Major Perttigrew’s Last Stand, by Helen Simonson

Characters
Major Pettigrew	Wife – Nancy – deceased Son – Roger – girlfriend Sandy Brother – Bertie – deceased ·         Marjorie – Bertie’s wife ·         Jemima – daughter
Mrs. Jasmina Ali	Husband – deceased Nephew – Abdul Wahid George – son with Amina   Auntie – brought from Pakistan to “fix things” with Amina
Others	Vicar Father Christopher and wife, Daisy Green Alec and Alma Shaw Grace DeVere   Lord Dagenham Gertrude – niece   Mr. Ferguson – American investor and developer   Najwa Rasool - caterer   Dr. Khan and Saadia – decorator Noreen – assistant Amina – niece George – son of Amina and Abdul Wahid   Alice Pierce – neighbor, protesting new development

 For discussion:

NOTE: All page numbers are from paperback edition.
 

1. On page 66, Mrs. Ali says, “The world is full of small ignorances, we must all do our best to ignore them and thereby keep them small.”   Do you agree or it is better to try to fix them?   What are some examples?

2. Discuss the role of adult children and their parents.  Major Pettigrew stated that, “…they began to infantilize their own parents and wish them dead, or at least in assisted living.”  What do you think?

3. Reading plays a major role in Major Pettigrew and Mrs. Ali’s life and relationship.  Mrs. Ali stated, “…I tell myself that it does not matter what one reads – favorite authors, particular themes – as long as we read something. It is not even important to own the books” (page 63).  Discuss the importance of reading to the two characters.  What role does reading play in your life?

4. Discuss how the different characters dealt with death.  From the “Acknowledgements,” it seems that the author parents and in-laws are still living.  How do you think she was able to understand grief?

5. Were you surprised to find out why Auntie was here?  Did you feel differently about her once you knew the story of her mother’s death?

6. When the Major asked Amina why she was trying to teach the servers at the club the folk-dance routines, she said, “If it was easy, I wouldn’t have done it…I don’t take charity” (page 143).  What does this say about Amina’s character?

7. When the Major was apologizing for something the club secretary said to Amina, she replied, “Don’t worry about it.  I don’t have space in my head to put up with harmless old gits trying to make me feel bad” (page 148).  How easy is it to do this?

 

8. In the same conversation, the Major said, “…I believe there is a great deal too much mutual confession going on today, as if sharing one’s problems somehow makes them go away.  All it really does, of course, is increase the number of people who have to worry about a particular issue” (page 149).  How does our online culture (Facebook and Twitter) play into this?

9. When the Major told Alice that he would not publicly support the protest of Ferguson and Dagenham’s plans to turn the meadow into a new development, he said, “But I cannot, in good conscience, assist you with any civic unrest.”  What is the line between being environmentally conscious and civic unrest?

10. In discussing the planned protests, Alice said, “Everyone’s green except for their one little project, which they assure us won’t make much difference…” (page 163).  Is this the way it really is?

11. Discuss the pair of Churchill rifles that was in the Major’s family.  Was he justified in his feelings about the importance of the pair of guns?  In the end, how was he able to let the one go so easily?  Do we put too much value in material things?

12. When Amina and the Major were talking about Mrs. Ali going back to Pakistan where she had stated she did not want to go, Amina said, “You can’t reduce life to something as simple as happiness…There’s always some bloody compromise to be made.”  Do you agree?  Do we put too much emphasis on happiness?

13. What did you think about the prejudice against the immigrants in the novel?  Did you think the citizens from Pakistan were treated equally or did assimilation seem to stop at a certain extent of familiarity? 

*****

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