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 hate Pakistani culture and then associating himself with it by eating traditional Pakistani food. “Paki enough when you want feeding 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 of Pakistani people.
Moreover, there is so much differencing opinions as to what ethnicity the children actually are that they do not even know themselves as it was made clear in Act 2 Scene 2, in a conversation between Maneer, 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 Maneer, if you want to be Pakistani go live in Bradford, and take
me dad with you.”
That conversation emphasises 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 do 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 wife 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 everyday. 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 a more western and modern culture. Alternatively, she loves Pakistani music and in the stage directions is 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 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 biasness. George says “You Indian, you know what I mean. You know he 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 difference. 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 to 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 of which the kids decide to assert themselves by taking a stand against there 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 listen, he is not behaving like a Pakistani. “I not bringing you up to talk to me like this. Pakistani son always show 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 “go 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 thing within the family in the beginning. This he achieves by avoiding the 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 of himself. 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 in 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 the 1970s England.
One could argue that the major reason for why George is so motivated to give his children as close of Pakistani culture that he can is because 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 good way, parent look after children, children look after parent. English people not like this. All my family liking 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 behaviour 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 family when people calling.” It is only then that it is illustrated to us that George does everything in what he believes is best for his kids.
The second significant them portrayed to cause conflict within play is on the subject of religion. George has raised his family to be Muslims, as he himself is a strict Muslim. We first discover this when he reacts franticly to discovering the youngest Sajit has never been circumcised. “I can’t look Mullah in the bloody face now! Because he got bloody tickle – tackle.” “Your son no Muslim with this thing, when he die he go straight to hell.”
This highlights to us that George is strictly Muslim, as it would not have alarmed him so much if he were not. On the contrary, apart from Maneer, the kids are not very religious, and react differently to the situation. “The jammy little bastard, how’s he got away with that for so long. God, what I wouldn’t give for a foreskin.” Maneer replies “foreskins are dirty.” “If they’re dirty, what are they doing there in the first place?” This debate on whether circumcision is right or wrong in the play tells us that there is a differencing opinion on the matter of religion even among the children.
Regardless of George’s attempts to teach the kids Urdu, none of the kids can speak it. In the film East is East, we see a scene where they are learning Urdu but none of the kids are paying attention. The only one who follows the religion is Maneer. Maneer is wears a skullcap, which Tariq refers to as a “tea cosy”. It is because he is so religious like his father that his siblings call him by the nickname Ghandi and make fun of him. Maneer is very traditional and stays away from the family disputes throughout the majority of the play. He remains on his dad’s side mostly, and follows the Pakistani culture like his dad wants him to. “You good boy, God will help you, if you live your life believing in God. People who no follow the rules of God, he sending bloody hell”.
In the film after Tariq vandalises the cap and traditional clothing for marriage, he does not betray by telling his dad it was he, even though he was beaten violently. As well as in the play he helps Tariq, Saleem and Meenah hide the forbidden pork that they were eating even though he did not eat any of it. “Maneer is now in the sitting room. He checks for evidence and sees a sausage on the floor, he picks it up, doesn’t know what to do with it.” (Stage directions). This is evidence for the fact that in spite of remaining on his father’s side, he is very trustworthy to his brothers and sister.
I believe that Sajit too, does not care for Islam. This would be understandable because if it were not for him being Muslim then he never would have had to of been circumcised at such a late age, and endure the tremendous pain that he must have received. “The last thing he wants to be doing is squatting down on his knees in his condition”. This quote shows religious conflict, as it was because of Sajit’s religion that he was circumcises to begin with. Additionally, it adds humour to the situation by implying that Sajit cannot possible kneel in a Mosque – something which he must do as part of his religion, after just being circumcised.
Sajit seems to tag along or follow to a certain extent whatever his brothers and sisters do. Apart from his religion, Sajit seems to be going through other problems. I have come to the conclusion that the reason he wears his trademark parka is because it is a way for him to deal with his emotional problems. For most of the play he wears his parka. When wearing his parker her feels cocooned from the outside world. It is almost a form of protection for him. It could be because he is the youngest and gets picked on by his older siblings that he feels it is necessary to use his parka as a way of shielding himself. Taking into consideration that he is bullied by most of his sibling, he is the youngest and that he had to deal with being circumcised at such a late age, I can understand why he might feel the need to isolate himself sometimes. Even Abdul understands why Sajit hides away in his parka. “I wish I had a parker”. This is what he says when he is deciding whether he should do as his father tells him and get married or listen to Tariq - having a parka would mean he could escape from reality temporarily. The Parker is important to the overall effect of the play, because when Abdul rips the hood of accidentally at the end, and then puts it in the bin. This is a great way to finish the play as Ayub Khan-Din mentioned that whilst all the historical events that formed the play’s background were happening he was “living in a parker”. Since Sajit is representing Ayub Khan-din, and the parker is what Sajit uses to cocoon himself from the problems, when Sajit throws his coat into the bin it can be compared to all of the conflicts within in the family being over at the end of the play.
