My Research Ideas for "Home Fire"!
So far, I've been very invested in reading "Home Fire." Not only has it been fun to see how each character experiences events and dive into their mind for a section, but through reading the book, I've also been exposed to new cultural perspectives that I was previously not as familiar with.
In going through the different sections and hearing from different character voices, a reoccurring comparison and juxtaposition that I've noted is the difference between the men and women. We see Parvaiz and his sisters sharing different duties within their family as well as the different attitudes held by the main female characters regarding gender roles and sex. Later, as Parvaiz becomes more and more brainwashed by the terrorists, we see a negative change in how he views women. Due to this changing viewpoint, it would be interesting to study and research the history of women have been viewed and valued in Islamic culture. It would also be insightful to see how women have advanced in that culture as well as how Islamic terrorism has influenced outdated ideas of Muslim women.
Another good research idea that speaks to me would be to look into one of the many broad historical events referenced by characters that gives the timeline context. While reading, I consistently ran into events that I don't have much knowledge about. In particular, I'm unfamiliar with the historical treatment of Muslims in Britain as well as the rise of Islamic terrorism. I think it would be interesting to look into how Islamic terrorists gained prevalence and reputation in the Middle East and also to learn more about their indoctrination process, as only one perspective of indoctrination is shown in the story.
Catalina, thanks for sharing some really cool research ideas! I think you could find success with either of these options. I, too, am quite interested in the gender dynamics shown in this book. I first started noticing the gender roles when Parvaiz was being influenced to think of his sisters as "his women." It was really interesting to see how his mindset, specifically regarding Isma, changed over the course of the novel. I thought it was interesting and surprising to observe how he was able to shift his thinking of Isma from someone who raised him to someone he should be in charge of.
ReplyDeleteHi Catalina, thanks for broadening my view on what types of ideas we can generate for research. When looking for my own, I looked for specific words or phrases that held an unknown definition or topic. It is really interesting to dive into one of these broader ideas because it seems there is more potential for creating rich responses.
ReplyDeleteI think looking into how Muslims are treated in Britain is a great idea. Looking into that history could be really interesting and is not something I had thought much about. Something that I wonder is how 9/11 impacted Muslims in Britain and how that might have been similar or different to its effects in the US.
ReplyDeleteI am also thinking of researching traditional Muslim gender roles compared to contemporary roles—specifically how much and what it took for those changes to take place. And how widespread more modern gender equality is within Muslim communities, and how that potentially compares to other communities with different histories.
ReplyDeleteFor some reason, I hadn't even considered researching gender roles in Muslim culture. It definitely plays a big part in the book, especially with the theme of indoctrination and people being taken advantage of when they are lonely.
ReplyDeleteThanks for bringing these new research ideas into conversation!
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