...The Reluctant Fundamentalist Mohsin Hamid, 2007 Houghton Mifflin Harcourt 184 pp. ISBN-13: 9780156034029 Summary Excuse me, sir, but may I be of assistance? Ah, I see I have alarmed you. Do not be frightened by my beard: I am a lover of America. I noticed that you were looking for something; more than looking, in fact you seemed to beon a mission, and since I am both a native of this city and a speaker of your language, I thought I might offer you my services as a bridge. From the author of the award-winning Moth Smoke comes a perspective on love, prejudice, and the war on terror that has never been seen in North American literature. At a café table in Lahore, a bearded Pakistani man converses with a suspicious, and possibly armed, American stranger. As dusk deepens to night, he begins the tale that has brought them to this fateful meeting. Changez is living an immigrant’s dream of America. At the top of his class at Princeton, he is snapped up by Underwood Samson, an elite firm that specializes in the “valuation” of companies ripe for acquisition. He thrives on the energy of New York and the intensity of his work, and his infatuation with regal Erica promises entrée into Manhattan society at the same exalted level once occupied by his own family back in Lahore. For a time, it seems as though nothing will stand in the way of Changez’s meteoric rise to personal and professional success. But in the wake of September 11, he finds his position in his adopted city...
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...ENGL124 Literature Analysis Nov.11 2014 The Reluctant Fundamentalist is a novel written by Mohsin Hamid, set in the year following 9/11, constructed through a conversation between a Pakistani named Changez and an unnamed American in a café in Lahore.. The Reluctant Fundamentalist uses a variety of narrative strategies that contribute to the novel’s atmospheric world. This essay is going to focus on the metaphorical and symbolic techniques used in the novel and analyze the connection between them. It will also elaborate how does the metaphor relate to the first-person narrative in the novel and how do these two methodologies work together to derive the deeper meaning of the author’s intension. After analyzing the use of metaphor in the book, we could see better the real meaning and power of metaphor used in literature. The book is riddled with allegory and metaphor. Take names as the most significant example in the novel. First of all, let’s talk about the name “Changez”. While several reviewers have assumed that “Changez” is too obvious a name for a character in this situation, Hamid has pointed out that it doesn’t signify “change” but is instead “the Urdu name for Genghis, as in Genghis Khan.” He elaborates: It’s the name of a warrior, and the novel plays with the notion of a parallel between war and international finance, which is Changez’ occupation. But at the same time, the name cautions against a particular reading...
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...mohsinhamid.com home about novels essays stories interviews connect The Reluctant Fundamentalist Published in 2007 in these languages. Became an international bestseller with over a million copies in print. Was adapted for the cinema. Awards Won the Ambassador Book Award, Anisfield-Wolf Book Award, Asian American Literary Award, Premio Speciale Dal Testo Allo Schermo, and South Bank Show Award for Literature. Was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize, International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, James Tait Black Memorial Prize, Commonwealth Writers Prize, Arts Council England Decibel Award, Australia-Asia Literary Award, and Index on Censorship T R Fyvel Award. Was named a Book of the Decade by the Guardian and a Notable Book of the Year by the New York Times. Reviews 'An artist of fantastic cunning... demonstrates what certain trumped-up laureates of post-modernity seem incapable of grasping: that it is possible to simultaneously address the byzantine monstrosity of contemporary existence and care about the destiny of one's characters... [a] resounding success... not unworthy of Nabokov.' -- The Village Voice (full review) 'Taut and accomplished... Changez's story, which seems to gush from him like blood from a wound, traces the self's shifting sense of itself against the rumblings of a rudely shaken world... Dostoyevskian.' -- San Francisco Chronicle (full review) 'Changez's voice is extraordinary. Cultivated, restrained, yet also barbed and...
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...Review: The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid BY ABHIMANYU CHANDRA · AUGUST 2012 The question “who is to be blamed” wafts uneasily through the entire tapestry of Changez’s tale. The Reluctant Fundamentalist, by Mohsin Hamid, leaves the reader disturbed and questioning. Why does Changez adopt the rabid path that he does? Who really is the quiet and muscular American sitting across the table from Changez, sharp and cautious, with a metallic object by his chest, for which he repeatedly reaches upon sensing a threat? Who is the waiter, formidable and terse, serving Changez and the American at the café, and why does he seemingly pursue them through the dark alleys of the Pakistani city of Lahore? And what happens after the novel ends, late at night, as the waiter signals to Changez to stop the American, Changez cryptically pronounces—“we shall at last part company”—and the American reaches for the metallic object under his jacket? The novel, a dramatic monologue, follows Changez from Pakistan to America and back to Pakistan. Changez recounts his tale when he sees an American at a Lahore café and initiates a conversation with him. Born and brought up in Pakistan, Changez matriculates at Princeton, graduating summa cum laude. He begins work, thereafter, with a dauntingly selective and boutique valuation firm, Underwood Samson, based in New York. Just as his professional career is about to start, he forms an intimate friendship with the enchanting and well-placed Erica. Content...
