The Reluctant Fundamentalist

Chapters 1-3

Reading Check

1. Lahore, Pakistan (Chapter 1)

2. Princeton (Chapter 1)

3. Erica (Chapter 2)

4. The Great Gatsby (Chapter 3)

Short Answer

1. He spent four and a half years living in America. (Chapter 1)

2. He got a scholarship. (Chapter 2)

3. He paid for it with his signing bonus from Underwood Samson and had to be frugal with his money, while his travel companions had family wealth. (Chapter 2)

4. She is homesick for her boyfriend who passed away and Changez is homesick for Pakistan. (Chapter 2)

5. He loved that he immediately felt like a New Yorker and that people were all made equal because they were forced to walk. (Chapter 3)

Chapters 4-6

Reading Check

1. A picnic (Chapter 4)

2. He smiles. (Chapter 5)

3. Bats (Chapters 5-6)

Short Answer

1. He asks about the economic situation in Pakistan, and Changez is bothered by his comment about fundamentalism. (Chapter 4)

2. He worries that something bad is about to happen. (Chapter 4)

3. He is searched because he looks like a Middle Easterner. (Chapter 5)

4. He wants to spend more time with Erica. (Chapter 6)

Chapters 7-9

Reading Check

1. That it rings on the hour, like someone is checking up on them (Chapter 8)

2. He is at the top of his recruitment class. (Chapter 8)

3. Chile (Chapter 9)

Short Answer

1. While valuing the company there, Changez and his team are met with hostility because of Changez’s background. (Chapter 7)

2. She is still struggling with the death of her boyfriend and she is suffering from nostalgia. (Chapter 8)

3. He arrives late to work. (Chapter 7)

4. Between the racism he experiences, the political chaos, and the distance between him and Erica, work is the only place he can escape a troubled past. (Chapter 8)

5. He applies an American view to Lahore, which makes him feel shame, but when he tries to change his perception, he realizes that Pakistan is rich in history and there is nothing to be ashamed of. (Chapter 9)

6. He sees that Changez is struggling and needs to focus on work. (Chapter 9)

Chapters 10-12

Reading Check

1. Lahore (Chapter 10)

2. Pablo Neruda (Chapter 10)

3. Christian children trained to fight in a Muslim army (Chapter 10)

4. A copy of Erica’s manuscript (Chapter 11)

5. He is a university lecturer. (Chapter 12)

Short Answer

1. He implies that the stranger is carrying a weapon and that he is an undercover security agent. (Chapter 10)

2. He doesn’t think that their valuation will result in the acquisition of his company. (Chapter 10)

3. He quits his job. (Chapter 10)

4. He realizes that he dislikes the way that America involves itself in the world. (Chapter 11)

5. He doesn’t want to go on living in fear. (Chapter 12)

6. The answer is unclear; it is suggested that they are an undercover assassin. (Chapter 12)