Overcoming Fate. Nazneen's Bildung in Brick Lane

Seminar paper from the year 2013 in the subject Didactics for the subject English - Literature, Works, grade: 2,7, University of Bamberg (Department for English Literature), course: Writing India and the Indian Diaspora in the 21st Century, language: English, abstract: This essay examines Nazneen's transformation in the course of Monica Ali's Brick Lane. It analyses how Nazneen changes into an independent woman by overcoming her belief that fate determines her life and focuses on how the people around her contribute to her transformation of character.

First I will select characteristics of the female Bildungsroman which are relevant for Brick Lane and Nazneen's development throughout the novel. I will pick up those characteristics in the course of the essay and apply them to Brick Lane. To understand where Nazneen's belief comes from I will take a closer look at the story of How She Was Left To Her Fate and therefore the origin of fate and the role of women in Islam. After that I will concentrate on different factors for Nazneen's transformation, how the people she interacts with contribute to her change, and take a closer look at crucial scenes from Brick Lane. Finally, I will take a look at how a transformed Nazneen stands up for herself and becomes her own person.