An American Brat

An American Brat is a novel about a young Parsee girl, Feroza, who leaves Pakistan to travel to America. There she is introduced to the country by her uncle, Manek, who gives her his infinite knowledge of how to survive in America. Wanting to continue her education, Feroza heads west to Idaho to attend a junior college. She becomes friends with her roommate, Jo, and they become real close. The two of them then move to Denver to get away from Idaho. In Denver, Feroza falls in love with a Jewish man, David and is as happy as ever. However, her parents hear of this and are outraged. To put a stop to this, Feroza’s mother, Zareen, travels all the way to Denver. Consequently, her visit ultimately ends Feroza and David’s relationship. Now, Feroza is just trying to pick herself back up in hopes that she may become happy again.

The title of the novel refers to Feroza. This is apparent when Zareen tells Feroza that she has become an “American Brat” in regards to her not caring about her family (279). All of this stems from Feroza wanting to marry a non-Parsee. However, it seems that the actual “American Brat” is Manek himself. When I think of the word “brat”, I tend to think arrogant and conceited. Manek embodies this conception. Since coming to America, he feels to be superior to those back home. His attitude demonstrates this. In his return home, he speaks highly of America calling it paradise and criticizes the way of life in Pakistan (198). This attitude is also seen in his relationship with his wife. For instance, he argues to his wife that everything they need is in America and much better here (316). Although the novel may be titled after Feroza, the “American Brat” is Manek.