Chapter 8: The Reluctant Fundamentalist

1. Chapter 8: The Reluctant Fundamentalist Add to Vocab section: Quantifiable – countable/able to be calculated Gratuitously – without cause Belligerent - aggressive

2. Chapter 8 Overview: • Am-Erica moves out of Changez’s reach and is consumed by nostalgia. Changez excels in his work for Underwood Samson. and takes a trip home to Pakistan. • Changez tells of: - a visit to Erica's house - his troubling conversation with her mother - the widening distance between the two lovers - being verbally assaulted in the car park at work - a visit to Jim's apartment - his decision to visit Pakistan

3. Erica & Nostalgia • Erica’s mother informs Changez that Erica’s condition has returned and she needs a friend, rather than a boyfriend. She has stopped writing and is on medication. • Changez is disturbed by his conversation with Erica; he feels like he is intruding on a conversation Erica is having with Chris, and which he cannot understand. • Erica is “disappearing into a powerful nostalgia, one from which only she could choose whether or not to return”. (p. 129) • The connection they had previously enjoyed is now lost: “I watched our skin...separated by a distance no greater than the width of an engagement ring, but she did not notice me. I waited for my proximity to make itself felt to her; a minute passed in this fashion.” (p.127) • Changez observes that America is also ‘giving itself over to a dangerous nostalgia’. (p. 130): “I had always thought of America as a nation of that looked forward; for the first time I was struck by its determination to look back” (130-131)

4. Underwood Samson & Nostalgia: • “not nostalgic whatsoever” (p132) • “we went about the task of shaping the future with little regard for the past” (p132) • Changez suppresses his doubts about Underwood Samson, and uses his work as a distraction from his personal problems with Erica: “I immersed myself in my project...to leave behind the many worries that preyed upon me” (p132) • At this point, Changez believes that he was “never better at the pursuit of fundamentals” (p132), pursuing all that was 'quantifiable and knowable' in the post-9/11 uncertainty. He was “analyzing data as though my life depended on it” (p132) - Like America rediscovering its Christian past for comfort, Changez looks to the quantifiable and knowable aspects of his life for comfort.

5. Evidence the American intends harm: “your unusual telephone, beeping...precisely on the hour” (p131) Evidence neither intends harm: At the conclusion of this chapter, Changez reassures the American “that there is nothing to fear” (p.139). He says this in reference to the food they have ordered, and tastes it first, to further reassure the American. - or perhaps he is trying to trick or intimidate the American? It's definitely not usual behavior. - perhaps just aware that the American may feel afraid of him, so wants to reassure - perhaps mocking the American and his fear of men with beards

6. Evidence of Unreliable Narrator • Changez cannot remember all of the details of his story about the racist encounter in the New Jersey carpark, which brings his reliability into question: “I cannot now recall many of the details of the events I have been relating to you” (p134-135) “I am after all, telling you a history, and in history, as I suspect you – as an American – will agree, it is the thrust of one’s narrative that counts, not the accuracy of one’s details.” (p135)

7. Racism and Racial Profiling • Changez is rattled by the incident in the New Jersey carpark when a man calls him a “fucking Arab” (p134) • “Reluctantly [the man] allowed himself to be led away” (p134) Changez’s response is to take a crowbar from the boot of his car and he describes feeling “capable of wielding it with sufficient violence to shatter the bones of his skull.” (p134) • Wainwright warns Changez that Underwood Samson will have to make some cutbacks and this arouses some uncertainty in Changez – that his being a Muslim will affect his employment. However, he is once again ranked first in the company and receives a bonus.

8. Jim We learn more about why he considers himself an outsider: - Changez notices Jim's “walls featured impressive and forceful works of art, including...a not insignificant number of male nudes.” He also discovered he was “not married” and had “no children”. And again, he tries to help Changez as a fellow outsider: “I know what it's like to be an outsider. If you ever want to talk, give me a shout” (p137)

9. Changez’s Journey • Changez uses his bonus to take a trip back home to Pakistan, despite his parents’ concerns. He, too, is concerned about the possibility of impending war in Pakistan “I was confronting the possibility that soon my country could be at war” (p138)

10. Chapter 8 Activities • Write a paragraph about how the theme nostalgia is explored in the novel. Consider who is nostalgic, who isn’t, how this is affecting their lives, what has caused the nostalgia, what you think the author believes about nostalgia and why. • Make sure you mention Erica, Changez, and Underwood Samson. • Make sure you use TEEL, with plenty of quotes 2. “I cannot now recall many of the details of the events I have been relating to you” (p134-135) How might this information affect a person’s reading of the novel? How might it affect the American’s impression of Changez and his story? 3. Describe how Changez felt when he was racially abused. Provide a quote to support your explanation.