This are the answers for the story we´ve read! I worked with Sofia Montoya and Malena Millan.

• What prevents Parvez from communicating directly with his son?

Parvez communication with Ali fails because he finds that Ali has been giving away his belongings, and when he tries to talk to him Ali strongly resists to his ideas.

2. What is Parvez’s dream for Ali’s future?

Parvez works really hard for Alis education. He believes that the education is really important, also separate his son from being an extremist of the Islam. He also want Ali to adapt in the English society and get married with a typical english woman.

3. How would you describe the personality of the following characterize:

4. Parvez
   Is the father of Ali, the protagonist. He is a hard working men, who had work long hours to afford his son education. He believes in freedom, so he moved to England to live a quiet life. He also believes that everyone should improve upon all the opportunities that life gives you.
5. Ali
   He is the protagonist of the story. He is an idealistic and sincere man. He believes that many muslims are oppressed around the world. He wish to add a little grain of sand to better lives and opportunities for people, he believes that everyone should do and believe in what they want. He views the restriction of the islam as a necessary tool to preserve morality.

1. Bettina

She is a prostitute friend of Parvez, she is a good listener and support Parvez communication with Ali. She encourage Parvez to communicate with his son, she beg Ali’s father to be patient with his son.

4.

1. At the beginning of the story Parvez starts to discover that his son is not like he used to be before; he stopped using his guitar, he started to be interested in other things that his father didn’t like or accept.
2. At the end of the story the bond of brotherhood that they had before is completley broken due to the lack of things in common. Ali has an extremist way of thinking and acting, he can’t separate religion and routine, and Parvez is very disappointed and he reacts in an extremist and violent way also.
3. Parvez finds a lot of confidence in Bettina. She is his lover but she is the one that is more aware of the things that are happening to him. She is the one who gives him advices and the one who listens to him.
4. Parvez and his coworkers used to tell their problems and they tried to help one another, but it was very difficult for Parvez to tell his problems because he was afraid of the critics that he could get. This shows us how we tend to talk about other problems to evershadoow ours.
5. Parvez and his wife didn’t have a relationship at all. They didn’t share things, they didn’t talk, but they didn’t fight. It was like a neutral relationship.

5. Bettina gives a comprehensive advice to Parvez. He thinks that the attitudes that Ali has are part of a phase in life that everyone goes through. She says that he should go with and understand him.

6. Parvez has a bad memory of Pakistan. He decided to move to England for more opportunities, better education for his son and for a new life. The flashback that the story provides is when he fell asleep in the temple while praying. This is something that it is not allowed by the religion, so they put him a rope to keep him awake. This made him feel humiliated and it is also what provokes a bad image about religion to him.

8. Why does Parvez like England?

Parvez likes England because it is a capitalist country which has an important role in the global functioning. It is also a developed country and it is part of the Western countries which are the most globalized and known ones.

9. Why does Ali hate London?

He hates London because it is a city in which the muslim religion is not completely accepted, they tend to be judged. Also, it is located in a country that does not follow this religion or the koran, as most of the eastern countries do. In addition, most of the muslims blame the western countries, including England, for all the conflicts that they are transiting.

10. What was the “last straw” that led Parvez to violence?

Parvez entered to Ali’s room and he ignored him, he did not even look at him. Also, he had found him praying. This made Parvez go mad and start hitting him.

11. What does Ali mean in the last line of the story?

By asking, “Who’s the fanatic now?”, I understood that he wanted to transmit that his father was the fanatic one, because by kicking him, he became an extremist. As he showed that he could not accept that his son had different thoughts and beliefs. So, in my opinion, they both were fanatics, Ali was a fanatic of the muslim religion and Parvez was a fanatic of the customs of the Western world.

In language, we wrote a description of this picture with Sofia Montoya and Malena Millan

The sun was warming Ali’s back on that spring’s sunday morning, the weather was perfect, not too hot, nor too cold. She could breath the pure air and all she could see was her sister’s face. They were surrounded by a yellow flowery mattress, which made her feel in peace. Her sister’s blonde hair, tied in a beautiful braid, was shining as bright as the sun, which illuminated the whole garden. Her sister, was holding a dandelion flower, and as she blowed, the white floaties hit softly Ali’s face and then got lost in the wind. Ali copied her sister and grabbed two of them, feeling the sticky stem in her fingers. She looked up and admired the view, she felt pleased and grateful, for the beautiful landscape that surrounded her. Her sister started running through the green grass and Ali saw how tiny she became as she ran further. At a certain point, she became just a tiny dot surrounded by an infinite blue curtain. She followed her, and as she stepped in the wet grass, she could feel how the cold water particles entered on her shoe. As she kept running towards her sister, she could feel how her heart started beating faster, and how her respiration got accelerated. As she got nearer her sister, she contemplated her stained white pants and her wet shoes. She was sweaty because she had been running, and her hair was messy. But what surprised Ali the most, was how her sister’s eyes were as blue as the ocean and as deep as the sky. She grabbed her sister’s hand and while their fingers were interlacing, a warm feeling ran all over her body, making her feel safe. They started running together and got lost in the nature, feeling accompanied. They wanted to stay in that precise moment forever, they shared a special connection not only with the nature, but with each other.