Sunday, March 15, 2009

Literary Element and Figurative Language

I think Mohsin Hamid is an excellent writer! He does a great job of keeping with Changez’s personal bias throughout the book but also incorporating other characters’ emotions and personalities. Changez may be the main character and the book may be based on the telling of his experiences in America, but because of his ability to describe little details, other characters are established who seem just as important and just as real as him. For example, even though the American never talks, the reader is still able to feel his emotions change as he sits with Changez in the cafĂ© in Lahore. Without the describing of the American, the reader would be missing out on a whole different perspective of Changez’s story. The mysterious American could be considered the “American” perspective and without this perspective Changez’s story wouldn’t seem as real. What I also like about Hamid’s writing style, is its easy diction. I think he made the decision to keep his language somewhat easy to comprehend so that the large amount of themes and lessons described in the book would not be missed. It is hard not to see the many ideas Hamid is trying to express through Changez’s story. Whether its nationalism, racism, love or the desire for wealth and power, all of these themes seem to jump out at you as you are reading of Changez’s experiences. So far, Hamid’s writing style has kept me reading, interested to find out what will happen next!

6 comments:

  1. I completely know where you're coming from Kyra! What I like most of all is his ability to describe the American so we become familiar with him, but leaves out the heavy details and emotions. The American is mysterious and is a necessary character to interact with Changez, but I feel the story would be completely different if the American had a big character to understand.

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  2. I like that the American isn't a big character to understand too Margaret. The author wrote this book to describe Changez (a Pakistani man traveling to America to fulfill his ambitions) and his experiences. The author did not write this book to describe an American, so why should the American have a big role? Well obviously he shouldn't and I think the author made a very wise decision when he decided to have the American be a somewhat simply character listening to someone else's experiences.

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  3. As I said in another post, Hamid's diction is very distinguished, and I really agree with what you said in your post. The simple language embodies Changez's character. He is a very educated man, but still he chooses to use language that all will understand. The character is most concerned about being understood, and really doesn't worry about showing off his stuff. I admire this characteristic.

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  4. I admire this characteristic too! I think we, as readers, wouldn't love Changez as much as we do, if we couldn't understand his story. His ability to express every little detail in a comprehendable manner makes it easy to truely feel his personality showing through the pages.

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  5. Kyra I like what you said about how the American shouldn't have a big role, because I completely agree. But do we really love Changez? Well I don't know about you, but for me he is just another human, with completely human characteristics. Yes he has his loveable moments, but he has many faults too and personally I think he would be an annoying person to know because of his competitive nature.

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  6. I don't know what everyone else thinks but I do really like Changez as a charcter! Yes he does make mistakes but I think his abilty to handle those difficult situations is what makes him an even more loveable character. While Im reading I don't even notice his competitive nature because I think his politeness and abilty to observe people's emotions overpowers that side of him. Changez has a very unique personality and that is why I like him so much as character.

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