The Reluctant Fundamentalist’s inability to inhabit any one given genre is perhaps its biggest hallmark. Through this oscillating lens, Hamid challenges his readers’ capacity for perspective, to consider the life-changing events and cultural alterations that came of 9/11 as though looking through a kaleidoscope. This is best exemplified by Hamid’s purposeful broadening of “otherness” as it applies to Changez during his trip to Greece in chapter two. For Changez’s classmates, his otherness is all encapsulating; they have no consideration for the particulars of his life, but only recognize that he is “exotic”. Simplifying Changez down to “exotic”, for which he is solely valued, in a book that focuses on the complexities and difficulties that come with his position in the world is meant to be a jarring, simple-minded contrast on behalf of his classmates. In Greece, Changez’s differences were constantly pointed out to him. While his classmate, Chuck, was doing an impression of him, Changez noted that “[his] mannerisms…were somewhat exaggerated” compared to Chuck’s other impressions of their classmates. Erica called his politeness “unusual”, and it can be argued that Erica, due to her “worldly” appearance in the form of her tae kwon do hobby and Chairman Mao shirt, that she likes Changez purely because of his differences—and perhaps because of his foreignness. Changez’s classmates view him as “other” on the basis of race and the different lived experience he had because of his race; however, Changez perceives his own differences on the basis of class. He is critical of the cushy lifestyle that his classmates got to have while simultaneously being without refinement, restraint, or respect. The only reason Changez was on the Greece trip in the first place was “thanks to [his] sign-on bonus from Underwood Samson”, as opposed relying on a trust fund. His classmates, of course, were unaware of Changez’s economic status, and I think Hamid did this on purpose so as to distill their treatment of him as a reflection of how they perceived him and his race. But the juxtaposition of these two defining factors is interesting to consider, especially when it relates to the overall theme of perspective in The Reluctant Fundamentalist.

References

Hamid, Mosin: The Reluctant Fundamentalist