Society May Influence Your Fate

Fung Kiu Chiu

Professor Kai Krienke

CMLIT 102W

May 26, 2011

Topic: How Changez ("The Reluctant Fundamentalist") and the Underground Man ("Notes from Underground") both prove that a person's identity is determined by his or her place in society.

Society May Influence Your Fate

Oftentimes we like to believe that our fate is controlled by ourselves. Your destiny is the product of your own actions; success is determined by talent and hard work. Sadly, this is usually not the case. Many who have experienced the realities of our world realize that life is not so simple. Luck or opportunity, however you would like to phrase it, plays a very large role in what happens to us. And of this category of "luck," there lies the factor of society. A person's identity can, in fact, be determined by his or her place in society. Two characters that can prove this theory is Changez of The Reluctant Fundamentalist, by Mohsin Hamid, and the Underground Man of Notes from Underground, by  Fyodor Dostoyevsky. Each protagonist's environment, decisions, and even fate -- therefore, ultimately his identity -- are subtly, but not completely invisibly, shaped by society's influences, such as pressures, dictations, and stereotypes.

Before the attacks during September 11, before he was discriminated against by fellow colleagues in Underwood Samson, before Erica disappeared, and before the title "terrorist" began to apply to all people of brown skin, Changez was leading the life, I believe, he desired for himself. After all, it is hard to deny or even avoid the pleasures of realizing a successful life. Fresh out of Princeton University, he is seen to be very eager to join the "American elite." Indicated in part, by joining his chosen career and choice of "high class" friends. Soon it is made known to the reader that he pursues a career in the financial field of the business world. After being hired by the firm, Underwood Samson, Changez works diligently and without question to help his firm...