“The Reluctant Fundamentalist” by Mohsin Hamid is a novel of a young man, named Changez who tells his life-story over a nightlong conversation with a never-named American man.

The literary text is organized into twelve chapters and the first one has both the aim of introducing the overall background and the main character talking with his silent interlocutor.

The choices of a linear plot and the single person monologue are not accidental. Actually they are mainly meant to build suspense, but also to add more realist flavor but. The reader discovers the role of these narrative techniques since from the first chapter, which creates the atmosphere characterizing the whole novel.  

In the first chapter Mohsin Hamid portrays the conversation between Changez and the American man in a café, underlining the earliest mutual suspects/concerns.

Moreover Changez illustrates his interview with an important economical company, the Underwood & Samson, his hiring and his, at first hidden, sense of “beeing different from his peers”.

Considered as a whole the first chapter is functional in order to introduce some clues and issues that the reader could deeply understand just going on reading. Indeed, only after the Twin Towers attack on the 11^th September 2001 Changez’ s point of view about Americans’ behavior become clearer and easy catchable for the reader.       

To conclude, the function of the first chapter in “The Reluctant Fundamentalist” is essential to make the reader aware of what he is going to deal with and thus to be ready to catch the layer meanings the novelist wants to share.