In The Reluctant Fundamentalist, Mohsen Hamid explores the importance of power in his protagonist, Changez’s personal life, as well as the political engagement between the nations. Like the other characters, Changez in particular is continuously searching for power and tries not to resist change throughout the novel as he concedes that “power comes from becoming change”. However, his interpretation of power at the end is considerably different from it at the beginning of the text or perhaps his strategy changes to achieve the power. His education, experiences and his growth in different landscapes and in America in particular is the main reason behind this shift in perspective. To obtain his initial power he travels to America as a “lover of America” and “focus[es] on the fundamentals” whereas, finally he refuses to be a “modern-day janissary, a servant of American empire” and as anti-American in Pakistan “[his] days of focusing on fundamentals [is] done”.
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.
However, during a series of psychologically confronting events, 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"-America is over. Nevertheless, it is a long and arduous task for Changez, as he seeks to discover a sense of his own self and of the internal connections between his personal and political ideology. Changez's life journey encompasses his understanding of the need for spiritual development.As a"reluctant fundamentalist", Changez is forced to strip back the layers of his personal and professional life to see his situation with more clarity. This new clarity also reveals something fundamental about America that he, and perhaps readers, must come to terms with in the course of the novel.
One reason is that we always think that these things are not worthy to judge, another reason is that we usually do the same thing as them and we don’t like to face the dark side of ourselves. However, when we experience a lot of unfair treatment or pressure, we may become to be depressive and like to complaint or even curse, which is the hotbed for extremity and evil. From now on, the gate of unscrupulous is opening, and our happiness index is sharp declining and is hard to get a favorable
Idealism to Realism: The Journey Through Conformity In Battle Royal by Ralph Ellison, there are two major themes that are serious issues in today’s society, conformity, which people’s beliefs and or behaviors being influenced by others and realization, which is coming to understand of something and or making or giving the appearance of reality. A plethora of people today are conforming to attempt appeasing the people who look at them as inferior and are not realizing who they are in fact becoming. In this story the narrator, makes a huge transformation as he moves from being idealistic, the tendency to envision things in perfect, but in an unrealistic way, to being realistic and seeing things as they really are. The narrator begins
He is sick of the White moderate the most because he had so much hope that they would help but disappointment is what happened and it is really sad to see that. They say to wait even though by waiting more harm is being caused to the oppressed. The white moderate is more devoted to order than to justice and they prefer a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice. They say “I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I cannot agree with your methods of direct
Through the many events which feature in the novel, the reader is able to deduct that whilst Changez may lose himself and become perplexed about his identity during his time in New York, he ultimately is a man who is entrenched in his heritage. Changez’s odyssey to New York caused him to become a ‘lover of America,’ however it also resulted in him losing touch with his true character. For Changez, arriving in America was a ‘dream come true,’ and attending Princeton inspired him into feeling that his life was a ‘film in which (he) was the star and everything was possible.’ As novel develops, the reader is able to see a progression from the originally ‘polite’
“ 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? In Mohsin Hamid’s novel “The Reluctant Fundamentalist” the narrator Changez is confronted with the public’s perception of his identity of whether he is a Pakistani man or an American. He exhorts some particular characteristics all the time while others only come to the surface towards the end. With the novel being written as a monologue we discover how Changez feel throughout his life experiences in America as a Pakistani man.
PROMPT: “The novel is presented in the form of one man’s monologue. Discuss the effects of the narrative technique.” The ‘Reluctant Fundamentalist’ has a mesmerizing monologue which interprets the point of view of a Muslim and the situations he encounters whilst in America before and after the events of 9/11. The novel takes place in a café where the Pakistani protagonist; Changez confesses to an American his experience whilst living in America. Mohsin Hamid’s (the Author) monologue allows the reader to emotionally connect with the text as it addresses the reader indirectly through the American. Hamid’s narrative technique of silencing all other characters besides Changez is a unique method which allows the reader to feel as if they are a part of the scene.
The Reluctant Fundamentalist Prompt: In what ways does Hamid use symbolism and setting to explore the main themes of the novel? ‘The Reluctant Fundamentalist’ by Mohsin Hamid is a dramatic monologue in which Changez, a Pakistani man recounts the tale of his brief and torrid love affair with America to an anonymous American whose responses can only be heard through Changez’ verbalized perceptions. The novel revolves around Changez’s changing identity as he struggles with his fluctuating allegiances to America and Pakistan during the aftermath of the terrorist bombings on September 11, 2001. Hamid uses setting as a tool to demonstrate the different stages in Changez’s personal development and discovery of his own identity. He also created a symbolic connection between Erica, Changez’s love interest and America, partnered with his purposeful use of setting in order to demonstrate the destructive nature of nostalgia.