The Reluctant Fundamentalist

The novel consists of two narratives: the frame narrative—which takes the form of a conversation between the Pakistani protagonist, Changez, and an unnamed American at a café in Lahore—and the flashback narrative, told by Changez in increments, that describe his time in America both before and after the events of 9/11.  The novel is told by way of a dramatic monologue, from a first-person point of view, in the present tense. This literary device is evident in the first few sentences of the novel, and carries throughout the remaining nine chapters of the story. Whenever Changez interrupts the narrative about his time in America, he notes a remark, question or issue related to the stranger which informs the reader a bit more about the stranger’s uneasiness at the Lahore café.

Changez approaches a somewhat dubious looking American stranger while in the district of old Anarkali. It’s never made clear who the American stranger is or what he’s doing in Lahore; whether he’s simply a businessman or a CIA agent. Whoever he is, Changez notes that the stranger appears to be on a ‘mission.’ In an effort to assist the stranger, Changez joins him at his table for tea. Over the course of a long evening of tea, snacks and a meal, Changez describes his life during the time he lived in America, interspersing this narrative with vignettes of Lahore life.

We learn that Changez attended Princeton University on a scholarship. He studied business, worked harder than his American classmates to receive top marks and looked forward to his new life in the elite business world of America.

After finishing university, he successfully secures a training contract with a boutique valuation firm known as Underwood Samson. With a sign-on bonus from the firm, Changez goes on vacation to Greece with other classmates from Princeton, including a girl named Erica. Changez and Erica seem to be attracted to each other, but Changez has to settle for Erica’s friendship while on the island with the rest of the wealthy university students. As it turns out, Erica is still in mourning for her boyfriend, Chris, who died from cancer a year earlier.

When the group returns to New York, Changez begins his job with Underwood Samson, working feverishly to be the best and brightest. His coworkers and teachers note that he displays sound financial and business skills, all of which catapult him to first place among his class of trainees. Meanwhile, he maintains a relationship with Erica, spending time with her parents, friends and, eventually, time alone with just her.

Changez is offered a work assignment in Manila when the unthinkable happens: the World Trade Center is attacked on September 11, 2001, and Changez watches the catastrophe play out on television while packing in his hotel room. Changez finds himself pleased at the event, not because of the destruction to innocent lives, but because America has been ‘brought to her knees’ in such a public and spectacular way. Flying back to New York, however, Changez immediately sees and feels the changes brought about by the attacks. He is strip-searched at the airport and witnesses the pained looks of his fellow passengers when he boards the plane. Despite having lived in American for years, he is sent to secondary inspection upon his arrival in New York. These events all add to his growing resentment of American capitalism—symbolized by Underwood Samson and its corporate values.

With the War on Terror being waged between America and terrorist-sponsoring countries, including Pakistan, Changez becomes uneasy with his life in America. He travels home to Lahore for a brief visit, and upon returning to America, finds that Erica has been committed to a clinic. His unease as a Pakistani person in post 9/11 America is also growing stronger. While working on a project in Chile for Underwood Samson, Changez teaches about the Janissaries, young Christian men whose identity was erased when they were forced to be soldiers in a Muslim army, and immediately identifies with their plight. Thinking more on the subject and his uneasiness in New York, Changez abandons the project in Chile. Due to his visa status, once Changez is fired from his job at Underwood Samson, he’s forced to leave America and return to Lahore. Before leaving, Changez attempts to visit Erica again but is told that she’s gone missing. He visits her apartment, where her mother gives him a copy of Erica’s unpublished book.

Changez then returns home to Lahore, which is where the novel actually begins. As the evening draws to a close, Changez offers to walk the stranger back to his hotel. While the two are walking, Changez explains that he’s a university lecturer, and that he mentors a group of politically-minded students. One of these students has been implicated in an assassination attempt on an American. It eventually becomes clear that a group of men—including the waiter from the café—are following the stranger and Changez. As he has done so many times that evening, Changez tries to reassure the stranger, and yet it appears that he may also be involved in the plot that is unfolding. As the novel ends, the stranger reaches into his jacket, as he did in the café earlier. This time, Changez mentions that he may be looking either for a business card or a gun. It’s left to the reader to determine just who the American stranger is and what exactly he’s doing in Lahore.