Ideology of the West in Hamid’s the Reluctant Fundamentalist

Abstract

This study intends to explore the ideology of the West in The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid who successfully portrayed the impact of 9/11 to view the ideology of the West for the East (Muslims). Edward Said’s Orientalism is an idea that represents views of the West about the East that fails to understand the cultural differences and perceives the East as biased, and subvert being opposed to reality. This idea of the West is rooted in the history of colonization and racism. The study follows qualitative research in the literary work of The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid through the dialogues of Changez. The novel depicted Changez as a reluctant fundamentalist and he was encountered of being Muslim due to the violent acts of some extreme radicals, and gave rise to the racist ideology of Islamophobia of the West.