The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid

He is strip-searched at the airport and witnesses the pained looks of his fellow passengers when he boards the plane. Flying back to New York, however, Changez immediately sees and feels the changes brought about by the attacks. 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. Meanwhile, he maintains a relationship with Erica, spending time with her parents, friends and, eventually, time alone with just her.Ĭhangez 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. 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. When the group returns to New York, Changez begins his job with Underwood Samson, working feverishly to be the best and brightest. As it turns out, Erica is still in mourning for her boyfriend, Chris, who died from cancer a year earlier. 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.

With a sign-on bonus from the firm, Changez goes on vacation to Greece with other classmates from Princeton, including a girl named Erica. 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.Īfter finishing university, he successfully secures a training contract with a boutique valuation firm known as Underwood Samson. We learn that Changez attended Princeton University on a scholarship. 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. 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. 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. Changez approaches a somewhat dubious looking American stranger while in the district of old Anarkali.

The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid