Throughout the book, The Reluctant Fundamentalist, by Mohsin Hamid, the narrator, who identifies himself as Changez, a Pakistani who also claims to be an American and even “a lover of America.” The book is about Changez, explaining his time spent living abroad in America, to a supposedly American stranger he met at a face, as a very well performed student at Princeton University, and later on, landing a job at Underwood Samson, where he is favoured by the executive vice president of the company, Jim. Changez also happens to meet Erica, a Western, American woman whom he fell in love with throughout this time in the US. The personification of an “American” that was adopted by Changez, continues to change like a rollercoaster throughout the story, which influenced him into making different, crucial decisions that led him to the current point of life.

At the beginning of the novel, Changez consistently reassures the stranger that he is not among the stereotypes of what Americans think of the people in Pakistan. Changez provided the information that he himself had spent four and a half years in the US, and that he is just as American as the person he is chatting with. He then continues to express his love and affection towards the US, and the specific places that produced his most favourable memories. He expresses his admiration and appreciation towards the company, Underwood Samsons (U.S.), as the company is metaphorically representing the United States. Mentioned earlier, Changez met Erica and had fallen in love with her, which was another representation of his fondness of America, as there is the name Erica in AmErica.  It is explained that as Changez continues the story, he gradually embodies and captures the identity of an American onto himself, and he continues to identify himself as an American throughout the majority of his story, until his business trip to the Philippines.

Before we begin his trip to the Philippines, I would like to establish the role of identity in Underwood Samsons according to Changez. The only non-white trainees in the company were Changez and his friend, Wainwright. Changez and Wainwright quickly became friends when they’re both trainees at Underwood Samsons. The fact that both Changez and Wainwright are not born Americans, indicates that the American identity and culture are things they have adapted to, after immigrating to the US.

Changez envied the Philippines when he arrived there, as the country was not a Western country, yet seems to be functioning better, and doing better economically, than Pakistan. The peak jealousy felt by Changez has influenced Changez into acting more of an “American”, which lacked respect and are more insistent, than his Pakistani self. In which, he earned the ultimate respect from the Filipino businessmen. Though soon after, he began feeling guilty of the personification that he had changed into. During his time in the Philippines, Changez began to question his own identity, or whether, if he is truly an American or not. Before Changez leaves the Philippines, he happens to catch the live event of 9/11. Initially, Changez reacted by smiling, which often would be rather offensive and unethical for anyone to react to terrorist attacks, but Changez continued on, elaborating that he also sympathize the ill and injured, however, he explained how he was thinking of what the terrorist attack symbolizes and how it is someone else attacking the US, rather than the other way around, which is usually the norm. His thoughts and feelings remained the same, until the thought of Erica, which was a representation of AmErica, came into his mind. Ever since the incident of 9/11, Changez has faced many humiliating, racial discrimination. Whether it be being forced to strip down and searched just because of his race, or being handcuffed and interrogated by the airport security in the US. Changez was continued to be disappointed, when he found out the Underwood Samsons team have gone first without him, making Changez travel back to Manhattan alone. Up to this point in the story, Changez’ respect and admiration towards the US and the “American” identity deteriorated and detested the spike in patriotism in the US as Changez was being treated unjustly. The unfair treatment had reached Changez’ breaking point, which swayed Changez into moving back to Pakistan, where he holds the identity of a Pakistani and won’t receive any prejudice treatment and discrimination against him. Changez was finally able to fully express who he is and, though still contained certain aspects of the American culture, can represent himself as a Pakistani.

Often, when people hear the words “Hero”, they refer to comic superheroes such as Superman, Spider-Man, and many more. It is what we’re often exposed to during our childhood, and we make connections with such comic figures as heroes. However, according to Google, the word hero is defined as “a person who is admired or idealized for courage, outstanding achievements, or noble qualities.” Though the definition applies for comic superheroes, it also applies to many other figures and varies through different perspectives and ideologies.

