Compare the Ways the Immigrant Process Dehumanises People in
Both these Texts. (‘The Reluctant
Fundamentalist’ by Mohsin Hamid, and ‘The
Inheritance of Loss’ by Kiran Desai).
Both of these texts illustrate the dehumanisation of immigrants during the process of immigration. In The Inheritance of Loss, it is clear that the process of applying for a Visa is stressful and confusing – yet the character Baba is continuously dehumanised and treated as inferior to the USA. Changez, the Pakistani protagonist of The Reluctant Fundamentalist, is dehumanised in a different way to Biju. He is treated as a terrorist or a prisoner, as the 9/11 attacks have made characters in the novel suspicious of those who are not indigenous. Hamid has created a narrative viewpoint of The Reluctant Fundamentalist with a dramatic monologue, where there is a strong bond between the reader and narrator. The Pakistani protagonist speaks to an American listener, meaning that this first person narration isn’t always truthful – Hamid has allowed room for Changez to bend the truth to perhaps impress the American listener. Hamid is relatable to both the American listener and the Pakistani protagonist, and claims that he is split between American and Pakistan, just like the character Changez.
The key motif of dehumanisation is presented by Hamid in The Reluctant Fundamentalist through the
Pakistani character, Changez, who is questioned by security guards and treated
as a criminal in the airport terminal after his business trip to Manila. The attacks
happened while Changez was abroad, which is used by Hamid as a literary device
to further the detachment of Changez and American society. Changez is used to
show the state of the USA at the time of 9/11, relating to Hamid’s first-hand
experience of his Muslim friends being questioned and harassed after the
attacks. There is a clear divide of American society between the immigrants of
the USA and indigenous Americans, where Changez’s colleagues leave him to be
“very much alone” at the airport to be questioned - despite his innocence.
Changez is used as a literary device by Hamid to prove that immigrants were
dehumanised in the way that they were presumed to be the stereotype of the
terrorists who killed thousands of innocents in the World Trade Centre. Being “escorted” to “metal benches” by
security guards shows accusation because of his position in society.
We can also see the
divide between immigrants and the Americans in The Inheritance of Loss where the US acts superior to the Visa applicants
by presuming they can all fluently speak and understand English while telling them
instructions for the Visas. Yet not many of the immigrants can understand, including
Biju, who asks “What did they say?” The American embassy also have no sympathy
for the confused Indians, and offer no help when filling out the documents.
Biju innocently misunderstands the “other names” sections and begins to write
his nicknames of “dumpy, plumpy” and “Baba.” These immigrants have therefore
been dehumanised by the immigration process as they are offered no assistance
when filling out never-before-seen, life changing documents, and also presuming
they can also understand English. The immigrants are left in a confused state,
and are offered no help by the Americans.
To show the tension of the time of the 9/11 attacks, Hamid
has constructed Changez and an officer which show how immigrants were treated
at this time. This female officer has a machine-like response to Changez’s
attempt to “disarm her with a smile,” which shows that he feels he must be kind
in order to gain her respect, because Changez knows he will not be treated nicely
without demonstrating that he means no harm. The word “disarm” could also
indicate a metaphorical weapon is being pointed at him by everyone at this
airport – he feels permanently threatened and must attempt to show he is not a
terrorist by smiling. The dialogue used by the officer is an emotionless
response, and has a sense of detachment: “That is not what I asked, sir.” Her tone reveals resentment and bitterness
towards Changez.
In
comparison to this, The Inheritance of Loss uses the
character Biju to represent how the immigrant process generalises and puts
immigrants into a stereotypically negative image. The use of the “invisible
speaker” in the American embassy insinuates that the Americans do not want to
engage with the Visa seekers. Desai shows that the Americans are not
acknowledging that these Indians are going through a confusing process, and by
not speaking to them directly shows that the workers at the embassy are
thinking that they are not worthy to be spoken to.
In The Inheritance of
Loss there is a provision of society, where the queueing system is reckless
and almost Darwinian. “Tossing aside toothless grannies,” and “trampling babies
underfoot” was how the line was formed, meaning the young men came first in
line, and the decrepit at the back. This means that the “biggest pusher, first
place.”
This
compares to Changez’s battle to get into Princeton against the rest of his
country. He ended up with the “top exam results in Pakistan,” and was yet to receive
a B. Changez was the biggest pusher, just as the young men were in The Inheritance of Loss, and so as a
result got what he earned: a place in a prestigious American university and a
job at Underwood Samson, receiving a very high base salary.
Both texts have been constructed by the authors to represent how the process of immigration is dehumanising to those involved. The characters have been used to exemplify this, but Hamid has taken this further by basing characters on himself and using past experiences to demonstrate how immigrant dehumanisation isn’t fictional.
