Mohsin Hamid’s dramatic monologue, The Reluctant Fundamentalist tells the story of a young Pakistani man who is consumed by the status of America and becomes immersed in the American way of life. 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. America is the country that Changez becomes enamoured and then disillusioned with. This turbulent emotional journey is reflected in Changez’s professional and personal relationships. At first, he is enchanted by the beautiful Erica, with whom he attempts to pursue a romantic relationship; likewise, he is enticed by the career and status opportunities that elite valuation firm Underwood Samson offers.
Instruction: After reading the story again generate eight different approaches Raul might take to dealing with the tension that correspond to the eight strategies identified by researchers: 1) denial: Raul thinks that his current situation is not as bad as it seems, because his parents are being his parents. Every other college student experiences the same thing and what he is experiencing from moving back home is normal. 2) disorientation: Raul is confused because after 9 months of being away from home learning how to make his own decisions, becoming independent and more responsible with his money. Returning home, has lead him to feel like he’s regressed back to a high school kid again; however, with constant tension with his parents of allowing him to make his own decision but at the same time treating him like a kid again—rather than the adult he feels that he has become. 3) Alternation: Raul thinks he needs to change his behavior to adjust to his parents wishes and desire to be a kid again.
Gould was exactly where he wanted to be. Joseph Mitchell, from North Carolina, had seen Gould one day on the streets of New York, and recognized him from university. He said that the guy had fallen on hard times and had refused repeated offers of help. Joseph Mit chell just so happen to be a journalist for the New Yorker, and there is a whole story to be extracted from Mitchell's hints about himself. The protagonist in the story is Joe Gould and the antagonist is Joseph Mitchell.
In The Chosen by Chaim Potok, the sons of two Jewish families are growing up in Brooklyn during World War II. Through the narrator, Rueven Malter, we meet Danny Saunders, a young Hasid who greatly affects Reuven’s maturation. Despite the differences in their backgrounds and the prejudices they each bring to the relationship, they overcome these obstacles to build a strong bond; similarly, adolescents today sometimes have to break down barriers to overcome prejudgment, to reach understanding, and to find a true friendship like theirs. When Danny and Reuven first meet, differences and prejudices stand in the way of the friendship. Reuven says that “Sometime during that half inning, one of the members of the yeshiva team had shouted at us in Yiddish, “Burn in hell, you apikorism!” and by the time that half inning was over and we were standing around Mr. Galanter near the wire screen, all of us knew that this was not just another ball game.” (Potok 26) This stereotyping and name-calling ensues during the game.
In America, Changez falls in love with Erica and is enjoying his powerful life as “immediately a New Yorker” for four and a half years. When he is in Manila, for the first time he encounters hostility from a non-American’s expression.
In Mohsin Hamid’s novel The Reluctant Fundamentalist 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. Changez adopts the New York culture as his own when he moves to New York to study at Princeton university. However, throughout the monologue he is constantly reminded of his life and family back in Lahore. He has difficulties living his true identity. Born and raised in Pakistan, Changez spends as an international student an influential time in the U.S. and adapts to the particular way of life of this western meritocratic country.
In both short stories the main characters are devastated by the depart of their loved ones, and have troubles coping with it. (last name) 2 The short stories Paper Pills and Stockings both have similar Characteristics, but also different characteristics to show the coping of the loss of a loved one. Paper Pills is told in a narrative Point of View, and Stockings as well. In both of these stories the author shows how the magic has not left them, in different ways of corse. In Stockings the author clearly states that Henry Dobbins still loves her even though she broke up with him, but in Paper Pills it is a little harder to notice.
* The American sits back to the wall and is always watchful. Erica * Changez’s love interest. * Trying to be a novelist. * Erica has deep depression. * Erica’s inspiration to write is eclipsed by her grief over he first and only love, Chris.
The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Moshin Hamid is a dramatic monologue that, is half-conversation and half story, this allows a complex and engaging puzzle which challenges readers about the very nature of fundamentalism. At the beginning of his personal life journey, and as a self professed lover of America, Changez sees his newly adopted home as a place of possibility and ‘magical vibrancy’, his loyalty to America is the catalyst to his personal American dream. However, during a series of psychologically confront events, such as 9/11, Changez’s understanding of his inner world is gradually transformed, and he eventually accepts that he belongs in Pakistan. His love affair with the dream is over. Changez initially places his identity within the context of fulfilling his personal American Dream.
With the novel being written as a monologue we discover how Changez feel throughout his life experiences in America as a Pakistani man. However choosing to embrace his culture even more post 9/11 and maintaining a beard leads the reader to a very dramatic and controversial ending that leaves them enclosed in their own perceptions of how everything pans out. Changez’s identity adjusts thought-out the novel. At the beginning he is very friendly and playful as he speaks to the American in very polite manner, while giving off a shifty and uncertain image of what the American is like. Due to the narrative being a monologue it leaves a big uncertainty of what the American’s real identity is.