Sunday, March 15, 2009

Literary and Figurative Languange in The Reluctant Fundamentalist

Mr. Mosim Hamid is a wonderful writer, and it is apparent through his story of Changez. The author uses comparisons when explaining Changez's emotions. For example, on page 67, Changez admits, "I felt at that moment much closer to the Filipino driver than my collegue; I felt that I was play acting, when in reality I ought to be making my way home." Here were see straight into Changez's thoughts and it is necessary for us to understand the character. These bold and obvious statements keep the reader "in" the story. Also, the author keeps the American silent throughout the story, but we get a very general idea of what the American is like (thanks to Changez's comments). I think it is interesting that the American seems to be a generalized "American" instead of a specific being. It is like Mr. Mosim Hamid decided to change the roles of American (generally understood) and Pakistani (understood). In the book we understand Changez's views, but aren't as enlightened about the American's. You can see an example of Changez's explanation of the thoughts of the American on page 75, Changez asks, "Why do you flinch? Ah yes, the bats, they are circling rather low. You know you say?" Without such quotes, we wouldn't be able to see the mis-understood American.

9 comments:

  1. You make a good point. Hamid really portrays the American as just an American. We never really get to see any details about the American, but instead the American allows us to see further into Changez. When reading the book, I sometimes wanted to know what the American was thinking. I'm glad Hamid doesn't waste time on the American because it would really detract from the overall story.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Julie, I understand where you're coming from about how we don't see further into the American perspective, but maybe it's because Hamid assumed most readers would be Americans. I guess, his lack of description could mean the lack of importance in Americans in his perspective, but what if he really wants to allow us to make the conclusions of what Americans think. After all, we are American.

    ReplyDelete
  3. First of all, Michaela, I guess I never really realized exactly how much Hamid uses comparisons to tell the story. By having Changez compare everything in the US to something in Pakistan we learn so much about both Changez and Pakistan. Going back to what Margaret and Julie are talking about, I think maybe Hamid chose to make the American more mysterious and have us not know much about him so we could try to relate to him better. If indeed he did intend for the majority of readers to be American, this way we can pretend that we are the American and that we are being told this story.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Maya, I like how you put together all of our thoughts. I completely agree that the American is a mysterious character for a reason. When I was reading the book, I felt like Changez was telling me his story. When there would be 'dialogue' between him and the American, I almost felt I was in that conversation. It made the book very relatable, and very interesting.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Also, I think another reason he makes the American characters so vague is because he himself doesn't know everything about them. Because he's from Lahore, he is able to make inferences and stereotypes, but he hasn't lived in New York his whole life and maybe can't make those conclusions about Americans.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Maya, I didn't realize the importance of comparisons in the story either (until doing this post). I just think it's a wonderful way of getting a message across. It's clear and forces you to try and understand things with a deeper meaning. I think it's exciting when you read something and don't even realize that you are analyzing specific aspects (like comparisons). It takes a very good author (like Hamid) to accomplish such a task.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I agree with what Julie said about the book taking us into the conversation. It would be interesting to see Hamid try to do this from the American's perspective though. Would we get as into it, or would we be bored because it would feel like pretty much every other book we've read in our entire life.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Laura, with a mixture of both the American's standpoint and Changez's standpoint combined, I think the audience would be very intrigued. But I wonder if Hamid's goal was to make us a little irritated at the fact that the American wasn't heard? So, it's almost as if the American and Pakistani roles get reversed. The American is misunderstood as opposed to the Pakistani.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Luara that is a really interesting thought! I definently think the story would be less interesting if it had been written from the American perspective. I mean, I chose the book in the first place because I wanted to read a unique book that described a Pakistani man's experiences in America. So if the book had been written in a different perspective I might not have even choosen it!

    ReplyDelete