The action unfolding in the café helps the reader to evaluate the complex cultural tensions and fears of the post 9/11 world. By playing on the suspicion of the reader, Mohsin Hamid attempts to explore imbedded feelings toward both America and the Middle East post 9/11 through a reversal of the usual relationship, providing a muted American character, and an expressive Pakistani one. As soon as the novel begins we are presented with a product of Western prejudices “Do not be frightened of my beard, I am a lover of America” and as the character of Changez begins to introduce himself, we see the convention of the one dimensional Islamic man constructed by the American media slip away. Changez is articulate, polite, and as he reveals, exclusively educated, attending Princeton, and holding modern values “yes, the women, too- are working professionals”. Yet, the lack of information about the “purpose” and “mission” of these two characters takes grip of the narrative and through allusions “not unlike
East against West: a so-called battle between two polar opposites of direction. In Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, East and West are used primarily as contrasting paradigms, which polarize the opinions of the readers and force them to consider the implications of these directions on the characters with a sort of bias. Certainly Fitzgerald’s text comments on this motif of East and West as inverses, in turn, allowing it to become a view through which to assess Gatsby’s place as a standard American. By analyzing this recurring theme through several lenses - the views of both Foster and Jung, Brucoli and Bryer, Shakespeare and Forster – the reader can successfully connect Fitzgerald’s text to other basic themes, archetypes, and other critical assessments. In short, a proper analysis of East and West throughout the novel can reveal underlying themes of new journeys, hope, dreams, and despair as these paradigms of conflict allow one to read deeper into the directions’ influences on the story.
He is very quick to correct himself if he believes he is beginning to take a side or become involved. “I don’t know what I’m talking politics for. They don’t interest me and I’m a reporter. I’m not engagé.” However, as the story progresses it becomes clear that Fowler is affected by the events and circumstances around him and that he does have opinions on many issues. Fowler displays his political opinion in his conversation with Pyle about York Harding, his views on the war become clear after the bombing outside the rue Catinat and during his journey to Tanyin.
American Identity American identities are often conflicted with one another simply because they are constructed in various and numerous ways. In each of these three previous texts; Leaves from the Mental Portfolio of an Eurasian, Of Customs and Excise, and The Gangster We Are All Looking For, the American identity is then demonstrated and defined by these characters. In The Gangster We Are All Looking For, the narrator, whose name is still undeclared, steadily finds the truth and position of the Americans. To her, whenever the word “American” comes up, the first thing she would classify with is the diversity of people. Also the butterfly she has been encountering with is a meaning of identity.
September 11th acts as a means to fuel the labelling placed on those who were not “American citizens.” In joining the line for “foreigners” at immigration, no longer does Changez feel like a “New Yorker.” From the very beginning of the novel, there is immediately the implied sense that there has perhaps been a previous encounter between Changez and the American, not directly however possibly in the sense of their countries. n Changez’ first meeting the American encouraging him to “not be frightened of [his] beard,” then reassuring him that he is, in fact “a lover of America.”The description, in which Changez portrays the American, is one of a “sportsmen” or “soldier.” His “short-cropped” hair and his “expansive chest” all contributing to Changez thoughts. Immediately Changez is placing a label on the American, that all Americans in the Middle East must be undercover
Changez states: “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 “The Reluctant Fundamentalist”, the central character, Changez, experiences many identity alterations throughout the novel by the use of dramatic and allegorical events to present how Changez’s identity changes. There are many happenings that are conflicting upon Changez’ identity, and confuse who he wants to be. America’s stereotyping and values were the major factor when Changez attended Princeton, where he stated that he is “something special”, which subsequently catalyzed his attempts to adapt his identity to the lifestyle of a typical young ‘New Yorker’. However, Changez’s career, love life, culture and heritage were also involved in his identity alteration.
The Reluctant Fundamentalist “I was a modern-day janissary, a servant of the American Empire.” To whom is Changez loyal in the novel? Loyalty is a concept that is often overlooked. Set in post-September 11 at a time when countries were controlled by a climate of fear, and paranoia ran amok in the streets, author Mohsin Hamid brings to us a tale of patriotism, loyalty and as a result, betrayal. The Reluctant Fundamentalist refers to the protagonist Changez, whose name loosely translates to change. Despite his eagerness and desire to form connections with others, Changez ultimately struggles with the concept of loyalty.
We do not have a homogeneous identity but that instead we have several contradictory selves.’ (p. xv) I will argue that these multiple identities are demonstrated in both White Noise ( ) by DeLillo as DeLillo’s characters have to change and adapt their identities in the face of danger during the Holocaust, and The Complete Maus ( ) by Spiegelman when Jack has to change his name to be taken seriously in his academic career and also because media and technology are shown to have an effect on characters thoughts and insecurities. This essay will also consider how ‘signifiers of culture’ are used to establish characters identity through stereotypes and representation, and I will demonstrate how the texts are a means for both Spiegelman and DeLillo to develop and construct their own insecurities of identity. Both authors use ‘signifiers of culture’ to explore identity. For example in White Noise, as the head of his department, Jack wears a gown, so when Eric Massingale see’s him off campus he says “I’ve never seen you off campus, Jack. You look different without your glasses and gown .
Like the novel’s narrator, not everything in Moshin Hamid’s The Reluctant Fundamentalist is as it appears on the surface. It is the story of one man’s journey to self discovery and the need for acceptance, but set during the immediate years proceeding and succeeding 9/11, it becomes a novel that confronts the reader’s own assumptions about Islamic countries, Islamic people and the United States role in the world. Changez is Hamid’s conduct to explore the complexities of East-West relations and it is through his relationships with characters (or perhaps caricatures) such as Erica, Jim and Wainwright that the reader comes to realise their own perceptions of Changez are governed by their own beliefs about the nature of fundamentalism. The title itself invites an immediate questions: to what extent is this “lover of America” actually reluctant? The immediate assumption of Western reader is to see Changez as some sort of terrorist sympathizer.
Even though Val has relationships with the major female characters in the play, these connections are meaningless to him. Val is very friendly with Vee. He helps her when she cannot see but then goes a little too far. When Vee first introduces Val to the people at the store, he has full intentions of being good. She says, “Mr.