Traversing the Third Space: Hybridity, Alienation, and Non-Assimilation in Mohsin Hamid’s The Reluctant Fundamentalist

Abstract

The present study aims at exploring the issues of third space, hybridity, and the identity crisis of Pakistani people living in the West, especially in the United States of America, in light of the analysis of Mohsin Hamid's The Reluctant Fundamentalist‎. Homi K. Bhabha's idea of the third space has been used as the theoretical framework to analyse the text. According to the study of Mohsin Hamid's The Reluctant Fundamentalist, the greatest hindrance to natural and mutually beneficial connections across many nations and cultures is American society's hatred and lack of acceptance for individuals from other cultures. Moreover, the study underscores the stark truth that Pakistani citizens, notwithstanding their sincere efforts, ultimately find themselves trapped in a liminal space that exists between their native culture and the host culture, rendering those aliens in both. This heightened degree of alienation is manifested in the characters' hardships, which illustrate the enormous obstacles they face when attempting to assimilate into a culture that frequently sustains feelings of estrangement and exclusion.