How does Ayub Khan-Din portray conflict in the play East is East Essay Example

running the fish and chip shop. The eldest son Nazir is not mentioned in the play, but there are still six other children.

The second eldest son is Abdul, aged 23 - who at the beginning of the play seemed very quiet and did not want to disturb things, however becomes more assertive of himself later on. The third eldest is Tariq aged 21 who is best described as the rebel of the family. He hates "pakis" and considers himself to be English and associates himself with English culture rather than Pakistani. The next eldest sibling is Maneer who is very religious, and the only of George's children who follows the religion and Pakistani culture.

It is because of this and because he wears a skull cap that his brothers and sister call him by the nickname of "Gandhi". The second youngest is the only daughter Meenah who is 16 years old. Meenah is very tomboyish and a bit of a rebel. She loves to bully her younger brother - which brings us to Sajit. Sajit is the youngest child and is 12 years old. He is picked on because he is the youngest in the family and wears his signature parka jacket throughout most of the play - because it offers him security. 'East is East' is the first stage play written by Ayub Khan-Din.

When all the historical events that formed the play's background were happening he claimed, "I was living in a parka". He uses the youngest child Sajit to reflect on his emotional problems during this period. He refers to the film as a film about family tradition versus progress, about the values of

the old versus those of the young - and those are themes I think everyone can relate to. ' When Ayub Khan-Din said this he was referring to three themes of the play that have contrasting views between the family - culture, generation, and religion.

The issues of the time must be taken into consideration as well. During the early 1970s, there was some hostility from the English towards immigrants mostly due to the influence of the politician Enoch Powell and his famous "Rivers of Blood speech", which caused much controversy, and provided racial tension. Another political issue of the time that is mentioned in the play is the Indo-Pakistani war of 1971, as George Khan is Pakistani he is obviously biased towards Pakistan. Moreover, there are a few themes that are portrayed as causing conflict within the play.

Culture, for example, is a significant theme that causes many conflicts within the play. This is because of George's traditional Pakistani values, which differ from the modern English values of their children - especially Tariq. It is blatantly difficult for George to give his children the same upbringing as himself, as they were Anglo-Pakistani growing up in an English environment. One of the first examples of conflict due to culture was in Scene 1 on page 5 when he says to Ella "All men think bad, my son having this thing has to be cutting".

This was in response to his discovering that his youngest son Sajit was not being circumcised. This is a tradition in Pakistani and Muslim culture. Moreover, there is the controversial issue of marriage, and what is acceptable and not acceptable within different cultures. For

example, in Islam, it is acceptable to have more than one wife, which is what George has.

He has a first wife living in Pakistan, which his second wife Ella accepts only when she is not mentioned. This is why Ella reacts angrily towards Georges's suggestion of inviting his first wife to England in Scene 1. Why is it a big problem the first wife always treats the second wife as a sister? All live together happily. "You don't need to I can read your bleeding mind like the back of my hand, so you can piss off if you think you're bringing her over here" "He's a bastard, sends silk to her in Pakistan and I'm lucky if I can afford a bit of net curtain for the bleeding parlor". George compares things and society in England to Pakistan a lot especially if it is something that he dislikes or disagrees with. "Why does he always go hide in bloody coal shed?" Kid in Pakistan no like this.

This emphasizes to us that he wants his son Sajit to behave like a normal child in Pakistan rather than to become westernized. Some of the conflict portrayed in the play is caused because of George's efforts to establish a traditional Pakistani environment within their home in England, and because of the fact that he expects certain customs and attitudes to remain the same. For instance, a woman's role within the home. In Scene 1 Ella says to he best friend Annie: "Oh yeah, and when was the last time you saw George washing a baby or wiping a shitty arse?"

This quote informs us that Ella is frustrated

with some of George's attitudes as she is a born and raised English woman, therefore having different views on equality and the roles of women in society. When meeting Mr. Shah, his family and Mr. Shah greet each other by saying either "Asalaam-a-lekum" or "Walekum-a-salaam". Mr. Shah also tells George that he has a nice family of "all boys, this is very good. God has blessed you". Further emphasizing that in Pakistani culture women are not seen as equal to men. Tariq - the rebel, considers himself to be English and refers to Asian or Pakistani people as "paki's".

