Summary and Analysis-1 Relucant F

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The Reluctant Fundamentalist

Overview
Author Mohsin Hamid
Year Published 2007
Type Novel
Genre Fiction
Perspective and Narrator

The novel is written in the first person from the perspective of the main character,
Changez.
Tense
The story is told in the past tense when the narrator recounts events in his past life.
The narrator then shifts into the present tense, in the frame story, when speaking
directly to his American dinner guest.
About the Title
The title refers to the two types of fundamentalism—religious and market, or
capitalist—with which the main character engages and believes in for a time. He is
ambivalent about fully embracing either type of fundamentalism and, therefore, is
reluctant to be identified with either rigid belief system.
The Reluctant Fundamentalist | Characters
Character Description
Changez is a young Pakistani man living in New York City who begins to embrace
Changez
his Pakistani roots and resent America.
The American is a mysterious man who has tea and dinner with Changez in a
The American
restaurant in Lahore, Pakistan.
Erica is a wealthy, young American woman, a Princeton graduate, who is unhinged

Erica
by the death of her boyfriend.
Jim is a high-level executive at Underwood Samson, the New York financial firm
Jim
where Changez works.
Wainwright Wainwright is Changez's coworker at Underwood Samson.
The waiter The waiter is a large, bearded man working in a restaurant in Lahore.
Changez's brother lives in Lahore and warns Changez of a possible war with India,
Changez's brother
backed by the United States.
Changez's father Changez's father lives in Lahore and fears an imminent war with India.
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Changez's mother lives in Lahore and tries to convince Changez to get married and
Changez's mother
settle down.
Chris Chris is Erica's old-fashioned, deceased lover, for whom she continues to yearn.
Chuck Chuck is a wealthy student and Changez's friend at Princeton University.
Erica's father Erica's rich father is critical of Pakistan, though he knows little about it.
Erica's mother Erica's mother is a quiet woman who appears to like Changez.
The jeepney-driver glares contemptuously at Changez when they pass on the road in
Jeepney-driver
Pakistan.
Juan-Bautista is a business owner in Chile who imparts good advice and wisdom to
Juan-Bautista
Changez.
Mike is a Princeton graduate who tries but fails to get Erica to be his girlfriend while
Mike
they're vacationing in Greece with other Princetonians.
The nurse The nurse at the clinic helps Changez understand Erica's mental illness.
Sherman Sherman is a high-level executive at Underwood Samson in New York City.
The Reluctant Fundamentalist | Plot Summary
Summary
Encounter and Opportunity
Changez, a young, bearded Pakistani man approaches an American man in Lahore,
Pakistan, and invites him to a restaurant for tea and dinner. Changez tells the
American about his life. He comes from a once-rich but now struggling Pakistani
family. Thanks to his intelligence and hard work, he is awarded a full scholarship to
Princeton University. After graduation, he goes on vacation to Greece with fellow
students and falls in love with a woman named Erica. He forms a relationship with her
back in New York, where he lands a lucrative job at a prestigious financial firm.
Changez is delighted to begin living the American Dream.
The High Life
With Erica as a guide, Changez gains entry to hip, exclusive New York nightlife.
However, he is somewhat disturbed because Erica is often withdrawn, stuck
somewhere deep inside her mind. Eventually, Changez learns that Erica is nostalgic
for her deceased boyfriend, Chris, with whom she says she shared her identity as if
they were merged into each other as one person. Meanwhile, Changez is doing
brilliantly at work. His supervisor, Jim, who is also from a poor family, takes
Changez under his wing. He gives Changez an assignment to assess the value of a
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firm in the Philippines. Changez does his job well but is disturbed when he's riding in
a limousine and a bus driver gives him a hostile look as if he has betrayed his
Pakistani values and identity. Just before leaving Manila, Changez watches the
September 11 attack on the World Trade Center on television. He's surprised he feels
pleased that the United States has gotten what it deserves.
The Dream Shatters
Back in New York, Changez experiences racism from those who fear him because
he's a Muslim, and he begins to question his identity. Is he really a high-flying
American financier or is his true identity that of an ordinary Pakistani man? Changez's
confusion over his identity is made worse by Erica sinking even deeper into herself.
She can have sex with Changez only when he tells her to pretend he's Chris, her
deceased boyfriend. The pretense does not bring them closer, and Changez is
disturbed by his willingness to take on the identity of a dead white man to please her.
As negative sentiment toward Pakistanis grows in New York, Changez flies back to
Lahore to see his family. It takes him time to reacclimate to the city and his identity as
a Pakistani. Upon returning to New York he finds that he is indifferent to his job. Yet
Jim sends him on assignment to evaluate a book-publishing firm in Chile. The head of
the publishing house, Juan-Bautista, tells Changez that his job makes him like a
janissary, a man who's been trained to destroy his own people and culture. When
Changez realizes that Juan-Bautista is right, he begins to embrace his Pakistani
identity and to reject his American ways.
The now full-bearded Changez has had enough of America and finance. He quits his
job and returns to Lahore to live. He comes to fiercely resent America, which uses its
financial and military power to impose its will on the world's weak nations. He
actively demonstrates against American power but claims he does not promote the use
of violence among protesters. Throughout the dinner with the American in Lahore, the
atmosphere becomes increasingly tense. The American fears the bearded restaurant
waiter, and there are hints he fears Changez as well. The tension and paranoia mount,
but in the end it's still unclear who the American is and if there will be a violent
confrontation between him and Changez or the waiter.
The Reluctant Fundamentalist | Chapter 1 | Summary
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Summary
Bearded, polite, and formal, Changez accosts a strange man he identifies as an
American on a street in an old part of Lahore, Pakistan. He asks the American if he
may be of assistance because he speaks perfect English and is "a lover of America."
Changez guides the American to a restaurant for tea and dinner. The American sits
against a wall so he can observe what's happening around him. Later, because he's
suspicious of the tea he's served and of the burly, bearded waiter, Changez switches
cups to reassure him.
Changez begins talking about his time at Princeton University, one of two Pakistanis
accepted and granted a scholarship to the university. Changez understands his
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acceptance into this prestigious American university meant he was "expected to

contribute [his] talents" to American society and notes "for the most part [he was]
happy to do so." At Princeton, Changez is chosen to interview for a job at Underwood
Samson, a top financial valuation firm in New York. Changez interrupts his
conversation to reassure the American that the bearded waiter is no threat to him.
Changez then recounts his second interview with Jim, an Underwood Samson
executive. The interview is intense and penetrating, and Changez is taken aback when
Jim makes him admit he's on scholarship, and therefore not wealthy. Jim is impressed
with Changez's ambition and Changez with Jim's perceptiveness. Jim offers Changez
a high-paying job as a financial evaluator.
Changez then tells the American his family history, explaining that they were once
rich professionals but lost most of their wealth in Pakistan's declining economy. His
family retains status and respectability but has been eclipsed by Pakistan's "rising
class of entrepreneurs." Changez's pedigree makes him behave "like a young prince"
at Princeton, keeping his part-time jobs secret.
Analysis
Changez identifies the stranger by his appearance, a type of stereotyping that others
will later impose on Changez. Although Changez says he loves America, his beard
identifies him as a traditional Muslim. Thus, his identity seems ambiguous to the
American, who feels threatened by bearded Pakistanis, like the waiter, and accounts
for his suspicions of Changez and his motives. For Americans, a Muslim man's beard
may represent Islamic terrorism. For Pakistani men, a beard may simply be an
expression of how a traditional Muslim man looks and has no connection to Islamic
fundamentalism. The American's discomfort with the beard may signify racism and
Islamophobia. The waiter's beard, therefore, intensifies the American's sense of
danger. Changez's dual identity and his recognition of Americans' stereotypical
reactions to a bearded Muslim is revealed when he switches teacups to ease the
American's fear of being poisoned.
Changez's being chosen as one of two Pakistanis to study at Princeton may indicate a
situation intended to reflect, as Changez implies it does, the illusory meritocracy of
the school and, by extension, of other U.S. institutions. A meritocracy is a system that
promotes people solely on the basis of their talent, intelligence, or other valued
characteristics. Thus, a meritocracy should be even-handed among all applicants. Yet
Changez's opinion, based on his experience there, shows it skewed to sustain the
dominance of native-born, white American students. He also understands that foreign
students granted entry into Princeton will use their education to benefit the U.S.
economy, not that of their native country. The ubiquity of illusory meritocracy will be
explored in other contexts later in the novel, such as in the firm at which Changez
works.
Underwood Samson is a prestigious financial firm, and as such it represents the

