54 pages • 1-hour read
Major Pettigrew's Last Stand
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Themes
Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of racism and gender discrimination.
Cultural Prejudice and the Possibility of Integration
The novel examines several varieties of prejudice, with consequences that range from humorous to problematic. While the novel’s tone and action largely confirm that tolerance and acceptance are virtues, the action suggests that making distinctions and drawing divisions are an instinctive human reaction and that once these patterns are ingrained, they can be very hard to overcome. This idea is reflected in the Major’s initial distaste for the two Americans, Sandy and Frank, and his reactions stand as a humorous portrayal of cultural prejudice. His dislike is a response to their forward manner, which he sees as an unfortunate extension of their nation’s character. The Major makes several jokes about Americans being tasteless or overreaching, but his disapproval doesn’t carry the weight of other, more sensitive types of discrimination because he shares the bias that Roger expresses by asserting that Americans are “just like us”—meaning white.
The novel immediately establishes that Roger has absorbed the same kind of prejudice displayed by Daisy, Alma Shaw, and the widow Augerspier, who believe that whiteness is one indication of the “right” sort of people. As discussions elsewhere in the novel indicate, the “right” sort of people are also Anglican (a predominant Christian religion in England), and are preferably of middle to high socioeconomic status. Mrs. Ali observes at one point—and she is only partially joking—that for many, British identity is associated with Anglo-Saxon descent. Certainly, the point is made that the white British characters consider Mrs. Ali or Abdul Wahid or even Amina to be “foreign,” even though they were all born in Britain and therefore share British nationality. Mrs. Ali makes a telling remark that her father always wished to be included in social activities by his white colleagues but was never considered to be properly British because of his South Asian heritage. Abdul Wahid, who comments that he is regarded as a tourist in Pakistan because of his British birth, encounters the same assumptions.
The possibility of integration is made difficult not only by this assumption of white privilege but also by the refusal of certain characters to name their prejudice for what it is. For example, the widow Augerspier, with comedic myopia, declares that she doesn’t hold a shred of bias (because she believes that racism belongs to those of inferior breeding); however, her assertion is undermined when she describes turning away a West Indian couple who viewed her cottage, and when she is dismayed to find Mrs. Ali on her lawn. Daisy, likewise, tells the Khans that the golf club is overrepresented with its medical practitioners, while Roger remarks that the members’ aversion to Mrs. Ali stems from her status as a tradesperson—meaning that she runs a shop rather than being a member of the professional class. These distinctions, much like the supposed concerns about media attention that drove George Tobin and his Black wife out of the golf club, are racism veiling itself as other supposedly legitimate distinctions.
The novel suggests that real integration isn’t possible as long as one ethnic majority—in this case, the white British—continues to tokenize, misrepresent, exploit, or exoticize other cultures or willfully ignore the painful consequences of historical events like the British occupation of India and the violence that accompanied the act of Partition. While the Major and Jasmina show that love—despite the vicar’s cautions—can bridge differences in culture, background, profession, and faith, Daisy’s absence at their wedding hints that more deeply embedded and systemic kinds of prejudice might not be so easily overcome.
The Tension Between Family Obligations and Personal Fulfillment
Several conflicts in the novel reflect on the tensions that an individual might experience between the wish to follow a personal inclination and the expectations of family duty. This opposition introduces both internal and interpersonal conflict for the characters and comments on the way that family obligations, while they might differ in the particular, cross cultures and communities to become a shared human experience.
As she describes her experience of this conflict to the Major in one of their earlier conversations, Mrs. Ali implies that her obligations to family will win out over her own personal desires, as the good of the communal weighs more heavily in her decision-making than does the seemingly selfish contentment of a single individual. The Major has a hostile and rather heated internal diatribe about “foreign” customs when she points out that because favor is given to the male in traditional South Asian households, her husband’s family believes that she should give her shop to her nephew, Abdul Wahid.
Similarly, Mrs. Rasool’s slight fiction that her husband makes all the decisions in their business (when she clearly has relevant input) acknowledges this cultural focus on patriarchal privilege, and so too does Mrs. Khan’s constant praise of her husband when it is clear that in reality, he obeys her commands. When the Major visits the Ali household, Sheena’s insistence that the Major deal with Dawid (Jasmina’s brother-in-law) instead of Jasmina herself reflects this assumption that the man of house will make decisions for his dependents. In keeping with this custom, Jasmina is expected to provide companionship to the elder Mrs. Ali, and Dawid and his wife actively discourage her from taking an interest in their business concerns.
