American Violence as a Catalyst for the Oppression of Muslim Identity in Post-9/11 Attacks: A Study of H.M. Naqvi’s Home Boy

The contemporary British-born Pakistani novelist, Naqvi, has written two novels. His first novel, Home Boy (2009), narrates the sociocultural dilemma of the Muslim character Chuck, who faces stereotyping, insult, and torture from his American counterparts, just because he is a Muslim. This study, accordingly, focuses on the oppression of Muslim minority characters in America, positing that the American society represents a violent society, which is central to the oppression of Muslims in the selected novel. The objective of this study, thus, is to examine the author’s depiction of the American society as a violent society that oppresses the Muslim minority characters in the selected novel. To achieve this objective, the author’s depiction will be examined using a textual analysis methodology and applying Young’s concept of violence and its related critical insights on oppression to selected textual evidence from the novel. The findings will demonstrate the Muslim minority characters’ oppressed state as a signifying factor of their vulnerable position amidst the violence of the American society.