The novel stages Islamophobic confrontation as mutual performance, not one-sided villainy

Evidence

The irony is that both Claire and Mo are playing a part in this encounter, exaggerating their differences for rhetorical purposes. Their confrontation is the culmination of respective journeys away from positions of principle and compromise and toward inevitable antagonism. They, along with others, such as Sean, are faced with questions about how to reconcile their responsibility to themselves—their conscience and core sense of values—with the sometimes conflicting interests of the groups to which they belong. — Peter Morey, Islamophobia and the Novel, 287

Categorization

• XREF: Anchor for reading The Reluctant Fundamentalist: Changez’s staged self-presentation before the silent American mirrors how Morey reads Claire and Mo as mutual performers. This is the ‘entrapment of the interlocutor’ device Hamid deploys.