This is most likely because he has grown up in a white English area and wants to be considered the same as everyone else, despite himself being half Pakistani. "I don't fucking believe this, he can't do this to me, I'm not gonna marry a Paki." This highlights to the reader that Tariq hates and wants nothing to do with his Pakistani heritage, most likely because of his father's ideas on how to bring up his children. On the other hand, he does sometimes associate himself with Pakistani culture especially when at home. "Tough. I hate Paki Music, go and make us some chapattis." When Tariq says this it puts emphasis on that Tariq is confused about what culture he actually is, and consequently contradicts himself, as he is basically suggesting that he hates Pakistani culture and then associating himself with it by eating traditional Pakistani food. "Paki enough when you want to feed aren't you?" This further supports the idea that Tariq is confused about his cultural identity and the irony of his love for Pakistani

food but hate for Pakistani people.

Moreover, there are so many differencing opinions as to what ethnicity the children actually are that they do not even know themselves as was made clear in Act 2 Scene 2, in a conversation between Manner, Meenah, Tariq, and Saleem. "They're not your friends, they're just laughing at the stupid half-caste laughing at his own dad". "I thought we were Anglo-Indian". "We're Eurasian". "Sound's more romantic than Paki I suppose". "We're English!" "We're not Anglo-Indian, not Eurasian, and not English" Look Manner, if you want to be Pakistani go live in Bradford, and take my dad with you.

That conversation emphasizes to the readers that the kids really do not understand their own identities; Saleem even refers to them as Anglo-Indian when their heritage is not even linked to India but Pakistan. Whereas Tariq further stands up in his belief that they are English as they were born and raised in England. I believe that Ayub Khan-Din has used the kids in this Scene to portray the conflicts that can arise due to lack of cultural identity. This is understandable as they are mixed raced so, to begin with, there is that clash of cultures between England and Pakistan.

Furthermore, their father is trying to bring them up to be as Pakistani as he can. "I should have sent all bloody kids to Pakistan when young, other wives teach bloody respect." Nevertheless, most of the kids are reluctant of this and want to be just like everyone else around them, because living in England they are exposed to English culture every day. Especially Tariq who just wants to fit in with society

and in order to accomplish this he rejects his Pakistani heritage. Meenah too shows evidence of a lack of cultural identity.

She does not like wearing a sari. "I look stupid in it. Can't I just wear jeans instead?" This links her to more western and modern culture. Alternatively, she loves Pakistani music and on the stage, directions are mentioned to be dance around while moping to the music. Overall, Meenah seems to be quite stuck in the middle. What's more, George's conception of the Indo-Pakistani war is related to culture because he is Pakistani and thus biased towards Pakistan. "Bloody India stir up trouble in Pakistan. They bloody ask India to come, maybe take Azad Kashmir to belong to Pakistan whole country Muslim see. Mountbatten and bloody Nerhu fixing it baster. All world against Pakistan see".

Even when George and Ella go to see Sajit after he has been circumcised, George is suspicious as to whether the Asian doctor had completed the surgery without any biases. George says "You Indian, you know what I mean. Do you know the bloody Indian doctor?" "While Ella replies" He's a bleeding doctor, not some Indian spy". In addition, there are several other themes that caused conflict due to cultural differences. The debate on whether circumcision is right or wrong is one that was raised, and whether or not they are "dirty".

Also political views, "All he talked about last night was being a good Muslim and the trouble in East Pakistan." Notwithstanding, the most controversial political issue was the subject of arranged marriage. In Pakistani culture arranged marriages are more common, and often the person you marry could be chosen

as part of a political statement or to link families together. When George arranged for Tariq and Abdul to be married it caused outrage among the kids. "Alright, so we both stay here and say no. If we stick together he can't do anything."

This is important because it is the turning point at which the kids decide to assert themselves by taking a stand against their father. "... I want... I want him to treat me like a proper son. I want him to trust me. I don't want to feel as if I'm some investment for the future." When Saleem confronts his dad about the arranged marriages he George replies by insisting that Saleem is not listening, he is not behaving like a Pakistani. "I not bringing you up to talk to me like this. Pakistani son always shows respect." Saleem informs George that he feels that he feels he is English because he was born in England "I'm not Pakistani".

