The Reluctant Fundamentalist
A Complete Summary
ValentijnVatSamen
Index
• Characters
• The world of The Reluctant Fundamentalist
• Important Quotes
• Background Information (about writer, book, story, idea behind it, etc.)
• Explaining the title
• The Summary
• Questions about the story/book answered
• Information about the upcoming test
• How to learn
Characters
Changez - The protagonist of the story. A Pakistani man who lived in America for 4,5 years. He’s
smart, having studied at Princeton. Changez was born in Lahore, the second largest city of
Pakistan. Changez loves tea from the city Lahore, as well as New York City. Changez is 22 years
old and has a beard (at the time of his ashbacks while talking to the unknown man). At the time
he’s talking to the man about his life, he is 25 years old while still having a beard. He worked at
Underwood Samson & Company in New York City for quite some time. He also worked as a
university lecturer in Lahore.
Jim - The managing director at Underwood Samson & Company. He was the one who
interviewed Changez for the job at Underwood Samson & Company. He is smart and he can see
through people quickly and with precision.
Erica - A girl who Changez met in Greece. Changez likes her. They both were from Princeton, but
came to know each other while they were in Greece. On the island Rhodes they began having
feelings for each other. Erica had a boyfriend that died, named Chris.
Wainwright - A friend of Changez. He likes movie quotes and is (like Changez) an employee at
Underwood Samson & Company. He is very intelligent and he can give clear presentations.
The world of The Reluctant Fundamentalist
World
The book is set on Earth, in a realistic world. The book during the ashbacks of Changez is set
before (and a short while) the events of 9/11. During the conversation with the unknown man, the
book is set a few years after the events of 9/11. The events in the book take place in New York
City, Lahore, and Greece.
Structure
The book’s perspective is solely seen from Changez’ eyes. We don’t see people talking that often,
since Changez talks about almost everything. We never hear the unknown man talking, no,
Changez says everything that he does, or he replies to everything that he supposedly says. This
leaves Changez to saying a lot of things literally. So, the book is in rst person monologue.
Organisations
Underwood Samson & Company: Changez worked here, getting payed $80.000 a year. Their
guiding principle is Focus on the fundamentals.
Princeton: A prestigious university in America where Changez studied.
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, Important Quotes
“Focus on the Fundamentals”
-The guiding principle of Underwood Samson & Company
“Have you heard of the janissaries?”
-Juan-Bautista
Background Information (about writer, book, story, idea behind it, etc.)
The book is a novel in the genre ‘psychological ction” and “coming of age”. The writer is Mohsin
Hamid. Mohsin is a Pakistani, just like Changez. Mohsin Hamid wrote the book and nished it
before the terrorist attack on the Twin Towers. When the attack happened, he thought it would be
a good idea to implement the attack into the story of his book. He did this by making the attack
an event that happened in the background; the attack isn’t the most important event in the book.
Explaining the title
The events of September 11th help push Changez into his "reluctant fundamentalism." Americans
begin to see him as a terrorist in waiting, even though he is not a terrorist Muslim in the slightest
nor religious to begin with. His American girlfriend leaves him, and his job leaves him feeling
empty and dissatis ed. So in the end, Changez decides to leave the United States and return to
both his native land and a more traditional way of life.
The Summary
The rst spoken words in the book
“Excuse me, sir, but may I be of assistance? Ah, I see I have alarmed you. Do not be frightened by
my beard: I am a lover of America.”
I
A man starts talking. Later we found out that that man is called Changez. He talks to another
muscular, quite steriotypical-american-looking man (whose identity is unknown). They seem to be
at a market in Lahore, Changez’s place of birth, both drinking tea that Changez really loves. The
only explanation we get of why the unknown man is with Changez, is that he’s there for business.
Changez tells about him living for 4,5 years in America, and him studying at Princeton. He tells the
unknown man, who he is talking to, about a job interview for the small rm called “Underwood
Samson & Company”. The interviewer, Jim, asks Changez questions, and nally, Changez has to
predict how much a ctional company is worth. That, is also the specialty of Underwood Samson
& Company, predicting the worth of companies. And because they were extremely good at it,
getting the job was hard. But, Changez got it, and he felt happy, for he got an amazing job that
happens to pay well.
II
Changez starts talking to the man about a trip to Greece with a few students from Princeton.
Changez is there with his friend Chuck, as well as Mike and Erica. Changez likes Erica, and on the
holiday in Greece they get to know each other.
Although Chuck, Mike and Erica are rich, Changez isn’t, relying on funds from the government. He
does, however, come from a rich family, but over the years the money was spent, leaving nothing
for Changez.
Anyway, on the holiday in Greece, when the group was on the island Rhodes, they went to a
beach. That was where Erica and Changez started talking more. They also started having feelings
for each other, but, they didn’t do anything sexually. When they both returned to New York, Erica
gave Changez her number.
fi fi fi fi fi fi fi