primary American value of the ruthless pursuit of money and wealth. Changez is
thrilled to have been offered a job with the firm because, at this point, he's intent on
making a fortune and living the American Dream, a social ideal of increasing material
prosperity achieved by ambition and hard work. His ambitions will be realized by
embracing the firm's western market fundamentalism, driven by financial profit and
nothing else. Jim is one of the few people in the story whom Changez trusts and with
whom he forms a personal connection. Because neither of them grew up rich, Jim
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shows Changez he understands his feelings, challenges, and background. Jim wants
Changez to succeed.
Changez's description of his family's declining fortunes touches on his nostalgia for
an earlier, more traditional time in Pakistan when professionals were highly valued.
That the traditional upper classes have been overtaken by the hungrier and more
ambitious new entrepreneurs seems to suggest that modern Pakistan has adopted
American financial values, where entrepreneurship and the greed associated with it
are highly valued and rewarded.
Summary
Changez begins telling the American about Erica, the woman he loved in America.
Changez meets Erica while on vacation in Greece with other Princeton students.
Changez is friends with Chuck, a wealthy Princeton student, but to the other students
in Greece Changez is "well-liked as an exotic acquaintance." Erica is beautiful and
pursued by many other male students. Even though she's aloof, Changez decides to
woo her. She sits with Changez at breakfast and admits she's "not good at being
alone" though she thinks Changez, on the other hand, would be. Changez tells her he
comes from a large family and thus values time alone. Erica is impressed, saying that
Changez "gives off [a] strong sense of home," making him "feel solid." This solidity
is something she rarely feels.
A few days later, the students go to the beach. Changez resents the insensitivity,
arrogance, and self-righteous privilege of the other students. Their rudeness toward
older adults upsets Changez's "traditional sense of deference to one's seniors." He
finds his fellow students "devoid of refinement," behaving "in the world as though
they were its ruling class."
Changez tries to get close to Erica but senses she exists "internally at a degree of
remove from those around her." While Changez relates this, he notes the American is
watching a man with a beard far longer than Changez's. Changez dismisses this man
as being "out of place" in that street and assures the American the man poses no
danger.
Changez returns to his narrative. On the island of Rhodes, he sees Erica swim topless.
When she invites him to swim, his embarrassment fades. Erica accepts Changez's
invitation to go for a drink. Back in the present, Changez muses aloud to the
American that being in Pakistan "heightens [a person's] sensitivity to the sight of a
woman's body" because "rules of propriety make [people] thirst for the improper."
Changez continues the story about meeting Erica in Greece. While Changez and Erica
drink, Erica reveals that her former boyfriend, Chris, died the previous year. She
describes him as having "an Old Worldappeal." When Changez briefly describes
Pakistan, Erica understands he misses it and adds, "I kind of miss home, too," her
home meaning Chris.
Later at dinner with the group, Changez jokes his dream is one day to "be the dictator
of an Islamic republic with nuclear capability." The students react with shocked
silence. Only Erica understands it's a joke and says her dream is to be a novelist. At
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the end of the vacation, Erica gives Changez her phone number in New York.
Changez is "well and truly smitten" and pictures his future life with her.
Changez's story is interrupted when the American's cell phone rings. But rather than
answer the call in front of Changez, the American texts his reply to keep his
communication secret. The incident increases the tension and suspicion between the
two men, though Changez remains as relaxed and polite as ever.
Analysis
Once again, the appearance of a bearded Pakistani makes the American nervous. To
the American, the beard represents Islamic fundamentalism, which encompasses
Islamic extremism and violence and which he seems to believe may be targeted
toward him. The American's anxiety can be explained by the fact that this
conversation takes place after the September 11 attack on the World Trade Center in
New York. Thus, to the American the beard represents a fundamentalist's desire to
engage in violent retribution against those, particularly Americans, who have
compromised or sullied and abused Islamic religion and values.
Mohsin Hamid may have chosen the name Erica, for it may make her a representative
of America ([Am]Erica), and Changez's infatuation with her might be compared to his
desire to achieve the American Dream. Erica tells Changez she's unable to be alone.
Hamid's choice of Erica's "fear of solitude" may relate to America's global imperial
ambitions: the nation is never satisfied and must control foreign territories or their
resources.
Erica likes Changez because he's solid, comes from a large and traditional family, and
is respectful, polite, and gives "people their space." Her deceased boyfriend, Chris,
seems also to have had traditional values. But with Chris gone, Erica is unable to find
that solid place within herself.
Erica recognizes that Changez misses Pakistan just as she misses Chris, whom she
calls "home." Both are filled with nostalgia for an impossible past—she for a dead
lover and he for an idyllic and irretrievable traditional Pakistani society. Yet
Changez's revelations about Erica also introduce the author's exploration of the
religious fundamentalist view of women's bodies. The author portrays this view as
improper or sinful because it only fixates Muslim males on the forbidden sight of
female skin. This view becomes more evident when Changez and Erica swim at the
beach in Greece and Changez can't take his eyes off Erica's body.
Changez notices his fellow students treat him as an exotic object rather than as a
person. They seem motivated by ingrained American racism, which prevents them
from accepting the full humanity of a dark-skinned foreigner—especially a Muslim.
The American students' suspicion of Changez, and likely all Pakistanis and Muslims,
is revealed by their shock at his joke about dreaming of being a dictator. Such a
reaction shows that, even in this pre-9/11 setting, on some deep level Americans
believe and fear that this ambition is common and legitimate for a Muslim man.
Back at the restaurant, the American texts on his phone possibly because he is
suspicious of Changez and doesn't want him to hear what he would say aloud. Or
perhaps the American doesn't want Changez to hear about his plan to murder
Changez, whom the American—perhaps an agent or assassin—believes is a terrorist.
It also raises important but unanswered questions about the identities of and the
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relationship between the two men. Is their meeting deliberate or accidental? What are
their motives and plans? The mystery and tension persist and grow throughout the
novel.
Summary
Changez notices the American gazing nervously around him as if he were unsure
whether those he sees are "predator or prey." Changez puts the American at ease by
agreeing that the walking crowds of old Lahore are like the crowded streets of
Manhattan. Changez says that similarity is one reason he felt at home in culturally and
ethnically diverse Manhattan.
Changez describes how, on his first day at work at Underwood Samson, he is awed by
the firm's large window. It affords a view of the city that represents "the achievements
of the most technologically advanced civilization" ever. Changez admits he also feels
resentful because thousands of years ago Pakistanis built the great Indus Valley
civilization, but no one remembers that. Modern Pakistani cities, he says, are
"unplanned" and "unsanitary," and considers this vast disparity shameful. However,
on his first day on the job, his "firm's impressive offices made [him] proud."
Sherman, one of the firm's vice presidents, tells the new hires that Underwood
Samson is a meritocracy, where they will be evaluated and ranked periodically. Of
Changez's fellow trainees, only Wainwright, a nonwhite person from the Caribbean, is
relaxed and makes jokes that only Changez seems to appreciate. In a role-playing
exercise, the group practices how to manipulate clients "to achieve [their] desired
outcome," and Changez admires this professionalism. He tells the American,
"Maximum return was the maxim to which we returned, time and again." This
principle makes Changez feel empowered as he adopts the employees' practice of
cheating on their expense accounts, which they use for personal expenses. All the
trainees display "a sense of confident self-satisfaction," but Wainwright warns
Changez to "beware the dark side." Changez takes Wainwright to a Pak-Punjab deli,
and the two become friends.
At an office party at Jim's mansion in the Hamptons, Jim says he understands
Changez is watchful because he "feels out of place." Back at the office at the end of
the training period, Jim tells Changez he's the top trainee. When Jim offers Changez
an assignment in the Philippines, Changez feels "bathed in a warm sense of
accomplishment." Clearly, Jim trusts Changez as much as Changez trusts him.
Changez has "the city at [his] feet," but he tells the American that all that would soon
change, as all things do.
Analysis
Tension mounts as the American remains nervous and distrustful of the Pakistanis
around him. Changez tries to make him relax him but correctly diagnoses his unease
as stemming from not knowing the identity and intentions of the Pakistanis he
stereotypes as sinister and dangerous. Like Changez in the United States, the
American feels as though he's being watched. Changez tries to build trust by
comparing the crowds of walkers in Lahore to those in New York.
Returning to his narrative, Changez reveals he adopts an American identity at his new
job, trying not to think of himself as Pakistani. Yet he seems to embrace his hybrid
identity. Proud of being part of Underwood Samson, he enjoys the firm's meritocracy
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and competitiveness. He's enthusiastic about role-playing a cutthroat capitalist and

praises the efficiency of doing business based solely on maximum return, or greed for
the greatest profit. What is starting to become noticeable is that Underwood Samson is
the epitome of western market fundamentalism—maximizing profit and accruing
wealth to the exclusion of everything else. It should also be noted that Underwood
Samson's initials—U.S.—likely correlate it and its values to those of the United
States—also U.S. Changez seems to have become an enthusiastic convert to market
fundamentalism.
At the party, Jim tells Changez he understands how he feels as an outsider because he
was once in the same situation, at least economically if not ethnically. Jim is happy to
offer a choice assignment to Changez, who is at the top of his trainee class. The
assignment reinforces Changez's delight at proving he belongs at Underwood Samson
and is more accomplished than his white counterparts.
Summary
The American notices the scar on Changez's arm, and Changez assures him it is the
result of an accident. When the colored lights go on, Changez agrees with the
American that they're gaudy, especially when compared to the city lights in New
York. Changez then recounts how he and Erica would explore Manhattan at night.
Changez is comfortable wearing an Indian kurta, a long, loose-fitting collarless shirt,
during these forays. He wears the kurta to meet Erica's parents at their penthouse
apartment, where he has "a peculiar feeling" and feels at home. Erica tells Changez
she's completed her short novel, or novella, but hesitates to send it to publishers
because parting with it will leave a gap in her life. Changez looks into Erica's eyes
and sees "something broken behind them," but he refrains from asking about it.
Changez meets Erica's parents on the terrace. Erica's mother is polite and approving
of him. Erica's father, busy at the grill, looks like a corporate executive. He asks
Changez if he drinks. Erica's father justifies his question by saying, "I had a Pakistani
working for me once ... Never drank." Changez assures him that he does drink.
Changez then addresses the American who seems confused by Changez drinking
liquor. Changez explains that many nonreligious Pakistanis drink liquor just as many
Americans smoke marijuana.
The dinner with Erica and her parents goes well until her father contradicts Changez's
statement that things are "quite good" in Pakistan. Her father says, "Economy's falling
apart, though, no? Corruption, dictatorship ... the elite has raped that place ... right?"
He continues, "And fundamentalism. You guys have got some serious problems with
fundamentalism." Changez is irritated by the man's stereotypical judgments, which
are based on secondhand reports, not actual experience. He also bristles at the
"typically American undercurrent of condescension." Yet he responds politely.
After dinner, Changez and Erica take a cab downtown to a hip art gallery. Changez
doesn't speak to the Pakistani cabdriver. Changez understands he's being granted entry
into "an insider's world" out of reach to most native New Yorkers. In the weeks that
follow, Erica takes Changez to other hip, high-class events. Although Changez notices
that Erica often seems withdrawn, he feels their "relationship [is] deepening." When
the pair picnic in Central Park, Changez recalls family picnics in Pakistan. Erica says
she used to picnic with Chris. Then she tells Changez she not only stopped picnicking
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after Chris died but also stopped speaking and eating, which made her very ill. As
Erica speaks of Chris, Changez understands more of "the crack inside her" soul.
Changez's story is interrupted when the lights in Lahore go out. The incident alarms
the American, who jumps to his feet in fear and thrusts his hand into his jacket.
Changez assures him that temporary blackouts are common and that he will not be
robbed in the darkness. When the lights go on again, Changez suggests the American
drink whiskey to calm his nerves.
Analysis
Several incidents make the American in Lahore fearful, tense, and suspicious
of Changez. He seems skeptical about Changez's scar being the result of an accident.
His fear of Changez manifests when, during the brief blackout, he reaches into his
jacket as if to pull out a gun in case Changez, or the waiter, tries to kill him. This
action foreshadows events to come. Readers may pick up on Changez's false
lightheartedness here as he reassures the American he won't be robbed during the
blackout. Changez's attitude creates not only tension or perhaps a false sense of
security but also may be part of an act to reassure the American, as more sinister
events are yet to come.
Changez is sometimes at ease with his hybrid identity, as when he feels completely
relaxed wearing a kurta in public in New York, which clearly identifies him as a
Pakistani. At other times, as when he refrains from speaking with the Pakistani
cabdriver, Changez feels uncomfortable displaying his Pakistani identity.
The American in Lahore very likely suspects Changez of being an Islamic

