Changez is in a hotel in Manila, packing his suitcase and watching television, when he sees the World Trade Center collapse. “And then I smiled,” he confesses. Explore this scene as the turning point of the novel—in terms of plot, character, scope,

In Chapter Five, Changez sees on TV the fall of the Twin Towers, which makes him feel oddly satisfied. In his conversation with the American man, he quickly justifies his sentiments, pointing out that Americans usually feel joy at television broadcasts of the American military bombing other countries, which happens far more often than anyone attacking the U.S.

At the end of Chapter 5, Changez is discriminated against and mistreated in the airport when coming back after 9/11. This foreshadows the later near-violent encounters he will have with Americans. In those later cases, he will struggle with everyday citizens as opposed to government officials in the rest of the book in the aftermath of 9/11.