To which George explains to Saleem that he will lose everything if he "goes with bloody English girl". Saleem replies, "Well if Pakistani women are so great, why did you marry me mam?" Saleem has hit a raw nerve. George grabs him, and punches him on the ground, and kicks and slaps him. Ayub Khan-Din portrays Abdul as being sort of stuck in the middle and not wanting to disturb things within the family in the beginning. This he achieves by avoiding family conflicts. Abdul wants to keep everyone happy, and for everyone in the house to listen and pay attention to one another.

In my opinion, he is the most normal member of the

family. Nonetheless, he begins to develop more as a character as the play goes on. When discovering about his arranged marriage he cannot contemplate whether he should confront his father or remain quiet like he always has. This is when he becomes more interesting. "You're right I was pathetic, tonight in the pub with the lads. We were sat drinking, telling jokes, playing music, telling more jokes. Jokes about sex, thick Irish men, wog jokes, chink jokes, Paki jokes. And the biggest joke was me, 'cause I was laughing the hardest. And they were laughing at me because I was laughing."

This links with not only Abdul developing as a character, but with the theme of culture, which the writer uses to portray conflict. This is because racist jokes are being made in a time when there was a lot more racial tension than nowadays and because Abdul like his sibling is confused about his own culture. Finally, at the end of the play, he becomes more assertive. He proves this when he stops his dad from beating his mum. "Dad if you touch her again I swear I'll kill you!" This is when he has finally interacted more with the family problems and taken more action.

Personally, I believe that Abdul is the character that develops the most and grows into himself. George's attempts to give his children the same upbringing as he received fail, I believe, because it is a different time and mainly because they are not Pakistani, which Ella also suggests to George: "George, you've got to understand, things aren't like they were when you were young. Kids are different today, our kids

are different, they're bleeding half-caste for a start." When Ella says this she accentuates that George's efforts to enforce the same traditional Pakistani values that he received growing up upon his children will be unsuccessful.

Mainly because the times have changed, hence what may have worked on George when he was a child in Pakistan, may not be as effective on his children growing up in 1970s England. One could argue that the major reason why George is so motivated to give his children as close to Pakistani culture that he can is that he believes that Pakistanis are better than English and that we should all be Muslim because they respect each other. "That why I always try to show Pakistani way to live is a good way, parent looks after children, children look after parent. English people are not like this. All my family likes each other, Bradford, Pakistan, all same, nobody different."

This conveys to us that George is trying to give his family a good life where they will be treated equally, but he feels that equality is something found in the "Pakistani way to live" but lacking in the English way to live. George is a very interesting and significant character within 'East is East'. This is because Ayub Khan-Din portrays him as being the root of most of the conflict within the family, whether it is how he forces his culture and religion upon his family.

As we progress further into the play our perception of him changes, as we become more aware of his short and sometimes violent temper. George appears autocratic and we are soon given the impression that he

is very strict, religious, and patriotic towards Pakistan. Although, as we progress we get the impression that he is not very attentive towards his children, and does not listen to them. "Oh come on Abdul, he's never gonna give a shit about how you feel or what you think. 'I am your father, you are my son, you do as I say, bass.' That's not fucking trust".

Tariq said this quote when he expressed his emotions about his father. He believes that George will never really care about his kids, but that George only wants them to do as they are told in order to make him happy. Ella, when she says "They're only trouble 'cause you don't listen to them, you never have", gives further evidence to support Tariq's view that his father does not care about him. On the contrary to his patriotism towards Pakistan, he too has been influenced by English culture. For example, it seems ironic that he owns a Fish; chip shop - which is very British.

However, in the play when he has been confronted by his family about this he had reacted violently. Firstly, there was when he had a vicious argument with Ella that led to him beating her and threatening to kill her. 'George grabs Ella violently by her hair and pulls her to the ground. He kicks and beats her.' (Stage directions) At this point, our opinion of George would be very negative and some would probably consider that for his domestic violence against his wife that he is evil. He is also referred to by his children as "Genghis" in a reference to the ruthless Genghis

Khan.

Perhaps, the reason for his violent behavior is because he received the same from his family. It is not until the end of the story that we see that he really does love his family and only wants to push the Pakistani and Muslim culture on them because he wants them to have a good life." I only try to help you, son, I no bloody hurt you, I love my family. I have to bloody stick up for the family when people call." It is only then that it is illustrated to us that George does everything in what he believes is best for his kids.