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Running shoes in “Mrs Mahmood” symbolize Mr. Mahmood’s complex relationship with both nostalgia for his lost youth and hope or excitement about his future. As the manager of his sports shop, Mr. Mahmood finds a sense of fulfillment in helping his customers find the right shoes and particularly enjoys when customers ask if they can wear their newly purchased shoes out of the shop. Even so, Mr. Mahmood struggles with the idea that he might not have made the most out of his life. After all, at 17 years old, he was a promising track and field athlete, but after an important athletics meet went poorly, the young Mr. Mahmood never picked up a pair of running shoes again. At 17, he cast away the hopeful excitement he had for his future as an athlete. Now, as an older man, he lives vicariously through the customers to whom he sells new running shoes, perhaps subconsciously believing that these younger customers have more to look forward to in life while also believing that it’s too late for him to achieve a true sense of contentment. When the boy tries to steal a pair of shoes, then, he essentially robs Mr. Mahmood of the one thing he still has: a role in life as someone who sells young athletes the shoes with which they might achieve greatness. In turn, Mr. Mahmood responds emotionally, indicating that the running shoes themselves have come to represent his struggle to accept his life for what it is.
Running Shoes Quotes in Mrs Mahmood
The Mrs Mahmood quotes below all refer to the symbol of Running Shoes. 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:
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Mrs Mahmood
Quotes
Sometimes I’ll look at the young, wonder whether they are headed for great things. This one seemed to soar like a gazelle, he did not waver on his feet… I like that in a customer, someone who really knows who he wants.
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There comes a time when you realise all the effort you’ve put in – all those early mornings, the rigorous diet, the training, pushing yourself to the limit – amounts to nothing…I never picked up another pair of running shoes, never stepped onto another track.
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It is a helpless feeling to know that no matter how hard you run, however much you exert yourself, you are never going to move faster than this, overtake the man in front. Perhaps I understood that then, when I was seventeen. I could, in a minor way, have grasped something early on: that there is a moment or a series of moments in life when you must wear a different pair of shoes, walk in another direction from the one you had planned, and however well you succeed in your pursuits, there will always be an element of regret.
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Running Shoes Symbol Timeline in Mrs Mahmood
The timeline below shows where the symbol Running Shoes appears in Mrs Mahmood. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Mrs Mahmood
...works at the cash register and Cedric assists a teenage boy with finding new running shoes. Not quite paying attention to Cedric and the boy, Mr. Mahmood focuses on tidying up....
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Wearing a pair of Nike running shoes, the teenage boy walks around the shop, testing them out. Mr. Mahmood, still not paying...
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...grows angry at the realization that he was a decoy. Cedric collects the now-unsellable Nike shoes from the teenage boy, and Mr. Mahmood grows angrier as the boy shows no remorse,...
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