U.S.-Pakistani Relationship Portrayal in The Reluctant Fundamentalist

            The U.S.-Pakistani relationship has never been a very good one. It only got worse after 9/11 when the American people became racist and began to get aggressively disrespectful to any Middle Eastern looking men and women. This was displayed in The Reluctant Fundamentalist in numerous ways and most interestingly through the eyes of a Pakistani. Because Hamid depicts the balance between the harsh racists and the more open-minded American’s such as Erica so well, it creates a primarily accurate portrayal of the fragile U.S.-Pakistani relationship as it was then and now.

            Hamid portrays two different types of American psyches following the 9/11 attacks. He illustrates the negative racism that occurred to many. This was shown when a stranger approached Changez, the main character, in a parking lot and “made a series of unintelligible noises—“akhala-malakhala,” perhaps, or “khalapal-khalapala”—and pressed his face alarmingly close to mine.” (117) The stranger’s friend then pulled him away telling him it wasn’t worth it, but as he was leaving the stranger yelled “fucking Arab.” This obviously angered Changez because he was Pakistani, not Arab and it was clear the man was making fun of his native language. This was very common at the time because the attack struck fear into so many civilians, which resulted in many of them channeling it into racism. Hamid also shows us both ends of the spectrum. He has Erica, who Changez crushes on, which is a very accepting young woman that is actually supportive of his homeland. Erica often tells him how she so much enjoys hearing stories of Pakistan. In fact Changez wears his long white cotton traditional Pakistani styled shirt to a dinner at her house because he knows how it would please her. Hamid made Erica as an accurate portrayal of America’s society that was accepting and understood that not every Middle Eastern man or woman was a terrorist so there wasn’t anything to be afraid of.

            Although Hamid was successful with most of the depiction of the U.S.-Pakistan relationship, he still had some flaws. The main inaccuracy that I saw was Changez smiling at the attacks of 9/11. I know that these attacks did make those who weren’t so fond of America happy, but I don’t believe it would make those who became a product of America happy. Changez went to school in the U.S., worked in the U.S., and lived in the U.S. so I do not believe it would make someone smile the way he did at the falling of the towers which is in fact the area where he lives. Because this character is a symbol for a Middle Eastern native living in America during this rise of racism, it would also be wrong for this symbol to live up to these racist people’s expectations.

            Overall Hamid’s portrayal of the U.S.-Pakistan relationship was very accurate, so much so that it is still relevant to today’s current relationship. Although the number of racist based crimes and racism have gone down dramatically, there are still people out there who are very racist even to this day. That is why most Middle Eastern men and women chose to look very American. Similar to how Changez was asked by his boss to shave his beard because it was making people uncomfortable. This beard that is looked at as traditional in his native country was now looked at as an image of terror in his current country. Sadly this is often still the case today. Since the attacks happened so long ago people aren’t as scared and worried. We have evolved to become more civil and understanding like the novel illustrated with Erica, the symbol for America’s society.