Intimacy
"'But don't give me too much credit for this one—it's not as if she's written to me. I think we both recognize i was just one of those holiday friendships which there's no point in trying to carry for the rest of your life' The complication of fathers was not an issue he felt any need to bring up while they were lying naked together," (75).
There is always a complication of fathers in history. What do we learn here from the connections of bodily senses, of bodily closeness, and the ever present weight of history?
"'Do you consider yourself British?' the man said.
'I am British.'
'But do you consider yourself British?'
'I've lived here all my life.' She meant there was no other country of which she could feel herself apart , but the words came out sounding evasive," (5).
Here the liberalist idea of citizenship is on display. Isma has lived in Britain all her life, but it does not matter if she does not ascribe to the same beliefs as the agent.
What conversations around Lowe's ideas of neo liberalism does this interaction incite?
"'Put your hand there. Palm up. I'm going to press this iron on it.' Parvaiz looked from this hissing iron to Farooq's face, but there was no hint of a joke. Just a watchfulness, a judgment waiting to be made. He stepped forward, placed both palms on the ironing board, forced himself into stillness as Farooq lifted the iron, feinted, smiled when Parvaiz didn't flinch, then lightly touched the wedge-shaped weapon to Parvaiz's palms. It was hot but not unbearable," (146).
Here we see Farooq using the senses to appeal his message to Parvaiz.
Parvaiz is a sensual character, meaning his senses are emphasized, why is this?
"'You're sure I can come back if I don't like it?'
'Of course you can. I'm back here; aren't I?'
'You've never said why.'
'Had to deal with family stuff. Then you happened.'
'What do you mean?'
'Should have left weeks ago. But thought if I waited, maybe you'd come too.'
'You stayed for me?'
'Yes.'
'And you'll really help me find people there who knew my father?'
'I really will.'
'You're the best friend I've ever had.'
'I'm your brother.'
'Yes I know . Thank you.'" (153).
What is the nature of Farooq and Parvaiz's relationship? What is the role and place of fatherhood?
"Laughing he said, 'Cancer or Islam—which is the greater affliction?'
There were moments when a statement like that could catch a person off-guard. He held his hand sup quickly in apology. "Jesus, I mean, sorry. That came out really badly. I meant, it must be difficult to be muslim in the world these days," (32).
This is only one of the instances Eamonn (with his anglicized spelling of his name) slips and says something openly distasteful towards Islam
What is the significance of Eamonn not identifying whatsoever with the history of his family's past? What does it mean that he sees himself outside of Isma's struggles?
These were the things her voice said:
It's getting late the birds have gone home.
Oh god, I'm interrupting you again?
Couldn't you have found a less solitary obsession?
Where are you these days?
Regardless, dinner's ready. Might as well come in.
When openings for conversation had arisen she preferred to pillow her head in her arms and look up at the ceiling, or doze with her back to him, the soles of her feet pressed against his legs, combining rejection and intimacy," (73).
This combination of rejection and intimacy, is important, I think.
What subtext lies in this dual rejection and intimacy?
"' There is nothing this country won't allow you to achieve— Olympic medals, captaincy of the cricket team, pop stardom, reality TV crowns. And if none of that works out, you can settle for being home secretary. You are, we are, British. Britain accepts this. So do most of you. But for those of you who are in some doubt about it, let me say this: Don't set yourself apart in the way you dress, the way you think, the outdated codes of behavior you cling to, the ideologies to which you attach your loyalties. Because if you do, you will be treated differently," (90).
In "The Intimacies of Four Continents" Lowe defines modern liberalism as: "Broadly the branches of European political philosophy that include narration of political emancipation through citizenship in the state, the promise of economic freedom in the development of wage labor and exchange markets, and the conferring of civilization to human persons educated in aesthetic and national culture," (3).
How do we see this embodied in Karamat's words here?
"When he tried to move—tried to find a way to roll onto his side—the chains cut into his flesh. Layered into the pain was the torment of not understanding why he deserved it and what he could do to make it stop. He heard his voice begging to be set free, but the two men didn't even look in his direction," (139).
Here we see Farooq using an attack on the body, to relate Parvaiz with his father.
What is the function of bodily punishment in the novel?
"Why didn't you tell me? I tell you everything—how could you not tell me?' Both Parvaiz and Isma, accustomed to Aneeka's being the buffer between them, had been completely unprepared for this. Six years later, that story was all Aneeka could grasp to help her understand her brother's subterfuge. Isma had an easier answer: his father's son; a fecklessness in the gene pool," (27)
This is one of many instances of the role of the father influencing the lives of their children.
What do you think the novel has to say about the role of the father?
"'Sometimes things happen that make people more hostile. Terrorist attacks involving European victims. Home secretaries talking about people setting themselves apart in the way they dress. That kind of thing... What do you say when your father makes a speech like that? Do you say 'Dad, you're making it okay to stigmatize people for the way they dress'? Do you say, 'What kind of idiot stands in front of a group of teenagers and tells them to conform'?" (92-93)
Here we see the other side laid out before us. The Home secretaries words have consequence. Instead of unity, his speech breeds opportunity for hate and division.
Why does liberalism demand conformity?
"The ache in his back had begun to recede and he remembered how, before the pain had become too unbearable for any thought beyond his own suffering, he had turned his head toward the wall, toward the photograph of his father, there was this understanding, I am you, for the first time.
Through his pain, Parvaiz relates and feels as if he knows his father for the first time.
Why does this tactic, above all others seem to work in Farooq's favor?
"Somewhere around thirty years old, with hair that fell in ringlets to his shoulders offsetting a beard neither hipster nor ecosystem but simply masculine. An instant glamor to him that accents. He was holding out the tweezer component of his Swiss Army Knife, a surprising delicacy in the gesture... the man took the tweezers from him, rested his hand beneath Parvaiz's to steady it, and plucked out the splinter with a flourish and a wink," (125).
Farooq is written in intimate terms here. The theme of touch, exists throughout the text (sexual touch, ankles touching, feeling pulses)
What does this tell us? What is the importance of touch.
"'I know all their names. Where they come from. Who they were before they went. There's only one from Preston Road. It's the last place in England I'd expect to find that kind of thing happening. But that one, he had exceptional circumstances. Terrorism is a family trade... Pull the children out of those environments before they're old enough for the poison to seep in,'" (110).
When thought of in context with Aneeka's "Googling while Muslim" comment, what is the significance here? How does this reflect the ideas of modern liberalism?
"A short while later he was at Farooq's flat. He walked over to the shackles, lifted their weight in his hand. the cool steel harmless in his palm, link clinking against link.
'Tie me again. I want to feel my father's pain," (143).
Why does he hunger for his father's pain?