The Reluctant Fundamentalist

Changez watches as the stranger observes a group of girls who are dressed in modern clothing. He contrasts this group with another group sitting next to them at the café. This group is outfitted in traditional clothing. Though the modern girls appear untraditional, Changez tells the stranger that they still have the power of the mob on their side should anyone confront them or bother them. Based on mob mentality, that unlucky person would be attacked or even beaten to death. The American is still looking at one girl in particular, which causes Changez to not only comment on beauty but on love, and more importantly, about a love interest that he left behind in America: Erica. The two met while on vacation in Greece with a group of privileged students from Princeton. Changez reveals to the stranger that he was immediately drawn to Erica: “When I first saw Erica, I could not prevent myself from offering to carry her backpack—so stunningly regal was she” (p.17).

Changez had to be frugal with money while in Greece. He was the only member of the group who paid for the vacation with his own hard work, largely from the bonus he’d received from signing on with Underwood Samson. The others were wealthy and the trip had been given as a gift from their parents or as a result of dividends from their trust funds. The ease with which they spent money annoyed Changez, as did their practiced ill-treatment of others, as if they were entitled to do so. Erica took an interest in the way Changez carried himself. She suspected that he wasn’t like the others, and she admired both his culture and manners. Changez wanted to spend more time alone with Erica, but she always seemed to be around people, as if she needed others to exist. At a nude beach one day, Erica takes off her top and notices Changez staring. She decides to go for a swim and invites Changez to accompany her. Changez finally gets the courage to ask Erica to accompany him for a drink and she agrees.

While having a drink together, Erica tells Changez about her old boyfriend, Chris, who died the previous year from lung cancer. She likens his death, and her lingering feelings for him, to homesickness, saying that both she and Changez are homesick for places far away. This admission brings them closer together, but also casts a shadow over the possibility of a romantic relationship between them. Later that evening at dinner, the entire group is joking about what they want to be in the future and Changez says he wants to be “the dictator of an Islamic Republic with nuclear capability”, which the entire table is appalled by. Only Erica seems to get the joke, and Changez has to remind the group that he was merely joking. In uncharacteristic fashion, Erica opens up and reveals to the group that she wants to be a novelist. Though nothing physical happens between Changez and Erica while in Greece, their time together sets the stage for their return to America. Erica gives him her number and offers to help him settle in to New York.

Changez meditates on spring in Lahore, while also noting that, despite the beautiful evening, the stranger still appears ill at ease, as if he has strayed too far from his familiar surroundings and is now unsure whether he’s predator or prey. The evening is getting darker and the streets are being locked for foot traffic only. Changez talks about the differences in space between the old and new districts, and how it was the way that people were made equal by being forced to walk that made him love Manhattan. The wonderful thing about living in New York for Changez was that he immediately felt equal to those around him. It would be impossible for him to say that he was American, due to his nationality and countenance, but it was quite another thing, a very natural thing, to say that he was a New Yorker: “I was, in four and a half years, never an American; I was immediately a New Yorker” (p.33).

Changez then tells the stranger about reporting for work at Underwood Samson and the feeling of awe it inspired. However, this awe was also mixed with resentment. The history of Pakistan far predated that of America; to realize that his country was declining when, thousands of years ago it was at the height of its power while America was still being formed, and to be reminded now of America’s opulence and vastness on a daily basis, made Changes feel ashamed. And yet as a trainee for Underwood Samson, Changez felt proud. He learned from the vice president that the company was a meritocracy. Everyone was evaluated every six months, and those that didn’t make the cut were let go. The first evaluation for Changez and the new trainees came immediately after the training program. Changez became friends with a trainee called Wainwright, who reminded him of Ice Man from Top Gun. The two vied for the top positions in the program with their respective trainees.

Despite all the hard work, the trainee program also had its perks and amenities, such as an expense account. The trainees were encouraged to bond—via drinking and the use of their spending accounts—and so Changez began to feel like he was moving up in the world. A humbling experience, however, came when he went out with Wainwright one night to a local Pak-Punjabi Deli. The owner knew him, and though drunk, Changez wanted to impress the owner by boasting of having an expense account. He tried to pay for their meals with his expense account, only to find that the deli did not take American Express. The fact that Wainwright paid for the meals with cash, however, and that he actually enjoyed the food, was a monumental sign for Changez. It signaled “a relationship of mutual generosity”, and Changez felt he had found a kindred spirit in Wainwright.

Changez briefly returns the narrative to the Lahore café, to respond to the stranger’s disgust at a beggar approaching their table. Changez gives the man money, though he says he shouldn’t and then returns to the story of his time training at Underwood Samson. Changez admits that, in addition to being liked by his teachers, his mannerisms were also highly admired, and perfect for the professionalism that was needed for the job. Given the success that both he and Wainwright were enjoying at the firm, they were invited to a party that Jim gave at his house in the Hamptons, a house he likens to that in The Great Gatsby. At the party, Jim again tells Changez that they are very much alike, that they watch and listen because they always have the feeling of not belonging. Changez wishes that Erica was there to see the house and the party, hoping the immensity of it all might impress her. After the results of the training program come in a week later, Jim summons Changez to his office and reveals that he achieved the top spot. Changez’s teachers are all impressed by him, and Jim offers him a place on a project in the Philippines.