Burnt Shadows

Many characters in Burnt Shadows have complicated relationships to sexuality: Hiroko is sexually liberated by her marriage to Sajjad, while Ilse finds little sexual satisfaction in her marriage to James, and Raza craves sexual intercourse as a substitute for intimacy. Overall, how does Shamsie characterize generational attitudes towards sexuality and the relationship between sex and intimacy?

Is Sajjad’s death caused by political or personal forces? Support your argument with both evidence from the text and historical research.

What difference, if any, does Shamsie suggest there is between personal and political liberation? Cite textual evidence from each of the four sections of the novel.

How does Shamsie compare and contrast British colonialism in India with American imperialism in the Middle East? Supplement evidence from the novel with your own historical research.

Ilse, Harry, Raza, Hiroko, and Abdullah are all immigrants to America. How are their individual immigrant experiences affected by issues of both race and class? Support your argument with textual as well as historical evidence. 

Hiroko, Sajjad, and Raza all seek self-determination over their futures but must navigate societal pressures, family traditions, and political forces. Pick one character and discuss which aspects are and are not within their control in devising their own future, citing at least three examples from the text.

Many characters in Shamsie’s novel keep secrets, either out of discomfort, as with Hiroko, or necessity, as with Raza and Harry. What relationship does Shamsie suggest exists between secrecy and intimacy?

Why do you think Shamsie establishes Hiroko as a survivor of the bombing of Nagasaki and not Hiroshima, where the first nuclear bomb was dropped? How is Nagasaki’s status as the second city to experience nuclear bombing important to the themes of the novel? Discuss at least three themes in this context.