ENGLISH
The Influence on identity of Changez in the novel The Reluctant Fundamentalist
Changez is the novel’s protagonist and narrator. He is of Pakistani origin and
managed to graduate from the top of his class in Princeton. According to the novel,
unlike many of his colleges in Princeton, he had little finances and mainly relied
on aid so as to be able to finance his education. Additionally, he worked three off
college jobs, cooked his meals and mainly did his studies in the wee hours of the
day and night in his dormitory. He was a polite young man despite coming from a
family that previously had a high economic status.
This polite nature made it difficult to for him to fit in college and at most of the
time he was considered as an outsider. However, it worked to his advantage in the
co-operative world of Manhattan-based Underwood Company. Because he was always top
of his class, Jim the person that employs him shortly takes keen notice of him. The
notice is mainly because they shared the same education background at Princeton and
same economic background that was coupled with financial hardships (Hamid, 34).
The discussion that is advanced in his paper looks at the indecisive nature of the
protagonist and how this aspect has been affected by other characters in the novel
especially Jim and Juan. It opines that despite the fact that Changez has a high
level of education, much of his actions are deviated by the characters in the novel.
It is therefore difficult to identify his own standing in the main issues that the
writer tries to project through him. In this perspective, the author tries to show
that the influence of many factors put together like environment add to the
personality of an individual and direct the position taken.
The input of education is important in one’s life. The protagonist goes through a
high level of education but several instances indicate that the personality is
motivated by his previous environment. Ailing from a poor background, Changez is
forced to live in a society of the elite in order to receive an education. He has to
cook his own meals just to sustain his livelihood while receiving the education. The
identity that is being built here is resilience. He has to survive in a totally new
environment despite the fact that his previous environment does not fit this
lifestyle. Poverty forces him to come up with techniques to survive and in this case
he has to make do with the little he has. We are also informed of the cases in the
novel that he is footing much of his educational bills by aids. Regardless of the
fact that his schooling fees and survival in the collage are as a result of aids and
difficult moments, Changez still manages to pull through his education. One would be
perplexed by the fact that in the face of this difficulty, the individual Changez
still manages to graduate at the top of the class or within the highly qualified.
The influence of his previous environment as a poor Pakistani shapes his identity to
the readers as a resilient and hardworking individual. In this case, he has to work
hard and live a life that the priviledge in the society do since he is in a new
environment. He has no choice but to adapt the new lifestyle as a result of the
changes that the environment has imposed on him. If he had a choice, the decision
would be to study at his hometown or even fail to meet the high standards that
fellow graduates attained.
Apart from the environment as a force in shaping the identity of the protagonist,
other characters also show a significant input in the shaping of the identity of the
narrator. Erica is one person that shows us a side of narrator especially in
interpersonal relationships. In his vacation in Greece, Changez falls in love with
Erica. Erica was a fellow classmate at Princeton. In the episode that the two
individuals have sex, the narrator’s details show that the level of passion and
enjoyment is missing. He then purposefully sets out to make this a reality. At the
next similar episode, he is forced to act as Erica’s personal psychologist. All this
is aimed at both of their satisfaction in the end of the ordeal. As a person with a
financial background, the narrator is not in any way poised to give psychological
advice. One would argue that this position taken is paradoxical to the narrator’s
line of duty, but still he manages to pull it off effectively. The other characters
that build the personality of the narrator are Jim and Juan.
.
In character, Jim is an imposing man and takes a special interest in Changez among
his new hires. Once in a while, Changez would visit Jim’s apartment and would notice
several artworks of nude men. Additionally, he was not married, and clues of him
being homosexual were being noticed by Changez. The skills Jim had as a senior
valuer in Underwood helps him see through Changez easily. This is one of the
greatest influences of from Jim that Changez took after and used this skill on his
students at Lahore when he became a lecturer. Changez often referred to Jim as
having cold blue eyes that seemed judgmental in a sense portraying professionalism,
for example, like jeweler inspecting a diamond he/she is interested in. Changez
observed that Jim had the ability to pass judgment in a cool and professional way.
He did this by majorly not becoming emotionally involved, and Changez adopted this
as a key to being a professional valuer. In most instances throughout the novel, he
remains composed that the decisions taken by Jim would in the end favor him.
In (Slagle, 67) the importance of memories in deflecting the opinion of the persona
in work has been discussed. The implication of nostalgia on the decisions made by
individuals is still a crucial factor in developing a common ground to the several
personal judgments. In most individual judgments, the position adopted by a person
is as a result of the positive evaluation of the situation that the individual has
taken. In this case to make a judgment, Jim remains supportive of the general
Changez even in adverse situations to cope with the nostalgic positions that the two
have had in the past.
Underwood Samson is tasked with valuing the trading section of the business which
was currently staffing under qualified individuals for clients and was most likely
that the new owner would get rid of the entire section. Juan Bautista is not pleased
with this initiative and uses cunning kindness to get close to Changez.
Changez develops a liking for Juan Bautista because he resembles his grandfather. It
is through getting close with each other that Juan Bautista starts telling Changez
that he is like the Janissaries and directs him to Pablo Nerudo’s house. It is in
these activities the Juan Bautista urges Changez to become a revolutionary. This
similar instance still builds the position adopted earlier in the discussion that
the role of Juan and Jim are to build the personal identity of Changez. As
illustrated in the previous discussion, through these characters, Changez develops a
unique sense of trust, and it builds his confidence throughout the book. Therefore,
the role of nostalgia, and the main characters interaction with Jim and Juan are
meant to instill a level of confidence and trust that shape the identity of Changez
in the text.
Works cited
Hamid, Mohsin. The reluctant fundamentalist. Ernst Klett Sprachen, 2012.
Slagle, Amy. ” Nostalgia Without Memory”: A Case Study of American Converts to
Eastern
Orthodoxy in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. ProQuest, 2008.
1. Throughout this paper you do little to no work with the language of the novel
itself. Each of your main paragraphs should be presenting specific language from the
novel through selected quotations; you should then explain in detail how this
language shapes the ideas and themes you see emerging from the novel.
2. Right now, your paper is organized so that your own argument is less prominent
than your summaries of parts of the novel. You should begin your paper by stating
your claim about the novel (Changez lacks his own stable identity and is heavily
influenced by his environment), and each following paragraph should begin with a
more specific claim related to that central idea. Remember, your reader has already
read the novel, so he won’t be interested in simply hearing the story repeated;
rather, your reader wants to know what you think about the novel, and what new
insights about the novel you can demonstrate. You also need a conclusion in which
you sift through these pieces of your argument and tie them together.
3. You should try to develop your thesis more so that it explains what Hamid wants
to say by depicted Changez in this way. Does the author suggest that Changez’s
susceptibility is a good thing or a bad thing? Is it something Changez could change,
or is it basic human nature? Does our attitude towards Changez’s condition change
depending on what is influencing him at any give time?
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