In the present text I’m going to analyze the language used in the first chapter of “The Reluctant Fundamentalist”.

The first sentence (“Excuse me, sir, may I be of assistance?”) immediately sets the atmosphere: the register is highly formal and it underlines the protagonist’s politeness.
The protagonist instanter realizes that the other man isn’t at ease and to reassure him he affirms that he doesn’t have to be frightened by his beard since he is a lover of America. In this way he is trying to get in touch with the interlocutor.
Successively, he explains that his purpose was to help him since he seemed to be on a mission and, as a native of the city and a speaker of his language, he thought he could be helpful. “Mission” is a keyword: it lets the reader suppose that the stranger is more than a tourist, maybe a spy.
Moreover, saying that he is a speaker of the stranger's language, the reader understands that the protagonist’s life has been influenced by American culture. His life has been a continue attempt to live in betweenness.
The speaker identifies the stranger as an American by his bearing and his appearance leads him supposing that he is a sportsmen or a soldier. Therefore, he both recognizes and classifies the man: he is “a certain type of American”. The term “soldier” continues the idea started with “mission”.
The speaker invites the other interlocutor to have a cup of tea and, seeing his formal attitude, he underlines his atypicality compared to other American people (“And will you not remove your jacket? So formal! Now that is not typical of Americans, at least not in my experience”). It emphasizes the ambiguity of the stranger.
At this point he starts telling to him his experience in America. At the beginning he loved America, it was the land where everything was possible and he was happy to contribute to its society, but later things changed (“we were happy to do so. I certainly was, at least at first.”). The reader doesn’t know why his attitude has modified and so, he is curious to go on reading.
Thanks to his story the reader understands that the protagonist is an intelligent and confident man able to get any job he wanted. Except one: Underwood Samson & Company, an important valuation firm. For this reason during the interview he feels strangely nervous and judged. One of the main topic of the interview is his financial situation which made him feel uncomfortable. He needed financial aid to study in America therefore he is not rich, but, as he worries to specify to the American, he is not poor. For him that’s something to be ashamed of, while for the interviewer it was a demonstration of strength. The economic theme is largely discussed in the novel in order to highlight the social divide of the world.
Thanks to the report of the interview the reader, as the American, finally discovers the protagonist’s name: Changez. It underlines the transformation he will go through.
Meanwhile the American continues to be frightened by the situation. He is distrustful of the waiter and of the tea which had been served to him. But if he is worried why he decided to accept the invite of having a cup of tea? Does he want something from Changez? Is he a spy or something similar as the reader is led to think? Everything is very ambiguous.
The chapter ends inviting curiosity about the future of the protagonist and the role of the American.