Karim

Outer characterization

Karim acts as a middleman between Nazneen and her employer and brings her garments to sew in Monica Ali's novel Brick Lane. He also becomes the leader of the Bengal Tigers activism group. He is a second-generation British-Bangladeshi man, who was born and raised in London and has never been to Bangladesh before. He speaks with a stutter when he is nervous which is especially obvious when he first meets Nazneen.

When Nazneen meets Karim, he dresses in Western clothes such as jeans: 

He wore his jeans tight and his shirtsleeves rolled up to the elbow. […] He wore white trainers and a thin gold chain around his neck. […] They looked strong, those arms. His hair. Razored short against the skull. It was odd, that a shape of a skull could be so pleasing. (p. 169)

After becoming involved in the Bengal Tigers Karim begins to dress in traditional Punjabi clothing: 

Karim had a new style. The gold necklace vanished; the jeans, shirts and trainers went as well. Some of the parents were telling their daughters to leave their headscarves at home. Karim put on panjabi-pyjama and a skullcap. He wore a sleeveless fleece and big boots with the laces left undone at the top. The flee...