“The Decline of the West”
“The Decline of the West” is a short story written by Hanif Kureishi in 2010. It takes place on the outskirts of London in an upper-class society. Mike, a banker, gets fired from his job because of the financial crash. He works less than twelve hours a day and has a distant relationship with his demanding family because he rarely gets to see them. As he gets home he does not know how to tell his wife, Imogen, that he got fired and it gets even harder because his debts were worth almost two years’ income. His sons do not respect nor obey him because he has spoiled and neglected them.
The short story is written in a third person limited narrator through Mikes point of view. He becomes wiser during the story about his demanding family and how he has failed to be a good father figure for his children. In addition to that he also become wiser when he picks up the £20 note and notices Queen Elizabeth II’s smile on it. On that note, he realizes that materialism, capitalism and greed are all combined.
