Icarus and Daedalus in Home Fire

 I know we touched on this a lot during our class discussions, but the inclusion of the Icarus and Daedalus story was something of particular interest to me in Home Fire. 

Shamsie brings it up when discussing the parachutists, but I can't help but think of it again and again whenever she mentions two distance figures throughout the novel. For example, at the beginning of Eamonn's section, he notices two ducks paddling in the water. Shamsie uses this vision of two people moving together and apart throughout the novel in different places, just as Icarus and Daedalus chasing after one another in the sky. 

Coming back to when it was first mentioned, I didn't think too much of it at the time, not knowing how the story would develop. But now, I think there are definitely some interesting parallels that can be drawn. Shamsie describes Icarus as "hurtling down" and "his father Daedalus, following too slowly to catch the vainglorious boy" (Shamsie 9). I think this definitely can be seen with Eamonn and Karamat at the end, when Eamonn breaks away and goes towards Aneeka. His father always seems one step behind him, and can't quite reach him before it is too late. I think Shamsie used this story as subtle foreshadowing of what was to come, although it was definitely something I just glossed over at the time. 

Comments

  1. Jalen PaigeOctober 8, 2022 at 5:13 PM

    Hey Cassi! I agree completely with your post! I didn't notice those instances of distant figures paralleling Icarus and his father, so I thought you highlighting that is extremely neat! I think it is also important to highlight how Karamat is equally at fault. Eamonn may be "vainglorious", but Karamat's treatment of his son does little to convince him not to go to Aneeka. I believe this ties into a larger theme of older people connecting with youth and how important it is.

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  2. Paulos HabtewoldOctober 8, 2022 at 6:09 PM

    Hi Cassie, I did not notice how the mythology of Icarus and Daedalus could relate to Eamonn and Karamat, but it made a lot of sense after reading your post. When people make one mistake sometimes, they can never catch up to completely fix it up before it's too late. If Karamat just protected Eamonn better or let the body come back to Britain, his son could have stayed alive and even been happy.

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  3. Gema Sanchez GamezOctober 9, 2022 at 5:07 PM

    Hi Cassie! I think it's super interesting that you saw similarities between Karamat and Eamonn and Icarus and Daedalus. Although I chose to compare Parvaiz and Adil's relationship, I completely agree with all of your observations! It's interesting to see how much Karamat has reduced Eamonn to simply a predictable presence, but in the end, he surprises his own father.

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  4. Griffin JonesOctober 9, 2022 at 11:02 PM

    I think these are some really interesting similarities. I would also add that Parvaiz seems to be somewhat of an Icarus as well. He enjoys the freedom and control that he feels when he is with Farooq and he likes learning about his dad and having a sense of purpose. However, he flys too close to the sun when he goes to Syria and he doesn't come out of it alive.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Critical Thinkers and WritersOctober 12, 2022 at 1:49 PM

    I love the way you took the details of that first mention by Shamsie to see so many similarities in small (and also larger) moments in the novel. Great annotation payoff!

    ReplyDelete

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