Blumes’s Reviews > The Reluctant Fundamentalist > Status Update

Towards the end of the book we learn lots of things about every character. The very end of the book is extremely interesting in the way the author tells us the story. When the american reached to pull something out I got suspicious. Whatever the american pulled out could have been so many things bad or good. The author left us the readers to interpret it ourselves. I personally think it was a gift or card.

Changez keeps coming back to the idea of being successful in america. His mind is set on having everything that a "typical american" would want rather than what he wants. He is in love with Erica and he appreciates his Ivy league education but his job and coworkers are what is holding him back. If Changez would accept that Jim is not a mentor then he would have a better job and more happier life. He deserves respect!

It is interesting how Changez is so in love with Erica. The reason I say this is because Changez gets extremely hung up on her. When he thinks of her he does not stop and if he cleared his mind he would be much more successful and he already has the pressure of faking his identity. It seems that when Changez is talking to the american in the novels present day that he is in a better mind set and more free.

Reading about 9/11 taking place in the novel made me feel like I was in it. It felt so real, as if I were on the streets of New York watching planes crashing on purpose into buildings. After the attack, I witnessed Erica and Changez get closer. This makes me think about how they will keep their relationship lively. This includes chris's role. I wonder If Erica leaves Changez? I am intrigued to find out what is next.

After learning about the 9/11 attacks we begin to notice discrimination towards Changez. Reading about Changez being detained by security at the airport shocked me. The security was interrogating him and he could do nothing. This blatant act of racism was upsetting to read about and yet it must be have been humiliating for the character. I could feel how disempowered he was. This gave me insight into his U.S. life.

I have not paid much attention to the stranger that Changez guides throughout the novel, but when I read the stranger kept putting his hands in his pockets it made me question his identity more. Ever since Changez introduced himself the american has been cold towards him. I believe he is a soldier based on Changez's description at the beginning of the book. I believe that the stranger is slightly suspicious.

Learning about how Changez was madly in love with a women named Erica shocked me, due to the fact that I thought Changez was not a very emotional person. Changez as the narrator explains his love in a myriad of creative ways. The vocabulary that our protagonist uses is very complex and has opened my mind to new word play. I have really enjoyed chapter two and am excited to learn more about Changez and Erica.

The setting the author set at the beginning of this novel was both appealing and confusing. When the author created a scene where Changez was trying to help what seemed like a lost american I liked the way he allowed the readers to interpret their own answers to Changez and the americans conversation. I was confused on where the setting of this interaction was at first but soon understood the complex format.