Analysis of Father-Son Conflict in ‘My Son the Fanatic’
‘My Son the Fanatic’: A Story of Conflict and Identity
‘My Son the Fanatic’ is a short story by Hanif Kureishi, first published in The New Yorker in 1994. It tells the story of the conflict between Parvez, an Asian (Pakistani) father, and his son, Ali. ‘My Son the Fanatic’ analyzes the father-son relationship. Hanif Kureishi claims that he wrote the story “to understand what it is to be a son, what it is to be a father.”
In the late 20th century, multiculturalism caused problems in various Western countries. As a sociopolitical movement, multiculturalism has faced intense criticism and accusations of causing Islamic fundamentalism. In ‘My Son the Fanatic’ (1994), Hanif Kureishi, a prolific Pakistani-British author, focuses on the relationship between fundamentalism and multiculturalism through a father-son dynamic.
Kureishi argues that multiculturalism cannot be considered a cause for the crisis created by Islamic fundamentalism. As a hybrid Englishman and Pakistani Briton, he focuses on the changing attitudes of young people in multicultural Britain in the 21st century. He examines why young generations of immigrants are converting to Islamic fundamentalism.
Kureishi suggests that fundamentalism is a form of extreme alienation used by young people to exclude cultures that have excluded their own. Through the characters of Parvez and Ali, Kureishi reflects the rising tension between Islam and the West and criticizes both fundamentalism and liberalism. As a postcolonial author, Kureishi redefines English national identities in Britain. His story suggests that the roots of today’s problems related to Islamic fundamentalism lie in the West’s colonial history, making it difficult for the colonized to forget the past.
Kureishi criticizes the West for its colonial past and warns British Muslims about their religious practices. He attempts to draw attention to Islamic religion and its applications in the modern world. ‘My Son the Fanatic’ suggests that an old religion in the modern world can cause problems, necessitating revisions and evolution within Islam. Kureishi indicates that multicultural societies developed under colonial and imperial rule in the 20th century but must become ethnic and religious potpourris in the 21st century.
Today, no religion should be considered the Achilles’ heel for multicultural communities, and multiculturalism is not the cause of problems related to Islamic fundamentalism. Instead, multiculturalism can be the solution.
Issues in Postcolonial Theory
- Concept of “Otherness”:
The gap between colonizers and colonized cannot be closed, representing two different ways of life. The colonized also differ from one another.
Fragmentation:Literature of the colonized only partially represents profound information concerning the colonial past. The past cannot be fully reconstructed, and a part is lost.
It is revisited via literature in fragmented ways, with a changed view due to colonizers’ influence.
Hybridity:Mingling cultural signs/traditions of the colonized and colonizers.
+ Avoiding stereotypes, enriching / – oppressive