Do something different

Fundamentalism is met with much controversy, both in religious, political and economic context as demonstrated in both the novel and film The Reluctant Fundamentalist. Changez is unwillingly roped into both beliefs through his job in New York and his life in Lahore. It is clear that Changez has a strong belief that there is more to a man than meets the eye. Fundamentalism disregards individualism and focuses instead on base beliefs and practices. Modernism rejects these ideas as outdated because it is necessary to take into account the social and political history that amends fundamental ideas. 

Changez fell in love with America as it allowed him to follow his dreams - the American Dream - of becoming successful and 'winning'. He takes pride in his education and career, celebrating as he ascends the ranks of Underwood Samson. It is not until his business trip to Chile/Istanbul that he realized the drawbacks of being an analyst. In the novel, Juan-Bautista asks him, "Does it trouble you... to make your living by disrupting the lives of others?" Since Changez is already questioning his place as a Pakistani living in America during the crisis of 9/11, this really hit home and he decides to hold onto his personal beliefs of justice, individulaism, social equity, etc. and quits his job to move back to Lahore to escape the injustices of fundamentalism. Only he discovers to his dismay that he cannot, moving from one fundamentalist belief to another. 

It is quite shocking to realize that in times of war and crisis, we are no longer identified as individuals but as our titles, roles, origin, and other labels. All muslims become terrorists, all soldiers become pawns, any other personal characteristics are forgotten. The film really exploits and dramatizes this, perhaps to appeal to an American audience. I did not think that this was the intention of the book. I find that a lot of films exploit disaster for our entertainment. We seem to be drawn to them like moths to flame. We are constantly reminded of terrible things happening in the world through media, which in my opinion does no favors for society. The amount of films about the Holocaust and 9/11 is unreal, do people really want to keep themselves in state of deprecating morality? I realize it is important for us to learn from our mistakes, but the world will not change if we keep focusing on the negatives, instead we will keep making the same mistakes over and over. Change does not arise unless you do something different.