A Pair Of Jeans is a short story written by the Pakistani novelist, Qaisra Shahraz, that focuses on a young Pakistani Muslim woman as she struggles to oscillate between the gap of cultural differences that confronts her in her host country, Britain. The short story recalls, through a third-person narrative, the clashes between the cultural divisions of Western and traditional values, embodied by the host country and home country, respectively. Thus, A Pair Of Jeans engages with the themes of an identity crisis, accompanied by an existential crisis, alienation, and rootlessness.
A Pair Of Jeans — Summary
The short story begins by introducing the protagonist, Miriam, as she hurriedly gets off the bus after going out with her University students for trekking. She keeps murmuring to herself that she is late and they were coming. And, as she walks through the streets that lead to her house, she becomes more and more conscious and worried about her clothing: a pair of jeans with a short vest and a jacket. But as soon as she reaches the gates of her house, she is confronted coldly by her future in-laws because they are shocked to see their daughter-in-law in such Western attire. Even though Miriam, burning with embarrassment, had trouble looking into their eyes, she greeted them, only to receive a mumbled greeting as a response.
As they enter the house, all of them are welcomed by Miriam’s mother, Fatima, who gets another shock from the attire of her daughter. Usually, Fatima doesn’t bother her daughter for wearing such clothes but today she was viewing her own daughter’s appearance through the lenses of her future in-laws and everything about her clothing, especially, the subtle and transparent flesh of skin visible through her daughter’s vest, were looking really bad and disgraceful. Fatima subtly exchanges signals towards her daughter and expresses her disapproval of the clothing and asks her to change. Miriam, only relieved to escape from the secretive and darting glances, quickly goes to her room to change into something preferable for her future in-laws, specifically, a traditional attire.
Inside her room, Miriam listens to herself debating against donning such tight and Western clothes, an attire clearly not meant for any Muslim girl but at the same time, angry about feeling embarrassed and holding herself responsible for a mere piece of clothing. However, she listens to her heart and dons a traditional and modest attire, adapting herself to a Muslim Asian environment. Back in the living room, Fatima tries her best to entertain her guest but to no avail as the guests remain displeased. And, as soon as Miriam enters the living room, her future in-laws insist on leaving and even more, not even bothering to eat anything.
Back at their own home, Begum and Ayub, the in-laws of Miriam, are conflicted and doubtful about the wedding that was supposed to happen soon between their son, Farook, and Miriam as they were in great shock to see Miriam in that Western outfit. And thus, for them, Miriam no longer represented a daughter-in-law embodying the qualities of female modesty. Soon after a long discussion, they decide to break off the marriage between their son and Miriam. At Miriam’s house, they receive a phone call from Begum, who informs Fatima about their decision. Begum chooses to not reveal the genuine reason behind the breaking of the marriage. Fatima is baffled at such news but finally, breaks it to her daughter. Upon hearing this, Miriam angrily goes over to her room and shuts the door. She hungrily devours her pair of jeans that destroyed her whole life and as an act of revenge, gives it a “vicious kick” as if to destroy them.
(Another ending to the short story begins from here). After much contemplation, finally listening to her rebellious mind that such a decision from her in-laws is cruel and unfair, Miriam slides down the stairs and starts dialing Farook. As he picks up the phone, soon Miriam realizes that his parents had taken the decision without consulting Farook and thus, she decides to meet up with him. Fatima, hearing all of this, warns Miriam that this was not the right thing to do. But ultimately, conquers with her daughter’s opinion as she realizes the terrible mistake Begum and Ayub had made by jilting her daughter. Miriam goes back to her room and quickly changes her outfit for meeting Farook. But Fatima is once again left in shock as she sees the erect, tall, and proudly standing Miriam, adorning a pair of faded jeans and a short jacket.
A Pair Of Jeans — Analysis
Shahraz approaches the theme of an identity crisis around the concept of a diasporic dilemma. The supposed belief that the long-held traditional and cultural attitude towards clothing determines the identity of a Pakistani Muslim woman, acquires an in-depth focus in this short story. As a Pakistani Muslim woman, Miriam is expected by her future in-laws to embody the culture and traditions of her home country. But adapting to an Asian Muslim environment within the spaces of a dominated English Christian locality is difficult and Miriam experiences a sense of double displacement that incessantly questions her notion of identity and belongingness.
Following the surreptitious glances and cold responses from her future in-laws, as the narration recalls us, Miriam substitutes her attire with a more acceptable mode of dress: a traditional salwar kameez Pakistani suit. She immediately experiences a difference, a sense of a lack of identity that makes her question whether she was the same person or not. And she wonders if a person can have two sides to a character and further, admits that the in-laws have perceived her “other personae”. The third-person narrator follows the stream of consciousness of thoughts of Miriam questioning her identity and recounts them as such, “A person who spontaneously switched from one setting to another, from one mode of dress into another–in short swapping one identity for another”. Such projections of conflicted thoughts undoubtedly reflected upon the identity and existential crisis faced by Miriam.