fundamentalist who has committed violence against the West. This suspicion may or
may not be accurate—and its ambiguity increases the tension and suspense that build
throughout the novel. However, Erica's father relates to Pakistan in just this way. He
thinks of Changez and Pakistan in stereotypical terms. He assumes, incorrectly, that
Changez doesn't drink liquor—that he's an orthodox fundamentalist Muslim. He
lectures Changez about the state of Pakistan, even though his judgments are largely
uninformed. It's important to note that Erica's father denigrates Pakistan not only for
its religious fundamentalists but also for its market fundamentalists—for the rich who
wallow in wealth while disregarding the poor. He adds that well-off Pakistanis most
likely have obtained a high standard of living by embracing western values or ideas of
economic progress, if not true market fundamentalism. Changez thinks of his family,
which, although not rich now, includes university graduates and high-powered
lawyers who accumulated wealth and live in an expensive district of Lahore. It's also
important to note that the disregard wealthy Pakistanis have for their impoverished
countrymen corresponds to the identical disregard promoted, even lauded, by market
fundamentalists in America. In his critique of Pakistan and its ills, Erica's
businessman father unwittingly condemns both market fundamentalism—as practiced
in the United States and to some extent in Pakistan—and Islamic fundamentalism.
Erica's father is blind to both types of fundamentalism that, he says, plague Pakistan,
as well as to the American origins of the market fundamentalism that oppresses
Pakistan's poor.
At several points in this chapter, Changez makes direct connections or comparisons
between western situations or objects and Pakistani ones. These connections may
reflect his confused or hybrid identity as both American and Pakistani. Or these
comparisons simply may reflect Changez's way of reassuring the American in Lahore,
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such as his comparison of the tacky Lahore lights with Manhattan's nighttime skyline.
When Changez likens Muslims drinking alcohol to Americans smoking marijuana,
he's likely trying to develop mutual trust between him and the American.
Changez, like Erica, becomes nostalgic. The Central Park picnic reminds Changez of
family picnics he used to enjoy in Pakistan. The picnic reminds Erica of her past
outings with Chris. Both Changez and Erica are, like many people, nostalgic for a past
that is out of reach.
Summary
Changez is excited by his work assignment in the Philippines. He briefly interrupts
his narrative to ask about the American's business, but the American refuses to be
drawn out. So Changez returns to his narrative and describes the city of Manila in the
Philippines with its armies of poor people surrounding the "walled enclaves for the
ultra-rich." As he sets to work in Manila, Changez "attempts to act and speak ... more
like an American" to gain the respect of the Filipinos. He becomes pushy and
arrogant, disrespecting even older men. He feels ashamed by his behavior but does
not show it.
Changez's job in Manila is "to value a recorded-music business." Changez and his
team work tirelessly analyzing the business and its profitability. Changez feels
"enormously powerful," for his team is "shaping the future," including the fate of
many of the firm's employees. Yet sometimes he feels lost and bewildered. He relates
an incident when he is riding in a limousine, and a jeepney, or ramshackle public bus,
pulls up alongside. The jeepney-driver glares at Changez with "undisguised hostility
in his expression." When Changez ponders the event, he wonders if the hostility arose
from resentment about his western appearance or from the falseness of his role. At
that moment Changez begins to feel closer to the jeepney-driver than to his
colleagues.
Jim flies to Manila to oversee the project and tells Changez, "Everyone's saying great
things about you." Jim tells Changez about his past life as a poor kid in America,
always on the outside looking in. Their sense of shared longing leads Jim to take
Changez under his wing. While at a bar with Jim, Changez feels that his
"Pakistaniness was invisible, cloaked by" his suit and expense account.
Changez pauses in his storytelling to warn the American that he won't like what he's
about to say next. While packing his bags on his last day in Manila, Changez watches
the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York. He tells the
American that the sight made him smile. This admission infuriates the American, but
Changez insists he's "not indifferent to the suffering of others." Changez explains he
was perplexed by his reaction to the atrocity. He says he smiled because he was not
thinking of the thousands killed in the attack but was "caught up in the symbolism ...
that someone had so visibly brought America to her knees." In Manila Changez hides
his confused reaction to 9/11 from his colleagues by "feigning the same shock and
anguish" they displayed.
At the Manila airport Changez is pulled into a room and strip-searched. As the last
passenger to board the airplane, he attracts worried looks from the other passengers.
At the airport in New York, he's placed in a line for foreigners and is again taken to a
room for questioning and inspection.
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Analysis
Two incidents in this chapter shake Changez's sense of identity. He has been trying
hard to embrace the identity of a true American, but the jeepney-driver's hostility and
Changez's reaction to the 9/11 attacks are significant turning points in his life. The
jeepney-driver's hostility and contempt for Changez, who has the appearance of an
American when he's with his colleagues in the limousine, likely arises from the
driver's recognition that Changez is playing a role, appearing to be someone he's not.
Changez seems to be denying his true identity, demonstrating that he thinks his real
Pakistani identity is inferior to his assumed American identity. By doing this,
Changez is showing contempt for himself, the jeepney-driver, and the residents of
Manila with whom he has a greater connection than he does with his upper-class
white colleagues. Changez ponders what the driver's hostile expression means.
Although he never reaches a definite conclusion, Changez realizes he has been acting
out a role.
However, Changez's true Pakistani identity overwhelms him when he watches the
September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York on television. His
smile and pleasure at seeing the attack is a reaction that confuses him. Only in
retrospect, when speaking with the American in Lahore, does Changez realize it was
not the deaths of Americans that pleased him but America's getting what it deserved.
He was pleased because he considered the attack an act of retribution, or justice, for
America's hubris—excessive pride—and imperialist actions in the world. This
momentous realization upends and begins to erode Changez's identity as an
American. He realizes he can't aspire to be an American when he gets satisfaction
from seeing America attacked publicly and violently. In many ways, the 9/11 attacks
on New York are an irreversible turning point for Changez, a shift in his perception of
himself and the United States that can never be altered. Slowly, his ambiguous
identity and loyalty will shift eastward.
After the 9/11 attacks, Changez is treated in such a way that he can no longer delude
himself into thinking he's indistinguishable from his white colleagues. He becomes an
alien, an outsider, the target of American racism at the airport, where he's humiliated,
and on the plane, where passengers look at him with distrust, suspicion, and fear. He
has become the stereotypical "Other" who can never again be viewed by white
Americans as one of them.
Summary
The American still refuses to divulge anything about himself, especially his purpose
for being in Lahore. Changez continues with his narrative, saying he reproached
himself in New York because the city was in mourning for the victims of the 9/11
attack. He admits his reaction to the atrocity as "uncharitable [and] inhumane." Yet
he's put off by what he sees as the aggressive, even threatening, symbols of American
patriotism on display everywhere. To Changez, the ubiquitous American flags seem
to boast of American superiority as well as warn others by identifying America as
"the mightiest civilization the world has ever known; you have slighted us; beware
our wrath."
Six weeks later when Changez returns from the Philippines and once again meets
with Erica, she tells him she has missed him. When her mother suggested leaving the
12

