The word identity can be made up of who you think you are and who people portray you as. The difficult part is constructing between the two aspects and creating an identity for yourself. One thing I’ve learned is that your identity can change and is never set in stone. My identity has changed due to my perspectives changing about the world. Identity and culture are two aspects that coincide with one another. I can’t speak for all, but I believe that most people’s identities have culture embedded in them. Culture is such a strong aspect but it can be ignored and put aside when it comes to someone’s identity.
Recently in my ASTU class, we were assigned to read the novel “The Reluctant Fundamentalist” by Mohsin Hamid. The novel portrays the story of a Pakistani man named Changez, telling his story about his time in America to an unnamed American stranger at a cafe in Lahore. Throughout the novel, we see Changez’s love for his friend Erica, his work life at Underwood Samson and his particularly see his identity crisis in his time in the US.
As I read the novel, my first thought was why would Changez tell his story to a stranger? However, as I read on, I realized that I had to look back at their first interaction with one another to understand why Changez acted the way he acted. I sensed that Changez told his story to the unnamed American to show him that not all people who are assumed to be Muslims are harmful. In my honest opinion, I was very intrigued in the beginning as I wanted to know Changez’s experience in the US. However, near the end of the book I was expecting a better ending as I wasn’t too impressed on how the book ended. I thought the ending was going to leave on closure, however to my surprise it left me on a cliff hanger which tricks your mind. With this cliff hanger ending, my mind went to many possibilities and questions of what could have happened between Changez and the American? Was the unnamed American really a secret agent sent to kill Changez ? Did Changez know he was secret agent and what was he was planning to do?
I was very intrigued in Changez’s perspective of his identity. The theme of identity was a key aspect in portraying the event of 9/11 and the reason behind why Changez decided to leave the US. Throughout the book, I felt that Changez had identity crisis as at certain times the US felt foreign but then familiar. Right at the start of book, Changez states that he is a “lover of America” ( Hamid,1). Through his time of being in the US, he identified himself as being from New York. He used phrases like “I need it now” towards people who were his senior which was seen like the American thing to do (Hamid,65). His persona changed as he had great pride from studying at Princeton and working at Underwood Samson as an analyst. The identity crisis is seen when he takes a company trip to Manila. His connection to the Filipino driver in the jeepney shows how he can put on this mask of being an American but deep down he is still a guy from Pakistan. The “third world sensibility” cannot be hidden and this makes him see his co-workers as foreign due to their appearance (Hamid,65).
His view of being an American are all blurred when 9/11 happens. This drastic event of 9/11 brings the outcome of fearing a culture and stereotyping. Security checks and frightened stares from passengers, made Changez feel “uncomfortable in [his] own face” when coming back to New York from Manila (Hamid,74). This represents the culture of fear as people have associated people who look Muslim with the word terrorism. I believe at that moment, Changez didn’t see himself as an American he portrayed himself to be, but saw himself as a Pakistani who was seen guilty. The most intriguing point that I found out was that the character was not Muslim but he was assumed to be one. I believe that one should not make the assumption based on a race that he or she is presumed as a threat.
Post 9/11, Changez’s views are altered as he decides to grow his beard amid his friend telling him to get rid of it. His beard symbolized his culture and shows that the connection wasn’t going to fade away. However, his tie to the US doesn’t fade away either as he still has subscription to the Princeton Weekly in Lahore. This attachment shows that Changez’s identity is made up with where he comes from but also the US as he doesn’t want to forget it. His relationship with Erica symbolizes his relationship with the US. He wants it, but can’t have it, and will never stop loving it. Another way of looking at this relationship is seeing how Erica is still drawn to her deceased boyfriend Chris, who is American. Her relationship with Changez goes through troubles which can be seen as cultural as her heart was still with he American. In a sense, it can be seen that Americans only choose Americans and the ties with people like Changez can be seen as complicated and insufficient.