The Reluctant Fundamentalist Response

                                                                                                                                                                Matthew Banks

                                                                                                                                                                      English 202

                                                                                                                                                                             12/8/11

                                                     Response: The Reluctant Fundamentalist

The novel The Reluctant Fundamentalist uses two main themes which are nostalgia and fundamentalism. Fundamentalism by definition is a movement or attitude, stressing strict and literal adherence to a set of basic principles. The fundamentalist aspect of this book is not talked about till Changez quits job. The first time that we find out that Changez represents the tile of the book is during his job interview. We find out that Changez is able to go to Princeton because of finical aid and scholarships and he hides this from his friends and pretends that he is well off just like them. The last time the Fundamentalist theme is talk about is when Changez is talking to Juan-Bautista at a café in Valparaiso. During this contestation Juan compares Changez life to that of a janissary. This conversation changed the way that Changez look at his whole life and what he had accomplished for the company he worked for. In a way Juan-Bautista is saying that Changez brainwashed himself in order to fit in a school and work, to become a person that the people around him want him to be. This also shows a lack in confidence on the part of Changez to convince him to quit the job that he worked so hard to get and to keep only to quit because of what one person tells him.

The second that the novel The Reluctant Fundamentalist uses is nostalgia. Nostalgia by definition is a wistful or excessively sentimental yearning for return to or of some past period or irrecoverable condition. The two main characters of this novel Changez and Erica both suffer from nostalgia throughout the entire book. The first time when are introduced to the felling nostalgia is when Erica starts to talk about her dead boyfriend Chris. Erica wants to live in the past with Chris, but also wants to be in a relationship with Changez. The author uses the character of Erica to show what can happen when people try to live within their nostalgia. Towards the middle of the book we learn Erica has had a mental breakdown from trying to live within her nostalgia and her present life. At the end of the book we can infer that Erica has killed herself because she could not live without her nostalgia.