ABSTRACT
Brick Lane: Gender and Migration Introduction This chapter explores the themes of gender and migration in relation to Monica Ali’s Brick Lane (2003). The novel shows Britain’s Bangladeshi community through the eyes of 18 year old Nazneen who comes to live in London’s East End from Bangladesh, after her marriage to 40 year old Chanu – also a recent immigrant from her country. Subsequently she has two daughters, Shahana and Bibi, and a son Raqib who dies in infancy. Monica Ali takes the experience of a relatively new immigrant community, so that her characters in the early sections of the novel live in a world sealed off from the ‘host’ society. Ali uses her characters to explore the positioning of Bangladeshi women within Britain, as the novel focuses on their social relations inside and outside the home.
