Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Home Fire, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Islam, Nationality, and Identity.
Familial Love, Protection, and Betrayal
Fathers, Sons, and Inheritance
Stereotypes vs. Individuality
Summary
Analysis
Eamonn sits in his apartment, watching a clip of Karamat addressing the students at a predominantly Muslim school that Karamat himself attended. He said to the students: “You are, we are, British. Britain accepts this. So do most of you. But for those of you who are in some doubt about it, let me say this: Don't set yourself apart in the way you dress, the way you think, the outdated codes of behavior you cling to, the ideologies to which you attach your loyalties. Because if you do, you will be treated differently.” At the time, the media went wild for his “truth-telling” and “passion.”
Even though Karamat is lauded for the speech by the wider British media, there is an inherent contradiction in what Karamat is saying—he saying that even though the students are British, they will only be accepted as British if they give up the practices that make them Muslim (like dress and codes of behavior). Again this emphasizes the idea that one has to choose faith or nationality, while people like Isma show that that doesn’t have to be the case. Karamat’s character parallels the character of King Creon in Sophocles’s Antigone, and this moment highlights the similarities between the two characters. Like Creon, Karamat values loyalty to the nation about all else—and like Creon, Karamat will soon find that this devotion will have dire consequences for his own family members.
Themes
Eamonn, however, thinks about Karamat’s words in the context of Aneeka. He imagines a hypothetical video showing her praying, or undressing except for her hijab. He thinks that the “total lack of self-consciousness in everything she did—love and prayer” are the “the things that were most striking about her.”
This hypothetical video underlines again what Karamat is saying: that Aneeka, who adheres to the “outdated codes of behavior” Karamat describes, chooses her faith over her nationality. Eamonn’s thoughts also emphasize the idea that Aneeka’s own way of interpreting her practice is the “most striking thing” about her, showing the importance of recognizing individuals rather than stereotypes. This moment also emphasizes the connection between Aneeka and Sophocles’s Antigone. Antigone is notable for her refusal to confirm to the dictates of her society, and Aneeka shows that same tendency here.
Themes
Aneeka arrives back at the apartment at that moment. When she comes in, Eamonn asks if anyone gives her a hard time because of her hijab. She says that sometimes things happen to make people more hostile, like terrorist attacks involving European victims or “Home secretaries talking about people setting themselves apart in the way they dress.”
Aneeka’s acknowledgment of the things that make it harder for her to wear a hijab in public emphasizes the opposite of what Eamonn was just thinking: that so often people associate her with stereotypes and a group rather than seeing that she is just one young Muslim woman.
Themes
Aneeka turns on Eamonn, asking what he says to Karamat when he makes a speech like that. She asks if he knows that someof the things the country will let a Muslim person achieve are “torture, rendition, detention without trial.” Eamonn protests, saying that Karamat wants “people like you” to suffer less, not more. Aneeka is hurt by the phrasing of “people like you.”
Aneeka also highlights the dangers of treating someone based on their associations with a group rather than as an individual—like the experience that Isma had at the beginning of the novel when she was detained. And again, Eamonn separates his own experiences from the experiences of Muslims at large, even making the same mistake of generalizing by saying “people like you”—even though he knows that Aneeka is a unique individual.
Themes
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Aneeka notes that this is why she wanted to keep their relationship a secret, because she wouldn’t be accepted by Eamonn’s family. Eamonn says that may have been true before, but he admits that he has been thinking about proposing to her. Aneeka at first seems shocked by this, but then she kisses him passionately.
Aneeka makes an excuse about the secrecy she is demanding from Eamonn, but as their relationship grows more serious, it is becoming more difficult for her to inhibit her own feelings for Eamonn, even though she knows she’ll soon have to admit that she has betrayed him.
Themes
The next morning, Eamonn and Aneeka are outside in the communal garden on a warm, sunny day. Eamonn suggests they go on holiday together somewhere. He also suggests that they start to tell people about their relationship, but Aneeka remains hesitant. Aneeka admits to Eamonn that if they were to leave the country together, Karamat would know. She says that MI5 is watching her, monitoring all her messages and Internet history. When Eamonn protests that they’re not watching her because of Adil, she says that they’re watching her because of Parvaiz, who joined ISIS’s media unit the previous year.
