Monday, March 2, 2009

A Complex, and Intertwined Setting

It is necessary to comment on both settings of The Reluctant Fundamentalist. Those settings are Lahore and New York. Surprisingly, the two cities are very similar, and I'm sure this is something the author wanted to express so that his American audience would understand why the people from Pakistan think the way they do. Both places are very nationalistic and full of culture. Yes, the cultures do clash in many ways, but consider the constant bustle and people fighting for wealth. When you do thins, the similarities almost hit you in the face. Possibly the similarity between Changez's Lahore and New York is what keeps the young man in the US for so long (when his persona so clearly doesn't fit with the New Yorkers)? It is clear through the text that Changez finds both settings very beautiful and exciting. For different reasons however. He loves his home for the smells, familiarity and people and he loves New York for the individualism, Erica, work and hope for a better life. It is clear that Changez's love for all of these aspects tears him between the two cities, but by the end of the book, we see where his true "love" lies. I'm not surprised with Changez's choice, and I think the author was not meaning it to be a shock. In fact, I think the author was trying to tell us that we are very much influenced by where we are from, and we cannot change that. I think the author also wanted us as readers to understand that no place is the same, and you must take into consideration the differences between cultures to try and understand others.

8 comments:

  1. I have not finished the book yet, but I know what you mean about how the author makes it kind of obvious where his real heart lies. There is really no getting around the fact that the environment you grow up and where you live has a lot to do with your personality and how you perceive others. Do you think that Changez would still be very similar to the way he is in New york if he lived in Lahore his whole life?

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  2. I do think Changez would be similar to who he is had he not lived in New York. I think that he would have the same dramatic work ethic and would still be passionate about success in general. However, I don't believe Lahore would have given him as many opportunities to be as successful as he became in the US.

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  3. I agree with you Michaela. I think that Changez would still have most of the views he seems to have in the book, but his outlooks on life would be different. New York taught him what it was like to be in an American relationship. I think the idea of nationalism was set more firmly in his mind after the 911 terrorist attacks happened, and people started acting differently around him due to his race.

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  4. I agree with you Julie when you say that Changez's nationalism increased when 911 happened, but I believe that he would have been very connected to his country had this not happened. I think 911 was more of a reason to "dislike" the US, and the nationalism was a way for him to be categorized as a "hater". I think that the two can easily be connected, but I don't know if the initial feelings belong together? Possibly they just feed off of each other?

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  5. I definitely agree with you, Michaela, when you say that Changez would still be very connected to his country had 911 not happened. When reading the book, I just felt like he started missing home more (and obviously got worried about his family back home) and that he started to feel less like a New Yorker and more like a Pakistani man. I don't mean to say that he didn't feel like a Pakistani before, I just thought that after the attacks he seemed to feel more Pakistani than when he was feeling like a New Yorker.

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  6. I know what you mean, Julie. I think most of the reason he felt "more" Pakistani was because he wasn't being treated like an American. He was being treated like an outsider, which ultimately made his outlook more towards Lahore. New York seemed like a cover up almost. He kind of wanted to be associated with America and then after 911, he realized he would always be a Pakistani.

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  7. I think that when 9/11 happened, Changez may have started to question his identity. We've talked before about how sure of himself he is, and how he seems to know just who he wants to be and he understands himself, nut I think that 9/11 may have made this is harder for him. After the attacks, he had to make a choice; he could either identify with the Americans and forget his Pakistani past, continuing his life in America, or he could go back to his Pakistani identity and stand with his country. By choosing the latter, I think the understood that he felt that he would be racially profiled had he continued in the Americas, and he couldn't really identify with the people in New York anymore. So Margaret, when you say 'the reason he felt more Pakistani was because he wasn't being treated like an American,' I totally agree, and I think it shows how much 9/11 affected him.

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  8. I agree with all of you when you discuss the effects America has had on Changez. I think he would have had a totally different view on life and what it has to offer if he had lived in Lahore his whole life. The 9/11 attacks and New York City taught him many things about himself and his emotions. One of the biggest things, I think, New York taught Changez is that he belongs in Lahore with his family and fimiliar surroundings. Its hard enough to move from one city to the next, let alone move to a whole different cultural experience. Changez teaches readers that sometimes a drastic change, like the one he endured, is too hard to handle.

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