Interrogating the Fundamentals of Identity: Changez’s Defining Act in the Reluctant Fundamentalist
Sumbal Maqsood

Abstract
In this paper, I will be exploring the dramatic transformation in the character of Changez in Mohsin Hamid’s dramatic monologue The Reluctant Fundamentalist. This transformation is like a Žižekian act which Changez executes in order to redefine his coordinates of reality. Žižek believes that an act is essential in order to reform individuals and the societies which they are a part thereof. It opens up a plethora of possibilities that the individual explores in order to arrive at a more coherent view of his perspective on life. Through an imperfect character like Changez, Hamid’s work takes us on a journey of flashbacks, memories, and contemporary dilemmas that a modern day individual often faces. The social framework of communities gives coveted choices that would lead to ambitious paths of success, but pitfalls are always there in social myths of success in a society. What education systems and other institutes give us are ideal labels, boundaries and definitions according to which a society should function. But often, these fixed formulas are destined to fail, and an individual feels dislocated enough to question his reality, which was a vacuum all along. Using Žižek’s ideas on artificial social constructs, this paper explores how pseudo-concepts of security, well-being and progressive identities of nations are actually traps of capitalism that reduce an individual to no more than an appendage in a society’s machinery. When individuals realize the vicious circle of revolutions and counter-revolutions they are ensnared by, they are forced to question the fundamentals and values they believe in, and Changez is one such character.

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