Isma's Struggle

     One part of the novel that didn’t strike me at first, but struck me after rereading was when Isma was being interrogated before her flight. The situation that caught my eye was when the interrogator stated,” This isn’t yours… It’s too nice for someone like you”(Shamsie 3). When Isma was being questioned, she responded and was forced to explain that she was the manager of the dry cleaning shop. The interrogator is surprised that Isma went from the manager of a dry cleaning store to a PhD in sociology. Another situation that sparked my interest was when the male interrogator was pushing Isma to state if she considers herself British. She quickly responds,” I am British”(Shamsie 5). After Isma confidently responded, she was interrogated for two more hours. In order for Isma to pass the interrogation, she was forced to confine her answers to match the ideal answers from the interrogator. Isma’s interrogation symbolizes how people of color, especially Muslims are questioned ten times as much as a typical white “American looking” person. At first I breezed through this situation, but the more I reread it, the more uncomfortable and angry it made me feel. This interrogation reminded me how people of color in America are often seen as “less than” or These events highlighted the injustice that still occurs in the United States today. People of color are constantly judged or looked at differently when at the end of the day we are all humans and gender or race should not be a deciding factor on how you treat someone. I related this event to my life, because as a person of color, I have been treated differently in some ways, and it hurt me that these issues are still prevalent in society today. 

Comments

  1. Avery PiersonSeptember 26, 2021 at 12:20 PM

    This passage also stuck out to me as I read Section 1 of Home Fire. I found it very telling that this is how the book opened. The themes that came up in the interrogation reappeared a lot throughout section 1; she is forced to assimilate and seem like a "true brit" multiple times in the first two chapters and I think this issue will continue and probably get much worse as the book continues.

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  2. Abby MatsonSeptember 27, 2021 at 5:21 PM

    I also noticed this-- it was a more passive way to open up the book. On the surface level, the details of her life being slowly littered throughout the exposition and introducing the reader to Isma. But at the thematic level, we confront themes of assimilation, discrimination, and Isma's internal conflict about how to deal with it.

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  3. Michelle BOctober 2, 2021 at 12:18 PM

    Great point about how and why the book starts where it does and with what kind of content.

    ReplyDelete

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