city after the attack, she stayed rather than be alone somewhere else. Changez notes,
"The attacks churned up old thoughts in [her] head." Erica cannot stop thinking about
Chris, who haunts her. But she tells Changez she's missed him, too. As they walk
through the city, Erica asks Changez to talk about Pakistan. Changez wonders how to
forge a deeper, more permanent relationship with Erica, but he feels Chris is a
constant rival for her affections. The pair walk to Changez's apartment, and Erica goes
upstairs with him. Erica thinks the apartment is perfect and falls asleep on Changez's
futon. He sleeps on the floor.
Changez's tale is interrupted when he buys jasmine flowers for the American from a
flower-seller who passes the restaurant where the pair are dining. The flowers' scent
reminds Changez of delicacies he ate in New York. He continues his story by relating
that he and Erica begin seeing each other regularly. As Erica's escort to hip and artsy
events, Changez becomes "presumptuous enough to think that this was how [his] life
was meant to be." Being with Erica "vouched for [his] worthiness." Changez reflects
that he was "entering in New York the very same social class that [his] family was
falling out of in Lahore." He feels immense satisfaction and happiness, though he
desires Erica immensely. When he observes Erica so often lost in her inner world, he
tries to protect her because he can see her "struggling against a current" pulling "her
within herself." Changez's being near Erica brings her out of her withdrawn state.
Changez hasn't even kissed Erica. But on the day she gleefully announces she's found
an agent for her novella, they drink champagne and go to Changez's flat, where Erica
strips down to a T-shirt and jeans. She pulls off her shirt to show Changez a bruise she
got doing Tae Kwon Do. Changez is mesmerized by Erica's body and touches the
bruise. The two begin kissing, and he undresses her. Erica seems withdrawn, but they
try to have sex until Changez realizes she's uncomfortable. She apologizes and
explains that Chris was the only man she ever had sex with. Since his death, her sex
drive has vanished. Changez asks Erica to talk about Chris. She tells him their love
had been "a commingling of identities" and "felt she had lost herself" when Chris
died. Changez relaxes Erica by talking about his youth in Pakistan. When they sleep,
Changez dreams of Pakistan.
Changez tells the American of his discomfort at the ubiquitous display of American
flags, even in cosmopolitan New York. Then he tells the American he's relating such
intimate details because "tonight, as I think we both understand, is a night of
some importance."
Analysis
The scent of jasmine evokes in Changez fond memories of his life in Lahore. He
explains that after Manila he reconnected with Erica. Once again at Erica's side,
Changez tries to merge with his assumed American identity. Yet the expensive,
sophisticated places he and Erica go to evoke nostalgia about how he had lived in
Lahore before his family lost their fortune. Erica's need to hear Changez talk about his
past life in Lahore further deepens his sense of nostalgia, but he reminisces to lift her
out of her torpor. Erica feels Changez is most alive, perhaps most true to his identity,
when he speaks about his past life in Pakistan. In regaling Erica with tales of his
youth, Changez is in thrall to nostalgia.
Nostalgia prevents Erica from having sex with Changez. Although she is the one who
initiates sex, she's unable to respond to Changez because she's haunted by Chris who,
though dead, seems to have taken over her life. Changez asks Erica to describe Chris
and, for the first time, she explains how she and Chris seemed to share a single
13

identity. Her nostalgia for her time with Chris is so overpowering it has robbed her of
both her sexuality and her identity. It seems Erica can live only in a state of nostalgia
because nothing aside from Chris can make her feel alive or connected to reality.
The signs of post-9/11 patriotism Changez sees everywhere in New York remind him
of American hubris in defining itself as the greatest civilization and the belief in its
own exceptionalism. He interprets American flags as boasts about U.S. military might
and the superiority of its civilization. It's disconcerting for him, therefore, to see so
many American flags in New York City. Changez interprets the flying of the
American flag as a symbol of intolerant patriotism—something he associates with less
sophisticated regions of the United States. He imagines such chauvinism as a source
of tension between tolerant, cosmopolitan New York and the rest of the country,
which he believes is less tolerant. Changez likely finds it unnerving that New York
City is displaying the same patriotic symbol as the rest of the nation. For Changez, the
omnipresent flags also seem to proclaim America's willingness to use its imperial
power to crush any country that would dare threaten its sovereignty or citizens.
Finally, Changez's remark to the American that they both know this is a night of great
significance increases the story's tension because the words seem sinister and because
no hint is given about the reason for the night's importance.
Summary
Changez tells the American that after 9/11 he lived in denial about how America was
changing around him and how these changes would affect "the new life [he] was
attempting to construct." Changez worries about his family in Lahore and naively
believes the United States will not attack the Pakistani Taliban. Yet Changez can't
ignore the stories he hears in the deli he frequents about Pakistani cabdrivers being
assaulted and the FBI raiding Pakistani homes, shops, and mosques. He tries to
convince himself that rumors of Pakistani men being detained are exaggerations and,
in any case, he is too American to be targeted for such treatment. He thinks such
abuse is unlikely to affect him as a Princeton graduate "earning eighty thousand
dollars a year."
Changez throws himself into his work, trying wholeheartedly to identify himself with
western market fundamentalism. Jim offers him an assignment valuating a cable
company in New Jersey. Changez's mandate is to "determine how much fat could be
cut," in other words to downsize the company primarily by firing employees. Some
furious workers sabotage Changez's work. Jim advises Changez not to let the hostility
bother him because over time "things always change." In the coming weeks, Changez
ponders Jim's words, but he's uncomfortable with "the idea that the place [he] came
from was condemned to atrophy." Instead, Changez focuses on his growing financial
assets and his promising future at Underwood Samson, even if it means destroying the
lives of older men who deserve respect. Wainwright sets him straight: "You're
working for the man, buddy ... focus on the fundamentals."
In mid-October 2001 the United States begins bombing Afghanistan. Changez cannot
watch the news because the war is depicted as a lopsided sporting event, with
America's 21st-century weapons crushing "the ill-equipped and ill-fed Afghan
tribesmen." When he inadvertently watches a night raid on the Taliban, Changez feels
a sudden kinship with the Afghans—fellow Muslims and Pakistan's neighbors. The
14

war makes Changez so furious he's awakened from his former state of denial about
how America is changing. His anger makes it difficult to concentrate on his work.
Changez meets Erica in a bar and is shocked at how diminished she looks. She is
trapped in her mind in a destructive cycle that "just feeds on itself." Changez is
horrified. Erica admits her condition is related to her dark, obsessive thoughts about
Chris. Changez persuades Erica to come home with him. They go to bed together, but
Erica is unresponsive. Changez initiates a turning point in his life when he tells Erica
to pretend he's Chris. He then becomes Chris for her. While making love as Chris,
Changez feels "transported to a world where [he] was Chris and she was with Chris."
After sex, Changez feels "both satiatedand ashamed." He wonders whether he has
diminished himself by "taking on the persona of another" and feels humiliated for
embodying his "dead rival." The American in the Lahore restaurant looks at Changez
with revulsion.
Analysis
At first, Changez tries to deny the reality of violence against his fellow Pakistanis.
Because of his good job and high salary, Changez clings to his identity as a highly
successful American which, he thinks, prevents him from being targeted. Racist
abuse, he believes, happens only to "the hapless poor." Changez even deludes himself
into believing the United States would not attack the Pakistani Taliban because
Pakistan is America's ally. But when he sees the attacks on television he understands
American hubris carries racism with it, even to faraway Pakistan.
Changez is disturbed by his work's effect on the cable company's employees and the
vandalism it inspires. Yet his greatest discomfort arises when he considers the fate of
these workers reflects the economic decline of his family and of Pakistan in general.
Earlier Changez might have identified as an American, but here his concern about
Pakistan shows he's identifying more as a Pakistani.
"Focus on the fundamentals," the verbally ironic motto the cutthroat capitalists
at Underwood Samson live by, boldly promotes the western market fundamentalism
that Changez has embraced in New York. Despite trying to immerse himself in his
work, in New Jersey Changez slowly awakens to the real consequences of this market
fundamentalism. He sees it as a serious counterweight to the Islamic fundamentalism
that Americans revile and fight. For a time, Changez distracts himself by immersing
himself in his identity as an American. But when he sees the bombing of Afghanistan,
he identifies more with his native region. Changez's anger frees him from self-
deception. Indeed, his anger is slowly transforming his identity, making it more
difficult for him to carry out his role as a western market fundamentalist. As his name
suggests, Changez is changing, moving closer to his traditional Pakistani identity.
Another key turning point in Changez's identity comes when he suggests to Erica that
he take on the role of Chris while making love to her. His initial impulse to do this
comes from his horror at Erica's declining mental and physical condition. Yet when
he has sex with Erica as Chris, the sex is amazingly satisfying. It's possible Chris's
name is a reference to Christopher Columbus, who "discovered" America or
([Am]Erica]. Afterward, Changez is confused about his identity and feels humiliated
by assuming the identity of Erica's dead, white boyfriend. He had done this to arouse
Erica, but the incident undermines Changez's sense of identity and contains hints of
American racism. This incident may also be seen as an allegory of America's spiraling
withdrawal into itself when it refuses to embrace nonwhites. These conclusions are
15

reinforced by the American's revulsion at Changez's story, revulsion inspired possibly

by the idea of a Pakistani pretending to be white—to be part of a race the American
considers superior to the one into which Changez was born.
Summary
The American is again wary of the Lahore waiter. Changez says the waiter has a hard
face because he comes from the rugged northwestern region of Pakistan. The waiter's
mutterings are not threatening incantations but the recitation of the menu. Changez
orders for them both.
Changez relates that he did not see Erica for a while until, one day, she gets in touch
with him and invites him to her parents' apartment. When Erica's mother answers the
door, she warns Changez in a frightened voice not to cause her daughter any
emotional distress. Changez enters Erica's room; she appears unkempt but not
seriously unstable. Yet when he asks about her novel, Erica becomes distraught. She
never returned her agent's calls. She says writing is no longer a refuge that helps her
release her inner emotional turmoil. Erica talks as if she's empty and her life is over.
Then she "recedes into her mind," ignoring Changez as if he were not there. Erica's
mother comes in and suggests Changez leave. Changez realizes he was only intruding
"on a conversation Erica was having with Chris," which didn't include him. He later
reflects that Erica was "disappearing into a powerful nostalgia."
Changez thinks that, like Erica, America is also "giving itself over to a dangerous
nostalgia" for some idyllic past that never existed. Changez's story is interrupted by a
phone call for the American. Changez notices these calls come every hour on the hour
like "an old church bell."
Only Underwood Samson is free of nostalgia, and Changez throws himself into his
work to escape the nation's unblinking fixation on the past. The financial firm is a
"bulwark" against this sentimental nostalgia because its focus is directed wholly
toward the future. Changez realizes he's become "better at the pursuit of
fundamentals" than ever before. He places his trust in things that are quantifiable
because numbers are reassuring in times of uncertainty. However, he notices that
"even at Underwood Samson [he] could not entirely escape the growing importance
of tribe." He describes an incident in New Jersey when he's accosted by a man whose
language he doesn't understand. The man approaches him menacingly but is pulled
away by another man. As he leaves, the first man turns back to Changez and curses
him for being an Arab—which Pakistanis are not. Changez becomes so angry he gets
a tire iron out of his car and must restrain himself from attacking the man with it. The
incident has a deep and lasting effect on Changez and his sense of identity.
One evening, Changez drives with Jim back to Jim's apartment in a trendy Manhattan
neighborhood. A brief conversation seems to indicate that Jim is gay. Jim then asks
Changez what's troubling him. "I'd say it's your Pakistani side," Jim says, though
Changez insists his family in Lahore is fine. Changez deflects Jim's questions because
he's heard about Muslims being fired from their jobs because of discrimination.
Changez does not want to lose his position at Underwood Samson, even
though Wainwright has told him that, post-9/11, an economic slowdown might mean
cutbacks at the firm.
16

