Hanif Kureishi’s short story, “My Son the Fanatic” ends very abruptly. This ending leaves a lot of room for thought about the deeper significance of this story.
Parvez feels that he has lost his son, who has connected with his spiritual identity, and this is something that gives him a sense of belonging and makes him feel comfortable. Even though Ali embraces this identity, his father is unable to accept this change.
The end of the story was interesting to me because the wording used to describe the last scene seemed to strip Ali of his identity — he is referred to as “the boy” while Parvez is still referred to by his name. I think this is significant for two reasons. First, even though Parvez is the one beating his son, who is not fighting back at all, he is not the one who is stripped of his humanity. Second, we can see the split in the family is clearly representing the two cultures that are in disagreement here — Parvez, who has been drinking, beats his son even though his son has done nothing but say a few words. Ali does nothing to shield himself from his father’s blows, and ends up hurt even though he has been silent.
My creative response to this reading is a personal poem. I wanted to reflect on the assumptions that Ali’s father made about him by writing about some of my personal characteristics that my family focuses on and expanding on my feelings about these characteristics with relation to society in general. The parts that I focus on in my poem are things that I have received criticism for, even though they have no effect on other people and say nothing about my character. I feel that Ali’s silence as well as Parvez’s harshness have been reflected in my poem. I think of Ali as a reflection of myself, and Parvez as a representation of external forces, including family, that influence how people view themselves.