The Reluctant Fundamentalist Sparknotes

Identity is not merely a phenotypic trait. There is a frequently blurred line between race and identity. Mohsin Hamid does exactly this in his work. For instance, the color of one’s skin and country of origin are not sound foundations in which to make judgments as race and identity are correlated, yet the formation of identity as a result of race is inaccurate. In addition to inappropriate and premature labeling on the basis of race and unfamiliarity, life as an outsider in a new land lends to actions conducted in solidarity influenced by uncomfortability, anger, loneliness, and resentment. Mohsin Hamid tells a quiet, yet eerily powerful story through his post-9/11 monologue, “The Reluctant Fundamentalist.” Introduced is the narrator, Changez;

Essentially, Changez asserts that assumptions are both impulsive and erroneous. Using commonly known stereotypes for both middle easterners and Americans through an international lense, he de-stigmatizes the pigmentation of one’s skin, garments, religion, language, and sole association of an individual with his or her home country’s political relations or controversial engagements. Throughout the book, Hamid leads readers to make assumptions, however, the underlying stance on racial stereotyping makes the novel a lesson applicable to any and all social interactions. Kwame Anthony Appiah, a London born professor; grew up in Ghana and leads a life in which illustrates the virtues of “rooted cosmopolitanism,” a term he uses to describe a lense in which we may view the world, illustrating the social challenges faced when determining whether or not to call someone black, white, or African American. In “Racial Identities”, Appiah argues the existence of racial identities, the labels people claim as an outcome of racial discrimination. He lends the idea that these racial labels have societal and psychosomatic

In choosing to personally identify with his ethnic background and race, he unlawfully seeks recognition from his American others as he rejects their norms. As he spends among his last nights in Manila, he turns on the TV to see planes crashing into the twin towers of New York’s World Trade Center and smiled. “Yes, despicable as it may sound, my initial reaction was to be pleased…I was caught up in the symbolism of it all, the fact that someone had so visibly brought America to her knees” (Hamid 72-73). Consistently choosing to blend his race with his identity makes for a lengthy story of intrapersonal confliction as Changez relocates geographically. Blurring this line proves to stifle his personal growth, making him unable to connect with new places and people without first freeing himself from the societally molded infrastructure of race and racial stereotyping. For instance, his loyalty to Pakistan while in the U.S., claiming to be a New Yorker while in Manila, and his ever evolving ideas of the United States that is seemingly dependent upon fortune playing in his favor. His definition of a strict, narrow-minded definition of identity and complying accordingly places his character in a position that is seemingly exilic – marked by perpetual misplacement personally and