The Reluctant Fundamentalist: Chapter 3 Summary & Analysis

Changez tells the Stranger that he seems uncomfortable, and compares the way he looks around the café to the behavior of an animal that isn’t sure if it’s predator or prey. He encourages the Stranger to relax and observe Old Anarkali in the afternoon. The gates at either end of the market are being locked, he observes, meaning that no vehicles can enter or exit the area. Although in the newer parts of Lahore, it’s better to be in a vehicle than on foot, here, where the streets are usually full of traffic, it’s far more convenient to walk. The Stranger seems to compare Old Anarkali to Manhattan, and Changez seizes the opportunity to continue telling him about his early days in New York.

At first, Changez finds New York City to be almost like home, since the cab drivers speak Urdu, it’s easy to find Pakistani food near his apartment in the East Village, and the South Asian Gay and Lesbian Association sometimes marches through his neighborhood. When he walks through the street or takes the subway, he doesn’t seem out of place; indeed, tourists often ask him for directions. In general, he feels like a New Yorker, not an American. The Stranger points out that Changez’s voice is rising; Changez explains that he is often sentimental about Manhattan, even though he only lived there for eight months.

On his first day at Underwood Samson, Changez is overwhelmed by the view from the lobby, located high in a skyscraper. America is truly the most technologically advanced civilization on the planet, he thinks. At times, he is shamed and saddened by the disparity between his homeland and the United States. Thousands of years ago, Pakistan had sophisticated cities, while the Western world was barbaric; in the 21st century, the tables have turned, and the West is powerful while Pakistan’s cities are dirty and unplanned. In spite of his occasional shame about his country, Changez doesn’t feel Pakistani on his first day at Underwood Samson — he feels proud to be a part of such a prestigious company.

Sherman, one of Underwood Samson’s vice presidents, explains to Changez and the five other new employees that Underwood Samson is a meritocracy. The trainees have been recruited from excellent schools and chosen for their huge potential. At Underwood Samson, they’ll be ranked every six months, and low-ranked employees will be fired. Changez notices that the other trainees sit up very straight, except for one named Wainwright, who slouches and makes jokes. Changez and Wainwright soon bond over their love of also .

For the next few months, Changez, Wainwright, and the other trainees take complicated classes designed to give them a year’s worth of business knowledge: computer programs, personal skills, negotiation tactics. The instructors are excellent, and the trainees are tested constantly on their new knowledge. Back in Lahore, Changez says that the Stranger seems impressed with the training program. He comments that Underwood Samson exemplified the professionalism that has made America successful in many different fields: trainees are encouraged to be creative but also efficient.

Changez enjoys the excitement of his financial training. He also feels especially powerful when the firm gives him an expense account — essentially, a promise from Underwood Samson that the company will pay for anything Changez purchases, as long as it relates to business somehow. Suddenly, Changez has access to more money than he ever did in Pakistan or at Princeton. He also notices that his colleagues are diverse and yet alike in many ways. Two of the six new trainees are women, and two, Changez and Wainwright, are non-white. Still, all six are graduates of top-tier American universities, tall, and physically fit. The only other trainee who seems even slightly uneasy with these arrangements is Wainwright, who worries, mostly jokingly, about going over to “the dark side.” Even so, he, Changez, and the other trainees are happy to be working for Underwood Samson, and toast their new careers with expensive champagne.

Later that night, Changez and Wainwright, having gotten drunk with the other trainees on Underwood Samson’s dollar, share a cab back to their homes. They talk about cricket: Wainwright admits that he doesn’t enjoy the game much, and Changez says that the Pakistani team isn’t as good as it used to be. Changez also learns that Wainwright’s father is from Barbados.

Wainwright and Changez are hungry, so they go to the Punjab deli where Changez received a free meal that morning. Speaking Urdu, Changez greets the man who gave him his food, and asks if he ever goes home — not enough, the man replies. Changez insists on paying for his food this time, adding that he has an expense account, but the man apologizes and says that he doesn’t accept American Express. As the other customers watch in amusement, Wainwright offers to pay for both of their meals in cash, which impresses Changez, since in Pakistan it’s a mark of true friendship to buy someone else food. He senses that he’s found a kindred spirit at Underwood Samson.

In Lahore, Changez asks the Stranger why he is recoiling from the beggar soliciting him for money, and wonders aloud what accident could have disfigured the beggar so horribly. The Stranger gives the beggar nothing, and Changez says that he’s right to refuse — it’s better to give to charities, since they address the sources of poverty. Changez gives the beggar money anyway, and the beggar responds by, according to Changez, offering them both his prayers.

In the following weeks of training, Changez begins sizing up his new colleagues. Wainwright is laid back, funny, popular, and a clear contender for first place in the all-important rankings. Changez, using his training in competitive sports, works hard to succeed, getting only a few hours of sleep a night. He’s pleased to find that his formality impresses his supervisors, instead of alienating them, as it sometimes did at Princeton. He tells the Stranger that his accent, which sounds English, may have given him an advantage at Underwood Samson, since American, like Pakistan, is an English colony, meaning that English accents still symbolize power. He also thinks that his Pakistani upbringing trained him to treat his bosses with respect and courtesy. In either case, he concludes, being foreign was an advantage at Underwood Samson.

Changez notices signals that he is doing well at Underwood Samson. When it’s time for the company’s yearly summer party, Changez and Wainwright ride in a limousine with Jim, who is hosting the party at his house in the Hamptons, while most of the other trainees ride with Sherman, Jim’s junior at work. During the ride, everyone is talkative, except for Jim and Changez. Jim tells Changez that they’re both watchful people, a quality which comes from being out of place.

Jim’s party is extremely luxurious. While Wainwright enjoys himself, Changez steps outside and watches the waves crash on the beach. He thinks how strange it is that, only a few months ago, he had never seen the sea, whereas now it’s a part of the yearly routine of working for Underwood Samson.

While Changez is watching the waves, Jim approaches him, and recalls his first Underwood Samson party at the Hamptons. Jim tells Changez that he felt out of place, but eager to acquire the luxury he saw. Changez says that he knows what Jim means, and Jim pats him on the back and leads him inside for food. Later that evening, though, Changez thinks of Erica, and wishes that she were at the party with him. He imagines that even she would be impressed by Jim’s house.

When the analyst training program ends, Changez learns from Jim that he is ranked first in his class, and that his instructors admire his drive and energy. Jim advises Changez to nurture these qualities, and invites him to be part of a new project he’s working on, which involves a music business in the Philippines. Changez, happy with his performance, meets Wainwright, who is happy to have finished second in his class, and had already assumed Changez would be first.

While he was overjoyed at the time, Changez tells the Stranger, his world would soon change. He encourages the Stranger to notice how quickly the streets have transformed into a market, and observes that, if they hadn’t been sitting at the café for so long, they might think that Old Anarkali always looked this way. Because they know the area’s “recent history,” they can better understand the way it looks now.