Aneeka finally makes explicit what other characters have been hinting at throughout the book: her brother has followed in her father’s footsteps and has joined ISIS in Syria. In hindsight, readers can now see the magnitude of his betrayal of both of his sisters, as they were left to deal with the aftermath of his decision.
Themes
Eamonn is stunned, picturing “The black and white flag, the British-accented men who stood beneath it and sliced men’s heads off their shoulders. And the media unit, filming it all.” Eamonn knocks over several plants in the communal garden in rage. Aneeka leads him back into the apartment, and once there, he opens a bottle of beer and downs it in two swigs.
Eamonn here serves as an avatar for the reader; his assumptions about what Parvaiz is involved in likely mirror readers’ own assumptions. This is an idea that Shamsie will later complicate in the chapter from Parvaiz’s point of view, which adds nuance to his storyline.
Themes
Aneeka tells Eamonn that Parvaiz wants to come back home, and she asks for his help. It slowly dawns on Eamonn that their relationship has been about this the entire time. Aneeka protests, admitting that when she got on the train that first day she thought he could help her brother, but she says that she couldn’t have continued the relationship if she didn’t have real feelings for him. He tells her to get out.
At this point, Eamonn recognizes more fully the magnitude of the betrayal that Aneeka has perpetrated in order to try to ensure her brother’s safety. Again, as this chapter is from Eamonn’s point of view, many readers likely experience Eamonn’s realization in real time with him, but because Aneeka’s perspective isn’t yet part of the story, her true loyalty remains unclear.
Themes
As Aneeka changes out of a dressing gown into real clothing, Eamonn goes to clean up the plants he destroyed in the garden. But he quickly returns to find her still in the bedroom. She shows him a photograph of Parvaiz, saying that she’s been worried sick about him, and all she wants to do is stop worrying about him so she can be more fully with Eamonn. He still isn’t sure whether she is telling the truth about her feelings, but he kisses the top of her head and asks her to tell him everything about Parvaiz.
Even though Eamonn feels severely betrayed by what Aneeka has done, he still loves her and recognizes that her actions come from a desire to keep her brother in her life. This is perhaps the only relationship in the novel that is not altogether destroyed upon discovering that one person has betrayed another, in contrast to many of the relationships between the siblings.
Themes
Early the next morning, Eamonn arrives at his parents’ home. He greets his mother, Terry, then continues on to Karamat’s office. Karamat greets him warmly, and they sit down together. Eamonn thinks about the complexity of their relationship: “Who is this posh English boy with my face, the father would say, sometimes with disappointment, sometimes with pride. Who you made me, so blame yourself the son would reply, and his father would respond with either There is no blame, my jaan, my life or That was your mother's doing, not mine.”
Eamonn’s description reveals how his father views Eamonn as a mirror, as an illustration of what he has achieved, and as a recognition of the limitation of what Eamonn can achieve. Again, there is a paradox here in inheriting so much from his father: because his father has worked so hard, Eamonn will never need to work as hard to achieve what Karamat has, and thus he can never truly out-achieve Karamat or make him proud as Eamonn so wishes to. This also marks the moment in the novel where the parallels to Sophocles’s Antigone become especially direct. In the play, Haemon goes to his father, King Creon, to argue on behalf of his fiancée, Antigone, who wants Creon to intervene on behalf of her brother’s honor. Eamonn is about to do exactly the same thing here on Aneeka’s behalf.
Themes
Eamonn confesses that he’s been seeing someone. He tells Karamat about Aneeka—that she lives in Preston Road in Wembley, that her family is from Pakistan, that she’s beautiful and smart, and that their relationship is very serious. Eamonn even speaks a few words in Urdu to express his love. Karamat is pleasantly surprised, saying that if he’s in love, Aneeka should come to meet the family.
