The decline west

In the short story of “The Decline west” of Hanif Kureishi, we meet a confused and restless man who’s passed down because of financial crisis and has been fired. They live in a big house on the outskirts of London. He fears the family's reaction of been fired, but he tries to bring the news to his wife Imogen, but she wouldn’t let him introduce a single words about it.
The author has made use of third person limited narrator and knows what the main character Mike thinks and feels. Its mikes views we have presented and it’s his emotions and thoughts are passed. Therefore, is the narrator limited, in that sense that he doesn’t know what his wife and children’s thoughts and feelings are. As a reader, we get a personal perspective by Mike’s point of view, since we see everything from his side. Therefore, are we also more likely to have sympathy with him, as we see how his kids treat him as an ungrateful father, rather it’s also because we don’t know their side of the story. From Mike’s point of view, the family seems unreasonable and greedy with the comments and requirements the family express them with, in relation to the guitar.
“You promised Billy a guitar (…), so now you have to deliver”.
Mike sees himself as the "delivery man" or the “money-maker”, because he feels that he gives and gives but gets nothing in return. He feels the world is evil and unjust. He feels that he is the victim in the house now, as the family is using him. He expresses himself by saying - “Just call me the delivery man”!
The protagonist in the main character is mike. He is 45 years old father with two children and a wife. They live in a big house outside the bustling city of London. Mike works in the financial world, which means that he barely sees his family often. Mike works very much and rarely less than 12 hours a day, which means that he is rarely home. He emphasizes that while the au pair sees the family more than he does.
The marriage is not exactly the happy couple, with two beautiful children and a large fancy house in London. Mike’s wife is named Imogan, who is a dissatisfied woman who doesn’t have time for her husband when he comes home. She will rather take a bath upstairs carrying gin and tonic. While mike, is eating ready-cooled food. The children, tom and Billy are badly brought up. They don’t have any form of respect for their father and treat him like he was their neighbour’s son. They are very greedy for new things such as a guitar and is not thankful for the things they have. Besides that, they don’t do what the father tells them to do and turn their backs against him. They overreact and says; “What have you ever done for me”? and “Fuck of evil old man, just die”. The way they use the language isn’t politely and they had never called their father for “Dad, Father” but just man or mike.
Mike looks forward to see the children and spend time with them. However, he sees the reality in his eyes when he opened the door and realises that it was not exactly what he expected to see. His wife goes around dressed in sloppy clothes, which appeared to dress in diamonds and gold. Imogan hurries up and takes a bath upstairs, while mike ended up eating ready-made frozen food alone. The children haven’t had any interest in mike and play all the time. Only the youngest boy shows a slight interest, but only with the intention of getting a guitar as he manipulate with the language saying;
“I like you sometimes, Daddy. But I want guitar lesson. So first l’ll need the guitar and the amp, like Tom has”.
It seems like Mike can’t foresee the needs of the family anymore. Their ungratefulness makes him look inadequate. He cannot handle having to inform the bad news concerning the work to the family and that, there is now going to be changes in their future life and economic problems, which can be interpreted as an exposition react in the family. As he slid down the slippery stairs on the way down to the basement, he got a glimpse of his dismal thought: “How easy it was to fall and how tempting it was – suddenly would be best – to die!” For mike, it seems like he is trying to escape from everything instead of, seeing the problem in the eyes and do something about it.
A touch of consequences by capitalistic traits are identified in the short story. It occurred when Mike was in the kitchen and suddenly all electronics went out. And that’s the warning from the materialistic world, mike is in. That all electronic stops. This is where Mike gets his complication, because he open his eyes for the real world.
As Mike says, he will not have a working woman, who has the same standard as himself. He wants a woman, who spend her time at home and raising children. Since, Mike supports the family and not the other way around. That’s a very conservative way of thinking to woman who lives in the 21st century. Imogen is a contrast to her husband Mike, as he thinks like a man in the past.
The title “The decline west” Wakes the readers’ attention up as using the adjective word: “Decline”. Otherwise has the title a serious meaning, as it telling us directly how the western world’s economic problems are falling down. Not just falling down economic, but rather the materialistic value terms conquer the relationships in the family. Falling down as a family with respect, discipline and the different characters between the husband and the wife. The title can be interpreted as the moral decay, which Mike’s family can be seen as an example. “The decline west”, can be seen as a critical point of the western world's grasslands focus on money and the expense of other more important things.