The Reluctant Fundamentalist Questions

Hi all

Here are the questions that I have chosen for the Reluctant Fundamentalist.  See you at my house tomorrow night.

1. Why did Hamid call the novel the Reluctant Fundamentalist?

2.At the beginning of the book, Changez says that his companion's "bearing" gives him away as an American.  What does Changez mean by this? What are his deeper implications?

3.How can the reader reconcile Changez's smiling reaction to the 9.11 attacks and his words of being a lover of America.

4.In what way does the novel show us that the way in which people view the world is shaped by their cultural heritage.

5. Does Changes lose or find his identity throughout the course of the novel?

6. Assess how nostalgia is a destructive force in the novel.

7. To what extent do you agree that the fate of both Erica and Changez are similar?

8. For a novel with "fundamentalist" in its title, this work has surprisingly little to say on the subject of religion.  When, if at all, does Changez speak of devout fiath divine right, or deity worship.