The document provides biographical information about author Mohsin Hamid and summarizes his novel The Reluctant Fundamentalist. It discusses the main character Changez and his journey from Pakistan to America for college and career, where he initially embraces Western culture and values. However, after 9/11 he begins to question his identity and loyalties as he faces hostility and scrutiny. The document analyzes major themes in the novel like identity, nostalgia, passion, loyalty, and different types of fundamentalism.

1. Name :- Gohil Devangiba
Aniruddhsinh
Roll No. :- 14
Email Id :-
devangibagohil786@gmail.com
Paper No. :- 11 (The Postcolonial
Literature)
Topic :- Themes Of “The
Reluctant Fundamentalist”
Submitted To :- Department Of
English M.K.B.University

2. Mohsin Hamid
Born in 1971
He lived half his life, on and off, in
Lahore.
came back to go to Princeton
Worked for Mckinsley &
Company
Wrote first book "Moth Smoke“
6 awards for The reluctant Funda-
mentalist
including: The
Ambassador Book Award,Index on
citizenship T R
Fyvel Award

3. The Reluctant Fundamentalist
The title
reluctant fundamentalist
has no intention
to be as he is described
to be
a very traditional
person
(here: very religious)
Story: Dramatic monologue between
main character Changez and an American
stranger.
Tells his life story about his work at
Underwood Samson, Pakistan, his love
for America, Erica etc.
Many important questions and themes.

4. Identity
Defined as: Confident, smart and soft spoken
A poor immigrant from a colorful family
abandons his roots to dive head first into the
American Dream.
he only dream of his life is to live the life
of the Westerns at its high peak
College: Princeton
Foreigner vs Accepted
America: "Everything is possible“
9/11
“I Lacked a Stable core. I was not cwrtain
whre I belonged.” P.168

5. How does Changez view himself and others around him?

6. NOSTALGIA
Erica wants to return to her time with Chris - living in the past and cannot feel much for the
present.
Suggests she is not in touch with the 'real' world.‘
Think about how Erica says that Changez feels like home to her. She maybe means the past -
because he acts in a sort of old-fashioned way. Polite, respectful of elders etc.
Through Erica, nostalgia is shown as a kind of sickness of something unhealthy.
Erica cannot be in the real world. She ends up in an institution and eventually iy appears
she has taken her own life.
Changez feels nostalgia for what Pakistan used to be.
Valpairaso also looks back to a wonderful past.
Changez wants to return home to a place that fits his own values.
He no longer feels that he fits in in America. Doesn't feel that New York is as multi-cultural as
it was.
In the novel, nostalgia is presented as something that is not really healthy - that it causes
people to feel stuck in the past and they are not open to change.
Defined as: a sentimental longing or wistful affection for a period in the past.

7. PASSION
Changez arrives in the US with great
professional ambitions. And he accomplishes
much before the planes hit the World Trade
Center, a crisis that challenges his materialism,
leading him to step back from the many
passionate choices he's made, in his capitalist
career and his personal life.
Yes, he is humiliated by every type of law
enforcement. Customs officials, Police officers
arrest him for being the wrong man in the wrong
place at the wrong time. Now this is the time
when his passion gives him a lesson for life time.
In may ways he feels like an outsider when
with Americans, even when he is on holiday in
Greece. Everyone behaves differently to him,
after 9/11.
Defined as: passionate about living his life like an American. But......

8. Loyalty
Changez feels loyal to Underwood Samson at first but you can see when he no
longer cares.
Tension happens in the novel when there is conflict between his different
loyalties - America, Erica, Pakistan, Underwood Samson, Jim
This makes Changez question which sense of duty really matters to him; which
is the most important.
After 9/11 Changez becomes aware that he is questioning his own loyalties.
This can be seen in his growing lack of interest of concern for his work.
"America had to be stopped in the interest... of the rest of humanity," p. 190.
This quote shows how he feels that America is selfish and doesn't really care
about the interests of the rest of the world.
Loyalty is also connected to the idea of a sense of belonging and identity.

9. Fundamentalism
Fundamentalism is understood today as sticking to a basic set of principles
and often showing no tolerance for other views.
It is usually associated with religion - in The Reluctant Fundamentalist it refers
more to economic and cultural aspects of society.
With hardly any mention of religion, the novel seems to suggest that the US
is guilty of economic and political fundamentalism.
This economic fundamentalism is represented through Underwood Samson
and its narrow-minded focus on financial gain.
POLITICAL FUNDAMENTALISM
Changez implies that the US is guilty of political fundamentalism.
There is military language use in the novel such as 'dressed in battle fatigues'
(p. 43), 'the officer class of global business' (p. 74), 'the officers of the empire'
(p. 173).
Changez criticises American military presence in other countries but is also
critical of the fact that they are apparently friends of Pakistan, but nothing
when India is threatening, suggesting that America is only interested when
they have something to lose of gain.

10. Works cited
http://thereluctantfundamentalist.wikispaces.com/Chapter+summaries
http://www.tickingmind.com.au/uploads/40084/ufiles/The_Reluctant_Fundamenta
list__Study_Notes.pdf
www.wikipedia.com
http://www.antiessays.com/free-essays/225057.html