English_Essay

What part does the disintegration of Erica’s mental health play in Changez’s alienation and rejection of America' ‘The Reluctant Fundamentalist’ is a novel steeped up in current events written by the Pakistani writer, Mohsin Hamid. Changez, the main story teller of the plot, is a young protagonist man who has fallen for the ‘magnetism of Erica’ who is suffering from a devastating personal loss of her boyfriend Chris. When Erica’s depression furthers, mainly after the September 11th attacks, Changez’z demise is correlated to Erica’s mental breakdown, therefore Changez feels his love for Erica is not returned and this leaves him struggling and lost. Changez always seems to correlate Erica and America as the same thing. ‘America’ and ‘Erica’ are the same according to Changez. Erica has two sides just like America. She is popular and wealthy with a busy social life. “Lioness, strong, sleek, and invariably surrounded by her pride” Then on the other side she is diminished of the loss of her boyfriend Chris who died of lung cancer. Changez relates them together because America also id famous of its popularity status and wealth. However, on the other hand it is also broken down in the aftermath of the September 11th attacks, it was no longer the strong, scary and unbeatable country. Changez, as he reveals at the start f the novel, says that he is a ‘lover of America’ however, shows us the opposite throughout the book, Changez did not even attempt on hiding his resentments towards America’s pragmatic and efficient dominance over the rest of the world. Changez’s greatest anger of all is that America is country of ‘fakely aged buildings’ with no culture or history. “… Were laid out on grids and boasted underground sewers while the ancestors of these who would invade and colonize America were illiterate barbarians” Changez’s angers also include that America is providing him with opportunities that Pakistan couldn’t. Changez’s implicit angers towards America are the life time offerings that America provides him with, which his country couldn’t, so therefore it is driving him away from his home country. Changez doesn’t like to accept that Pakistan is not as developed as America while it has all the culture, traditions and the historical features and America is a fake built country with no history or tradition and still manages to rule the world. Erica’s severe mental health strikes Changez and leaves him in further anger and hatred towards America. He relates them to each other as the same thing. The Reluctant Fundamentalist is a book of wonders leaving us to determine Changez’s attitude towards America