home and homeland in hamids the reluctan

7/26/2019 Home and Homeland in Hamids the Reluctan

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03 March 2012

Claudia Marin

When Erica meets Changez, she appraises: You give of this strong

sense o home (p.22). o! important is the theme o home an"

home#an" to the $he %e#uctant &un"amenta#ist'

The theme of home and homeland is of a fundamental significance to the $he

%e#uctant &un"amenta#ist. It is not only the main theme of the story, but also the

major internal force if we consider the entire shaing of the main character, Change!, to

such an e"tent that the no#el could be seen as ha#ing a circular structure$ it both starts

and ends reflecting on the notion of home. This essay aims to demonstrate the comle"

nature of Change!%s relationshi with his country and to find e#idence of the rimary

imortance of the concet of home.

It is necessary to highlight from the #ery beginning what homeland is for the

narrating #oice, namely Change!, a &a'istani who mo#es to (merica at the age of

eighteen in order to study at &rinceton, a famous (merican )ni#ersity. (fter his

graduation, Change! starts wor'ing in *ew +or', where a set of 'ey e#ents ta'e lace.

ome for Change! is the city of his birth, namely -ahore, the caital of the &a'istani

ro#ince of &unjab, and the second largest city in the country. -ahore is also the lace in

which his family li#es and, subseuently, a lace that has some claims on his loyalty

and emotions. Moreo#er, Change! is er#aded by a strong sense of national identity. (s

/illig 1 uts it, 4a#ing a national identity 5...6 in#ol#es being situated hysically,

legally, socially, as well as emotionally.7 (lthough at the beginning of the no#el this is

eually true when Change! is in the )nited 8tates, it is nonetheless robable thatChange! is emotionally situated only in &a'istan if we consider $he %e#uctant

&un"amenta#istas a whole.

(s a conseuence, based on a careful reading of the te"t, it could be assumed that

there is no dislacement or confusion in Change! as far as the identification of home

and belonging to a certain geograhical sace is concerned. 9n the contrary, the idea of

homeland seems fi"ed and determined. If :'ow :shun, the rotagonist and the author of

#ac *o#" o the +unis on a journey to find his home, Change! ne#ertheless

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might aear to be aware of where he is and what home means for him. is sense of

belonging and loyalty is threatened neither by the life he has started in the )nited 8tates,

nor by the ossible ercetion of his foreign identity by the eole he has met in the

new continent, who share among themsel#es a comlete and coherent set of #alues

which are tyically ;estern, and so, rather different from Change!%s.

*otwithstanding this, Change! resumably feels comfortable with his difference,

which is for him a source of enrichment rather than a wea'ness. is homeland and his

&a'istani features, both hysical and mental, ma'e him roud of himself and of his

ersonality. The colour of his s'in is ositi#ely ercei#ed, and is often associated to

health, in contrast with :rica%s sic'ness, con#eyed by her white s'in. ( further ossible

hint of his ride of being 9riental, rather than a ;esterner, is gi#en by his decision to

combine a air of jeans with a 'urta, a tyical item of clothing worn in &a'istan and in

some other :astern countries, when meeting :rica%s arents, hence an imortant

occasion. is choice is not only an e"ression of his feeling comfortable in his clothes,

an ob#ious symbol of his ro#enance, but also a owerful #isual reminder of his

identity.

Moreo#er, none of his (merican e"eriences threatens his identity, and his sense of

home is seemingly #ery strong regardless. In fact, he realises that he is the oosite of

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betrayal. The new foreign olicy (merica underta'es and the new set of ideas in *ew

+or' are no longer in coherence with the safety of Change!%s country, and so with his

ersonality.

It is in these circumstances that Change! decides not to cut his beard. The beard, as

the narrating #oice claims, reresents not only his identity, but also a form of rotest and

a reminder of what Change! has left behind. The beard is the resonse to the (merican

ostentatious dislay of flags subseuent to the attac's, and is Change!%s own flag.

ome is imortant to such an e"tent that, gi#en the situation in the latest chaters,

Change! feels a sense of duty towards his family, his eole and his country. e

belie#es he ought to rotect and defend &a'istan from a ossible imminent threat, as he

had also re#iously done with :rica%s father%s negati#e assumtions, demonstrating his

being touchy, a feature of his ersonality which means, according to :rica, that he cares

about where he comes from. e belie#es that home needs him as much as he needs

home. ;hereas at the beginning of the story he narrates that his eers and he were

e"ected to contribute their talents to the ragmatic (merican society, an effort he was

hay to ma'e, in the end he can no longer symathise with (merica and refuses

comletely to hel this *ation in a rocess of self=determination and of aggressi#e

reconstruction. @rom this emerges the strong ersonality of Change!, who is so asserti#e

and determined that underta'es a clear cut and disengagement from (merica, thus

returning to his homeland. (s the author has stated himself in an inter#iew, the ersonal

and the olitical are deely intertwined, and Change! is the concrete e"ression of this

statement.

This essay has attemted an o#er#iew of the imortance of the concets of home and

homeland in terms of lot and of the main character. In conclusion, it seems that it is no

longer ossible to consider and analyse the choices of the rotagonist if not in terms ofhis origin and his ro#enance. is identity and his solidity are comletely lin'ed to the

natural sense of belonging he feels towards &a'istan to such an e"tent that he is brought

to be anti=(merican and dedicate his life to the ursuit of his ideals in coherence with

what he is.

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rimar- i#iograph-

amid, . 200A$he %e#uctant &un"amenta#ist. -ondon$ &enguin.

+econ"ar- i#iograph-

/illig, M. 1 ana# /ationa#ism. -ondon$ 8tage &ublications.

:shun, :. 200B #ac *o#" o the +un. -ondon$ &enguin.

amid, M. and amilton, . Inter#iew on The eluctant @undamentalist. @ebruary

200A. Diewed March 2012. Ehtt$??www.mohsinhamid.com?inter#iewhh200A.htmlF.

Mc-eod,

home and homeland in hamids the reluctan

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