I, like most Americans, can remember exactly what I was doing the morning of 9-11.  I was in the car taking my 2 young children to elementary school.  We were listening to the radio and I was hearing the description of what was taking place at the Twin Towers in New York.  The first reaction that came to mind was this is not real.  This is a sketch being preformed by the radio station, something like war of the worlds by Orson Wells.  I would soon find out that this was in fact reality and my feelings of disbelief quickly turned to tears.  I personally did not know anyone that died that day but I still cried as though a close friend died that day.

     It is these feelings that created a reaction of anger when I read Mohsin Hamid's book The Reluctant Fundamentalist.  In particular the reaction of Changez to the tragedy.  I understand that this is a fictional character but the fact that he smiled, was at first appalling.  I then re-read the chapter.  Trying to understand this characters point of view and reaction.  I have come to the conclusion that, as he stated "at that moment, my thoughts were not with the victims of the attack.....no,I was caught up in the symbolism of it all, the fact that someone had so visibly brought America to her knees."(pg73)  I believe that prior to this event Changez was beginning to feel guilty for enjoying his new feelings of being Americanized.  Days prior to this event he was acting in ways he had never done before: I attempted to act and speak, as much as my dignity would permit, more like an American.  He had felt that theFilipinos he was working with respected his American colleagues, accepting them almost instinctively, and he wanted his share of that respect.(pg65)  He then had a very Americanized experience, as he was gazing out the window of his limousine, his gaze was met with an undisguised hostility from a driver next to him.  He could not imagine why this person who he had never met before could dislike him so intimately.  His conclusion would eventually be; perhaps he simply does not like Americans.  This bothered him because he felt that this stranger and I shared a sort of Third World sensibility.(pg67)

     With this being said I don't believe that this character was a traitor or a terrorist sympathizer but rather a conflicted patriot.  An Americanized Pakistani citizen who was feeling guilt for enjoying our culture but being fully aware of the superiority that our nation has, at times, forced on the rest of the world.  Does this make it just that terrorism has come to our home land?  No!  Terrorism is violence that should never be accepted in any nation.  I may not agree with this characters reaction to our nations tragedy but that is the beautiful thing about our nation---Freedom of speech and to each his own.

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