Analysis on 'MY SON THE FANATIC'

Written by Hanif Kureishi, the short story My Son the Fanatic, revolves around the relationship shared by a father and son. They are immigrants staying in England. The father is a taxi driver but he still ensures to provide all what his son requires. The story begins when Pervez, i.e. the father starts observing changes in his son, Ali. He found Ali throwing away his valuable belongings. There was even a change in his tone. He shared this with his fellow drivers and they came to a descision that the boy has been taking drugs and is selling off his stuffs to pay for them.

 Pervez had a friend named Bettina, who was a prostitute. She helped him to search for the drugs and told him what to look for. She advised him to check his eyes as a sign of intake of drugs. But to his relief, there were no drugs in his room. Ali had not been selling his stuffs but he used to just throw them away or give it to someone.

Once Pervez decides to confront Ali and takes him to the restaurant, there Pervez finds out that Ali has been reading the kuran and has being following Islam strictly. The son then tells him about all the things he does which is prohibited by his religion. As a person Kureishi has not displayed him as a bad person, but as a Muslim, Pervez has many faults in him. For instance, he relishes pork pies, he drinks, doesn’t observe namaz.

There are more instances as to how rudely Ali behaves with his father. The father takes Bettina’s help and tries to explain things to his son. On the contrary Ali insults Bettina’s regarding a profession. Pervez finally gets too wild and goes upto Ali’s room, picks him up from his prayer and starts beating him up. With no signs of retaliation, Ali just says this sentence “So, who’s the fanatic now?”

The Author simply presented two views to the audience. He left it to us to decide who is right and who is wrong.

NIKHIL DIAS
ROLL NO: 007