Identity and Alienation after 9/11 in the Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid
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Abstract
The metamorphosis of Changez, the main character in Mohsin Hamid's The Reluctant Fundamentalist, following 9/11 is the main emphasis of this paper, which examines the issues of identity and alienation in the book. It examines how the attacks disrupted the cultural and personal identities of immigrants in America, leading to a crises of belonging. By analyzing Changez’s narrative, the paper highlights the effects of ethnical profiling, xenophobia, and global politics on individual and collective identity. It comes to the conclusion that the book offers a moving analysis of the divisive views of the post-9/11 world and how they affect transnational identities. A strong theoretical foundation for examining the Alienation and identity through the lens of Hamid's narrative is provided by Edward Said's Orientalism. It examines Changez's own metamorphosis as a microcosm of the greater experience of immigrants in this time period. The book highlights the isolation, power and simplistic stereotypes.