Is Nazneen from Brick Lane a tragic protagonist?
Monica Ali’s debut novel is on one level the story of the everyday life of a seemingly unremarkable immigrant woman, a housewife trying to keep her family afloat in a London housing project. But, in a larger sense, Brick Lane is a story about destiny and freedom, acceptance and resistance, and the hidden depths of strength that can be found in the most unlikely of places. Nazneen’s regular struggles — with her self-deluding husband, her two modern daughters, and her own conflicted feelings about her desires — are woven into a deeply moving symphony of immigrant life. When Nazneen was born in Bangladesh, she was barely. The decision was made to “leave her to Fate” — and that story defines her in her parents’ eyes. They arrange her marriage to an older man living in London, a choice that Nazneen accepts as inevitable.
