„I am not, of course, an Arab“ (Vulnerability and Secret in Mohsin Hamid’s The Reluctant Fundamentalist and Exit West)

The article studies two novels by the English writer from Pakistan, Mohsin Hamid, The Reluctant Fundamentalist (2007) and Exit: West 2017, which earned him world fame with the uncomfortable questions posed by exposing the hidden dangers in our globalized world. The books appeal for people to be more tolerant in order to achieve true human oneness. In these two novels, the writer depicts how fear of the Other can be the leading emotion of entire societies; it tells the story of a world in which no one and nowhere can feel safe and secure. Although Mohsin Hamid's characters are constantly fleeing because they can't find their home anywhere, they always seem to be trapped in time because something dramatic and violent is happening everywhere and it prevents them from settling, home is not just a fixed place but it is also a place where major events do not take place. Through complex, nostalgic and ambiguous images, Hamid sees fixation on grief and loss as a chasm between cultures. Both novels deconstruct racial and cultural codifications, presenting migrants as individuals with different personalities and traits, rather than as representatives of a particular religious or political group.