Shahraz shrewdly demonstrates the vulnerability upon which Miriam’s engagement stands as the narration gives insight, especially, a patriarchal perspective, into the discussions happening in the household of the in-laws. Following the incident at Miriam’s house that makes Ayub reconsider the engagement between Farook and Miriam, he hurls ceaseless questions onto his wife about the “sharif”, the modesty of Miriam, all because she was seen cladding a Western attire. Among them, one of the significant questions that Ayub utters, highlights the utmost fear of the patriarchal institution, specifically, “You know of a number of cases where the educated, the so-called modern girls have twined their husbands around their little fingers, and expected them to dance to their tunes. Are you prepared for that to happen to your beloved son?”. Thus, Shahraz simply shows in her short story the loose thread upon which Miriam’s engagement supposedly hangs and even more, a mere piece of Western clothing adorned by a Pakistani Muslim woman, demolishes the whole idea of female modesty because, within a dominated patriarchal society, the women are assumed to nourish the long-held traditions and cultural values.
Hence, within the household of her in-laws as well, the identity of Miriam becomes that of an individual who embodies and suits the cultures of the Western world, an identity displaced from the traditions of her home country. From the perspective of Begum, Miriam once symbolized “the epitome of what her future daughter-in-law should be like–young, beautiful and well educated”, and traditional as well. But all of a sudden, because of a pair of jeans that represents the Western lifestyle, emphasizing the absurdity of traditions and cultures, Miriam becomes a shameless and immodest woman in the eyes of her Pakistani in-laws. Once again, reflecting upon their conflicting identity of Miriam.
A Pair Of Jeans — Themes
A Pair Of Jeans engages with the themes of a sense of loss, rootlessness, and alienation. One witness these themes in an orderly manner within the linear narrative story and thus foregrounds the context of the short fiction.
Shahraz draws out the theme of a sense of loss at the beginning of the short story as Miriam walks through the streets that lead to her house. Cladding a pair of tight jeans and a short jacket, Miriam felt self-conscious about her clothing because she was entering the vicinity of her Pakistani neighborhood. Otherwise, Western clothing was perfectly suitable for hill walking in the peak districts of England. But strangely, Miriam felt extremely odd and experienced a sense of loss with respect to her surroundings. Even more, as she accidentally stumbles upon her in-laws in such Western attire, the sense of loss gets elevated more.
Ironically, such a sense of loss comes to be concealed the moment Miriam adorns a traditional outfit and prepares to act out “a role, the one that her future in-laws preferred. A role of a demure and elegant bride and daughter-in-law–dressed modestly, with her body properly covered”. But at the same time, moments before she adorns the role of the perfect daughter-in-law, we witness the “rebellious spirit” of Miriam that refuses to be held responsible for donning a mere piece of clothing. Once again projecting a sense of loss with respect to one’s identity evoked within the perpetual conflicting thoughts formed in the mind of Miriam. Following this, Shahraz suggests a sense of rootlessness as well.
The short fiction underlines the theme of alienation with respect to the perspective of Miriam’s mother, Fatima. Following the phone call from Begum about the decision of breaking off the engagement between Miriam and Farook, Fatima helplessly stares at her daughter as if in a “real dilemma”. On one hand, Fatima is of the opinion that Miriam’s decision to meet Farook is unseemly because a discussion between parents was meant to be appropriate. But on the other hand, Miriam’s mother felt deeply for her daughter and wanted to support her as well since the in-laws’ decision to jilt her daughter was doubtless a cruel decision. Herein, the narration runs through the thoughts of Fatima as such, “Never before had she felt the gulf between Miriam’s generation and her own so keenly. The generation and culture gap lay between them as wide as the ocean…. Pakistan was so far from Britain, it was another place and she was thinking of another time”. Such a stream of consciousness of thoughts, needless to say, evokes a sense of alienation, experienced between Fatima and Miriam.
A Pair Of Jeans — Title of the Story
The title of the story, A Pair Of Jeans, brilliantly captures the context of the short fiction. At first look, the title might seem trivial but as we read through the narration and the different perspectives around the piece of clothing of a pair of jeans, the readers discern that the title acts out a significant role.
A Pair Of Jeans — Character Sketch
Miriam – The protagonist of the short story and the character upon whom the style of third-person narrative perspective, predominantly focuses. Shahraz portrays Miriam as a simple, modest, cheerful, and rebellious character that evokes an individuality of her own.
A Pair of Jeans — Literary Devices
The short story predominantly employs the device of symbolism. The most significant use of symbolism is the mere piece of clothing that ends the engagement of Miriam and Farook. The pair of jeans at once symbolizes the Western lifestyle and moreover, in the eyes of the patriarchal figure, Ayub, a sense of freedom. But the narrator might suggest that the pair of jeans evoke a feeling of individuality for Miriam as well. Even though she embodies the role of a perfect daughter-in-law in her traditional outfit, Miriam experiences a hesitation because “her hypocrisy” was “galling her”. Such hypocrisy is put to rest at the end of the story as Miriam shows off her rebellious personae, “the mutinous line of her mouth very much prominent”, by donning a pair of jeans to meet up with Farook.
Such an incident, introduced into the short fiction as another possible ending, clearly manifests the attire of a pair of jeans to be symbolic of individuality and a sense of freedom. But at the same time, they are, ironically, symbolic of Western decadence through the lenses of Pakistani Muslim society.
Foreshadowing and irony have also been devised in this short story. Begum’s first impression of a perfect daughter-in-law in Miriam was fixated because she took an extreme liking to the clothing style of Miriam. This acts as a device of irony and foreshadowing as well. The narration greatly highlights the dressing style of Miriam within the thoughts of Begum, “It was the way the black chiffon sari had hugged her slender figure, and how her hair was elegantly wound up in a knot at the top of her head–just perfect”. This style of narration of foreshadowing suggests Begum, as if telling her, she will come to despise the same attire of this young girl later.
