Characters

The main character of the short story “Paki” by Guatam Malkani is Jas. He is a nineteen-year-old who has recently joined a gang of British Asian boys. Jas has trouble fitting in the gang and presenting himself in a way that fits the gang’s image. 

Another important character is Hardjit, the gang’s leader. Hardjit is a tough and violent young man who works to maintain his image of a hyper-masculine violent gangster. In the story, he beats a white boy whom he claims insulted the gang and called him “Paki”. The rest of the gang members do not act violently towards the white boy, but they sit back and encourage Hardjit to continue his attack.

The story’s ending reveals that Daniel, the white boy who Hardjit beats up, used to be Jas’ friend. The fact that Jas pretends not to know him and does not stick up for him reveals a lot about Jas’ character. 

Jas

Outer characterization

Jas is the main character and narrator of the short story “Paki” by Gautam Malkani. He is a nineteen-year-old British boy who lives in Hounslow, a diverse borough of London that has a high population of British Asians. 

Jas has failed his exams so he is retaking his final year of secondary education before he can go to university. It is suggested that he comes from a well-off family who can afford to pay for “private maths tuition” and that will likely financially support him as he goes to exclusive universities such as “King’s College or that London School of Economics or one of the other desi unis with nice halls of residence in central London”.

Inner characterization

As the newest member of the gang, Jas feels like he does not fit in and lacks confidence. This is mostly because he feels he cannot grasp the gang’s specific way of speaking: “I still can’t attain the right level of rudeboy finesse. If I could, I wouldn't be using poncy words lik...