Summary of ’my son the fanatic’
"My son the fanatic" is a story about a Pakistani father Parvez and his son Ali. Parvez starts to notice a weird behavior from his son, he stopped bringing friends home, he stopped seeing his English girlfriend and he was throwing out all of his possessions. After a while, Parvez went to his friends, the cabbies (because Parvez is a cab driver) and told them what he was experiencing. The cabbies told Parvez that his son was definitely taking and/or selling drugs, and he was selling his possessions to pay for the drugs. Parvez started to watch Ali's behavior more closely, and he told his good friend, the prostitute Bettina, about his problem. She guided Parvez about what to look for and what to do, if his
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Number three element is Ali’ mood. His mood did not match up whit the suspicion of drug use.
4. In what ways has Ali changed?
He is not seeing his friends anymore. He broke up with his girlfriend. He is throwing out or donating his things. He is not doing as good in school as he used to. His relationship to his father is getting worse and
Tobias Wolff’s memoir, ‘This Boy’s life’ explores his record of growing up in 1950’s post-war America. Frequented with tropes surrounding masculinity, identity, and relationships between individuals, Wolff retells his experiences beginning with Jack at age 10, attempting a fresh start with his mother, Rosemary, and continues throughout his adolescence, navigating toxic relationships and societal expectations. Jack’s compelling desire for a notable identify results in him manifesting webs of lies and acting out in problematic means, cracking the façade of his virtuous nature. However, Rosemary’s troubled relationship complex of attracting abusive men, may act as a conduit and instigator towards Jack’s behaviour during his childhood and the proceeding developments as he progresses with
In the novel My Brother's Keeper: Virginia's Diary; Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, 1863 a young girl named Virginia Dickens is left by her father and her brother Jed, who is eighteen years old, from their home in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, to help Virginia's Uncle Jack hide his horses from the Confederate soldiers.Virginia Dickens, who is a nine year old in the year of 1863 wants to go with them, but her father says that the safest place for her is right in her own hometown, Gettysburg, with Rev. McCully's wife. Jed entrusts his journal to her, and he asks her to write in it for him while he's gone --- to be his eyes and ears and tell him everything she thinks and feels. The author "Mary Pope Osborne" writes about this little girl in the form of the diary. The book takes place in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. It is a Historical fiction book.
He also is constantly irritable and has outbursts of anger. He refuses to get help and will not talk about his feelings or his family with anyone. This leads to what seems like him considering attempting suicide. He however then takes a gun out into the city. He gets into a standoff with a cop and it seems like he wants the cop to kill him.
However, his constant burden of having to pay for his adulterous act, considered one of the ultimate sins in his conservative Sunni Islamic environment, coupled with the tragedy of his wife’s death leads Baba to also be portrayed as a less of a father and more of having an immature personality in the way he deals with his son. Hosseini’s purpose in this complex relationship with Amir was to highlight how different the circumstances were in Afghanistan given more extreme social conditions Americans are unfamiliar with. This conflict leads Hosseini to somewhat reconcile Baba’s bad parenting as being a product of the trade-offs necessary to living in context of that particular belief system. His preoccupation with relieving his guilt prevented him from being the father Amir secretly desired him to be.
The book “This Boy’s Life” by Tobias Wolff is a memoir written about the author’s childhood memories and experiences. The author shows many different characters within the book. Many of them are just minor character that does not affect the author much in his life choices and thoughts throughout his growth. But there are some that acts as the protagonist and some the antagonist. One of them is Dwight, the protagonist’s or Jack’s stepfather. This character seems to be one of the characters that inhibit Jack’s choices and decisions. This character plays a huge role in Jack’s life as it leaves a huge scar in his memory. The author here spends the majority of time in this character in the memoir to show the readers the relationship between
His rebellious side may be the worst part of his problem. He doesn't care about school friends his future, nothing. He never really looks into his future. He runs away from school and lives off of a couple of buck and blows it on boo’s. He tell the doctor how he doesn't know if he's going to apply himself when he gets out of the hospital still being immature. He doesn't try and rejects the help that his parents are giving him through the hospital by not taking it serious. He does seem hopeful about getting out even though he doesn't know exactly when that is
Amir had always regretted his actions that day in the alley and wanted to repay Hassan by taking his son Sohrab to America with him. As soon as Amir saw Sohrab, he saw Hassan in him and wanted to do anything he could to help and resolve his guilt. He wanted to take Sohrab back to America with him so he could have a bed, food, shelter, and a good life. Amir knew “there are a lot of children in Afghanistan, but little childhood”
Amir in the story starts off as a young boy living in Kabul, Pakistan. He and Hassan are friends to the end until Hassan is raped by Assef. While Hassan is being raped Amir is
