The Life Between Father and Son

“The life between a father and Son”

In the short story, “ My Son, the Fanatic”, the author Hanif Kureishi enlightens the reader with an astonishing story , which consist of a father and son who experience the differences between one another. The author suspense in the story leads you to believe that disobedience could be the issue between the father and son. However after reading the story you are than aware of the miraculous issue, this matter leaves you only to ask who is the fanatic now? Parvez had grown up in Pakistan , where he and other boys knew nothing more than their Muslim beliefs. Many of these people continued to follow their religion throughout life. Whereas Parvez, one of few Muslims decided to move away and become less religious. Parvez and his family started a new life in England. He decided to raise his son, Ali, the way he wished he was raised, with less restrictions. Does Every child follow their parent foot steps? Throughout the story we learn that Ali starts to face changes as he gets older. At this point the author makes the reader believe it can be a drug problem Ali is undergoing. Parvez, a concerned parent, starts to ask his co workers for advice. They all seemed to have the same concept to believe that Ali’s problem was because of drugs. Parvez then turned to one of his friends he met on the job. Bettina, a prostitute, seems to be the most helpful. She helped Parvez to find out what exactly the issue was with his son. Ali turned out to be a perfectly fine teenager. Unlike his father, Ali anticipated on following his religion. His foremost concern was the Koran. Ali was unable to understand why his father was not religious and disobeyed their religion. This caused the father and son’s relationship to become more distant. However, Parvez was extremely determined to change things back to the way they once were. In today’s society communication is the solution to your problem. Is this a solution for Parvez? Parvez being a concerned parent ,discussed matters with his son. Ali accompanied his father to dinner where they deliberated their differences. Ali wanted his father to be the religious believer he once was. Parvez disagreed, he didn’t have it in him to be religious, his philosophy on life had changed. This frustrated Parvez, he couldn’t believe the decision he had made for his family was not turning out the way he had dreamed it to be. The father slowly begins to give up on trying to become closer to his son. Bettina being a concerned friend insists that Parvez tries harder. While giving Bettina a ride, Parvez runs into his son and decides to pick him up. Ali being as religious as he is, could not believe his father was with a prostitute. Ali then began to disrespect Bettina. Instead of talking things out with his son, Parvez became furious. Taking matters into his own hands, Parvez turned to violence. He could no longer take the fact that his son was into the “spiritual dimension.” All in all, we learn that Parvez’s actions didn’t make a difference in his son’s eyes. Ali only saw his father as a fanatic. If Parvez only put himself in Ali’s shoes he would have probably understood his perspective on life. Considering Parvez was once the young man who had no choice but to follow the Koran he should have been more understanding. Although, Ali should respect his dad he has a whole life ahead of him to understand that his father only wants a relationship with him. This story is a clear example that displays what you expect from your children can completely turn out the opposite. Kahlil Gibran once said, “ your children are not your children. You may give them your love but not your thoughts, for they have their own thoughts.”