9/11 and Pak-US Relations: Identity Issue of the Protagonist in The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid

This research paper explores the stages of identity formation of the protagonist Changez in the novel The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid. It has been written in the backdrop of 9/11 at USA. In such a chaotic situation, the identity retention for an outsider, especially one from some economically poor state, really becomes a crucial issue. The personal and cultural identity of the protagonist Changez passes through various stages at USA. The writer’s position as a Pakistani definitely provides an ideological position to the protagonist. The researcher has tried to analyze the three stages of identity development by the application of Eura Jung & Michael L. Hecht’s (1993) Communication Theory of Identity (CTI) which provides four frames such as personal, enacted, relational and communal. Anyhow the researcher has delimited his research to the application of relational frame only. The relational identity of the protagonist has been highlighted through ‘I/We -You’ pronouns which set a juxtaposed analogy pattern