PULSATIONS OF ESTRANGEMENT: DISLODGING FUNDAMENTALISM IN THE RELUCTANT FUNDAMENTALIST

Abstract

The paper will focus on the pulsations of estrangement in Mohsin Hamid’s The Reluctant Fundamentalist that the central character and narrator Changez goes through in America while working as an employee at Underwood Samson, a “valuation” firm and his subsequent return to his native Pakistan where he assumes what appears to be an ultra-nationalistic political stance. The Reluctant Fundamentalist offers an authoritative account by a self-styled insider of Muslim resentment of America and a seething commentary on America’s reputation in the non-western world. It is an act of courage that tells us things that no one wants to hear; a delicate meditation on the nature of perception and prejudice; and a deeply provocative, excellent addition to the burgeoning sub-genre of September 11 novels by South Asian writers. This paper will discuss how Changez offers a reversal of the concept of fundamentalism. The word fundamentalism is inextricably linked with Islam in Western discourse, but Changez uses it to refer to the economic fundamentalism of American culture; thereby disrupting the Western stereotypes of Muslims as religious fanatics. Fundamentalism is a socio-political way of life which deeply implicates personal identity. Focusing on the form of fundamentalism that seems to place the identity of an individual in question, this paper will show how Changez suffered from identity crisis when he becomes a political animal. By placing the events of 9/11 at the middle of Changez’s narrative, this paper will show the role of attacks in influencing his own distance from America and from his idea of American fundamentalism. The paper will also attempt to show how Changez became entangled in a web of terrorism and interpellated as suspected terrorist under the pretext of national security. This paper also explores how Changez’s critique of American corporate fundamentalism stems from his love of homeland.