Reluctant fundamentalist
By Mohsin Hamid
The book “reluctant fundamentalist” portrays the scenario of America before and
after 9/11.It tells what happened to the Muslims in America after that particular
accident and how Americans look and behave with Muslims after 9/11.
In the novel, the narrator, Changaz meets an American in the restaurant of Lahore
and tells him the story of his life and all the ups and downs he experienced in US.
He narrates that he is a graduate of Princeton College New York and he was a
business consultant in underwood Samson. He goes on to tell the stranger that he
was well settled in USA and was among the elite families of US and everyone,
from his colleagues at Princeton to Jim at Underwood Samson, was respecting
him. But accident of 9/11 opened a new chapter of his life; everything changed
and that change compelled him to left US along with all the facilities and
opportunities given him to make his career and life better.
The attack on world trade center not only changes the behavior of Americans
toward Muslims, but it also changes the sense of identity in changez. There was a
different Changaz at the binging, a lover of America, and at the end I come across
a different, pure Pakistani and Muslim and somehow anti American.
In the beginning of the novel, Changez is rather innocent. He talks about arriving
at Princeton, and how he thought, "This is a dream come true. Princeton inspired
in me the feeling that my life was a film in which I was the star and everything was
possible." When he is interviewed for the position at Underwood Samson, the
interviewer, Jim, calls him "Wildly overoptimistic." Changez was glad and proud to
be accepted by Princeton and best firm in America. He consider New York a world
where all possibilities are open. He says, "Princeton made everything possible for
me." Because Princeton made him able to be part of underwood Samson, which
provided him a learning and a competitive environment and a luxury life. It seems
that he was quite impressed by the fundamentals of the underwood Samson, its
meritocracy. It was feeding its employees a version of the American Dream: if
they work hard, they'll be rewarded. Underwood Samson employees travel
around the world, performing seemingly useful services for its clients.
In addition, prior to 9/11 he was in love with America because he found a lovely
girl, Erica, over there. He fell in love with her and always wanted to express his
feelings but couldn’t express them fully, because she loves a person who is dead.
Moreover, she is living in the past with her love and Changaz is trying his best to
bring her out of this situation but he is failed and finally he loses her. Her
stickiness to the past also contribute to intensify the anti-American emotions in
Changez.
However, he was nourishing himself at underwood Samson, enjoying the trips
with his colleagues meanwhile the tragedy of 9/11 happened in USA. This event is
the turning point of his life. After this event he realizes that he is treated
differently at his firm, because of his beard, Muslims were tortured, called them
Arabians and terrorist. Despite of this he was trying hard to love America, but he
was not getting that love and respect in return, which made eventually
questioned where he belongs to. The hatred is too extreme that changez loses
concentration in his work and he used to spend a lot of time on studying about
the conflicts between Pakistan and India and Pakistan and USA. This led him to be
a reluctant fundamentalist.
Moreover, when he observed that Us was manipulating the world with his power
he begins to see the flaws in the "help" Underwood Samson provides for its
clients — in order to restructure a company, it has to fire employees, some of
whom will never hold a job again. Changez also realizes that Underwood
Samson's meritocracy has limits; when he grows out his beard, he sees his
colleagues’ formerly hidden racism very clearly. In the end, he feels the same way
about America and Underwood Samson: they have good people, but their
imperialism and secret prejudices do more harm than good.
It is human nature that no one can listen something bad about his religion or
faith. Same was the case with Changaz, although he was payed high salary, his
future was secure and bright but the present of Muslims was not secure and the
hatred towards Muslim was unacceptable to Changez. America has declared all
the Muslims terrorists and it was not possible for him to live on such a land,
where on the name of patriotism Muslims were humiliated.
In nutshell, 9/11 is an accident which builds patriotism in both Americans and
Changaz, change the prospectives of changez about America and its fundamentals
and put Changez in dilemma which constrain him to leave all the comforts of life
in USA and come back to Pakistan with his religious fundamentals.
