The Reluctant Fundamentalist

1. The Reluctant Fundamentalist Chapter 11

2. Chapter 11 • Market is becoming empty- ominous edge- suggests danger. Which interpretation does this support? P.126 • Changez realises he had always resented America’s interference in other countries affairs, their inequitable power and domination over the rest of the world.

3. Chapter 11 • On his way home from Valparaiso he is stopped at the airport again. Thankful to Juan Bautista for opening his eyes to what he was doing and how it didn’t really ‘fit’ him. • Fired by Jim for abandoning the assignment. Jim thinks he is having some sort of crisis. Colleagues other than Wainwright appear frightened of Changez as he is escorted from the building by security guards.

4. Chapter 11: Erica • Goes to visit Erica at the institution but she is gone. Found her clothes out on a rocky cliff. It is presumed that Erica has committed suicide, jumping off the cliff into the river. Changez goes to see Erica’s mother, she gives him a copy of her manuscript. Recalls walking in Times Square with Erica-

5. Chapter 11 • Reflects on America’s rhetoric at the time- accepting no blame for their part in the attacks. Changez says that such an America ‘had to be stopped’. Supports his involvement in some sort of action? P.190 • Bottom of p.191 ‘What exactly did I do to stop America?’ ‘it may well fail to meet your expectations.’ *What, if anything, do you think Changez has done?

6. Chapter 11: Conclusions and changes • The restaurant empties and they get the bill • C recalls flying back to NY, which he now sees as a traditional empire to which he was merely an “indentured servant” • He feels confused as he officially leaves U.S. and also feels like the world has ended • He visits the ‘institution’ to learn that Erica is “gone” and subsequently visits her mother, who gives him a copy of Erica’s novella

7. Chapter 11: Conclusions and changes • Cbecomes preoccupied with memories of his relationship with Erica, and emotionally unhinged • He resolves to stopAmerica • In Lahore, Changez tells the American that he will tell him what he did to stop America as he agrees to walk him back to his hotel.

8. Chapter 11: Changez’s journey/downfall/descent into madness/ alienation from america • “My musings were bleak indeed.” (p. 177) • “I had always resented the manner in which America conducted itself in the world” • “It was right for me to refuse to participate any longer in facilitating this project of domination.” • “Such memories occupied my waking hours…; they were in that period my only form of contact with her.”

9. Chapter 11: Changez’s journey • “I saw I had no option but to pursue my own preparations to leave” (p189) • In his last days in NY, he is “an incoherent and emotional madman…walking the streets, flaunting [his] beard as a provocation, craving conflict.” • “Affronts were everywhere” in the American media, etc

10. Chapter 11: Discussion questions • Do you think Changez would have fared better if he had evidence that Erica was definitely dead? • Erica’s novella, about “a girl on an island who learns to make do….shimmered with hope”. What is ironic about this? • What are the implications of what C describes as America’s “assumptions of [her] own superiority”?

11. Chapter 11: Your interpretation • Hamid’s purpose with Chapter 11 is… • In chapter 11, Hamid presents and develops the theme/s of… • The points of view and values that Hamid expresses in chapter 11 include…. • Metalanguage relevant to chapter 11 includes… • My interpretation of chapter 11 is…