Clash of Fundamentals: Mapping Cultural Stereotypes and Crevices of Violence in Hamid's the Reluctant Fundamentalist

Abstract

Violence in twenty first century remains one of the most ominous global phenomenons, which multiplies and mutates with rapidity that frustrates all attempts at interpretation, codification and containment. Although there is no dearth of violence in its most gruesome manifestation in every corner of the globe, what still continues to elude us is the insidious process of its genesis and its gradual evolution into a full blown conflict with its attendant horrors of death and devastation. Do we miss the early warning signs or simply choose to ignore it or perhaps are deluded enough by the repeated pattern of occurrence to deem it potentially harmless and hence normal. The creation of stereotypes, while making it easier to handle the deluge of information let loose by the very act of sharing the world with 'others' also create rigid categories and narrow fragmented world view. The interface of two different cultures in Hamid’s The Reluctant Fundamentalist with their sets of social, moral and economic value system is a site fraught with enormous conflict potential. Stress generated by extreme polarization and privileging of the fundamentals of each culture leads to creation of fissures along the cultural faultlines wide enough to engulf human beings into depth of existential despair and violence.