The Reluctant Fundamentalist Themes Themes

1.The Self-Destructive Nature of Empires empires often contribute to their own demise, by overstretching themselves, by alienating their citizens, or by losing control of their fringes America’s empire???What? How? Why? Erica: sexy, creative, magnetic, celebrity-like In discussing empires, Hamid conflates the personal with the political.

Textual evidence Changez opines on America’s history of imperialism “…Your country’s constant interference in the affairs of others was insufferable. Vietnam, Korea, the straits of Taiwan, the Middle East, and now Afghanistan: in each of the major conflicts and standoffs that ringed my mother continent of Asia, America played a central role” (156).

Expansion Erica’s decline begins with a traumatic event: Chris’s death. Instead of mourning and moving on, she dwells on the past to the extent that her loss starves, isolates, and eventually kills her. America’s decline, Hamid implies, has begun with the tragic events of 9/11. Rather than mourn and move on, America transforms its grief into a nostalgic and belligerent brand of patriotism. Bombing Afganistan

More evidence “A common strand appeared to unite these conflicts, and that was the advancement of a small coterie’s concept of American interests in the guise of the fight against terrorism, which was defined to refer only to the organized and politically motivated killing of civilians by killers not wearing the uniforms of solders … This, I reasoned, was why America felt justified in bringing so many deaths to Afghanistan and Iraq, and why America felt justified in risking so many more deaths by tacitly using India to pressure Pakistan.” (178)

More themes – time to talk ? Example:

Themes, values and ideas Identity – how many Changezes are there? P.80 Nostalgia – try p.130-1, p.81, p.31-2, p.168, p.129, last chptr Appearances p.12, p.57, p.37, p.56, p.43, p.73, p.147-8, p. 177-8 Hospitality: roles of guest and host Loyalty The importance of place, east and west

Penguin 2008 edition Appearances p.37, p.57, p.43, p.73, p.147-8, p. 177-8 Hospitality: roles of guest and host p. 1-2, p.195-6 Loyalty p. 4-5, p.171-3, p. 174, p.179, p.183 The importance of place, east and west, p.37, throughout the novel each setting has a significance

places Lahore – his home, once a powerful city New York, his temp home – he feels at home, glamorous and powerful city, Greece – east meets west, sees the others have little respect for elders etc Manilla - expensive hotel, but identifies with taxi driver Valpariso – cosmopolitan, feels familiar, meets Juan Bautista

Twin towers – p 83

During the American involvement in the Vietnam War: 3,403,100 Americans served in the South East Asia region during the war Total casualties (combined enemy and allied): 5,773,190 Total killed (combined enemy and allied): 2,122,244 Americans killed: 58,169 Civilians killed or wounded: 1,522,000 Tons of bombs dropped: 6,727,084 (compare to 2,700,000 tons dropped in WWII by Allied forces on Germany) American forces sprayed 3,500,000 acres with chemical weapons, the effects of which will last over 100 years http://zainpatel.com/military.html http://rationalrevolution.net/war/american_involvement_in_vietnam.htm