American nationalism becomes conspicuous and Muslims experienced hostile treatment in the aftermath of 9/11. American society begins to consider the group of Islam as terror and regard the Muslims as terrorists trying to marginalize and isolate the culture and people who belongs to this identity. In Mohsin Hamid’s novel The Reluctant Fundamentalist, the protagonist Changez struggles to find his belonging when He discovers that he was treated “the other” and “the outsider” in the United States due to the tragic attack which serves as a turning point of American people’s attitude toward Muslims. The negative American mainstream media attributes the events to stereotyping and biased, which leads to some hate crime, violence discrimination aiming at Muslims.
For Changez, his relationship with Erica reflects his identity relating to American society. Erica attracts Changez at the first sight, like his first impression of America, as he defined her as”regal”. Even though Erica was indulged with her dead boyfriend and ideal romantic relationship in the past, Changez told her to pretend him as her dead boyfriend, which could be a metaphor of the symbol of his American dream. Finally, Erica refused his love and left him, like how Amercian society isolated him. Changez’s life in Underwood Samson can likewise achieve a life-changing effect for him when he came to find he perhaps bring benefits to the United States but is not in part of them. The misrepresentation and misunderstanding of Muslims affects the immigrants like Changez who wants to pursue American dream initially. They strives to take education, establish relationship and work hard for successful life, but be harrassed and isolated by native people because of their patriotism. Hoping for chasing dreams in a nationality having so-called multi-culturalism and regarded as melting pot, Changez feels disappointed and disillusioned and finally returned back to his homeland.
Citation:
Shihada, Isam M, The Backlash of 9/11 on Muslims in Mohsin Hamid’s The Reluctant Fundamentalist (September 5, 2015). INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF HUMANITIES AND CULTURAL STUDIES, Vol. 2, Issue 2, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2656566
Shirazi, Q. (2020). Cosmopolitanism and Nationalism: Redefining fundamentalism In Mohsin Hamid’s the Reluctant Fundamentalist (2007). Journal of Literature, Language & Culture (COES&RJ-JLLC), 1(3), 44. doi:10.25255/2378.3591.2020.1.3.44.55
I do agree that it seemed that Erica was used as something of a metaphor for Changez’s relationship with America. However, I feel like this was a strange metaphor to use given that Erica was very clearly experiencing trauma. To compare her coping with a death of someone she really cared for with Changez’s relationship, I feel somewhat minimizes Erica’s experience. I know Changez is the primary character and maybe Erica is used specifically for the purpose of the metaphor, but it felt a little harmful towards the reality of grief, trauma, and depression. I wish
I still feel sad when I think about the 9/11 event. Families whose members passed away are the sufferers, but there is another group of sufferers that I used to ignore which is the Muslims who live in the United State. After 9/11, the Muslim group is treated as potential terrorists and many of them are struggling to avoid being eliminated. They are forced to abandon their own culture and assimilate to the native culture. However, I believe that we should never connect the Islamic extremist group with other Muslims, asking them to pay for what they did not do.
After the horrific attacks on 9/11, it is absolutely necessary for a country like America to come together and be patriotic/strong. This does not mean, however, it is okay to judge those with Muslim faith. Muslim Americans were just as disgusted with these attacks as the rest of the country, and judging them off the actions of radical terrorists is not what being patriotic means. People’s views of the Muslim culture were drastically changed after that infamous day, however we need to learn to not judge a group of people by a few extremists.
wall.233 I definitely agree with your comment along with how peoples views on Muslims have changed after the attacks on 9/11, I believe each person, culture, religion, and country was impacted differently and while extremists did impact a lot of the judgement on the Muslim culture.. We have to learn not to judge anyone based on their religion or cultural background.
It can be easy to dismiss what happened on 9/11 and what were the consequences because of this tragic event. I think once 9/11 happened, people were scared, and started to realize that something like that can happen in the United States. Growing up, I never truly understood what this event meant for the individuals with Muslim faith who have been misjudged because of their background for so long. In school growing up, we also never really discussed this. It is important to note that a lot people generalize or have misconceptions and make assumptions. I feel like a lot of people jump to conclusions without knowing the information. These misinterpretations have more of an impact than people realize. We see this through Mohsin Hamid’s novel, The Reluctant Fundamentalist.
It became obvious after the 9/11 attacks that the media and the American people turned on muslim people, making it impossible to always feel safe in this country. Its horrific to see just how Muslims are automatically granted with a certain stereotype attached to them as dangerous just because of the color of their skin. I like the parallel you used to describe Erica’s story with what happens for Changez being a Muslim in America.
It is sad to know some of the older generations will always have a similar stereotype against Muslims just based on the 9/11 attack. I don’t believe you can blame people for being scared of a traumatic event that has happened in their life, but I do think it is part of their responsibility to learn and grow from the experience. Unfortunately, I think the term “melting pot” as you mentioned has taken a turn and no longer has that great of a meaning. Of course we have many different types of people who live in America, but I wouldn’t say we are all united as a community like it is portrayed. I think because of this, Changez could no longer live here.
I totally agree with your thoughts towards Changez and Erica’s relationship and how it relates to Changez’ American dream. His American dream faded with the breakup of the relationship. Although a small number of Muslims were responsible for 9/11, the majority of Muslims were innocent. We should be vigilant but that doesn’t mean we should discriminate against them.
I think the older generation is wary of Muslims because of 9/11, and the relationship between Erica and Changez is also because of 9/11, but most Muslims hate terrorist groups as well, and we shouldn’t look at everyone in a discriminatory way.
I liked how you mentioned the possible correlation/symbolism of Changez’s telling Erica that he could be her dead boyfriend— I see it as, somewhat foreshadowing the impossible. Everyone has heard of the “American Dream,” but the definition could vary. I discussed this topic in a different class and I said that the American Dream, “is about having opportunities that bring you to the ‘top,'” and/or living a “blissful life,” and at times starting with nothing or an unstable foundation. I believe that his relationship with Erica had an unstable foundation because of the nonviable love that she had for her dead boyfriend.
Hi,
I totally agree with your points. People have the stereotype and prejudice toward the person who is similar to terrorist. Indeed, the terrorist attack of 9/11 brought Americans phychological shadows. However, it is not an excuse of discrimination. This stereotype is unfair to those good people.
Great work! Having studied 9/11 and the 9/11 Commission Report, I found this week’s read very interesting. Throughout schooling, I’ve simply learned about the facts of what happened on 9/11 such as where planes were highjacked from, the times the towers were hit, and the lives lost; but I’ve never really dug into the personal stories of minority groups affected by the aftermath of the attack through prejudice and racism.
I agree with your ideas on the metaphor mentioning in this book. Changez’s job and his relationship with Erica can reflect to the relationship between himself and Amercian culture. The attitude of US society toward Muslim turn into a big change after 9/11 events and the misunderstanding makes Muslims encountering the unfair treatment