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Ayad Akhtar

The representative of the author in the text and the narrating protagonist, this character is the focus of the novel. His journey towards his in-text-present understanding of race, class, and religion is the overall thrust of the text, and his narrative perspective shapes the novel.

Fatima Akhtar

Mother of the narrating protagonist, this character serves as something of an idealized stabilizing force in the protagonist’s life until her death from cancer. In the main, she serves as a contrast to her husband, devaluing what he prizes and espousing ideologies with which he disagrees; their tension is productive in forming the narrator’s identity.

Sikander Akhtar

Father of the narrating protagonist, this character is a former award-winning cardiologist and researcher whose repeated financial peccadilloes drive him into insolvency. His outlook and behavior serve as a foil to the narrator’s own, highlighting both positive and negative qualities...

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This section contains 527 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample