Identity Crisis in Mohsin Hamid's The Reluctant Fundamentalist

Identity Crisis in Mohsin Hamid's The Reluctant Fundamentalist

            Mohsin Hamid's The Reluctant Fundamentalist presents a postcolonial study of the clash between the Eastern and the Western identities. It also discusses that the people face different oppositions, dilemmas as well as challenges which threaten their identity in a foreign culture. The novel shows that the identity is at risk due to cultural conflicts which results in the transformation of identity and ethnicity for the gain of the hegemony.

            The novel's opens up with Changez immigrating to the United States, attending Princeton University and joining a consultancy firm, Underwood Samson, as an analyst. It would seem that his American Dream has been realized and he has finally got such opportunities which would ensure a promising and a bright future.  However, after the terrorist attacks on9/11, his attitude towards the United States changes as he becomes the victim of racism and worst surveillance.

            The issue of  identity in The Reluctant Fundamentalist is so much evident. This results from the connection among Erica (an American woman), Changez, (a Pakistani Muslim) and Chris, (Erica's ex-boyfriend in the background), and also due to larger political and cultural reasons. Erica and Changez, at one level, represent their own cultures and countries. Through the protagonist, Changez, Hamid conveys to America, the present neo-colonial power, that everything is not ideal as far as its culture and policies are concerned. Hamid confirms that extremism and intolerance do not only rear in the cultures and countries like Pakistan and further brings forth that the neo-colonial approach and behaviour of America that breeds hatred for it around the world and is against its own good.

            Hamid in The Reluctant Fundamentalist depicts the dealings between American and Pakistani cultures. Even after independence, Pakistan and its people like many other so called developing countries are still living in the shadows of American neo-colonialism, which has a direct impact upon people, their culture and their identities. He uses the individuals as representations for their respective cultures and societies.

            The uncomfortable relationship between Changez and Erica symbolizes the complicated and confusing relationship that is present between Pakistani and American cultures. The political posture and policies of America have a blow on individuals and their identities. It has bred misapprehension between individuals from these two cultures. This is why, the American sits with his back so close to the wall, because of security consideration, and on a very hot afternoon he keeps his jacket on. The idea is that he might be keeping a weapon inside his jacket (2). He also gets troubled at the appearance of the waiter, probably; he takes him for a killer and is on his alert (3). He is even uncertain to take his cup of tea and Changez has to switch his cup with the American, showing the underlying misunderstandings (7). The American listener to Changez continues to remain awkward throughout their meeting (19). This further reflects the air of distrust and the intricacy which exists between the two cultures. He is troubled at the power outage and rises to his feet. Changez has to give surety that everything is safe (36). Hamid shows that despite America being the chief donor of financial and military aid to Pakistan, the connection between America and Pakistan is very edgy.

            The protagonist of The Reluctant Fundamentalist is a Pakistani Muslim with a historical and mythical name, Changez. Changez was a medieval Asian conqueror. The present Changez is the best result of American system, with all As in academics from Princeton university. He is also a soccer star. He can get a very competitive job in a well-established American firm, with a brand-name, which can certify admission in Harvard Business School (3). He is fascinated with Erica, a very gorgeous white American woman. Changez is extremely aware of his culture and background and is proud of the ancient civilization and cultural heritage of Pakistan (6). His attraction towards Erica represents the massive attraction Pakistani culture experiences towards American culture. Erica at the personal level is extremely pretty and attractive. She has many admirers due to her attraction and striking beauty. Erica at the symbolic level represents America. Her appeal, attraction and being there reflect the world status and authority of America. Even her name not only rhymes with America, but is actually a part of the name of America. Changez, in his desperate need for approval, has started concealing his Asian/Pakistani identity. He would introduce himself as a New Yorker and would behave and speak like an American (38). This is the expression of mimicry on the part of Changez. But even his mimicry cannot award him recognition and equality in the American society. He is still looked upon as the “Other” (40). His Pakistani-ness cannot be disguised by his expensive suit, expensive car or even by the company of his American friends (42).

            Changez assimilates American culture, and falls passionately in love with Erica. Assimilation is another characteristic of his identity:

            I attempted to act and speak, as much as my dignity would permit, more

            like an American. The Filipinos we worked with seemed to look up to

            my American colleagues, accepting them almost instinctively as members

            of the officer class of global business-and I wanted my share of that respect

            as well (65).

He takes up the neo-colonial American culture altogether. But he can never be like a white American, Chris, Erica's ex-boyfriend. Chris, even after his death, has an impact upon Erica's identity. It is not a coincidence that Erica is wearing the T-shirt of her dead lover, when Changes visits her for the first time. This exhibits the bond that exists between Chris and Erica, for belonging to the same culture. Changez is treated as a lesser Other by Erica’s family, despite of his enormous achievements (33) and also by the interviewer Samson, for his job when he refers to his financial aid status at Princeton (5).   Hamid shows, that Erica does not succeed to come out of her past love affair with Chris and fails to respond to Changez's obsessive love or rather his fixation with her. Her denial to come out of her nostalgia for Chris and live in the present, has a harmful blow upon the present link between Changez and Erica. Hamid shows that the relationship between Changez and Erica does not grow, as their racial origins and cultural identities pull them apart. Their mutual relationship remains superficial and emotionless, in spite of Changez’s obsession for Erica. Erica at the unconscious level holds back her body and soul from Changez, a kind of denial of the identity of Changez, because she feels that she belongs to her ex boyfriend. Changez’s  obsession with Erica does not let him quit his mimicry of the American culture. This reaches its end when one day he offers to become Chris, out of extreme anxiety, to overcome the dilemma of nonfunctional love. Hamid shows Changez compromising his identity, to be accepted by his beloved belonging to the better culture of the neo-colonial super power. He gives up his name, his identity, his values and culture and becomes Chris. The beloved accepts him. The hidden message is that the non-Europeans are good enough for America only when they give up their identity and culture and “marry” the American dominant culture. This uncertain acceptance of Changez on the part of Erica takes him into a world of momentary bliss and ecstasy (63). It works for the time being . But it leaves an unforgettable impact upon his identity. He experiences completion and shame all together. This is the decisive moment in his search for his identity.

            At the symbolic level Erica stands for the American culture, therefore, Hamid points his finger at the American culture for its negative impact upon individuals. Living in the past is not the only fault of Erica and America. Hamid shows that American culture

suffers from very serious melancholy. He shows that American individuals, the society and the government are guilty of displaying superiority, prejudice and intolerance on cultural and racial grounds. Changez identifies the American, in Lahore, not by the

colour of his skin, dress or fashion and style but by his attitude. “Instead, it was your bearing that allowed me identify you” (1). Hamid makes it clear that it is the “bearing” or the neo-colonial role of America around the world that has bred tension between American and Pakistani individuals and cultures. Hamid shows that American culture breeds a sense of superiority among the Americans and their attitude of superiority towards non-whites insults and infuriates them. This breeds bitterness against America and its culture. Hamid reveals the racial discrimination to which non-Europeans are subjected to by the American culture and society. He shows that American culture and society are  not perfect and they are as prejudiced towards the racial and cultural differences as any other culture or society. Jim, Changez's interviewer for the job, cannot accept that a man from Third World Muslim country like Pakistan could be that clever and gifted. Erica's father's attitude towards Changez exhibits the same arrogance

towards Changez. He finds Erica's father's attitude quite insulting and hateful. Her father comments:

            Economy's falling apart though, no? Corruption, dictatorship, the

            rich living like princes while everyone else suffers. Solid people,

            don't get me wrong. I like Pakistanis. But the elite has raped that

            place well and good,right? And fundamentalism. You guys have got

            some serious problems with fundamentalism (63).

The annoyance Changez experiences when he compares America and Pakistan while looking down on New York from his office (41-42 stories high), he recognizes he is standing in a different world from Pakistan with his feet supported by the most technologically advanced civilization our species had ever known. He reflects to the quiet American:

            Often, during my stay in your country, such comparisons troubled me.

            In fact, they did more than trouble me: they made me resentful. Four

            thousand years ago, we, the people of the Indus River basin, had cities

            that were laid out on grids and boasted underground sewers, while the

            ancestors of those who would invade and colonize America were illiterate    barbarians. Now our cities were largely unplanned, unsanitary affairs,

            and America had universities with individual endowments greater than

            our national budget for education. To be reminded of this vast disparity

            was, for me, to be ashamed (110).

            Hamid offers his explanation on the issue of nervousness between American and Pakistani cultures. Changez tells the American that Pakistanis are not extremists and narrow-minded. Changez mainly points out that Pakistani girls from National College of Arts wear T-shirts and jeans, to reflect the flexible cultural attitude of the people of Pakistan (13).

            Erica is a metaphor for American culture and colonialist philosophy. Chris stands for the American willpower to stick to its cultural, historical and ideological past. This attitude is to blame for the present love- hate relationship between the American and Pakistani cultures. Hamid focuses upon the concerns of identity-crisis of the people from countries like Pakistan and the resultant shame and anguish (89), who experience attraction and disgust towards American culture at the same time.

            It is depicted by Hamid that American society is full of racial and cultural biases and prejudices against the people from non-European countries. He shows that racial and cultural Othering of Changez by American culture affects him and pushes him on to a

path towards his search for his identity. He is never accepted as an equal member of American society and is always made to realize that he is an outsider in that culture (69). His academic achievements, his polished and superior manners, his talent and potential are immaterial and irrelevant in this regard. This is why he shocks the circle of his friends with his joke to become one day the dictator president of an Islamic republic with nuclear capability (17). This constructs the prototype of love-hate for Changez, towards American culture and society. The fact that his American friends fail to take it only as a joke and appear shocked, shows the lack of understanding between two respective cultures. Hamid shows that America and its society are not free from the responsibility for promoting the monster of hatred, extremism and intolerance. He shows that non-Americans are subjected to discrimination and maltreatment by American culture and society on the racial and cultural grounds (56). These instances of prejudice and disgrace in America make Changez conscious of being an Other in American culture and society. The increasing impact of his disagreeable experiences in America on his identity and psyche marks itself in his unconscious smile at the fall of the twin towers, which he suppresses consciously (43). Though, Changez himself does not approve of this kind of sick response, he shows that the racial and cultural discrimination breeds alienation among the non-Europeans. Hamid suggests that Changez’s mask of whiteness” is soon torn apart when he is subjected to indignities and racial discrimination, on the basis of his racial and cultural origin, at the airport and immigration counters (44). At his return from Manila, he is separated from his colleagues at the immigration counter. He is made to join the queue for the foreigners. He is treated like a criminal and is made to sit next to a tattooed criminal, at the New York airport. His American friends do not wait for him and he rides to Manhattan that evening very much alone (45). He is the last person to board the plane and says:

            I flew to New York uncomfortable in my own face: I was aware of

            being under suspicion; I felt guilty... this naturally led to my becoming

            stiff and self-conscious (112).

Hamid shows that Pakistanis and Asian Americans after 9/11 were subjected to a similar humiliation and even worse (56). He is singled out as an Other due to racial and cultural differences. Hamid’s narrative holds American culture and political policies responsible for pushing Changez on to the journey to disillusionment. Finally Changez drifts away from America, therefore, the title of the novel, The Reluctant Fundamentalist. He finally frees himself from the dual situation of love-hate for American culture and society. Hamid also shows that American capitalism, with its focus upon the so called “fundamentals”, is actually a cruel and inhuman system. This is another aspect of American that disillusions from America and pushes him on to his quest for his identity and his roots. Hamid is critical of the American capitalism as well. He shows that the driving force behind American culture is capitalism and the only concern of capitalism is “to determine how much fat could be cut” (57).

            Changez is distressed at the callous disregard of this culture to the people, which are thrown out of job due to the cyclical movement of capitalist economy (58). Changez rejects the colonialist ideology and its assumptions of superiority by asserting his pride in his past Asian culture and civilization. He glorifies the past achievements of the indigenous culture he comes from and reminds American, he is talking to, of their past achievements (20, 61). He regrets that every Pakistani abroad is treated as a fundamentalist (33). Hamid shows that it can have a negative effect upon the identity of the non-Europeans. Such attitude and remarks, he shows, make people touchy about their racial and cultural origins (33). Hamid portrays the American political policies which affect Changez in addition to personal and cultural issues disused so far. He shows that America has failed to take into account the national and cultural aspirations and identities of other people. Hamid further blames America for its assumptions of superiority and its insistence to treat cultures and people as “others” with their own cultural and political identities. “Such an America had to be stopped in the interests not only of the rest of humanity, but also in your own” (101).

            Changez's pleasure at seeing the destruction of the twin towers shows his sense of unease with America. He recalls:

            I stared as one-and then the other-of the twin towers of New York's

            World Trade Center collapsed. And then I smiled. Yes, despicable as

            it may sound, my initial reaction was to be remarkably pleased (73).

The Reluctant Fundamentalist is a microcosm reflecting the melancholy, American culture and society suffers from and its negative and reactionary impact upon the identities of people like Changez. Settling upon the quest for identity on the part of Changez, Hamid refers to the janissaries in the context of Pakistani and American relationship. Janissaries were recruited by past empires (Ottoman) and were totally cut off from their own culture and identity. After  their training, they were sent to fight and defeat the cultures of their origins. Hamid presents Changez as a janissary, cut off from his culture, stripped off his own identity and fighting for the preservation and protection of American Imperialism and culture. Hamid suggests that Pakistan and Pakistanis in their zest for the adoption of American culture, are actually working against their national and cultural interests (92). Changez recognizes himself in the description:

            I was a modern-day janissary... a servant of the American empire at a

            time when it was invading a country with a kinship to mine... (120).

Hamid is conscious of the fact that despite “the janissary like duties” done by Pakistan for America, America has never accepted Pakistan as a true friend. It is treated only like a box of tissue papers (91). Changez is extremely critical of American intervention in other countries on one pretext or the other. He also recalls the unreliability of America as an ally or friend (94).

            Hamid shows that intolerance on racial grounds by American culture and the unilateral political policies of America spoil the relations between America and Pakistan and affect Changez at the personal level. Such considerations finally convert Changez, a product of American system in the real sense of the word into a reluctant fundamentalist. Changez grows a beard in protest at the discrimination and humiliation he experiences while living in America to register his deep anger:

            It was, perhaps, a form of protest on my part, a symbol of my

            identity, or perhaps I sought to remind myself of the reality I

            had just left behind; I do not now recall my precise motivations.

            I know only that I did not wish to blend in with the army of

            clean-shaven youngsters who were my coworkers, and that inside

            me, for multiple reasons, I was deeply angry (154).

 This is a protest against American “bearing” and political policies. He comes back to his country and takes up a teaching position to create awareness among the Pakistanis against American designs. Hamid already is seeing the impact of America’s current approach on its image, with indications of its embarrassments with a “maze of psychosis” (63). Hamid is critical of the neo-colonial conduct and attitude of America towards Third World countries, especially the Muslim countries, because it negatively affects people and they develop extremist ideas and identities. However, Hamid, through Changez also shows that the hybridity of culture and identity is unavoidable in the face of global interaction of individuals and cultures. Changez, even after his return to Lahore, still lives with the residual impact of American culture (104). His involvement with Erica has permanently become part of his identity (105).

            Changez becomes active in stirring up anti-American sentiment as another reflection of his identity. Now having secured his position as a university lecturer he makes it his mission on campus "to advocate a disengagement from your country by mine." He discovers that it was not difficult to persuade his students to participate in demonstrations for greater independence in Pakistan's domestic and international affairs. He observes that such demonstrations were labeled by the foreign press as anti-American.

            The novel has played out the fear, suspicion and hatred that now characterizes American-Muslim relations. It does this particularly by building up the tension between the quiet American and a hostile, intimidating waiter who comes from a tribe with spans both sides of the border with neighbouring Pakistan. The novel finishes with this hostility being brought to an undisclosed conclusion, just as the end of the story of American-Muslim conflict remains to be written. Towards the end of the novel Changez realizes that not all Pakistani are potential terrorists in the same way not all Americans are undercover assassins.     Hamid creates the on going relationship of mutual suspicion between Changez and the American which is evident between the two cultures. In his novel, The Reluctant Fundamentalist, Hamid proves that it seems almost impossible that this mistrust of America towards Pakistan can be removed even if an individual sacrifices the most important thing in his life i.e. his identity.

           

                                               

                                                            Works Cited

Hamid, Mohsin. The Reluctant Fundamentalist. New York, NY: Harcourt, 2007. Print.

Sooke, A. Rev. of The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid. The Daily       Telegraph. 18th April, 2007. Web.

Bock. P. Rev. of The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid. The seattle Times.         10th April, 2007. Web.