There are contrasting views between the Khan children and George between what is acceptable and unacceptable in their religion. One major subject that would cause arguments if George knew about is that Meenah, Tariq and Saleem liked to eat pork, as part of a fry up even though it is against their Muslim religion and they fear what “Genghis” (George) would do if he caught them as demonstrated in Act 2 scene 2.
“Meenah and Tariq are sat with a plate of bacon and sausages between them. Meenah gets up and sprays air fresher around. Saleem tries to cover the food.”
(Stage directions) This illustrates to us that they do not care if they go against their religion by eating pork, but they do fear their dad enough to try to cover it up.
“It stinks of bacon in here, me dad’ll smell it a mile off. Where’s Saleem, not like him to miss a fry up?” This reveals to us that the Khan Children eat pork often even though it is forbidden in Islam.
Ella Khan had become a Muslim wife for her Husband George. Conversely, she believes in doing what is right for her children instead of what is right according to Islam. For instance she did not encourage Sajit to be circumcised. “He’s not gonna be sent to hell, just because he’s got a foreskin.” She is not very religious but a very caring mother and wife. She has conflicted views, such as she wants the best for her children. She feels that she deserves more respect from her husband, but does not because she does not do everything how George’s first wife would do it in Pakistan or like a Muslim should, which she has confronted him about. “I your bloody husband, you supposed to be Muslim. You should agree with me.” “Yeah, right, I’m a Muslim wife when it suits you. I’ll stop being a Muslim wife at 5:30 when the shop wants opening, or one of your relatives wants help at the Home office. Don’t make me bleeding laugh George”. This shows religious conflict, as Ella is furious that George is suggesting that she is not acting like a Muslim wife, even though she has allowed all of George’s decisions on what is right for the kids according to Islam take place, despite her disagreeing with it. Furthermore, she is livid that George finds it acceptable for Ella to behave unlike a normal Muslim wife only when it suits him – like when she is working at the fish and chip shop. In an argument with George, Ella took it a step to far when she shouted “I’m not gonna stand by and let you crush them one by one because of your pig bloody ignorance.” George responded to this by pulling her to the ground and kicking and beating her. This would be considered domestic violence and completely unacceptable behaviour in most cases; nevertheless, one of the significant themes that Ayub Khan-Din attempts to portray conflict in “East is East” is by religion. For that reason, when analysing whether or not it was acceptable we take into consideration the teachings of Islam. The reason that I deem for George’s violent out burst is because Ella went too far by referring to George as “pig bloody ignorance.” In Islam pork is considered unacceptable to be eaten, and George being a very religious Muslim, probably considered it extremely offensive to be compared to a pig.
Finally, the last of the three significant themes used to portray conflict within the play is generation. Generation understandably would cause conflicting views within the Khan Family. This is because George is trying to give his children the same upbringing that he had, despite his children being 20 – 30 years younger than him and in a completely different country, and environment.
George’s views on how his kids should behave are not widely accepted at the time the play is set among people of his children’s age so it would be understandable difficult to influence his children. For instance, he does not deem it acceptable for young woman to be looking at boys, which was illustrated to us in Act one Scene 1. “Oi’, you, who bloody asking your bloody’ pinion? What you doing looking boys in the first place, don’t trouble with me ‘cause I bloody fix you!” Additionally, he believes that parents should be respected. “ Hey baster, I bloody fix, you, you talk to you mam like that. You already cause me enough trouble today”. This shows us that George enforces respect among his children by disciplining them. George also regards himself as always being right when it comes to decisions about his children. “Why I need to tell you my bloody business. Is my decision no yours. Or bloody kid. I their bloody father, they do as I say”. This gives us the impression that George follows traditional values and beliefs, such as a parent knowing what is best for their child. This is a cultural conflict as it is common in Pakistan for the parents to make important decisions concerning their children’s lives. They even arrange who their children marry as the parents are thought to be more capable of chosen the right husband or wife. It is partially because of these views in particular that Tariq does not get on well with his father. Although, George mainly has these views because of his own cultures relationship between family and generation. “Right what you mean right, Pakistani believe if father ask son doing something son follow father instructions, has respect see”. George’s belief that a son should always do what their father wants inspires conflicting views, most people in the Khan family disagree with George on matters of how to behave, what is acceptable, religion and other things. In spite of this, it is only the modern and rebellious kids – Tariq, and to a certain extent Saleem, and Abdul towards the end who stand up and defy what George instructs them to do.
Around the middle of the play Abdul shares that he wants to be accepted by his dad and to be treated like “a proper son”. While Tariq does not believe there is not any point because George “ doesn’t give a shit about what you think or how you feel; referring to Georges lectures on how to he should be respected as “brainwashing”.
