DECONSTRUCTING ISSUES OF IDENTITY IN "THE RELUCTANT FUNDAMENTALIST" BY MOHSIN HAMID

Abstract

 Communities are defined as a unified body of individuals sharing common interests, 
values, and/or beliefs. Often we speak of community as a united population, which bonds people 
together. However, studies reveal that communities are founded upon ideals of homogeneity and 
identity, through the generation of boundaries. With the advent and expansion of technology, the 
whole world has shaped into a global village and this globalization has threatened the identities 
of the people. As is seen, the traditional notion of identity becomes impossible in the modern 
urban environment because of identity’s foundation on contemplation, by which a person can 
“give himself up to his train of associations. The undertaken research "Deconstructing Identity 
Issues in ‘The Reluctant Fundamentalist’ by Mohsin Hamid'' investigates the dilemma of identity 
and explores the problems of immigrants especially the Muslim-Pakistani immigrants after 
9/11incident. It also discusses the role of the characters’ roots and history in constructing their 
identities and how they have made life problematic for the characters in multicultural America. 
They also want to escape from their family’s roots and history but it is difficult, because leaving 
roots is not an easy process. Ultimately, this exploration attempts to generate an identity crisis, 
through the amplification of ambiguous space, which exists in the reality of urban form.