themes in TRF Flashcards
chapter 1 of TRF-
themes: superficial nature of America is the corporate world
- brain drain
It gets us used to the frame narrative of the story and gives much of the backstory of Princeton and how he came to be this ‘corporate warrior
‘Until the best and the brightest of us had been identified’
‘Do not be frightened by my beard: I am a lover of America’
context:Pakistan and America used to be in good relations. Changez’s family were of a higher social class
chapter 2 of TRF
west vs east
human connection
privilege in the western world
Changez recounts his past love with Erica and tells his story of going on holiday with her and the other Ivy alumni, which is interrupted when the American gets a phone call. His choice to decline the call and keep the contents of it private to Changez heightens tension and suspicion between the two men, but Changez hides this by remaining polite
‘So stunningly regal she was’ (Changez’s attraction towards Erica(US)
‘Before they insisted things be done their way’/ ‘as if they were the ruling class (Privilege and entitlement representing America’s dominance
‘She attracted people to her’ (representative of the American Dream and how it attracts people for no apparent reason other than it presenting itself as the place for success
‘Or are you watching that man, the one with the beard far longer than mine’ (racial profiling, stereotypes, being viewed as less than
ao3 context- Brain Drain - Pakistan’s greatest minds would often be encouraged to go to Ivy League universities in America along with other prestigious countries in first-world countries, with the appeal of beautiful women, an abundance of high-paying jobs and overall a better quality of life
chapter 3 of TRF
themes:
Assimilation
Liminality
Class
Diaspora
Multiculturalism
American Dream
Integration
Changez compares Lahore to Manhattan. He then recounts his first day of work at Underwood Samson and the system of competition that is set between him and his colleagues, admiring the prestige of the company. He familiarises himself with Wainwright who warns him not to get too comfortable in his confidence, and Changez and Wainwright befriend each other, eating in a Pak-Punjab Deli. Later, during a party at Jim’s mansion, Changez is offered his assignment in Manila.
“never an American; I was immediately a New Yorker” - foreshadowing that Changez can identify with Pakistani-influenced elements and similarities but never America
“I remember my sense of wonder on the day I reported for duty” - word “duty” resembles the concept of a janissary and idea that Changez serves the US
“it is a mark of friendship when someone treats you to a meal” - more cultural similarities established
“Urdu was spoken by taxicab drivers. Samosa- and channa-serving establishment called the Pak-Punjab Deli” - Liminality
“Jim made one feel he could hear one’s thoughts” - Changez’s false sense of closeness and empathy with Jim, feeling Jim understands him, despite them having no obvious shared traits and backstory
ao3 context-Multiculturalism - By the early 2000s New York had become one of the most diverse megacities in the world with a growing Pakistani community.
Pakistani-American Diaspora - Throughout the time period, the population of Pakistani immigrants doubled from from 100,000 in 1990 to 210,000 in 2005, as represented by the growing Pakistani element in New York
chapter 4 of trf
- hostility
- feeling like an outcast
Changez has dinner with Erica and her parents at their penthouse
Erica shows Changez her finished manuscript Changez gets annoyed at a comment Erica’s father makes about Pakistanis having a serious problem with fundamentalism
Despite trying to hide it, Erica can detect he’s upset.
Changez recounts tales of his outings with Erica, including a picnic where she talks about Chris
“Her tanned skin seemed to glow with health.” - changez succumbing to the appeal of Western beauty standards
“Economy’s falling apart, though, no? Corruption, dictatorship … the elite has raped that place … right?’’
“And fundamentalism. You guys have got some serious problems with fundamentalism.”
ao3 context -America has been a provider of economic assistance to Pakistan in the form of military assistance. America perceived Pakistan as heavily dependent on them
Reflects the internalised ideology westerners have of the outside world, how they look down upon the economies and makeup of other countries, perceiving themselves as superior
chapter 5 of trf
assimilation
cultural hybridity
Changez is in Manila with his Underwood Samson crew
This is the chapter where 9/11 happens and it obviously contains his reaction to it
‘And then I smiled’ - A sense of America getting what it deserves.
‘The fact that someone had so visibly brought America to her knees’ - ‘her’ suggests connotations of the motherland which links to Small Island. Changez’s resentment stems from the fact he believed America to be the motherland. When it did not treat him as its son, it led to his own resentment. Moshin Hamid has this idea of the conflict being born of failed love and I guess this links in part to that.
‘A profound sense of perplexity’
chapter 6 of trf
disillusion
american dream
Changez talks about his return home after 9/11 and how he met up with Erica on his first day back in New York.
Erica sees Changez’s flat for the first time and mentions that 9/11 reminded her of Chris and how she can’t stop thinking about him.
Later on, Erica celebrates getting an agent with Changez. Whilst having an intimate moment with her, Changez then attempts to have sex with Erica. However, she is not aroused as she keeps thinking about C
“I imagined I was watching a glimpse of the Erica she would one day become.”
“We are America - not New York, which, in my opinion, means something quite different”
“She was utterly detached, lost in a world of her own”
“my Princeton degree and Underwood Samson business card were invariably sufficient to earn me a respectful nod of approval”
Slowly introduces and highlights how Changez lived in America after 9/11
there is a semantic field of loss
chapter 7- changez and jim
Realisation of the American Hubris
Post 9/11
Cultural identity
“The impending destruction of my personal American dream”
“You’re blood brought from some part of the body that the species doesn’t need anymore. The tailbone. Like me.”
“I do not know why I said it; I felt overcome and it seemed, suddenly, a possible way forward.”
“I had always thought of America as a nation that looked forward; for the first time I was struck by its determination to look back.”
