50 pages • 1 hour read
Hanif KureishiThe Buddha of Suburbia
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1990A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Essay Topics
Psychological manipulation and cruelty underlie many characters’ motivations in this novel. Which characters are cruel and/or manipulative? How? Why? Use at least five different examples of manipulation/cruelty from five different characters, or multiple examples from at least two characters. How do your examples relate to and help explain a theme of your choice?
How does this novel function as social satire? Describe the ways in which Kureishi uses techniques such as irony to illuminate a particular theme. What is Kureishi satirizing?
Why does Karim choose acting for his profession? What does he learn growing up that makes him a good actor? What do you think acting represents to Karim and why doesn’t his success as an actor make him happy?
What are the characteristics of successful relationships in this novel? Compare and contrast at least two successful relationships with two relationships that fail. Be sure to explain those relationships in terms of gender, culture, and class.
Kureishi provides examples of many different kinds of families. How are the families portrayed in this novel similar and different from one another? What are the characteristics of a happy family? What is Kureishi trying to say about the traditional nuclear family? Be sure to use at least three different examples of families.
Compare The Buddha of Suburbia to other “initiation” or “coming of age” novels. How is this novel both similar to and different from those novels, either in theme or choice of narrator? What is the significance of those similarities and differences? Some examples of coming of age novels are The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain, Bastard out of Carolina by Dorothy Allison, and Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. You may choose more than one novel for comparison from this list or choose another coming of age novel on your own.
Karim explains in the first sentences of the novel that he is a “new breed” of Englishman. In what ways does Karim’s identity reflect his Englishness? How does Karim define his Englishness? Trace the development of Karim’s identity from the beginning of the novel to the end. How is Karim’s idea of himself different at the end of the novel?
Which character is most successful in creating a fulfilling identity and living an authentic life? Why? How does this character achieve those goals?
At one point, Karim identifies education as a distinction of class, and he regrets not taking his education more seriously. How does his observation hold true today? Is education more or less important today than it was in 1970s America or England? Why? What role does education play in alleviating or exacerbating class differences today?
Race, class, and gender comprise three different aspects of identity and create three different themes in this novel. Take one theme and explore its development through at least three characters. For example, trace the class theme through Eleanor, Margaret, and Haroon. How does each character conform to his or her class? How does the character’s identity diverge from stereotypes about his or her class?
