Other than hybridity, memory, and domesticity in the novel by Hanif Kureishi titled The Buddha of Suburbia I also see there is narcissism in the way Karim narrates the story. It is presented that Karim is not only the narcissistic character, but there are also in Charlie, Pyke, and Eleanor. According to etymonline.com narcissism —or sometimes mistakenly said as narcism— is derived from Greek Narkissos, a handsome young man in the mythology (from Ovid, "Metamorphoses," iii.370) who fell in love with his own reflection in a spring and then was turned to the flower narcissus. Furthermore, still derived from etymonline.com, narcissus is, “possibly a type of iris or lily, perhaps from a pre-Greek Aegean word, but associated with Greek narke "numbness"”,
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The description of Charlie’s erection tends to show that Charlie is being arrogant and narcissistic as if —if the narration voice could change and he could be the focalizer— he is thinking that, of course Karim wants to touch him in a sexual way since he is aware that he is very beautiful that anyone, whether male or female, must have the desire to touch him. On the other hand, it is also depicted that Karim has his own narcissistic side which is described mostly when he is having conversations with Changez. The most obvious is when Changez suddenly asks Karim’s opinion about the possibility of himself laying side to side with Jamilla on the same bed, “Changez took my arm and forced me to face him, which was never a pleasant sight. He made himself say to me at last, after weeks of dithering like a frightened diver on a rock, ‘D’you think my Jammie will ever go in bed with me?” (Kureishi, 1990: 99). The phrase “which was never a pleasant sight.” This shows Karim’s narcissism by the way he assumes other people’s appearance, especially Changez, is never a pleasant view of him, which at second hand it means he is saying that Changez is ugly. This matter then become more obvious and accentuated in the novel when Karim answers Changez’s …show more content…
Furthermore, when he sees his own reflection in a window, he indirectly admits it that he likes what he is seeing on the surface and only physically. He seems like he does not even care about a human’s substantial value since he depicts himself that he realizes his lack of education and prospects; all he cares about is how himself look physically without even considering other people’s opinion about him—both physically and substantially. In my opinion, as Lacan argued that in each stage of life, human tend to repeat the “narcissistic moment”, therefore Karim’s narcissistic character in the novel adds more veracity that The Buddha of Suburbia is a Bildungsroman by showing Karim’s development, especially in teen to young adult stage with his own “narcissistic
The description of Charlie’s erection tends to show that Charlie is being arrogant and narcissistic as if —if the narration voice could change and he could be the focalizer— he is thinking that, of course Karim wants to touch him in a sexual way since he is aware that he is very beautiful that anyone, whether male or female, must have the desire to touch him. On the other hand, it is also depicted that Karim has his own narcissistic side which is described mostly when he is having conversations with Changez. The most obvious is when Changez suddenly asks Karim’s opinion about the possibility of himself laying side to side with Jamilla on the same bed, “Changez took my arm and forced me to face him, which was never a pleasant sight. He made himself say to me at last, after weeks of dithering like a frightened diver on a rock, ‘D’you think my Jammie will ever go in bed with me?” (Kureishi, 1990: 99). The phrase “which was never a pleasant sight.” This shows Karim’s narcissism by the way he assumes other people’s appearance, especially Changez, is never a pleasant view of him, which at second hand it means he is saying that Changez is ugly. This matter then become more obvious and accentuated in the novel when Karim answers Changez’s …show more content…
Furthermore, when he sees his own reflection in a window, he indirectly admits it that he likes what he is seeing on the surface and only physically. He seems like he does not even care about a human’s substantial value since he depicts himself that he realizes his lack of education and prospects; all he cares about is how himself look physically without even considering other people’s opinion about him—both physically and substantially. In my opinion, as Lacan argued that in each stage of life, human tend to repeat the “narcissistic moment”, therefore Karim’s narcissistic character in the novel adds more veracity that The Buddha of Suburbia is a Bildungsroman by showing Karim’s development, especially in teen to young adult stage with his own “narcissistic