Tariq is the most rebellious and is the most stubborn about not letting his dad win. His rebelliousness could be what influences Saleem to be a bit of a rebel and Abdul towards the end. Overall, the conflicts that arise from generation are acts of defiance. This is pivotal because acts of defiance are the kids’ way of asserting themselves. Saleem is a bit of a joker and very similar to Tariq. He does not have as much interaction within the play as Tariq though. He rebels in his own ways though, like manipulating his father into believing he is an engineer when he is really an art student. He uses his art in a way as a form of defiance by creating a model of a vagina complete with pubic hair – which his father would have clearly deemed unacceptable.
Besides themes that cause conflicts, something else that is significant within the play is the language that is used. Different people talk differently within the play and for different reasons and this contributes to the effect on the whole. One thing that nearly all of the characters have in common though is that they swear a lot. This factor is also one of the major differences between the play and the film. Although there is swearing in the film, the reason for there being more in the play is basically because you can get away with it more than in a film. Likewise, the swearing makes it more realistic and relatable, - especially as they are a working class family. Meenah in particularly swears. There is much contrast between the language used between George and his kids. All of the kids talk like regular people form Salford with a regional accent, whereas their father speaks with an Urdu accent because English is his second language. Moreover, he uses cultural slang a lot – slang in English that people form Pakistan might say. Such as the use of “baster” instead of bastard. This informs the reader by simply reading the play that English is not his first language, in addition to making George seem more convincibly foreign. Further the kids openly use the term “Paki” which some people may consider them to be themselves, and it is a term that George has not mentioned throughout the entire play. On the other hand George will call his family names like “puther” which is a term of endearment. This term of endearment is significant because it illustrates to us that George does care about his children.
What is also interesting about George’s choice of language is that he uses different pronouns when referring to his kids, depending on how he feels about them at the time. For example when they have done wrong he will describe them to Ella as “your” kids, to try and make it seem as though he is in no fault for whatever it is that they have done wrong or to upset them. Where, he will refer to his children using the pronoun “my” children when they have done something to make them proud or for example when he was introducing them to Mr Shah. This is important because it shows us that George is reluctant to accept his children, if they have done something that he disagrees with or does not think is best.
Mr. Shah, although he is Pakistani, does not talk the same as George. In the film it is obvious that Mr. Shah speaks in a strong British accent, but we can also see by the writing in the play that he speaks like a normal Englishman. As we progress further into the play, George starts to more formally until the end where he speaks proper English.
In the play, Ayub Khan-Din used dramatic devices and structures to create effect. These included the beats and the uses of pauses. I believe that the beats represent Sajit’s emotional problems and that the pauses are used for dramatic effect.
There were some very distinguishes differences between the play and the film. For example, in the play the kids helping out in the parade was mention towards the end of the play, but it was at the very beginning of the film. Also, only in the film were there ‘England for English’ campaigns in the streets. However, I believe this was because it is easier to get these things across in the film because it provides a better visual aid in getting things into the story. Among the things that were altered were that the vagina and pubic hair model that Saleem made, landed on the lap of Mrs. Shah in the film – who did not appear in the play. This was done mainly to add a bit off humour to the film. As well as, in the play it is Maneer who tells Tariq and the other about the engagement, instead of Sajit who tells them in the film. Some of the things that were introduced to the film was the role of Nazir – who in the play ran away to be with an English girl but in the play ran away to become a gay hairdresser. Nevertheless, perhaps the most important thing that was added was the ending scene, which featured Abdul standing in the middle of the doorway. This reflects how he has developed significantly, and by the end manages to stand up against his dad and assert himself.
In conclusion, I believe that the three significant ways that Ayub Khan-Din portrays conflict in the play is by illustrating it to us by using the themes of culture, religion and generation. This is because these are the main things that would cause controversy in story about a family of a Pakistani man, his English wife, and their seven mixed raced children, living in 1970s Salford. Especially since their father is trying to raise them incredibly differently from the rest of the people around them, and they are reluctant to let him do so. Contrasting views on culture would arise easily as it seems nearly impossible to bring you culture from one country, and attempt to bring your children up within that culture when they are constantly surrounded by people who follow a different culture, and they only want to fit in. Cultural conflicts were only enhanced during this period because of the racial tension caused by Enoch Powell. Ayub Khan-Din portrays these conflicts by showing us the contrasting opinions of the children and showing their clear lack of cultural identity.
He shows disputes over the religion by emphasises that all the kids except for Maneer do not really care about Islam. For example, showing that they eat pork and that Sajit had gone 12 years without being circumcised. Finally, the conflicts of generation are illustrated to us through Tariq and Abdul, and how they stand up to their dad by defying what he considers to be right. Obviously, with George having an age difference of 20 – 30 years between his children his opinions may clash with those of his kids. Especially when they live in a culture that encourages freedom of speech and being able to express oneself. Which leads me to suggest that it is that it is the combination of all these themes that enables Ayub-Khan-Din to portray conflict so well in the play ‘East is East.’