Eamonn recognizes that Aneeka represents not only a partner, but also the choice of a way of life that might not necessarily be the choice that Karamat would have made. Whereas Karamat relinquished so much of his heritage and culture, Eamonn is actively seeking it out through Aneeka.
Themes
Eamonn continues, saying that Aneeka is a practicing Muslim—she prays in the morning, doesn’t drink or eat pork, fasts during Ramzan, and wears a hijab. When Karamat wonders if she has any problem with sex, Eamonn assures him that there’s no problem there. Karamat reiterates that he is pleased, and Eamonn is surprised that he’s taking this so well.
This exchange teases out two themes: first, Eamonn’s hesitancy to tell his father again acknowledges that his father has separated himself from his Muslim background. Second, Eamonn’s description of Aneeka’s practice recognizes that every person’s practice is different, and that Aneeka has her own individual ideas and beliefs about how to be a Muslim.
Themes
Karamat assures Eamonn that he grew up a believing Muslim. Eamonn says he didn’t know that, and Karamat replies that there are still “moments of stress when [he’ll] recite Ayat al-Kursi as a kind of reflex.” He asks Eamonn not to mention that publicly, however. Eamonn says that Karamat shouldn’t have to hide his religion. Karamat replies, “I’d be nervous about a home secretary who’s spoken openly about his atheism but secretly recites Muslim prayers. Wouldn’t you?”
This is perhaps Shamsie’s first hint for readers that there is more to Karamat than the descriptions she has given so far. He is not just out for political gain: instead, he is a person of true faith who feels that he has been forced to give up his faith because of the way people associate him with terrorists and to make himself more acceptable to the British public.
Themes
Eamonn brings up one other issue: that Aneeka has “a boy she was close to at school” who has gone to Syria to join ISIS. Karamat says he knows only one person who fits that description from Preston Road: Parvaiz Pasha. He says that Parvaiz had exceptional circumstances: “terrorism as a family trade.”
Karamat’s description of Parvaiz foreshadows the fact that he goes to Syria in search of information about his father. Though he did not learn the “family trade,” the fact that his father was a jihadi nonetheless shapes Parvaiz’s journey a great deal.
Themes
Eamonn doesn’t know how to proceed; he did not expect Karamat to know this. When Karamat prompts him, Eamonn admits that Aneeka is Parvaiz’s twin sister. Karamat says, “You stupid, stupid boy,” and he says that Eamonn will have no more contact with Aneeka. Eamonn begs his father to meet her, but Karamat laughs at the idea that “the nexus of al-Qaeda and the Islamic State is just going to waltz in.” Eamonn is furious at his father for using this language. Karamat instructs Eamonn to stay in his office for a minute, and when he leaves, Eamonn curses the fact that his phone is in his jacket outside.
Karamat once again reveals his own bias and his own reliance on stereotypes. Aneeka and Isma are both horrified by the actions that their brother has taken, and yet Karamat chooses to associate them with terrorism as well. This becomes key when he later has Aneeka’s British citizenship revoked, despite the fact that she has committed no crime.
Themes
When Karamat returns, he says that it is his fault for not wanting Eamonn to know “what it feels like to have doors closed in your face.” He continues, saying that Eamonn is so entitled that he wouldn’t recognize why Aneeka would give a “public-school boy who lives off his mother because he can and has no ambition” the time of day. Karamat explains that officers have been monitoring Aneeka following Parvaiz’s departure for Syria. Karamat was surprised to find that Eamonn and Aneeka haven’t had any recorded communication—until today. Karamat presents Eamonn’s phone, which has 23 missed calls from Aneeka.
This brutal assessment of Eamonn’s character illustrates even further his father’s disappointment in the fact that Eamonn has never had to work as hard as Karamat has—an opinion that informs Eamonn’s rebellion at the end of the novel. Additionally, Aneeka’s insistence on secrecy takes on another meaning here, as it becomes clear that she may have been trying to protect Eamonn as well as herself in keeping their contact unrecorded.
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