Heroes, though courageous, don’t always have to defeat or overthrow their opposition to be considered and seen as one. Similar to how the people who were participating in the resistance against the Shah Monarchy. Just like Siamak Jari and Mohsen Shakiba in the book, Persepolis. In page 47, they were shown as political prisoners who have finally been liberated. Throughout page 47-53, they were describing the pain and suffering they had to endure, and eventually survive, when they were being imprisoned, to Marji and her parents. Yet, through all the misery, they are still willing to stand for themselves and retaliate against the Shah Monarchy. They continued to refuse to bow down to the Shah whom they saw as a Non-colonial puppet. Such persistence can often be viewed as acts of heroism, particularly to those individuals who have similar opinions and views.

Unfortunately, not all people who are seen as heroes survive. Many of them brave figures sacrifice their lives, for the benefits of others who aren’t able to voice their opinions. It is even possible to have different perspectives on a specific individual. Pardisse Entezami’s dad, who has died as a fighter pilot, and didn’t return from the bombing of Baghdad on page 86 of the book, Persepolis. It is illustrated that, though Marji thought of Pardisse’s father as a “genuine hero” for his actions, Pardisse replied with “I wish he were alive and in jail rather than dead and a hero”, (Persepolis, Page 86) which showed that Pardisse’s view of heroism is different from Marji’s perspective. Another crucial evidence would be the Martyrs who have sacrificed their lives. In page 100-103, Marji and her parents were being told the stories of kids from poor areas being taken and recruited to the front line of the Iran military by Shahab, who was Marji’s cousin and was also deployed to the front. (Persepolis, Page 101) Shahab told them that those kids who are influenced and manipulated into the military often do not make it back alive. This can be seen as an act of heroism, especially with Satrapi’s choice of illustration, of how she decided the put the panel of the kids dying in an explosion, right above the panel where Marji and other kids are having fun at parties. It shows that the kids who are sacrificing their lives just so the kids illustrated under their panel can enjoy their lives while partying. This act of sacrificing their lives for the benefit of others can often be seen as an act of heroism.

When I visited the UBC Museum of Anthropology, I was overwhelmed by the amount of cultural history being displayed there. As I explored into the intriguing topic of Arts of Resistance: Politics and the Past of Latin America, I was astonished by how much stories can be told, from many different experiences, through historical art. It provides viewers with the history and politics of Mesoamerica. These folkloric arts also illustrates ideas to us viewers the social and political standpoint of traditional artworks. Traditional artworks produced by the Indigenous Latin Americans also gave historical events and background, while also serving the purpose to aid viewers and iconographers ideas of the society back in the days.

The Indigenous Latin Americans were being treated extremely poorly. Such as when the Salvadoran refugees were attempting to cross the border to flee and abandon their home, attempting to relocate to somewhere safe, due to the violence of the Salvadoran armed conflict back in their hometown. Though the refugees were unquestionably unarmed and have no intentions of violence, both the Salvadoran and Honduran military continued to experiment their new artilleries imported by the United States. Many refugees end up being held in the Honduran camps.

I was especially intrigued by the canvas that explained Centeotl, the Central Mexican maize goddess. It really made me reflect on the retaliation of the Oaxaca People when being controlled by the Asociación Popular del Pueblo de Oaxaca, or the APPO. It clearly infuriated the Oaxaca People when the police had begun shooting the teachers that were protesting peacefully against the insufficient funding for rural schools. Many of them retaliated by expressing their lack of fair treatment and absence of basic human rights through different forms of art. It gave the suppressed opportunities to express their emotions and thought process during the time of struggle. As the Museum of Anthropology has shown, the Oaxaca People specifically graffitied on colonial walls to send out a stronger, more meaningful message rather than just drawing and painting on bark paper. However, illustrating arts on bark paper are also a very popular way to depict messages among the artists.

The use of pre-Hispanic Iconography has been an effective way to represent the history and tell stories of social change throughout the Mesoamerican past. The artworks demonstrate significant creativity and setting a unique interpretation of the memories of the community. It offers viewers and iconographers information and verifications of the unjust treatment towards the Indigenous people in Latin America and how they attempted to resist the control.