Structure

The novel excerpt “Salaam Brick Lane” by Tarquin Hall is structured chronologically and it follows the narrator from the moment he arrives in England to his meeting with Abdul-Haq in a café in London’s East End.

An interesting element of the excerpt’s structure is the introduction of several passages from Jack London’s book “The People of the Abyss”, which is about life in the East End of London in 1902: “The streets were filled with a new and different race of people, short of stature, and of wretched or beer-sodden appearance, wrote Jack London of his first impressions” (p. 82, ll. 42-44). These passages are important because they do not only present life in London’s East End in 1902 but also the way in which many of the Londoners in the East End live now.   

Also, note that the excerpt has an exposition, a rising action, and a climax, lacking a falling action and a resolution.

Title

The title of the novel excerpt – and, implicitly, of the novel itself – refers to the Brick Lane, a street in East London. No...