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Ali
Bettina is a regular customer of Parvez. She is a prostitute, and Parvez drives her home nearly every night after she’s done working. Parvez talks more openly with Bettina than he does with his wife, and their relationship takes on the characteristics of an emotional affair. Bettina becomes Parvez’s confidant and main source of advice as he struggles to confront Ali and convince him to abandon his radical Islamic beliefs. Towards the end of the story, Bettina and Ali meet in Parvez’s cab, where she and her revealing clothing, flashy accessories, and fragrant perfume come to represent the Western culture of temptation, materialism, and enjoyment that Ali despises. When Bettina tries to advocate for Parvez by confronting Ali about his fundamentalist Islamic beliefs, Ali shames her for being a prostitute. Enraged, and hurt in what was a fight between a father and son, Bettina gets out of the car, and this is her final appearance in the story.
Bettina Quotes in My Son the Fanatic
The My Son the Fanatic quotes below are all either spoken by Bettina or refer to Bettina. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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My Son the Fanatic Quotes
Parvez became aware of Bettina’s short skirt, gaudy rings and ice-blue eyeshadow. He became conscious that the smell of her perfume, which he loved, filled the cab. He opened the window.
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Explanation and Analysis:
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Bettina Character Timeline in My Son the Fanatic
The timeline below shows where the character Bettina appears in My Son the Fanatic. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
My Son the Fanatic
...a “drug addict killer.” Outside, he is relieved to see one of his regular riders, Bettina, waiting for him in the front seat of his taxicab.
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Bettina is a prostitute. The cabbies know the local prostitutes well, as they drive them to...
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One night after staying out late discussing the matter with Bettina, Parvez comes home and uncovers a clue to Ali’s mysterious behavior. As Parvez is standing...
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...their neighborhood and enjoy exposing what they see as their hypocrisies. However, when he tells Bettina and his friends that Ali’s strange behavior turned out to be prayer, no one knows...
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...Ali’s part, Parvez convinces him to have dinner. The next day, though, Parvez meets with Bettina in his car and recounts the uncomfortable dinner he shared with Ali the night before....
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As Parvez recounts this story to Bettina, he tells her that he is so desperate to get through to his son that...
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Parvez concludes the story of this terrible night by telling Bettina that he feels that he’s lost his son. He can’t stand that Ali looks at...
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A few days later, Parvez and Bettina are together in Parvez’s car, and Parvez explains to her that he does believe that...
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One evening sometime after this failed conversation, Parvez has picked up Bettina. She has visited a client and they are driving through a poor neighborhood where there...
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Parvez begins driving faster, as Bettina asks Ali where he’s been that night. Ali replies tersely that he was at the...
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