While I do not completely know why Shamsie gave each section of her novel a different character’s perspective, I do have some ideas. The plot of Home Fire resembles that of the Ancient Greek play Antigone, which is also divided into five parts. Shamsie may have wanted to draw further allusions to the play by giving her book the same structure. The varying perspectives may also serve to reinforce Shamsie’s idea that Muslims are not one and the same. The modern world of Home Fire seems to categorize Muslims into one hated group, obscuring their individualities. Shamsie wants her readers to begin to view the Islamic world from a different perspective and take the time to understand the vast scope of backgrounds, traditions, religious beliefs, and personal experiences that Muslims embody. In this way, each of the narrators of the sections in Home Fire presents a new way in which to examine the Muslim experience and gives readers a glance at the many varying ways to interpret thousands of years of traditions and beliefs. My guess about the order of the sections is that Shamsie intentionally placed them where she did in order to build mystery. In the text, each subsequent section seems to be from the viewpoint of the character we know (or think we know) least about. The intrigue about these characters motivate readers to continue to unravel their secrets page by page. But as soon as a character’s history and motivations are revealed throughout the section and their mysterious quality is diminished, Shamsie jumps to another character to envelope readers in confusion and curiosity once again.
Hey Heather! I have actually never thought of it that way. I remember having to read part of Antigone, but I never thought to connect the play with Home Fire before. That is a very interesting take. Looking back I would have to agree with you that each of the characters so far have their own interpretations and practices that they express their religion. You do have a point with each character perspective being mysterious at first until we read further to truly understand them.
ReplyDeleteHi Heather! Wow! What a connection! I never read Antigone before, so I think that your observation will be very interesting as we start Antigone. I will be sure to be on the lookout for this in Antigone. I too think that by separating the book with all the characters, we get to see all the varying perspectives of Muslim life. If the book was written in a chronological order instead, I think that the book would not have given off the same effect.
ReplyDeleteHi Heather! I really like what you said about how Shamsie's use of perspective shows how Muslim life varies person to person. I think she helped show how a lot of people in these terrorist groups are people just manipulated and caught up in the mix of it all, doing the wrong thing for the right reasons. I think without her switching perspectives, we wouldn't have gotten this and would have just written of Parvaiz as a traitor to the family, just as Isma did. I have never read Antigone before, so I thought that was a really cool connection to draw! I am excited to see the parallels between the stories when we read Antigone in class!
ReplyDeleteI agree with you about the use of perspective to create mystery! Isma, for example, is very reserved and closed-in when it comes to here thoughts on the world around her. She never explicitly mentions what Parvaiz did, which builds some mystery to him. Even Eamonn, who knows what Parvaiz did, still can't quite get a grasp on what kind of person Parvaiz is. All of this builds the suspense until Parvaiz himself is introduced. Perspective is used like this- to obscure and illuminate varying opinions and characters.
ReplyDeleteHey Heather! I completely agree with your idea that Shamsie gives each character their own chapter because it provides each of them independence. In the book, Muslims are often stereotyped as always being dangerous terrorists who can not be trusted. When Shamsie gives each character their own chapter, she allows each character to demonstrate their uniqueness to the reader.
ReplyDeleteHeather, I agree with your analysis of Shamsie's possible intention for dividing the book up the way she did. Because with each new section we hear from a new voice and learn about the motives and thoughts of a different character, Shamsie successfully conveys the uniqueness of each individual. This supports your idea that Shamsie is attempting to show the individuality and diversity of Muslim people. For example, if we had only learned of Parvaiz through Isma's narrative, we would have never learned his motives/the persuasion he was under to join the terrorist group. So, in Parvaiz's chapter, readers see a more humanized version of him than the one portrayed in Isma's section. Thanks for sharing this interesting take!
ReplyDeleteHi Heather, that was a great connection you made with the play Antigone. I guess that makes a lot of sense now since we will be reading it next. I could see Shamsie drawing from the play for her idea in shifting character perspectives throughout the novel. I wonder if it is inspired by Antigone of if there has been a long line of works inbetween the two works that led to Shamsie using this idea.
ReplyDeleteI really like your explanation for the different perspectives. I completely agree that the reason is to give more depth to the Muslim experience and to not show it as some two dimensional life that all Muslims experience the same. I haven't read Antigone but I am sure you're right about that based on the fact that we are reading it next. Finally, I think you idea of picking the character we know least about to be the next narrator is really great and isn't something I've thought about. Each time I think I have an understanding of a character based on a different character's perspective I am hit with that character being the narrator and my view completely changes.
ReplyDeleteI never thought of the sectional perspectives as representing how Muslims are all different. I really like that analysis because it reflects a large trend throughout the book: of finding one's identity through expectations. Karamat's ideal version of being Muslim is rejection of it and conformity to a society that rejects Muslims. In contrast, Isma finds great pride in being Muslim while refusing to conform unless direly necessary—like in the airport scene. Inconsistent perspective shows those personal inconsistencies.
ReplyDeleteI can definitely agree that the order of the placement was to build mystery, as we don't see into the heads of certain characters until their chapters. I don't know much about Antigone, but your allusion to it is very interesting and a very unique interpretation.
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