Week 3: What Home Fire Says About Islamophobia

     Regarding islamophobia in Home Fire, I believe the novel brings to light just how deep-seated that form of bigotry is. It is present in many forms throughout the book. There is racism regarding airport security, personal interactions, the media, and the general public. Something that makes the racism multi-layered is Karamat Lone. To keep his political status, he needs to keep his “Muslim-ness” at bay. He has to go out of his way to assert that he does not practice the Muslim religion, and takes every chance he gets to discredit Muslims that may align with controversy in any way, shape, or form. He essentially needs to sacrifice his personal identity to be respected enough to hold a place of power as a Muslim. If Karamat were to even have a neutral stance on Muslims, that would likely not be enough for him to not be suspected of terrorist connections. To reinforce this point, Isma does something similar in going to counter terrorist security when learning of Parvaiz joining Isis. Even further, when Isma speaks to the press, she speaks for herself and Aneeka in saying that they are shocked and horrified of what Parvaiz had become, and had no knowledge that they hadn’t already reported. Isma likely only said those things because she knew it was what they needed to be protected somewhat, as being a sympathetic Muslim to someone (even if they are a family member) linked to terrorism might as well be terrorism in the eyes of the general public. In Karamat’s case, he pushed away all of his Muslim heritage and the Muslim people away so much, that he started to genuinely believe the things he knew he had to say. It is essentially the idea of assimilation for protection.

Comments

  1. John SawyerOctober 10, 2022 at 4:09 PM

    It is so interesting to connect Isma and Karamat this way because it is in fact very true that they do indeed share similarities. These two characters are at odds with one another throughout the entire story. Yet, you pointed out a moment in Isma's life where she had to be like Karamat to protect her and the rest of her family. A question arises there: When Karamat and Isma take the stances that they do, are they doing it for the same reason? Are they both doing it to protect?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Critical Thinkers and WritersOctober 12, 2022 at 11:33 AM

    This is a really terrific, insightful post, Andrew. Great connections and conclusions!

    ReplyDelete

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