“I was, in four and a half years, never an American; I was immediately a New Yorker…I tend to become sentimental when I think of that city…which is quite something, I must say, given the circumstances under which, after only eight months of residence, I would later depart.
What are the interesting points made here?
In this extract taken from the book, Changez expresses his feelings for the time he spent in New York during the duration of the book. It is very interesting to see some of the fondness he still holds for New York despite his experiences that we come to learn of later. “Hamid uses the city of New York as a symbol of Changez’s desire to fit in with American culture.
Changez’s desire to fit in with American culture can be seen as soon as he gets the job offer from Underwood Samson. He is eager to live the ‘American Dream’ as he takes great pride in his stature. He works extremely hard to the point where Jim says to him, “You’re working too hard. You don’t want to burn out, now”. Changez also modifies some of his habits such as the business trip he took to Manila, “Perhaps it was for this reason that I did something in Manila I had never done before: I attempted to act and speak, as much as my dignity would permit, more like an American”. He goes on to state that, he was “often ashamed. But outwardly gave no sign of this”. This is a clear indication of Changez’s desire to try and appear as American as possible. He feels that the display of an American identity guarantees him a happy and successful life. During his time at Princeton, Changez isn’t conscious of this patriotic indoctrination, but after the twin tower attacks, he witnesses an enormous surge in the patriotic obsession with the United States’. Although he had thought that New York City had its own distinct culture, after the attack he sees the city join with the rest of the United States in forming a single culture whose most obvious characteristic is its hostility to non-Americans like Changez himself. In fact, at this point, Changez is so reluctant to let go of his perfect view of America, that even when he hears rumours of Muslims being abused and discriminated against after the September attacks, He believes it just as a consequence of every country’s tendency to abuse “the hapless poor”. He believes himself to be immune as he feels he is a creature bred from American life as a “Princeton graduate earning eighty thousand dollars a year”, and someone with a job in a prestigious American firm. His reluctance to admit that he will never truly be accepted as an American no matter what he does is finally tested when the attack on the Indian parliament causes his identity to split into two separate parts which cannot coexist. He is forced to accept one of these.
Changez’s experiences a shift in Identity which tests his loyalties as he is forced to side with either America or Pakistan. Hamid poses the question, is it ok to identify with a country that wasn’t an original part of your identity”. This inner conflict is one faced by numerous people around the world and with the rise of globalisation leading to people moving to different countries, it is often easy to feel lost from your original identity.