At his December work review, Changez again ranks highest among his colleagues and
receives a generous bonus for his efforts. Although his mother and father tell him not
to return to Pakistan, Changez uses his bonus to buy a plane ticket to Lahore.
Once again, the American becomes paranoid about eating the food served to him at
the Lahore restaurant. Again, Changez offers to eat a bite from each dish to reassure
his dining companion.
Analysis
Changez bristles at the nostalgia that seems to surround him, from Erica's descent into
nostalgia for Chris to America's nostalgia for an idealized and simpler past. To
Changez, Erica's nostalgia seems like an inability to accept inevitable change,
especially death. American nostalgia seems more dangerous to Changez because it
appears to encompass a longing for a type of global dominance, invincibility, and
moral certainty that no longer exists. Changez wonders if this mythologized past bears
any relation to any era in America's history. What is clear to Changez is that the
always forward-looking America, so wedded to the idea of progress, is now looking
back to an imaginary past.
Changez wonders if this fictitious American past would have any place for someone
like him. He seems to intuit that racism in earlier American eras was far more
widespread and virulent than it is now. The 9/11 attacks seem to have caused
Americans to cling more to their (white) tribe than to any other part of their identity.
The confusing and verbally obscene attack on Changez epitomizes the new American
racism. The incident also reveals the depths of American ignorance when it comes to
people who are not of the (white) tribe, although the man who confronts Changez
speaks in a language Changez doesn't understand, his ethnicity is unknown.
Nevertheless, the disturbing incident shows that after 9/11, anyone who appears
Middle Eastern is immediately assumed to be an Arab—Arabs from Saudi Arabia
being the ones who carried out the 9/11 attack. Changez is infuriated not only by the
confrontation but also by the man's ignorance in calling him an Arab. It seems as if
it's only white people who unite in their whiteness and become tribal in their identity.
Yet white people fail to notice, or don't bother to learn about, the various ethnic and
cultural identities of nonwhites, particularly Middle Easterners. For whites, there is no
recognition of tribe—or nationality or religious differences—among Middle
Easterners. Changez is so disturbed because Pakistanis are not Arabs, nor are Iranians,
Turks, and other distinct peoples of the region. To Americans all Muslims are lumped
together in the category of Arab terrorists and, as such, open to ethnic attacks and
other forms of bigotry.
The ubiquity of racism and discrimination makes Changez reluctant to share his
feelings with Jim for fear that his concern for Pakistan, which might be construed as
disloyalty to America, might lead to his dismissal from Underwood Samson. If the
firm is laying off employees, it might fire its nonwhite foreign employees before
sacking its white ones.
Moreover, the racist attack Changez suffers, and others he's heard about earlier from
fellow Pakistanis, leads him to further reject his American identity. Perhaps he's
returning to Pakistan to escape this hostility, or he may want to discover how strong
his Pakistani identity truly is.
17

Finally, the American's paranoia continues. He's still fearful of the Pakistani waiter
and wonders if his food has been poisoned. When Changez notices the American
receives a phone call or message every hour on the dot, he seems to suspect the
"company" the American works for is, in fact, the U.S. military or another national
security agency. These ominous hints at the American's real purpose in Lahore add to
the tension as the story proceeds.
Summary
Changez encourages the American to eat with his fingers, as Pakistanis do. He says,
"There is great satisfaction to be had in touching one's prey." The American uses his
fingers to tear apart his meat "with considerable determination." As they eat, Changez
describes how poor and shabby Lahore seemed to him when he first arrived. Yet he
recognizes he'd been seeing the city as a "foreigner ... that particular type of entitled
and unsympathetic American" who'd so annoyed him earlier. As he becomes
accustomed to Pakistan, Changez begins to see it in a new light, one that reveals its
charm and grandeur. He resolves to observe and experience Lahore as a native
Pakistani. Yet he blames himself for his initial inability to appreciate Lahore because
it implied he "was a man lacking in substance."
Changez revels in Pakistani tradition, such as the affectionate touch of his brother and
his mother's traditional blessing. At dinner, however, talk centers on the threat of
imminent war with India. Pakistanis fear their larger, more powerful neighbor and
enemy. His family is bitter about America's betrayal of Pakistan, knowing Pakistan
assisted America in its war against Afghanistan. Now when Pakistan needs America's
help to defend itself, the United States turns its back on its ally.
Changez reproaches himself as disloyal for working in New York when his native
country is in jeopardy. He considers not returning to New York, but his family insists
he go. Changez's mother reminds him to shave before he leaves Lahore, but Changez
ignores the advice. On the plane Changez feels angry because he thinks Pakistan's
best and brightest abandon their native country when it's in danger. The thought fills
him with self-loathing. Back to the present in the Lahore restaurant, as he explains the
threat of war to his dining companion, Changez learns the American was active in the
U.S. military.
When he returns to work in New York, Changez retains his beard as "a symbol of
[his] identity," though it sets him apart from his colleagues. Changez no longer
seamlessly blends in at the office but becomes "a subject of whispers and stares."
Even Wainwright advises Changez to lose the beard, but Changez refuses. Still,
Wainwright warns Changez that the firm's tolerance is only skin deep, and the beard
may affect his future there. Still, instead of working, Changez spends time online
learning about America's repeated justifications for invading or waging war on
weaker countries.
Changez finally hears from Erica, whom he's been trying to contact for weeks. She
invites him to visit her at a clinic. Changez drives up to the clinic, and the nurse tells
him Erica is "in love with someone else," a dead boy whom she lives with in her
mind. In the nearby woods, Changez finds Erica gaunt but glowing "with something
not unlike the fervor of the devout." They joke and talk casually, and Erica says the
clinic is good for her now. Instead of writing, Erica says, she imagines. But she tells
18

Changez, "You were kind and true." Changez is disturbed by her use of the past tense.
He departs, furious at Erica's inability to let go of Chris and the past.
Back at the office, Changez is indifferent to his work, even negligent. Jim calls
Changez into his office and commiserates with his concern over Pakistan. Because he
believes Changez should be busy, he assigns him a valuation in Valparaiso, Chile,
where he'll be largely on his own.
At the restaurant in Lahore, Changez encourages the American to have dessert, as
even American soldiers eat sweets "before undertaking even the bloodiest of tasks."
Analysis
Changez's identity undergoes radical change during his visit to Pakistan. His feelings
of self-hatred are only somewhat mitigated by his determination to excise his
American identity and consciously bring forward his identity as a Pakistani. He's
ashamed that initially felt so critical of Lahore, and he thinks this feeling means he's
shallow—a man not solid enough to fully embody his true identity. Changez chastises
himself for this. He thinks it's a cowardly betrayal to be living and working in New
York when Pakistan may be on the brink of war. Identifying as a Pakistani does not
mean Changez is aligning himself with Muslim fundamentalism. What Changez
embraces are the warmth, values, and traditions of Pakistan. For him, at least at this
point, fundamentalism means immersing himself in Pakistani culture and appreciating
it as only a native can.
Changez's commitment to his Pakistani identity necessarily entails increasing
alienation from western market fundamentalism. For the first time, Changez is listless
and negligent at work. He seems to want to keep his lucrative position, but he can no
longer actively engage in promoting its soulless values. That Changez keeps his beard
at work shows he has forged an identity that deliberately separates him from the
financial herd. He doesn't care if his beard makes his colleagues distrustful because
they are the ones who think of the beard as representing a threat. For Changez, the
beard represents tradition and identity. The suspicion and ostracism of his coworkers
arise from the bigotry Changez's complexion and beard awaken in them.
Changez's final split with Erica mirrors his rejection of western market
fundamentalism. If Erica also represents America ([Am]Erica), then her living in a
misty, fictional past—and her inability to live in the real world—may be indicative of
America's determination to live in its collective mind, which is fixated on fanciful
notions of an ideal, mythical past. Erica's nostalgia for Chris cannot be sustained in
the real world, so she sinks into a make-believe world that has more meaning for her
than the modern world of real people. Post-9/11 America, too, finds more meaning in
its fictional past, and its nostalgia is what sustains its inflated self-image. Changez
upsets Erica more than anyone else because he's too real. Changez represents the real,
nonwhite citizens of the globe who must be acknowledged. Yet acknowledging and
accepting nonwhites bursts America's bubble of nostalgia and invulnerability, leaving
it "off balance." Erica is described as glowing with the fervor of a religious fanatic.
Erica's religion, the thing she lives for and within, is her nostalgia for Chris, whose
name may refer to Christianity or more likely Christopher Columbus. If the latter,
then it points to a supposedly glorious, heroic past. Yet the name may refer as well to
the genocidal destruction of Native Americans and the North American continent in
the name of so-called western progress and civilization. Thus, America, too, may be
equally attached to a nostalgia for a long-lost past, either historical or religious.
19

