Questions on The Buddha of Suburbia

1. The first seven lines of the novel are very frequently quoted
and analysed in discussions of postcolonial/diasporic writing in
Britain in the last twenty years. Why do you think this may be the
case? What is this passage talking about?

2. What can you say about Karim’s family? To what extent is it

similar to that of his friend Jamila?

3. Who is this Buddha in the title of the novel? Discuss the

character of Haroon.

3. Karim’s friend Charlie changes his outlook through the action of

the novel. Describe his different looks.
4. Analyse the evolution of Changez in the course of the novel. Think
about his name.

5. The novel is divided into two sections: “In the suburbs” and “In the
city”. Discuss the differences between life as the characters
experience it (and think about it) in the suburbs and in the city.

6. The Buddha of Suburbia is a comic novel, but there are passing

references to racial conflict in Britain in the seventies. Find at least
two examples and discuss them.
7. Think about the beginnings of Karim in the world of the theatre.
What kind of role is he expected to play?

8. At the beginning of the novel the narrator describes himself as “a

funny kind of Englishman, a new breed as it were, having emerged
from two old histories” (3). What elements of these two histories do
you find in Karim? Do you feel that one of them is stronger that the
other?