a Muslim fanatic? In a particularly well-written short story, Hanif Kureishi attempts to answer this question. Yet the question is by no means simple. First, Parvez, Ali's father, is hardly a role model for him. He eats pork, drinks alcohol and is an adulterer. Ali accuses him of being "too involved in Western society." Parvez no longer knows what to do with his son. Out of frustration, he kicks and beats him. "Who is the fanatic now?" asks Ali. The reading contains sound reading aids, detailed annotations and numerous additional materials.