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...The protagonist of Mohsin Hamid’s novel The Reluctant Fundamentalist is a deeply introspective character whose story is an emotional rollercoaster. Changez is a Pakistani man who comes to America in pursuit of his own “American Dream,” and while working to achieve his dream he slowly begins to hate himself. Hamid’s novel is the story of the rise and fall of Changez’s relationship with America. The novel takes the form of a dramatic monologue, with Changez as the speaker addressing a mysterious American man, whom we learn very little about except that he is suspicious, and that he may be hiding something under his shirt. His story addresses his time in America from the beginning to the end. He watches himself turn into a modern day janissary of the American Empire, and this sickens him to the point where he can no longer live in America. The pressure of being a Pakistani man living in a post 9/11 United States drive Changez to the point of self loathing, where nothing but the comforts of home and family could repair his internal damage. Changez has the inability to overcome the nostalgia that follows with traumatic events in his life, and for this reason he becomes a reluctant fundamentalist, unable to live in America and follow the American principles of greed and capitalism. The late Benjamin Franklin once said, “The U.S Constitution doesn’t guarantee happiness, only the pursuit of it. You have to catch up with it yourself.” Changez understands this truth and works...
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...Essay #3 December 3, 2015 Living Comes With a Price There is a price every person must pay in order to be successful. Becoming rich comes with a price. Building a family comes with a price. Even your dreams need to be paid for. In order to achieve your goals or in this case, become filthy rich in rising Asia, you must work hard. In the book “How To Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia” by Mohsin Hamid, the protagonist of the novel, whom remains anonymous narrates his journey of becoming successful. The narrator’s lack of a stable relationship, no family support and bankrupt business; are the prices he must paid for being successful. The narrator after working part-time at a DVD’s shop after school, and falling in love with “the pretty girl”, he starts to think about his future. Being the youngest of the family, the protagonist is able to further his education obtaining a scholarship for the university. Joining a political organization became the only way he was able to secure his safety. The “pretty girl” becomes successful, being advertised on billboards around the city. Thinking about his future becomes crucial, thus he starts selling expired cans of food to small street vendors. During that time he is able to learn about the business and soon he is able to set up his own bottling water business. Although his business grows his lack of a stable relationship is tested. The narrator get married and has a son. The price he pays is not having a stable relationship. He got married...
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...The protagonist of Mohsin Hamid’s novel The Reluctant Fundamentalist is a deeply introspective character whose story is an emotional rollercoaster. Changez is a Pakistani man who comes to America in pursuit of his own “American Dream,” and while working to achieve his dream he slowly begins to hate himself. Hamid’s novel is the story of the rise and fall of Changez’s relationship with America. The novel takes the form of a dramatic monologue, with Changez as the speaker addressing a mysterious American man, whom we learn very little about except that he is suspicious, and that he may be hiding something under his shirt. His story addresses his time in America from the beginning to the end. He watches himself turn into a modern day janissary of the American Empire, and this sickens him to the point where he can no longer live in America. The pressure of being a Pakistani man living in a post 9/11 United States drive Changez to the point of self loathing, where nothing but the comforts of home and family could repair his internal damage. Changez has the inability to overcome the nostalgia that follows with traumatic events in his life, and for this reason he becomes a reluctant fundamentalist, unable to live in America and follow the American principles of greed and capitalism. The late Benjamin Franklin once said, “The U.S Constitution doesn’t guarantee happiness, only the pursuit of it. You have to catch up with it yourself.” Changez understands this truth...
