Home Fire

The final chapters of the novel reveal the plot from Karamat’s perspective. Earlier in the text, readers can paint a picture of the Home Secretary based on his episodic interactions with his family and the addresses he gives to the media. In the last chapters, however, Shamsie presents Karamat as a complex character who tries to balance his loyalty to the state and the feelings of devotion toward his family.

Karamat’s character manifests itself primarily through his interactions with his wife and Eamonn, as well as his inner contemplation. It thus becomes clear that his political stance, principles, and ambitions are more important to him than his family. Although Karamat doesn’t neglect his duties as a father and a husband and strives to maintain a facade of a happy family, in situations when he has to side with either the state or his family, he repeatedly chooses the former. For instance, when he finds out that Eamonn flew to Karachi to be with Aneeka, he refuses to talk about the situation with Terry and instead rushes to his office, convinced that “until this thing is over [he] [doesn’t] have a son and [he] [doesn’t] have a wife” (276).

Terry, on the contrary, strongly opposes this attitude and demonstrates the strength of character equal to Karamat’s. Although before the scandal with Aneeka, Terry rarely confronted her husband, she doesn’t hide her contempt for him once the situation begins to evolve. First, she warns him not to talk to her as if “[she’s] some housewife here to bring [him] [his] slippers at the end of [his] working day” (281), and repeatedly calls him “self-important idiot” (282) and “arrogant idiot” (283). At the same time, her criticism of Karamat’s actions is constructive, and she doesn’t reprimand him just for the sake of having a fight. This might be one of the reasons why Karamat listens to her but does not always follow her advice.

Terry appeals to Karamat’s humanity and attempts to show him the situation in a different light, describing Aneeka as “this orphaned student, who wants for her brother what she never had for her father: a grave beside which she can sit and weep for the awful, pitiable mess of her family life” (285). However, Terry’s goal is not to make Karamat feel pity for Aneeka, but for him to fix the situation and to allow the girl to bury her brother in his homeland. Therefore, this situation again places Karamat in a position where he must choose between loyalty to his family and loyalty to the laws of Great Britain.

This part of the novel also reveals Karamat’s true attitude towards his son: He doesn’t hide his disappointment in him, and tells Eamonn not to try “to develop a spine” (272) because he wasn’t “built for it” (272). Karamat’s hurtful comments lead to Eamonn turning against his father and publicly denouncing him. This foregrounds a fundamental shift in their father-son relationship: Although Karamat has always viewed his son as weak and gutless, Eamonn nevertheless worshiped his father and considered him a role model.

In Karamat’s eyes, this testified to the fact that “Eamonn alone was blind to his own—the word hurt in relation to a man’s only son, but nothing else would do—inadequacy” (266). When Karamat accuses Eamonn of letting Aneeka manipulate him and of having no backbone, this leads to Eamonn questioning his masculinity and looking for ways to prove it to his father and to the public. This crisis of masculinity results in his decision to join Aneeka in Karachi despite knowing how dangerous it is. Thus, Eamonn’s failed relationship with his father and the resulting need to prove his manhood lead to his and Aneeka’s death.