For my final project, I decided to take the book The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid and write an additional chapter, Chapter 13. The Reluctant Fundamentalist is a thought provoking novel that highlights the inner struggles of a Pakistani-Muslim man living, loving, and losing in a post September 11 America. The novel ends with a cliff-hanger ending—Changez, the storyteller, notices the American reaching for something in his pocket with a metal glint. He wants to believe it is a business card holder, but we never really find out what it is.
There are two seemingly obvious things that could have happened afterwards. The optimistic thing to say is that the object was in fact a business card holder. However, due to earlier foreshadowing, I assume that most audiences think that the object was a weapon to hurt Changez. Several hints are given for this interpretation. Earlier in the book, Changez says that the American sits as if he has an armpit holster like security agents. There are also several foreshadowing quotes like this:
“It seems an obvious thing to say, but you should not imagine that we Pakistanis are all potential terrorists, just as we should not imagine that you Americans are all undercover assassins.”
To feed my curiosity, I decided to experiment a little bit with Hamid’s writing style to write an ending that fulfills both of these predications. The metal glint is in fact from a business card holder. The American, who I gave a name to, offers Changez this card. But the American is also carrying a gun, and is in fact an assassin sent to kill Changez.
I mimicked the writing style and even the appearance of the novel for my project. I begin with an interaction with the American, I then tell a story of older days, am then interrupted by the actions of the American, and then respond to the American. I visually formatted my chapter to look like pages from the book, paying careful attention to the way each chapter is designed and the page number where the book leaves off.
I decided to disregard the man who seemed to be following Changez and the American. But I decided to include another cliffhanger ending like Hamid. Unlike Hamid however, I wanted the ending to be more substance than gimmick. Though I don’t outright say that the American kills Changez, it can rightfully be interpreted. We now know a gun is involved.
I tried to make connections back to earlier parts in the novel. I included Jim, the cell phone, Underwood Samson, New York, and more. I gave the American a name because I knew I personally was waiting for one while reading the novel. Now that he had a name, he was no longer a generalization for all other Americans. It was Mark Lawson who wanted Changez, the Pakistani-Muslim dead, not all of America. Giving him a name and making him an assassin was meant to be a political statement.
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