The Reluctant Fundamentalist
The Reluctant Fundamentalist was a book that I was very much looking forward to reading. It is one that my dad spoke about continuously, saying that it’s one of the best books he’d ever read and when I told him that I’d be studying it in my ASTU class, he was overjoyed. The copy of the book I’ve using is my dad’s and was given to him in 2010. There’s a review on the back cover by the Washington Post, which reads, “Some books are acts of courage. Hamid has done something extraordinary with this novel.” I’m not sure what Hamid’s religious beliefs are but a Pakistani, supposedly Muslim man writing a novel about 9/11 in the way in which he did I’m sure caused a lot of controversy; especially the ending of the book. The idea of the man “reaching into his jacket” and Changez seeing the “glint of metal”. As we discussed in class today, this ending can be interpreted in many different ways. Did Changez kill the American man? Did the American man kill Changez? Did they both exchange business cards and part their ways in peace? I feel as though during the time in which this book was written, those who interpreted the ending as the American being killed by Changez would read this book as though it were anti-American, which I don’t think it is at all.
Hamid does a very good job at portraying what life was like as a Pakistani or a Muslim in the United States after 9/11. This amazing country that Changez came to from Pakistan to start a new life, to attend the school of his dreams had turned its back on him. I understand what it’s like to go to a new country after being in Pakistan for a long time. My most vivid memory of leaving Pakistan was when I was nine years old and my family decided to spend a few days in Singapore. I remember as a little kid looking around and thinking I was in heaven. Of course Singapore and the United States are two very different countries but the feeling of being in this new environment completely different from Pakistan was mutual.
It wasn’t fair the way Changez was treated, it wasn’t fair how all Muslims were treated in the United States and as sad as it is, things haven’t fully changed even now.