I believe that Kamila Shamsie gave each character their own chapter because she wanted to assert each character's individuality. Each character in the book has a different perspective. One common theme shown all throughout the book is the stereotypes that plague the Muslim community. In Home Fire, for example, the public often views Muslims as dangerous terrorists who treat women horribly. By giving each character their own chapter/s, Shamsie is able to show how the nuances of an individual character's experiences need to be taken into consideration to truly understand the character. Shamsie does this so that the reader will not fall into the trap of making assumptions about a character because of their ethnic/racial/cultural background. Rather, the reader will see the diverse and complex backgrounds, beliefs, and traditions that the Muslim characters in Home Fire all bring to the table. I believe Shamsie put the characters in the order they were because an idea introduced by one character builds on in the next chapter. First, Isma hates Karamat Lone because she sees him as a traitor to his religion. However, she also acknowledges that she must assimilate in order to not cause any trouble. Then, Eamonn talks more about Karamat from another perspective that makes him seem more reasonable. He talks badly about Islam. After, the Parvaiz chapter suggests the need of assimilation into one's culture. By putting the characters in this order, Shamsie is able to prevent the conflict that each character has created while also giving each character a voice to explain themselves and their motives. This results in no bias towards a character.
It is clear to me that gender plays a large role in Pachinko. Sunja has many social pressures that consume her life. Most of these social pressures are a result of her being female. For example, when she gets pregnant while being single, she is pressured to leave her life in Korea behind to find a man to marry and provide for her so that she is not judged by society. This demonstrates that society is not supporting women to live independent lives and/or pursue an education. The only expectations for women include being good mothers and good wives. Another example of gender roles playing a big role in Pachinko is women as part of the workforce. In Japan, it becomes apparent that women aren't encouraged to work. In fact, Yoseb takes it as a hit to his ego as a man when Sunja and Kyunghee tell him they wish to work. He is insulted because in Japan, a man is supposed to provide for women.
James, thanks for sharing your ideas about Shamsie's decision to split up the book the way she did. I agree that, by giving multiple characters their own sections, she allowed readers to form connections to and opinions about each of them. What was most impactful for me was the humanization of Parvaiz in his section. From Isma's section we only really knew him as the deserter brother who had abandoned the family just as their father did. However, after reading his section, I better understand the pressure placed on him to follow in his father's footsteps and how others manipulated him using his desire to know more about his father's life.
ReplyDelete