Changez tells the American about his experience post 9/11, detailing how he felt in denial over America’s changes and how they would affect his life. He worries about his family back home in Lahore, and tries to convince himself he is American enough to not be a victim of the increased hate crime toward Pakistanis in the aftermath. As a result of all this, Changez throws himself into his work, where Jim offers him an assignment in New Jersey. Changez starts to feel a growing sense of anger over the war that breaks the aforementioned denial and makes it hard to focus on his work. Changez meets up with Erica at a bar and is shocked by how much she has changed, they end up going to bed together afterwards. Changez suggests Erica sees him as Chris, and this helps them make love, which leaves him “both satiated and ashamed”. Recounting this causes the American to look at Changez in disgust.
Rising Islamophobic sentiments in America post 9/11
Sets up the change in Changez’s character in regards to how he views America.
chapter 8
racism
america not fully accepting immigrants
In the outer frame, Changez sees that the man he is talking to seems scared of the waiter, and persuades the man that the waiter is merely from a rough area in the mountains. In the story, Changez visits Erica in her house. Her mum tells Changez that Erica does not need a boyfriend which would bring volatile emotions, but a friend. Erica’s condition is worsening and she is sinking back into her grief about Chris. Changez is upset and frustrated that she can not forget the past and accept him in it.
Later, Changez gets racially abused by two American men and begins to worry that his place in Underwood Samson may be threatened by the events of 9/11 because he is Pakistani.
After hearing that Pakistan may be at war soon, he flies back home despite his parents warning him against it
‘I was struck by its determination to look back’ (referring to the increased militarisation of America post 9/11) (Also I guess to Chris and Erica)
Begins to show that Erica will not accept Changez and is still fiercely loyal to Chris
chapter 9
Reverse Culture Shock
America not accepting immigrants
Cultural identity
In Pakistan, Changez has his epiphany that Lahore has not become run-down, it is just him that has changed with American influence. He is reluctant to go back, as he feels he should be staying to defend his country.
He keeps his beard, and Underwood Samson doesn’t like that
He visits Erica in her psych ward but she is still so hung up on Chris it isn’t even funny
Jim tells Changez he doesn’t care about his beard and ships him off to Chile, giving him extra responsibility
‘I had changed. I was looking about me with the eyes of a foreigner’
‘I did not wish to blend in’
‘I was deeply angry’
Shows Changez’s new allegiance to Pakistan, as his dream of Erica loving him is really crumbling down
chapter 10
disillusionemnt of the american dream
Flying to the city of Valparaiso, Chile, Changez cannot stop thinking about Erica, but he is unable to determine why she can’t get over her love for Chris.
In Chile, Changez sense of connection to Valparaiso occurs even as he feels less connected to New York. The things Changez values seem to overlap less and less with what American values or represents.
In Chile, he meets Juan-Batista, the president of the publishing agency Underwood Samson is valuing. Changez likes Juan-Batista immediately, and compares him to a grandfather. Juan-Batista, who technically doesn’t own his publishing company and dislikes Underwood Samson, asks Jim and Changez what they know of books. Jim responds that he has valued media companies for two decades; Changez says that his father’s uncle was a poet, and he loves books. Juan-Batista dismisses Jim’s answer, but takes notice of Changez.
Juan Batista refers to him as a Janissary
Changez begins to fall behind on his work. His supervisor angrily tells him to improve his work, and Changez replies that he will. Nevertheless, Changez finds it impossible to concentrate on work when there are so many emotional and political distractions.
chapter 11
Distrust
Disappointment/leaving American Dream
Discrimination
(death of)Romantic Relationship
Changez takes a flight back to New York and thinks about how arrogant America is in terms of foreign affairs. He decides to view the world with an ‘ex-janissaries gaze’. He goes to work the next day and tells Jim he wants to quit. Jim is sad he’s losing a great asset to his team but offers his support nonetheless. As Changez leaves, only Wainwright actually goes to say goodbye while his other colleagues look at him suspiciously. He tells his parents via phonecall that he’s going to return to Lahore and they try persuade him not to. He goes to visit Erica’s clinic as all his messages don’t come back with a response from her and Changez comes to find out that Erica had gone missing two weeks prior and all that was left as evidence was her clothes ‘neatly folded’ on a rocky bluff, there’s no confirmation of her bodily remains so technically she is a missing person.
On Changez’s last few days in the US, he walks around almost ‘showing off’ his beard onto the streets in spite of America’s anti-Muslim rhetoric post 9-11
‘With an ex janissary’s gaze’
‘Enormity of what [he is] giving up
‘They haven’t recovered any remains … technically she’s a missing person.’
‘flaunting [his] beard as a provocation, craving conflict with anyone foolhardy enough to antagonise’
Death of the polished American Dream, realisation of the exploitative nature of it and a sense of reclaiming a sense of identity
chapter 12- hybridity, distrust, paranoia, prejudice
Whilst walking the American home, Changez talks about why he has returned to Lahore, his time after returning, and how his life would’ve been if Erica was still infatuated with him in Pakistan.
Pakistan and India’s tensions increase
The war in Iraq is about to begin
He gets a job lecturing at a university and leads protests
The stranger isn’t listening and whilst shaking hands, he reaches for something in his pocket.
“I remained emotionally entwined with Erica”
“I will not pretend to you that all of my students were angels”
“You should not image that we pakistanis are all potential terrorists, just as we should not imagine that you americans are all undercover assassins.“
“Our relationship could only thrive in my head”
Denoument, allows the reader to conjure their own interpretation of their ending - “dead author”
