Previous
Symbols
While the word hijab has a range of meanings, it is most often used to describe the head covering or headscarf worn in public by some Muslim women to cover their hair. It is used to maintain modesty and privacy, primarily from men who are not family members. Characters like Hira, Karamat, and Eamonn view the hijab as a symbol of female oppression—of men dictating the dress and modesty of women. But for Isma and Aneeka, both of whom wear hijabs, the hijab becomes something different: a symbol of pride in one’s faith, and a symbol of female empowerment. As Aneeka says to Eamonn, “I get to choose which parts of me I want strangers to look at, and which are for you.” Thus, the hijab represents the way that Muslim people (especially women) are often stereotyped as a homogenous group, when in reality they are all individuals with their own views and beliefs. From the outside, the hijab might seem like a simple emblem of Muslim conservatism, but to specific women like Aneeka and Isma, it’s a way to express their unique interpretations of their faith and claim ownership over their own sexuality.
Hijab Quotes in Home Fire
The Home Fire quotes below all refer to the symbol of Hijab. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 1 – Isma
Quotes
“Do you consider yourself British?” the man said.
“I am British.”
“But do you consider yourself British?”
“I’ve lived here all my life.” She meant there was no other country of which she could feel herself a part, but the words came out sounding evasive.
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 2 – Isma
Quotes
All the old muck. He meant the picture of Karamat Lone entering a mosque that had been in the news for its “hate preacher.” LONE WOLF’S PACK REVEALED, the headlines screamed when a tabloid got hold of it, near the end of his first term as an MP. The Lone Wolf's response had been to point out that the picture was several years old, he had been there only for his uncle’s funeral prayers and would otherwise never enter a gender-segregated space. This was followed by pictures of him and his wife walking hand in hand into a church.
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 4 – Eamonn
Quotes
The video wouldn’t reveal the things that were most striking about her in those moments: the intensity of her concentration, how completely it could swerve from her God to him in the time she took those few footsteps, or her total lack of self-consciousness in everything she did—love and prayer, the covered head and the naked body.
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 7 – Aneeka
Quotes
Aneeka “Knickers” Pasha, the 19-year-old twin sister of Muslim fanatic Parvaiz “Pervy” Pasha has been revealed as her brother’s accomplice. She hunted down the Home Secretary's son, Eamonn, 24, and used sex to try and brainwash him into convincing his father to allow her terrorist brother back into England.
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 8 – Karamat
Quotes
Probably a virgin, he thought, and wondered when he’d become the kind of man who reacted in this way to the sight of a woman with a covered head who made no effort to look anything but plain.
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire Home Fire LitChart as a printable PDF.
Hijab Symbol Timeline in Home Fire
The timeline below shows where the symbol Hijab appears in Home Fire. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 2 – Isma
...history so that he can see her perspective. She also counsels Isma to “reconsider the hijab” because it might be putting him at a distance. When Isma protests that she doesn’t...
(full context)
...headscarf. She can tell he is uncertain about how to interact with her without her hijab. They make polite conversation before he notices a photo of Isma with Aneeka. He comments...
(full context)
Chapter 3 – Eamonn
...his neighborhood and apartment, which is paid for by his mother, Terry. Eamonn notes Aneeka’s hijab, saying that Isma prefers turbans. Aneeka immediately unpins her hijab and the cap underneath, shaking...
(full context)
...storm that has passed through. She was hesitant at first, even tried to put her hijab back on, but then she swung the other way as if to prove to him...
(full context)
Eamonn and Aneeka have sex once more, this time with her hijab on. When he later asks why she wears the scarf, she says, “I get to...
(full context)
Chapter 4 – Eamonn
...of Aneeka. He imagines a hypothetical video showing her praying, or undressing except for her hijab. He thinks that the “total lack of self-consciousness in everything she did—love and prayer” are...
(full context)
...she comes in, Eamonn asks if anyone gives her a hard time because of her hijab. She says that sometimes things happen to make people more hostile, like terrorist attacks involving...
(full context)
...prays in the morning, doesn’t drink or eat pork, fasts during Ramzan, and wears a hijab. When Karamat wonders if she has any problem with sex, Eamonn assures him that there’s...
(full context)
Chapter 8 – Karamat
...and pulls at each side until it collapses. Wind starts to pick up and her hijab falls off, revealing her long hair. She looks at Parvaiz’s body. A dust storm arrives...
(full context)
...in; when Karamat offers her wine she politely refuses. He evaluates her plainness and her hijab, noting that she is “Probably a virgin.” He is surprised at himself for these thoughts....
(full context)
