The Reluctant of the Fundamentalist Flashcards
“Excuse me…..alarmed you….frightened by my beard”, chapter 1
Excuse me, sir, but may I be your assistance? Ah, I see I have alarmed you. Do not be frightened by my beard.
Meaning:
- suggest stranger is paranoid or prejudicial
- might not have hidden meaning but Moshin Hamid is forcing us to judge Changez
Theme:
Racism & fundamentalist, human connection
“I get …..that’s a good thing in my book”
“I get where you’re coming from Changez. You’re hungry, and that’s a good thing in my book”
Meaning:
- Jim comments and insist common background
- believes sharing same life experience > finding connection-> one of the reason of picking Changez
- sees himself in Changez
Theme:
Human Connection
“I was, ….. immediately a New Yorker.”
“I was, in four and a half year, never an American; I was immediately a New Yorker.”
- early point in novel, Changez believe it’s possible for foreigner to acculturate in US, in non-crowded American city such as New York.
- represents Changez’s conflicted relationship with US. He hates the myth of American exceptionalism yet gravitated toward America’s legacy of hope.
“To be reminded of this vast diparity was, for me, to be ashamed.”
- in New York, Changez is at once proud of his Pakistani heritage and yet deeply ashamed of due to the level of development between two economy.
The stereotype of “barbaric” from Pakistan and Middle East are distressing for Changez.
“I was aware of an advantage …much as I could.”
“I was aware of an advantage conferred upon me by my foreigness, and I tired to utilize it as much as I could.”
- Hard to build close relationships with his peers (Changez is experiencing disadvantages working in American. People views him as alien and unfamiliar.)
- Changez noticed the “exotic” property on him results in more visible and interesting to his peers. This make him easier to make a good impression.
“I’ve had this sharp speck ….. turned it into peal.”
“I’ve had this sharp speck inside me for a long time, and I’ve been trying to make it more comfortable, so slowly I’ve turned it into peal.”
meaning:
- Erica opens up toward Changez. However, Erica barely understand life without Christ.
- Erica metaphors her sadness to grain of sand becoming a pearl inside her. Her habit of sadness becomes beautiful and desirable. She rather continue mourning Christ than move on with her life.
- Erica establishes a distance with the audience. She is like an outsider similar with Changez. Furthermore, their ways of embracing pains are parallel.
- In the early novel, Changez belives this will draw the distance between her and Erica. However this is not the case.
