Analysis:

The original quotation expresses the protagonist’s reaction to the World Trade Center attack and in the use of language his sense of bewilderment and perplexity come to surface.

“Possibly”, “it seemed to me”, “I had always thought” are some examples of Changez’s inner confusion and his difficulty to come to terms with the new reality of America.

“To give oneself over” expresses the ironic idea of the protagonist towards the American attitude after the attack. It literally means to spend all one’s doing or feelings to create a defensive barrier against the fear of terrorism. At the same time, the protagonist judges the American attitudes as “dangerous nostalgia”. The semantic choice implies a step backwards of the common American trend towards progress. The idea is highlighted and reinforced by the adjective “retro”, preceded by the adverb “undeniably”, one that does not admit contradiction.

Flags and uniforms are more than simple lexical choices: they become a vehicle of criticism of the patriotic rituals America rhetoric still hangs to. Even the values of “duty” and “honor” sound rhetorical in their graphitic writing and use. In addition, they are set in key position.

What’s more, Changez’s use of the past perfect expresses the protagonist’s disillusionment and lack of hope in change in front of his initial dream about America.

The contrast between “look forward” and “look back”, symbolically at the end of the sentence, are divided by the word “determination”. It refers to American’s strict decision to find an escape in front of the tragedy.

To Changez’s eyes “living in New York” reminds life in the Second World War, or better his idea of it. The simile unveils the perception of the new atmosphere and makes of New York an almost “unreal city”. It sounds as if the protagonist could not believe his eyes in front of the new scenery. He seems to be “staring out at a set”.

The speaking voice communicates the feeling of something unnatural in the world surrounding him. Such image is conveyed by the phrase “not in Technicolor” but in “grainy black and white”. “Grainy” is technical language: it is generally used by the new generation since it refers to Photoshop uses and, last but not least, it conveys the perception of confusion introduced at the beginning of the quotation.

Changez finds no rational understanding in America’s reaction. The following questioning syntax adds to the protagonist’s puzzlement.

The reader is strongly involved in the narration thanks to the language used that creates an intimate relationship of closeness. Everything turns “unclear to me”. However, the questions imply a negative judgment of the reactional attitude and behavior.

“Dominance”, “safety” and “certainty”, anticipated by the adjective “moral”, clearly provide the new scenario. Again, the choice of “I did not know” brings to surface Changez’s feeling of being in front of something he cannot make sense of, the feeling of a parade where Americans were dressing in the shape of an old era. And, even worse, he feels “treacherous”.

All the quotation rests on the expression of Changez’s mood, feelings and emotions. The intelligent reader, therefore, is involved in the sharing of the speaking voice’s situation where reality and fiction look and sound the double face of one single reality.

The idea of reaction as a scenery concludes the quotation and conveys the totally new feeling of the protagonist whose detachment becomes therefore perceptible and of analysis.

Comparative analysis:

From the quotation the reader can understand that one of the many differences between the two languages is incisiveness. Indeed, the English language uses less words, it’s more essential and effective.

The original version of the text mainly uses progressive tenses (example: past progressive) and gerunds, while the Italian version uses relative clauses: as a result, sentences are longer and more complex to read: e.g. “generals addressing cameras” is translated as “generali che si rivolgevano alle telecamere”.

The translation adds expressions not used in the original version in order to convey the same concept. For example, in the second sentence the phrase “the flags and uniforms” is translated as “tutte quelle bandiere e quelle uniformi”: the original version uses the plural form to convey the number of flags and uniforms, while the translation adds three adjectives. Another example is the verb “was like”, which is translated as “era diventato come”: another verb is used in order to convey the same concept.

The translation also uses negations in order to convey and reinforce concepts. E.g. “was unclear” is translated as “non mi era chiaro”: the English version includes the negation in the word “unclear”, while the Italian version has to explicit it. Another example is the phrase “whether that era was fictitious”, translated as “se quell’epoca non fosse un’invenzione”.

The two versions also differ because of some lexical choices. The adverb “increasingly” conveys the idea of a continuous and unstoppable process, but it isn’t included in the Italian translation. Indeed, the translation sometimes omits concepts since the Italian language takes more words to convey ideas.

Another lexical choice is the translation of “America” as “Stati Uniti”. The choice often occurs in the novel and the reason behind it may refer to America’s self image. In this case, it is a reference to America’s patriotic attitude. “The flags and uniforms”, as Changez said in chapter 6, seemed to to proclaim “We are America” and not new York or the United States, which “means something quite different”. The United States re-built their identity as America, not as USA: the United States think they’re America, while they’re not. The Italian version does not convey this shade of meaning.

Different lexical choices also affect Changez’s position and point of view: indeed, “I, a foreigner” is translated as “io, da straniero”. The first one implies that Changez feels out of place and emphasizes his sense of belonging to another culture. The latter highlights Changez’s external point of view but doesn’t exclude him from America.

One more difference is the verb “longed”, translated as “rimpiangevano”. “To long” implies wish/desire for something that one might have never had. The latter, implies that America’s desire addresses its past: the Italian version emphasizes America’s nostalgic attitude.

“I didn’t know”, translated as “non so” is another difference affecting Changez’s point of view. The original version implies that Changez didn’t know the answer back then, but that he does in the present. The translation uses the present tense and extends Changez’s puzzlement, confusion and sense of foreignness to the present.

The adjective “treacherous” is an effective word used to convey more than one meaning. It conveys both an idea of betrayal and danger: it refers to Changez’s awareness about Americans thinking of him as a terrorist. It is translated as “tradimento”: the word conveys the idea that Changez is making a mistake, and that he feels sorry for not being loyal or trustworthy.

Conclusion:

The overall effect is that, in the Italian version, Changez seems to be closer to America than in the English version. Indeed, the English version creates an atmosphere of danger and tension rather than of unease or puzzlement. Therefore, in the translation Changez seems to be more affected by the consequences of meeting the Other.