Other characters

Dr Azad

Dr Azad is a secondary character in the novel Brick Lane by Monica Ali. He is a Bangladeshi immigrant who lives in London with his wife and daughter. Although he seems to cling more to Bangladeshi tradition, his wife and daughter are shown to be fully Westernized. Nazneen describes him as “a small, precise man who, contrary to the Bengali custom, spoke at a level only one quarter of a decibel above a whisper” (p. 22)

At first, Chanu seems to have befriended Dr Azad to get a good word for him to help him get a promotion. However, Dr Azad reveals he does not know Chanu’s boss as Chanu had thought. Since Dr Azad is an educated and respected individual, the two remain close. When Chanu unexpectedly visits Azad’s home and sees that his wife and daughter are not what he considers respectable, Chanu is shocked. Nazneen later believes that Dr Azad envies Chanu’s family life: 

The doctor had status and respect and money, the lack of which caused Chanu to suffer. But the doctor had no family; none he could speak of without suff...