The conflict results when Mrs. Ali, far from feeling fulfilled by these duties, instead feels fettered by this domestic service. As she tells the Major, her shop felt like her own little kingdom, and she clearly feels constrained by the presence of Abdul Wahid and by his expression of disapproval over her actions. In choosing the companionship of the Major—and by engaging in lovemaking outside of marriage—Mrs. Ali shows that she places personal satisfaction above the duty she might be expected to show her husband’s family. The result is a personal joy and happiness that domestic service might not provide.
The elder Mrs. Ali, with her belief that murder is an appropriate response to behavior that her culture considers shameful, provides a dramatic illustration of the interpersonal violence that can attend compliance with such familial and cultural demands. The joy of the Major’s marriage to Jasmina, in the end, confirms his decision to prioritize personal choice and individual happiness over cultural traditions. Echoing this argument, Amina’s choice to remain unmarried and establish a co-parenting relationship with Abdul Wahid, along with Gertrude’s choice to marry Frank Ferguson so she can enjoy life in the country, both confirm that the rewards of pursuing individual happiness outweigh the smaller satisfactions of conforming to the expectations of others.
Traditional Households and the Resistance to Change
A persistent thread of internal and interpersonal conflict in the book comes from the steadfast adherence to tradition, which is sometimes no more than convention, and the pain that follows when one’s values, beliefs, or way of life come under threat from outside changes. Though this conflict shares similarities with other confrontations over cultural prejudice and family commitments, the Major in particular is pressed by considerations of imminent change and is drawn to reflect on his most important priorities, pondering which traditions he ought to strive to preserve and which he might let go.
One tradition the Major does not want to confront is the seemingly accepted cycle in which adult children, once independent, assume the care of their aging parents. Separately from Roger’s sense of entitlement to Rose Lodge as the family home, the Major encounters Roger’s assumption that because the Major is aging and now lives alone, he will somehow require more care. Sandy hints that Roger’s preference for finding a weekend cottage near Rose Lodge is due to the sense of obligation that Roger feels to keep tabs on his parent. The Major feels rankled on several occasions, not only by Roger’s easy assumption that he will inherit everything, but also by Roger’s belief that certain items, like the furniture, are his to dispose of as he pleases, rather than being his father’s possessions.
Roger’s appearance at Rose Lodge at the end of the novel, when he is seeking emotional consolation, suggests that his attraction to Rose Lodge comes from his wish to feel connected to a home and a family, and is not purely born of his position as the heir. The Major’s reassurance to Roger that Rose Lodge will also be his home is in some respects a confirmation that the property will pass to him, just as it passed to the Major. However, it is more importantly an avowal of affection despite Roger’s problematic attitudes and traits. In this respect, the Major adheres to the family tradition of property descent through primogeniture (the right of the eldest male to inherit), but this tradition is underwritten by bonds of affection, and his gestures therefore combines promises of financial security with emotional support.
The Major’s sense of discomfort when he views Fergson’s plans to develop Lord Dagenham’s estate provides another view on tradition and the resistance to change. The Major feels a personal attachment to the village, especially his access to the countryside, but he also understands the economic concerns that make it unprofitable for Dagenham to support the large house and lands. The agricultural model of the great house and its farms, a long-respected British tradition, is no longer a profitable or even sustainable model in their contemporary world. While Alice is mobilized to organize protests because she perceives a threat to their homes and lifestyle, the Major understands that Dagenham, in his own way, is trying to preserve a traditional way of life. The unfortunate new reality, as illustrated by Ferguson, is that one requires an outside fortune to sustain this aristocratic lifestyle. Resistance to change, in this respect, is presented as an endeavor that will be doomed by economic realities.
Certain traditions that the Major resists changing include his commitment to values like courtesy, dignity, and sportsmanlike behavior. To some extent, his adherence to tradition is a way of maintaining the rhythms of life that he enjoyed when his wife was alive. Other traditions, like the requirements for membership in his golf club, maintain a level of familiarity or provide assurance that certain standards of quality and comfort will be preserved. However, by the end of the novel, the Major is compelled to distinguish between traditions that bear preserving and traditions that should fall away. He also realizes that harmful practices like cultural prejudice, or taking family pride in a reputedly heroic gesture that was in fact an act of violence, are traditions that must be discarded in service of a more wholesome, inclusive future.
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