THE RELUCTANT FUNDAMENTALIST – CHAPTERS 1-6 REVIEW

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PROTAGONIST:

What do we know about him?

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ANTAGONISTS:

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SECONDARY CHARACTERS:

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CONFLICTS (tick the relevant ones)

 Character vs. Character

 Character vs. self (internal or inner conflict)
 Character vs. machine/technology
 Character vs. society
 Character vs. nature
 Character vs destiny

For each one you ticked, why?

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SETTINGS

- City, country where the action takes place

- Physical place (building, house, furniture…)
- Historical time, time of the day, night…

What is the significance of the setting? Its importance to the story as a whole? Its
symbolic dimension?

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CULTURAL / HISTORICAL ELEMENTS ENCOUNTERED SO FAR

Ex: American University system, corporate culture, life in Pakistan….

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NARRATIVE POINT OF VIEW

Which of the following:

 First person point of view

 3rd person objective (the narrator describes the facts objectively and doesn’t
give his or her opinion)
 3rd person limited to the point of view of one character
 3rd person omniscient

To better understand the particular narrative perspective in this novel it is important

to understand the following concepts:

Framed narrative

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Dramatic monologue

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What is the role of the American from a narrative perspective?

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THEMES

How has it been illustrated in ch 1-6?

American dream

American corporate world

(capitalist fundamentalism
/meritocracy)

American imperialism (political

fundamentalism)

Rise and fall of Empires (Pakistan,

Greece, America...)

The notion of fundamentalism:

religious vs economic vs political

Dual culture, belonging.

“Americanization”, erasing one’s

cultural roots, feeling of shame of
one’s origins

Migrant experience

Patriotism, loyalty and betrayal

Stereotypes, discrimination, racism

Nostalgia

Collective trauma

Love

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