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...character, most often to express the mental thoughts aloud, sometimes also to directly address another character or the audience. Monologues are common in dramatic media as well as in non-dramatic media such as poetry. Monologues share much in common with several other literary devices including soliloquies and apostrophes. DEVICE OF MONOLOGUE IN THE RELUCTANT FUNDAMENTALIST: This is probably the only novel of its kind, a novel with no lyrical descriptions of people and places. It has no dialogue at all; in fact, the entire novel is a long, gripping monologue. A novel in the form of a monologue and without a dialogue is a brilliant and novel idea, and it works magnificently in this case only because Mohsin Hamid is a superb writer with formidable powers. He grips the reader's mind with polished and haunting prose. The hero of the novel, Changez, a student from Lahore, Pakistan, attends Princeton University. After graduation at the top in his class, he secures an excellent and well-paying job at the elite valuation firm Underwood Samson. He becomes well-adjusted and well-accustomed to the American way of life, falls in love with the beautiful and elegant, Princeton-educated Erica, who hails from an aristocratic family. For the first time in his life Changez is happy. Then, unexpectedly, on September 11, 2001, two planes crash into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in Manhattan. As a result, the towers collapse. And along with the towers...
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...THE RELUCTANT FUNDAMENTALIST – MOHSIN HAMID 1. SETTING LAHORE: * Decline from a majestic, imperial capital * Poor, funded * Rich history: withstood invasions, occupations – implied strength * Represent a fallen empire OLD ANARKALI: * Important for the way it changes throughout the novel * Beginning of the evening: * busy, well lit, bustling with people, amicable * Changez and American newly established relationship: decidedly friendly * Night progresses: * Surroundings: more complex and dangerous * Relationship: more complex and fraught * Night advaces: * Deserted * Changez falling out of love with America, tension between Changez and the America increase, question integrity NEW YORK CITY: Change throughout the novel * Freedom, empowerment, pleasure * Boundless possibility for Changez * Before 9/11: empire, awe-inspiring * After 9/11: dangerously powerful and reactive ‘beast’ because of NOSTALGIA ATHENS: Rhodes: metaphorical wall * The seat of a fallen empire * Separate the East and West, Changez and Erica * Symbolize America’s future fall MANILA * In the East, but more like New York, making Changez resentful, angry and ashamed * Where Changez started to change, realizes that he is play-acting * Separate Changez from America to have a Third World’s view of the 9/11 attacks VALPARAISO * Sense of melancholy, fallen empire * Remind Changez of America’s interfering and...
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...“Conflict causes growth as well as loss in people's lives” Conflict has the ability to cause both growth and loss in people’s lives. The loss of dignity, beliefs, humanity and possessions can be a result of conflict. Conflict also provokes growth in individuals in personal relationships, maturity, understanding and compassion can be hastened by conflict. Conflict can affect anyone at any time and we are all bound to experience it. No matter how hard we try avoiding it, it will always be a part of our journey through life due to our separate set of ideas, beliefs and values as individual human beings. In some cases, the conflict experienced can strengthen the value or moral already held and reinforce our beliefs. In some circumstances of conflict, one’s values and morals are strengthened despite the threat of harm to themselves or others in the future. This occurs when the value initially held by the individual is one of great significance and meaning to them, and not even the risk of suffering can distinguish that moral principle. This can be shown through the case of Malala Yousafzai, a Pakistani activist for female education in her hometown where, at that time, the Taliban had banned all girls from attending school. Malala reached out and followed her ambition, attending a school set up by her father, only to one day be shot at on her way back from school by members of the Taliban. She suffered major injuries and together with her family fled to Britain to seek treatment...
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...The Reluctant Fundamentalist suggest that nostalgia is more harmful than fundamentalism. To what extent is this true? Mohsin Hamid’s novel, The Reluctant Fundamentalist, depicts the dangers of both nostalgia and fundamentalism. One would presume that fundamentalism especially that which leads to militant terrorism, would, without doubt, have far more devastating consequences than nostalgia. Yet Hamid forces his readers to consider how nostalgia can be destructive for individuals and nations and if not kept in check and how it can contribute to and exacerbate feelings and emotions. Hamid is warning his readers not to be complacent about nostalgia. Just like, fundamentalism, it is capable of irreparable damage. Nostalgia is harmful for the individual if one becomes obsessed with the past. When the present is a struggling, the future is a murky place, people often look back into the beautiful and happy past. Such feeling can become irresistible, like “crack cocaine”. The dangerous situation that Hamid points out is Erica’s love for Chris. So wonderful the past of Erica with Chris beside was that she can never forgets him and keeps pulling herself into the world, where they live happily with together. “A guy with long, skinny fingers” becomes her home, where she feels she belongs. That is why, often, “she was utterly detached, lost in her own world”, seeming “otherworldly”. “She was disappearing into a powerful nostalgia”. Her own story, her own way of drowning into the past is...
