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Alsana Begum Iqbal is a recent immigrant from Bangladesh whose marriage to Samad Iqbal was arranged even before she was born. Because she is living in a traditional marriage, Alsana expects to stay home, defer to her husband, and focus on her family, with her husband supporting her. However, Samad does not have a good job, so Alsana has few of the advantages and many of the disadvantages of the traditional wife.

Alsana is an angry person, with good reasons for her anger. The Iqbals need more income, but Alsana is not allowed to work outside the home, so she sits at a sewing machine doing heavy sweatshop labor, cranking out vinyl costumes. Alsana’s client is a sex shop, which offends Alsana’s traditional values. Samad buys food and alcohol and even gambles occasionally at O’Connell’s, but he does not always bring home enough money for food. Samad also makes important decisions without consulting Alsana, such as moving into Archie Jones’s neighborhood and sending her older twin son back to Bangladesh.

Because Alsana is considerably younger than her husband, her political and social values are more modern. Alsana keeps in touch with current events, watches French films as well as Bollywood movies, and interacts with her non-Muslim neighbors. Alsana’s family includes even more modern women, such as her niece Neena, a lesbian. Alsana assimilates more naturally than Samad because of her more modern outlook.

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