Assignment
“A Pair of Jeans”
The short story “A Pair of Jeans” by Qaisra Sharaz is about a Pakistani girl, Miriam, who lives in Great Britain and who finds herself caught between the Muslim and the Western way of life.
Miriam's parents have arranged a marriage to Begum's son Farook. However, one day Miriam meets her future parents-in-law wearing her Western clothes. Being in a pair of jeans and not in a traditional Muslim suit seems respectless to Farook's parents, which is why they decide to break off the engagement between their son and Miriam.
This is where the given passage sets in. The extract deals with the situation after Begum's, Farook's mother, phone call with Fatima, Miriam's mother, and with the feelings of Fatima and Miriam towards Farook's parents.
When Fatima has learned that Begum wants to break off the engagement, she hesitantly informs Miriam about the situation and explains that Begum claims the engagement had to be broken off since her sister's daughter was promised to marry Farook in the first place (p. 188, ll. 29 f.). Miriam, however, quickly recognizes that this is false (p. 188, ll. 33 f.) and understands that she finds herself in this situation due to her Western way of life (p. 189, ll. 43 f.), specifically due to her Western way of clothing (p. 189, l. 44).
Consequently, the given extract is important as it shows the open ending to the story and since it emphasizes the ignorance of Farook's father as well as the subordinate position of his mother Begum. In regrad to the second ending, it symbolizes the straw that breaks the camel's back when Miriam decides to confront Farook and likely his parents, too.
Furthermore, the passage illustrates the fixed traditions in the Muslim way of life and the subordinate position of women in the Muslim world.
In the given extract, there are numerous feelings of Fatima and Miriam illustrated.
To start with, it needs to be mentioned that Fatima seems shocked and meets with a rebuff when she sits down on the sofa “absent-mindedly” (p. 188, l. 10), staring at the fireplace (p. 188, l. 10) and not talking for a while (p. 188, ll. 13). Furthermore, this also shows that she really wants her daughter and Farook to get married, meaning that she lik.....[read full text]
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