Tobias Wolff’s memoir, ‘This Boy’s life’ explores his record of growing up in 1950’s post-war America. Frequented with tropes surrounding masculinity, identity, and relationships between individuals, Wolff retells his experiences beginning with Jack at age 10, attempting a fresh start with his mother, Rosemary, and continues throughout his adolescence, navigating toxic relationships and societal expectations. Jack’s compelling desire for a worthwhile identify results in him manifesting webs of lies and acting out in problematic means, cracking the façade of his virtuous nature. However, Rosemary’s troubled relationship complex of attracting abusive men, may act as a conduit and instigator towards Jack’s behaviour during his childhood and the
Amir has shown to Baba that he is not a reflection of him, which makes Baba believe that it is not necessary to develop a connection with his son. This makes Amir feel guilty of himself which leads him to pursue a series of events where he attempts to win Baba’s love, even if those decisions put Hassan’s life in danger. After winning Baba’s affection and creating a stronger bond with his father in America, Amir still feels guilty for betraying his best friend in the winter of 1975. Amir’s guilt is not tearing his life apart as much as it did when he lived in Kabul, but it still affects him negatively. He is willing to do anything to let go of his guilt, even if it means putting his life at risk. After finding out Hassan is dead and he is Amir’s half-brother, Amir heads back to his childhood home during a time when the country is run by a terrorist organization, so he can rescue Hassan’s son, Sohrab, and finally be able to find peace in his life. Everyone makes mistakes in their life and even if those mistakes might have destroyed another person’s life, there is always a way to earn redemption and that is by letting the guilt that one carries lead to something
Mark Twain once said, "We are creatures of outside influences -- we originate nothing within. Whenever we take a new line of thought and drift into a new line of belief and action, the impulse is always suggested from the outside." In the memoir This Boy’s Life, by Tobias Wolff Jack shows that he is a creature of outside influence. Some examples of this are that he copies what his friends do, he doesn't try to shape his own life, and he is heavily influenced by the male figures in his life.
Khalid Hosseini’s novel The Kite Runner is about a young boy named Amir. The father and son relationship between Baba and Amir is not always positive. The novel unravels the increasing gape these two have. Amir's constant struggle for Baba's attention produces him being lonely and feeling separated from Baba’s life. And Baba’s constant struggle of having his son to follow his footsteps, leads Baba to be a terrible parent. In the novel The Kite Runner, the protagonist’s father, Baba, has demonstrated that he is a terrible father to his son Amir by wanting his son to be his reflection, not showing emotional attachment and keeping the truth from Amir.
Amir’s misadventures begin as a boy living in an affluent Afghanistan world. On the day of his birth, his mother hemorrhages to death. Robbed of any feminine influence or comfort, he goes to his overshadowing Baba for love and acceptance. His father denies his only son the tenderness he desires, leading Amir to believe his father despises him. After all, Amir’s
Throughout the novel, Amir endeavors to be approved by his father, Baba, who is admired by people in Kabul. Unfortunately, Baba believes that Amir, unlike him, is very unmanly “and [that he] never fights back. He just... drops his head ” (Hosseini 24). Since Baba wishes for a son who would stand up for himself, he can’t help but observe that Amir’s friend Hassan, as the guy who “steps in and fends the [bullies] off” (Hosseini 24) is his idea of the ideal son. Though aware of his father’s expectations, Amir is unable to change himself and instead envies Hassan and the fact that Baba treats him like his own son by“[patting]Hassan on the back. [and even putting] his arm around his shoulder [like a fatherly figure]”(Hosseini 15). Despite the manifestation of this hatred in Amir, he continues to recognize the bond that he shares with Hassan, “ brotherhood between people who had fed from the same breast” (Hosseini 11) which is because both their mothers died during birth. The confusing emotions he feels for Hassan has Amir face a situation in which he acts inappropriately and allows the guilt to manifest upon him. After winning a very important kite tournament for the first time and “seeing Baba on that roof, proud of [him] at last” (Hosseini 71) Amir begins to search for Hassan who had gone to run his kite earlier. Finally, Amir finds him in a dark alley and as he “peeks around the corner” (Hosseini 75) he witnesses a sight that eradicated not only his relationship with Hassan but also Baba’s brotherly relationship with Ali, Hassan’s father. Peeking through the corner of the alley, like a bystander, he watches his one and only friend getting raped. The guilt that came upon him was for two reason; one, his lack of courage to stand up to
The DSM states “having five or more symptoms present during the same two week period and represent a change from precious functioning at least one of the symptoms is either depressed mood or loss of interest or pleasure” (American Psychiatric Association:, 2013). Some other “behavioral patterns are running away from home, accident-proneness; aggressive acting out; temper tantrums; self-criticism; social withdrawal and loneliness; extreme sensitivity to criticism by others; low tolerance of frustration’ sleep problems; dark fantasies, daydreams or hallucinations; marked personality change; and overwhelming interest in death and suicide.” (Comer, 2014) This is why depression and suicidal behavior is harder to recognize and are not treated. “Depression can be difficult to diagnose in teens because adults may expect teens to act moody. In addition, adolescents do not always understand or express their feelings very well. They may not be aware of the symptoms of depression and may not seek help” ("DEPRESSION IN TEENS"). Therefore, when a teen is suffering from depression and feeling suicidal it is important to help them seek help by just asking them if they are feeling suicidal and then help them take the appropriate steps to find and receive help. “About 5 percent of children and adolescents in the general population suffer from depression at any given point in time” (Shaffer,