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...Mohsin Hamid’s ‘The Reluctant Fundamentalist’, is a framed narrative that explores the inflective journey and internal struggle for a sense of inner contentment. The author tackles these incredibly complex themes through the confronting story of a young Lahore man. Adapting himself towards a patriotic American society and diluting his personal contentment through the suppression of his own Heritage. Hence Hamid’s intentions behind the allegorical name of ‘Changez’ for ‘Change’. Hamid makes it quite clear early on in the text, that Changez is quite an unreliable narrator. Changez claims to the ambiguous American that he immediately felt at home in New York, however this is completely untrue as he also establishes his alienation from those around him, conveying the early stages of perversion to Changez’ sense of contentment. “The world around me was like a movie, and I was watching it, rather than living in it. It didn’t strike me at first, but it came from feeling out of place.” Studying abroad at Princeton University, Pakistani protagonist Changez is already faced with socialist and cultural disparity the moment he arrives at Princeton. Aiding the detachment he possesses from other students economic status, he adopts three on campus jobs, to maintain the mask of a Princeton persona. “At Princeton, I conducted myself in public like a young prince, generous and care free. But I Also quietly acquired three on campus job, in infrequently visited locations, so such a persona could...
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...“I was never an American. I was immediately a New Yorker.” How is Changez’s sense of identity altered over the course of the novel? Identity is as much about public perception as it is self-perception. In Mohsin Hamid’s novel The Reluctant Fundamentalist the reader is confronted with this fact in a bid to understand what it means to be American and Pakistani. The narrator Changez is unsure of who he is, and whilst certain personality traits remain, his sense of identity is changed significantly by the novel’s conclusion. Through the use of a dramatic monologue Changez is able to explore how he sees himself as he attempts to clarify his experiences in America. The use of allegory further enhances the story as Hamid also questions the identity of America and Pakistan as nations and provides a controversial ending to trap the reader in their own perceptions. Hamid depicts Changez’s identity as being fluid and constantly changing. As the novel is a dramatic monologue, Changez provides the American with a detailed account of his shifting identity. Hamid uses this to show identity is as much a conscious decision as it is unpredictable. At first, Changez is friendly and plays up this element of his personality for both his American guest, by “offering [his] services”, and his companions in Greece, as he could “not prevent myself from carrying her backpack.” Indeed, it is this facet that attracts both Erica and gives the reader some reason to empathize with him. Changez presents himself...
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...Identity is as much about public perception as it is self-perception. In Mohsin Hamid’s novel The Reluctant Fundamentalist the reader is confronted with this fact in a bid to understand what it means to be American and Pakistani. The narrator Changez is unsure of who he is, and whilst certain personality traits remain, his sense of identity is changed significantly by the novel’s conclusion. Through the use of a dramatic monologue Changez is able to explore how he sees himself as he attempts to clarify his experiences in America. The use of allegory further enhances the story as Hamid also questions the identity of America and Pakistan as nations and provides a controversial ending to trap the reader in their own perceptions. Hamid depicts Changez’s identity as being fluid and constantly changing. As the novel is a dramatic monologue, Changez provides the American with a detailed account of his shifting identity. Hamid uses this to show identity is as much a conscious decision as it is unpredictable. At first, Changez is friendly and plays up this element of his personality for both his American guest, by “offering [his] services”, and his companions in Greece, as he could “not prevent myself from carrying her backpack.” Indeed, it is this facet that attracts both Erica and gives the reader some reason to empathize with him. Changez presents himself as a respectful, thoughtful person, someone who Erica comments “feels solid.” Despite this, he is clearly out of his element and...
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...spot-onÖ a thoughtful and sophisticated novel that has the courage to wear its political conviction on its sleeveí Time Out ëTaut and absolutely absorbingí Toronto Star ëA truly impressive feat. Hamid pulls it off grandly in a style reminiscent of the Russian mastersí Hindustan Times ëThereís an almost delightful allegorical symmetry to the flow of events, as well as a sensuousness and finish that might belong to some other form of art: music, perhapsÖ The result is a cool equipoise that is not possible in ìreal lifeîÖ but no less moving or true for having achieved a sort of perfectioní London Review of Books ëThe most astute and subtle insight yet published in fictional form about September 11 and its repercussionsí Sunday Herald ABOUT THE AUTHOR Mohsin Hamid grew up in Lahore, attended Princeton University and Harvard Law School and worked for several years as a management consultant in New York. His first novel, Moth Smoke, was published in ten...
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