Changez feels he has betrayed Pakistan by living well in New York, while his native
country is threatened by war. He wonders what kind of man he is if he abandons his
nation in its time of need. Changez determines to rid himself of that shame by
showing his loyalty to his nation and his identity, as exemplified in keeping his beard
after returning to work. In contrast, America deliberately chooses to betray Pakistan in
its moment of peril. Instead of aiding its former ally, which shed blood for the United
States, America places its geopolitical interests—that is, potential benefits it might
derive from India—ahead of its moral obligation to honor loyalty. Changez wonders
how America gets away with imposing its will on the world when it so often betrays
those who support it. America's casual betrayals of its allies are just another example
of its hubris in taking what it wants from weaker nations.
The tension between Changez and the American is heightened by images of blood and
war. The American tears into his meat when Changez tells him to think of it as prey.
The American's admission of serving in the military makes his mysterious purpose in
Lahore seem more menacing. He eats dessert only after Changez reminds him that
American troops eat sweets before they go into battle to slaughter the enemy.
Summary
Changez notices that the bulge in the American's jacket looks like an armpit holster
for a gun, though he casually tells the American it might also be a travel wallet.
Resuming his story, Changez tells the American that on the flight to Chile his mind is
preoccupied with the India-Pakistan crisis, as well as with Erica's "illness of the
spirit." He blames himself for "failing to penetrate the membrane with which she
guarded her psyche" because he still longs for her.
In Valparaiso Changez meets Juan-Bautista, head of the publishing company being
valued by Underwood Samson. Juan-Bautista is old-fashioned, like Changez's
grandfather, and Changez likes him immediately. Juan-Bautista resents the valuators'
presence because he knows the ownership company will shut down the publishing
house if it isn't sufficiently profitable. Changez and an Underwood Samson vice
president are to begin their valuation, but Changez cannot concentrate on his work.
Changez spends his time online reading news about the India-Pakistan situation and
the American role in it. He is also distracted by the "sense of melancholy" that
pervades beautiful Valparaiso. It was once a thriving commercial city, but its former
glory has faded with its declining economy.
The vice president loses patience with Changez, who's done nothing to gather and
analyze the valuation data. Changez promises to work harder but doesn't. The vice
president resents Changez's slacking, and Changez resents his colleague's impersonal
immersion in his narrow world of finance. Changez realizes his own "blinders were
coming off ... broadening ... [his] arc of vision" far beyond his job and western market
fundamentalism.
Juan-Bautista tells Changez he seems lost. He suggests Changez visit the preserved
home of Chilean poet Pablo Neruda. Changez visits Neruda's home in a poor
neighborhood that reminds him of Lahore. As he wanders through Neruda's beautiful
home and gardens, Changez reflects on his relationship with Erica. He concludes that
being uncertain of where he belonged prevented him from helping her.
20

Changez understands his family depends on the money he sends them, yet he still
cannot concentrate on his job. His lassitude persists and grows, but he feels he's on the
verge of a momentous personal change. The final catalyst for this change occurs
during lunch with Juan-Bautista, who wonders if Changez is troubled because he
makes a living "by disrupting the lives of others." Then Juan-Bautista tells Changez
about the janissaries, "Christian boys ... captured by the Ottomans and trained to be
soldiers in a Muslim army." They fought "to erase their own civilization." The
American in Lahore seems to disbelieve Changez's story about the janissaries, but
Changez assures him it's true.
The history of the janissaries plunges Changez "into a deep bout of introspection," in
which he considers he has become "a modern-day janissary, a servant of the
American empire." Changez understands that Underwood Samson is an important part
of the American empire he has been serving.
The next morning, Changez quits his job, telling the vice president, "I am done here."
The vice president phones Jim, who urges Changez to stay and work for his friends
and the team. Changez understands his decision is a betrayal of Jim and the firm, but
he cannot change his mind. He boards a flight back to New York, knowing that
without a job he'll be forced to return to Pakistan.
Changez's meal with the American is finally over. It's so late that they are the only
remaining customers. The waiter watches the two men, and Changez notes, perhaps
ominously, that "there are no longer any other customers to divert [the waiter's]
attention."
Analysis
Changez has a crisis of identity and loyalty. He thinks he was unable to
help Erica because he didn't know where he belonged. The crisis consumes him, and
in Valparaiso he doesn't even pretend to work. He sees his work as not only alien but
disloyal to himself and his people. When he says he's quitting, he admits to being
disloyal to Jim and Underwood Samson, but he knows in quitting he's being loyal to
his genuine identity, to his family, and to Pakistan. Changez is also obsessed with the
lack of American loyalty to Pakistan, its ally, and sees it as a betrayal of his native
country.
Changez is moving inexorably away from his American self and toward his Pakistani
identity. The catalyst that pushes Changez to embrace his Pakistani identity is Juan-
Bautista's story of the janissaries. Like Changez in America, the janissaries were
trained by an enemy to destroy their own people. Changez recognizes the janissary in
himself and considers himself a traitor. He submitted to becoming a western market
fundamentalist in America, but he now recognizes his work destroys not only
Pakistanis but ordinary, good people like Juan-Bautista. This realization shatters
Changez's western identity. His only recourse is to quit his job and return to his
homeland as a man who is secure in identifying himself as the Pakistani he is and
always has been.
Changez's assignment in Valparaiso requires him to carry out one of the worst aspects
of western market fundamentalism—downsizing, or shuttering a business to increase
corporate profits. His assignment dovetails perfectly with Juan-Bautista's description
of the janissaries. Changez likes Juan-Bautista, so doing his job would destroy this
good man's life. Changez compares the fundamental values of tradition, of
21

humaneness, and connection to the cold, inhumane values of Underwood Samson and
market fundamentalism.
Summary
On his flight back to New York, Changez is morose, especially when he reflects on
America's arrogant role in world affairs. He recognizes the United States uses finance
as a primary means of exercising its power and thinks it right to stop participating in
American financial bullying. Changez determines to view the world "with an ex-
janissary gaze," from a broader, more inclusive perspective. At the airport he is again
singled out for inspection and interrogation because he is "of a suspect race."
By the next morning Changez is struck by "the enormity of what [he is] giving up."
How will he make money and help support his family? Won't he miss the excitement
of New York City? And what about Erica? After the breakup, he felt somehow
euphoric, but now he feels only regret.
Changez is in a state of shock as he takes the subway to Underwood Samson for the
last time. He's still confused about his decision to quit. He is expressionless as he
enters the "temple" of capitalism and, bookended by two security guards, packs the
personal belongings in his office. Then Jim summons him to say, "You really screwed
us, kid." Changez agrees and apologizes, then learns Jim has fired him. Yet Jim
understands Changez is going through a crisis, and he offers to help Changez if he
needs someone to talk to about what he's going through. Changez is moved but says
nothing. At the elevators Changez sees his colleagues are still suspicious and fearful
of him. Only Wainwright comes to say farewell. Changez feels "as though a world
had ended." Back in his apartment, he pours himself a stiff drink and calls his family.
When he tells them he's returning to live in Lahore, they try to dissuade him.
Changez doesn't know what to do about Erica. He emails her but his messages bounce
back. He drives to the clinic but is turned away without learning if Erica is still there.
When the nurse he spoke to before makes inquiries, Changez learns Erica is gone. She
"vanished about two weeks ago," the nurse says, shortly after Changez's last visit.
Changez learns that one day Erica wandered off alone, and her clothes were "found on
a rocky bluff overlooking the Hudson [River], neatly folded." Changez asks if she
killed herself, but the nurse replies, "They haven't recovered any remains ...
technically she's a missing person." Changez drives back to Manhattan to Erica's
parents' apartment. Erica's mother hasn't received any news of her daughter. Before
Changez leaves, Erica's mother gives him the manuscript of Erica's novella. Changez
waits a while before reading it. Instead of an autobiographical baring of her soul,
Erica's novella was a simple tale of a girl surviving on an island. "The narrative
shimmered with hope," Changez thinks, but he "could not locate Erica" in it.
Changez is "an incoherent and emotional madman" in the days before he departs for
Pakistan. He walks the streets of Manhattan, "flaunting [his] beard as a provocation,
craving conflict with anyone foolhardy enough to antagonize" him. No one insults
him except for the anti-Muslim rhetoric in the media, which infuriates him. He rages
at America's indifference to suffering and its sense of superiority acted out "on the
stage of the world." He realizes "such an America had to be stopped." Changez
resolves to do everything he can to stop America's trampling on the rest of the world.
In memory of Erica, Changez leaves his jacket on a curb at the airport. There is an
immediate security alert, which exasperates Changez.
22

When the American asks, Changez is amazed that his dining partner has no idea what
he's done to stop America. Changez says he'll tell about what he's done while walking
the American back to his hotel.
Analysis
On the plane back from Chile, Changez is obsessed by his rage against American
hubris and its use of power to control weaker countries. He realizes the American
financial system, as epitomized by Underwood Samson, is a tool of this insufferable
control. Changez sees his role in America has been to promote western market
fundamentalism. However, he's determined to reject this role. His Pakistani identity is
further reinforced by the increasing racism he sees around him in New York,
especially since he still has a beard, a symbol of violent Islamic fundamentalism to
Americans. Yet Changez is also aware of the opportunity and wealth he's giving up by
quitting his job. But his strong need to live out his Pakistani identity overwhelms all
other considerations. After being escorted out of his office building, Changez feels
relief at the finality and rightness of his decision to identify as a Pakistani.
Erica's descent into nostalgia has deranged her mind, and the evidence indicates she
most likely committed suicide. It's possible that even in her deep nostalgia, being in
the real world was too much for her. Or perhaps she thought that by killing herself
she'd be joining Chris in the afterworld of nostalgia she created in her mind. Erica's
death—in that she represents America, may indicate something about the decay of the
United States's power and its inability to accept the real—ethnically diverse—modern
world. The implication may be that America's determination to hold on to a mythical,
imaginary world of a nostalgic (white) past will lead to its ultimate undoing—if not to
its death, then to its growing impotence in the world.
Changez has repudiated western market fundamentalism. But his allegiance to radical
Muslim fundamentalism is more questionable. Later he will reveal he never advocated
violence and bloodshed in his efforts to stop America from trampling the weak
countries of the world. Yet it's important to remember that Changez is an unreliable
narrator because he's telling his story in a way that may be skewed to cast him in a
favorable light or for some other purpose. Changez's relationship to radical Islamic
fundamentalism remains ambiguous.
Summary
On their walk to the hotel, the American notices men following them. Changez tries to
reassure him, but the American is tense. Changez chatters about how sinister modern
plazas are in Lahore, "bounded by those narrow passageways into which one could
imagine being dragged against one's will."
Changez relates how his residual American identity and attachment to Erica prevent
him from completely assuming his Pakistani identity. He notes that it's hard "to
restore one's boundaries after they have been blurred and made permeable." Changez
says he's failed to find news or information about Erica.
Changez's mother wants him to uphold Pakistani tradition and get married. But he
resists, telling the American he still feels somewhat connected to Erica and hopes one
day she'll return. Changez turns to the American, who's startled by a sound. Changez
23

