The Reluctant fundamentalist quotes Flashcards
(46 cards)
Changez about symbolism of 9/11 Chapter 5
‘I was caught up in the symbolism of it all, the fact that someone had so visibly brought America to her knees’
Changez thinking 9/11 wont personally impact him Chapter 5
‘I suspected my Pakistaniness was invisible, cloaked by my suit’
Changez flying home from Manila business trip post 9/11 Chapter 5
‘I flew to New York uncomfortable in my own face’
Symbolism of beard Chapter 5
‘perhaps you have drawn certain conclusions from my appearance, my lustrous beard’ (chapter 5 frame narrative)
‘Do not forget to shave before you go’
beard is a ‘symbol of my identity’
Changez post 9/11 realising things will change Chapter 7
‘the impending destruction of my personal American dream’
Racist attack post 9/11 Chapter 8
‘fucking arab’
Changez about Erica in Greece Chapter 2
‘She attracted people to her; she had a presence, an uncommon magnetism’
About Erica being broken Chapter 4
‘I feel haunted’
her eyes: ‘Something broken behind them, like a tiny crack in a diamond’
Changez + Erica’s fragile relationship
• ‘I was afraid any movement on my part might dislodge our connection’ Chapter 6
• ‘Pretend I am him’ Chapter 7
Changez leaving home after threat of war Chapter 9
‘this made me a kind of coward in my own eyes’
Changez as a product of American capitalism
• ‘I was a modern day janissary’ Chapter 10
• ‘I no longer thought of myself as a Pakistani, but as an Underwood Samson trainee’ Chapter 3
• ‘he did not accept American Express’ Chapter 3
Changez struggling with hybrid identity Chapter 10
• ‘I lacked a stable core’
• ‘I was not certain where I belonged’
• ‘my own identity was so fragile’ (therefore pretends to be chris)
Changez describing belong in New York
‘I was, in four an a half years, never an American; I was immediately a New Yorker’
Hybrid identity symbolised through clothing Chapter 4
Changez wore a ‘kurta of delicately worked cotton over a pair of jeans’
Importance of culture to changez Vhapter 10
‘Books are loved in my family’
Erica to Changez about being himself
‘I love it when you talk about where you come from, you become so alive’ Chapter 6
Changez’ politeness
• ‘Excuse me sir, but may I be of assistance?’ Chapter 1
• Underwood Samson liked his ‘natural politeness and sense of formality’ Chapter 3
• Erica says she’s ‘never met someone our age as polite as you’ Chapter 2
American sense of superiority
• Changez’ Princeton friends conducted themselves ‘as though they were its ruling class’ Chapter 2
• Erica’s father addresses him with a ‘typically American undercurrent of condescension’ Chapter 4
Changez’ reaction to America declaring war on Afghanistan (Pakistan’s neighbour)
‘I began to tremble with fury’ Ch7
Attitudes of America post 9/11
‘America became gripped with a self righteous rage’ Chapter 7
‘Your country’s flag invaded New York after the attacks’ Chapter 6
Changez sexualising Erica (desire for success/ American dream)
‘I felt at once both satiated and ashamed’ (after trying to have sex) Ch8
‘the failure of [Erica’s] garments to cloak the memory of those naked breasts’
Ch2
Changez in final frame narrative
‘you should not imagine that we Pakistanis are all potential terrorists’
‘I see from your expression that you do not believe me’
Changez as the good immigrant (success at Underwood Samson Chapter 3)
‘I worked hard - harder, I suspect, than any of the others’
Importance of accent Chapter 3
‘an anglicized accent may in your country continue to be associated with wealth and power’ Chapter 3 frame narrative