reassures him, but the American claims somebody is following them. Changez agrees
there are "a few figures ... in the gloom," who are likely just workers going home. The
American accuses Changez of giving these followers a signal to keep their distance,
but Changez denies this.
As the two approach the American's hotel, Changez says cryptically, "I ought to make
haste if I am to bring matters to a suitable conclusion." Changez talks about the threat
of conflict between India and Pakistan. Only the monsoon and negotiations prevented
war. Changez then states that America's national interests seem to lie in fighting the
"organized and politically motivated killing of civilians by killers not wearing the
uniforms of soldiers." America's focus on fighting terrorists makes the lives of
ordinary people in their vicinity worthless.
Meanwhile, Changez relates to the American that he's working as a university lecturer
in Lahore. On campus he advocates for Pakistan's disengagement from the United
States. Because he participates in demonstrations "for greater independence in
Pakistan's domestic and international affairs," Changez is labeled as anti-American.
His university office becomes a hub for anti-American students, some of whom may
advocate for violent protest. One radical student is arrested for planning to assassinate
an American aid worker. Changez claims no knowledge of this plot, but the university
warns Changez not to use its campus for political rallies. The American is shocked at
the planned assassination. Changez insists, "I am a believer in nonviolence ... save in
self-defense," a term he fails to define. "I am no ally of killers," he asserts.
Changez is furious when the would-be assassin is sent to a secret detention center. He
gives a television news interview implying that American agents in Pakistan were
behind the disappearance. The interview goes viral, which puts Changez's life in
danger. Ever since, Changez has felt paranoid, as though he's being watched. Yet he
claims he accepts whatever fate has in store for him.
The American repeatedly looks back over his shoulder. Changez tells him to relax,
but then admits that one of the men following them is the waiter. As Changez and the
American approach the hotel, Changez says, "Perhaps our waiter wants to say
goodbye ... Yes, he's waving at me to detain you." The American reaches into his
jacket, and Changez sees "a glint of metal." Changez guesses disingenuously that
perhaps the American is reaching for his business card because the two men "are now
bound by a certain shared intimacy."
Analysis
Distrust, paranoia, and the threat of violence pervade the interactions
between Changez and the American. In the guise of reassuring the American,
Changez seems intent on increasing his paranoia. On the walk toward the American's
hotel, Changez's conversation evokes fear and violence with his description of the
vacant plaza and his hollow assurances that the sinister men following them are
harmless.
The ambiguity of Changez's self-defense statement opens potential, but unstated,
outcomes to the novel. If Changez believes the American is there to kill him, killing
the American first could be justified as self-defense. If Changez identifies with
Pakistan, then America's pernicious interference in his native country might justify
killing the American in defense of Pakistan. Changez's possible reluctance to murder
in the latter case may arise from his exasperation with America's refusal to stay out of
24

Pakistan's business. Yet his statements about violence are so equivocal, they may or
may not refer to some bloody business in which he is or is not about to engage.
As the tension and threat of violence build, Changez repeatedly pronounces his hatred
of violence and bloodshed. Under these fraught conditions, his words seem to ring
hollow, a reminder that he's an unreliable narrator. Changez tells the American that
he's confident what he says about abhorring violence is true, but his self-confidence
somehow does not instill confidence in others, such as the American or the reader, nor
does it seem to have the conviction of truth. Changez claims no knowledge of the
would-be student assassin, but in his fury he broadcasts the boy's mistreatment to the
world, thus inciting retributive hatred and making himself a target for American
assassins. It's possible that what may be the very real threat against Changez's life has
radicalized him and led him to commit violence in self-defense.
Many of Changez's statements in this chapter seem ambiguous and may be deceptive
and self-serving. Here, more than in any other part of the novel, Changez's words
sound innocent and reassuring but have a powerful undercurrent of menace and
violence. Further, when Changez clearly sees the glint of a gun inside the American's
jacket, he tells the American the absurd lie that he thinks it's a business-card holder.
The reader cannot ignore the possibility that many of the things Changez says are
manufactured lies to calm the American so he can be primed for an attack. It also
must be considered that Changez has spoken to the American at such length only to
keep him out until the streets of Lahore are deserted and the American's murder can
be committed more efficaciously.
Changez's radicalization, if it exists, may have evolved after he gave up on

finding Erica. Once he has done so, his Pakistani identity is fully realized. The more
distant he becomes from her memory, the more he rejects his former American
identity. By the time he becomes a teacher, it seems Changez has shed all traces of his
American identity. He has repudiated nostalgia for real-world action against America
and, in a way, against his former self. Perhaps his being an ex-janissary has fueled his
outrage at America to the point at which embracing radicalism—with or without
violence—becomes inevitable. His deep understanding of western market
fundamentalism, which he teaches his students, also may have radicalized them. So
Changez may, in fact, be a radicalized Muslim rallying others to his cause.
The last lines of the novel seem to indicate that Changez has embraced violence,
whether in the name of anti-Americanism or in self-defense after he notices the
American's gun. Considering the possibility that the American is an agent sent to kill
Changez, it is unclear who commits violence in the end. It's left up to the reader to
decide who kills whom and to determine which character—the American or
Changez—is the real fundamentalist.
THE RELUCTANT FUNDAMENTALIST | ANALYSIS OF QUOTES
1.
They ... conduct[ed] themselves in the world as though they were its ruling class.
25

Changez, Chapter 2
Changez says this about the spoiled, rich American Princeton students vacationing in
Greece. Their behavior is emblematic of their innate sense of superiority, of American
exceptionalism and the arrogance that goes with it. Changez comes to correlate this
arrogance with American imperialism, the nation's sense that it has the right to do
what it wants to in the world's weak nations.
In this quote Changez reveals a type of disgust or outrage with the rich Americans'
sense of entitlement. Yet his behavior in Greece seems also to reveal his envy of their
privilege.
2.
I said I hoped ... to be the dictator of an Islamic republic with nuclear capability.
Changez, Chapter 2
Changez tells this joke when his fellow students are mocking their hopes for the
future. Of all the jokes told, only this joke elicits shock and fear in the students.
Clearly, they are frightened by Changez's statement because they're so invested in the
stereotype of the Pakistani/Muslim terrorist. They cannot free themselves from this
innate racism or Islamophobia. Educated as they are, they've internalized the West's
stereotype of a dark-skinned foreigner. Their bigotry prevents them from seeing the
joke, which they instead interpret as a threat.
3.
I suspected my Pakistaniness was invisible, cloaked by my suit, by my expense
account.
Changez, Chapter 5
In his early days at Underwood Samson, Changez wants to fit in with his white
coworkers—to be identified as a successful American. Here he is relying on the most
superficial appearances and perks of his job to try to convince himself that his true
identity is that of a white American financier. He deludes himself into believing that
the trappings of white "Americanness" make his true identity as a dark-skinned
Pakistani invisible to others, whom he believes would see him and treat him as one of
their own.
4.
I was pleased ... that someone had so visibly brought America to her knees.
Changez, Chapter 5
In this pivotal moment, Changez is surprised by the pleasure he gets from seeing the
terrorist attack on the World Trade Center. As he explains later, he hates violence and
bloodshed, so it's not the carnage that pleases him. He's pleased that a hubristic
America has gotten what it deserved. Its self-identity as untouchable and all-powerful
is shattered by the attack.
5.
She was disappearing into a powerful nostalgia ... only she could choose whether or
not to return.
26

Changez, Chapter 8
The meaning of this quote exposes Erica's descent into a destructive nostalgia for her
time with Chris. On a deeper level, if Erica stands for America [(Am)Erica], the
United States is being criticized for its post-9/11 nostalgia for a mythical past of
national whiteness and purity—a past that never existed.
The quote stresses that only America ([Am]Erica) can decide if it wants to cling to its
racist, fictional past or face up to the multiethnic realities of the modern world. Until
it chooses to pull itself out of its nostalgia, the American longing for a whites-only
nation will leave it stranded and weakened, dragged down by a delusion it refuses to
give up.
6.
I ... assure you ... everything I've told you ... [is] more or less as I have described.
Changez, Chapter 8
This quote underscores how unreliable a narrator Changez is. Although what he's just
told the American may be true, even Changez admits his story is only more or less
accurate.
Throughout the novel, Changez seems overly polite and considerate, patiently
enduring the American's obvious skepticism at what Changez is telling him. Here,
Changez addresses that skepticism directly by admitting that what he says may be
only partly true. This admission makes his entire tale questionable. It also makes the
reader wonder what Changez's purpose is in camouflaging the truth.
7.
[I shook] my head to dismiss any possibility that my loyalties could be so divided.
Changez, Chapter 8
Changez feels conflicted by opposing loyalties: Pakistani tradition or western market
fundamentalism. Changez cannot unburden himself to Jim without exposing his doubt
about America.
This quote occurs after 9/11, after Changez mimics Chris during sex and after his
encounter with the Manila jeepney-driver. It's clear that his desire to be a successful
American financier is at odds with his identity as a Pakistani. Changez's dual
identities and loyalties are fighting for dominance in his mind. Here, he's trying to
shake off his Pakistani loyalty and identity so he can be the western market
fundamentalist Jim wants him to be.
8.
[The beard] was, perhaps, a form of protest ... a symbol of my identity.
Changez, Chapter 9
After his visit to Lahore and his anger at the threat of war between India and Pakistan,
Changez decides to flaunt his Pakistani identity.
This quote reveals the motive for keeping his beard at work, a bastion of clean-cut
American whiteness. Changez is willing, even eager, to attract hostility from his
coworkers and the public because such attitudes confirm his assessment of Muslim
stereotyping. The beard symbolizes Changez's Pakistani identity but also signals the
27

threat of violence and provokes fear in Americans who assume all Muslim men with
beards are terrorists.
9.
You need to be careful. This whole corporate collegiality veneer only goes so deep.
Wainwright, Chapter 9
Wainwright understands Changez is growing his beard to provoke his colleagues and
to exhibit pride in his ethnicity. Yet Wainwright reminds Changez that although the
firm may have given him a good job, beneath the veneer of tolerance lies a core of
American racism.
Wainwright, who is also nonwhite, wants to keep his job. He warns Changez that he
risks losing his job because Underwood Samson will not tolerate such "non-
American" ethnic pride. The quote implies that, as in much of America, tolerance is a
facade barely hiding the intolerance at the core.
10.
I was a modern-day janissary, a servant of the American empire.
Changez, Chapter 10
Juan-Bautista's story about the janissaries opens Changez's eyes to how he's being
used by corporate America as a tool to serve corporate and American greed. As a
servant of western market fundamentalism, Changez has lost his soul and his identity.
When he fully realizes this, he gains the freedom to embrace his Pakistani identity. He
shuns his role as a servant laboring for the American dominance and returns to
Pakistan where he will serve no foreign master.
he Reluctant Fundamentalist | Symbols

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Beards
Beards—when worn by Pakistani or other Muslim men—symbolize Islamic
extremism and violence—in the eyes of Americans. To Americans, a bearded Muslim
embodies the Islamic fundamentalism bent on destroying the West. This is why the
sight of a bearded Muslim makes the American so nervous, even to the point of
paranoia.
The American, like other Westerners, cannot understand or accept that Islamic
tradition teaches that men should let their beards grow freely. Thus, western paranoia
arises from (perhaps willful) ignorance of Islam and seems to reinforce the
misapprehension that all bearded Muslims are terrorists.
For Changez, growing a beard represents his embrace of his Pakistani identity,
tradition, and culture. His beard is also an overt rejection of his life in New York and
of the American values he seemed to adopt when he was in the United States. It's also
a rejection of and a challenge to the western view of the beard as a sign of Islamic
radicalism.
Underwood Samson
28

Underwood Samson represents the most prized American value—getting rich at any
cost. That the prestigious New York firm pays its employees so well shows also that
Underwood Samson symbolizes the fast-track to the American Dream that such
wealth can buy. The company's operating principle, "focus on the fundamentals,"
reveals it as the embodiment of western market fundamentalism. The company's
initials, U.S., clearly reveal it's a stand-in for ruthlessly aggressive, materialist
American values.
Underwood Samson also reflects the hypocrisy of the meritocracy by which so many
U.S. institutions claim to live. Changez's excellent work for the company is initially
recognized and places him at the top of his cohort. Yet when he grows a beard, the
quality of Changez's work is no longer the meritocratic standard by which he's judged.
Racism and anti-Muslim sentiment at Underwood Samson, as at Princeton, override
merit.
Names
The author sometimes uses names as character or symbolic representations in the
novel. For example, Changez's name represents the changes he goes through. His
name (likely pronounced Chahn'-gehz), may derive from the French changer,
meaning "to change," indicating his changing identity. Erica's name makes her a
symbol of America ([Am]Erica) and its tendency toward either historical amnesia
about the role of the United States in the world or the nostalgia for a bygone age that
never truly existed. Erica is also wealthy and privileged, like America, but this
elevated financial status does not protect her from the underlying malaise that will
destroy her. Novelist and poet James Lasdun (b. 1958) writes that Erica's dead
boyfriend, Chris, "represent[s] the nation's fraught relationship with its moment of
European discovery and conquest" by Christopher Columbus. Thus, what America
(Am[Erica]) pines for may not be solely an idyllic and heroic past but also the lack of
new territories to conquer, dominate, and exploit.
The Reluctant Fundamentalist | Themes
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Two Types of Fundamentalism
When Westerners think of fundamentalism they usually think of Islamic
fundamentalism, often with terrorist tendencies. However, fundamentalism may take
other forms. What different types of fundamentalism have in common is their strict
adherence to the inerrancy, the absolute truth, of their belief or belief system. Just as
Islamic fundamentalists believe in the inerrancy of the Quran, the Islamic holy text, so
Christian fundamentalists believe in the inerrancy of the Bible. Yet all
fundamentalisms are not religious.
This novel portrays the American capitalist economic system as a type of

fundamentalism: market fundamentalism. Adherents to western market
fundamentalism fully believe in its capitalist principles and the necessity of free
markets to perfect the capitalist model. Market fundamentalism assigns value almost
exclusively to generating a profit by whatever means necessary, without considering
the potential consequences. Its fundamental value is money and, by extension, wealth.
Just as religious fundamentalists reject alterations to or nonorthodox interpretations of
their religious texts, market fundamentalists fight against any restrictions, such as
regulations or laws, that impinge on markets and reduce monetary returns.
29

In the novel Changez is torn between these two types of fundamentalism. He's not an
orthodox, let alone militant, religious fundamentalist, for his fundamentalism is more
closely related to Pakistani tradition and identity. However, his ambitions have
immersed him in a world governed by market fundamentalism. Various events in the
novel, such as the 9/11 attacks, bring Changez's identity as a Pakistani Muslim into
direct conflict with his role as a purveyor, or servant, of market fundamentalism. How
and why Changez resolves these conflicting fundamentalisms shape the novel.
American Hubris, Racism, and Suspicion

Hubris is the exaggerated sense of pride or self-importance. American hubris
manifests as the arrogant use of power to get others to do what benefits America. As
the novel progresses, Changez comes to understand, and revile, how American power
inflicts suffering on the world. The New York firm for which Changez
works, Underwood Samson, feels entitled to casually destroy companies around the
globe. Changez sees how the American military and U.S foreign policy are used to
promote American interests at the expense of people living in foreign countries.
Changez rebels against this presumptuous use of American power.
An outgrowth of American hubris is often overt racism. After the 9/11 attacks,
Changez becomes the victim of such behavior and suspicion. He can no longer
pretend that his Pakistani identity is invisible to white Americans. Because of his dark
skin and his beard, Changez is stereotyped as an Islamic terrorist, or at least an
untrustworthy Muslim. Judged by his foreign appearance, he learns it will forever
prevent him from being accepted as an American.
Nostalgia for Better Times

Nostalgia, in The Reluctant Fundamentalist, is the longing to live in an often mythical
and fictitious past. Such nostalgia is seductive, especially in troubled times such as the
post-9/11 era in the United States. America thought itself invulnerable, but the 9/11
attacks shattered that myth. Thus, the supposedly patriotic nostalgia for a simpler time
takes hold of the American psyche. Yet a key element of this nostalgia is the kind of
past that is longed for is one that denies diversity and is ruled by white people.
Naturally, this idyllic past never existed, but it must be grasped and believed as
strongly as the present must be denied as unacceptable, as un-American.
Erica is the embodiment of nostalgia in the novel. She lives in a past during which her
dead boyfriend, Chris, was alive. Her rejection of a present without Chris sends her
into a deepening, deranged, and downward spiral from which she cannot or will not
emerge and that very likely destroys her. Erica's name very possibly makes her a
symbol of America [(Am)Erica]. In this way she might be considered a stand-in for
America, and her destructive nostalgia perhaps mirrors the backward-looking stance
of post-9/11 America. The inference is that (Am)Erica cannot survive if it doesn't turn
its back on an unreal, idyllic past and face the future of a diverse modern world.

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The Reluctant Fundamentalist

Perspective and Narrator

The Reluctant Fundamentalist | Characters

Erica is a wealthy, young American woman, a Princeton graduate, who is unhinged

Wainwright Wainwright is Changez's coworker at Underwood Samson.

Chuck Chuck is a wealthy student and Changez's friend at Princeton University.

Sherman Sherman is a high-level executive at Underwood Samson in New York City.

The Reluctant Fundamentalist | Plot Summary

The Reluctant Fundamentalist | Chapter 1 | Summary

acceptance into this prestigious American university meant he was "expected to

Underwood Samson is a prestigious financial firm, and as such it represents the

The Reluctant Fundamentalist | Chapter 2 | Summary

The Reluctant Fundamentalist | Chapter 3 | Summary

and competitiveness. He's enthusiastic about role-playing a cutthroat capitalist and

The Reluctant Fundamentalist | Chapter 4 | Summary

The American in Lahore very likely suspects Changez of being an Islamic

The Reluctant Fundamentalist | Chapter 5 | Summary

The Reluctant Fundamentalist | Chapter 6 | Summary

The Reluctant Fundamentalist | Chapter 7 | Summary

reinforced by the American's revulsion at Changez's story, revulsion inspired possibly

The Reluctant Fundamentalist | Chapter 8 | Summary

The Reluctant Fundamentalist | Chapter 9 | Summary

The Reluctant Fundamentalist | Chapter 11 | Summary

The Reluctant Fundamentalist | Chapter 12 | Summary

Changez's radicalization, if it exists, may have evolved after he gave up on

THE RELUCTANT FUNDAMENTALIST | ANALYSIS OF QUOTES

he Reluctant Fundamentalist | Symbols

This novel portrays the American capitalist economic system as a type of

American Hubris, Racism, and Suspicion

Nostalgia for Better Times

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