Characters - Erica

Basic Information About the Character:

• Often characterised by her beauty.
• Princeton graduate - Class of 2000.
• New York native.
• She is an aspiring writer.
• Erica is Changez's love interest, the girl he falls in love with. 
• She also has strong feelings for Changez but his feelings of love aren't reciprocated due to Erica still being in love with her dead ex-boyfriend Chris.
• She has very nostalgic feelings for Chris, who was not only her boyfriend but her best friend since early childhood. 
• Part of the reason that she cannot love Changez in the way that he loves her is because Chris only died a year before they met so the loss is still a fresh wound for her. 
• After 9/11 she falls back into the depression that she was struggling to get out of the Summer after Chris died.
• By the end of the novel, there is an implication that Erica may have killed herself but this , along with many aspects of the novel, is left ambiguous.
• Even after his return to Pakistan, Changez still thinks fondly of Erica (sends her letters which always come back to him unopened) and hopes that someday Erica will come to him.

Significance of Her Name:

The word 'Erica' is contained within the word 'America'. Many parallels can be drawn between Changez's complex relationship with Erika, to his troubled relationship with the country. The feeling of rejection is a common theme to both. 

Quotations (by or relating to Erica):

"When my turn came, I said I hoped one day to be the dictator of an Islamic republic with nuclear capability; the other appeared shocked, and I was forced to explain that I had been joking. Erica alone smiled; she seemed to understand my sense of humor."

"“I’m more unsettled than nervous,” she said. “It’s like I’m an oyster. I’ve had this sharp speck inside me for a long time, and I’ve been trying to make it more comfortable, so slowly I’ve turned it into a peal. But now it’s finally being taken out, and just as it’s going I’m realizing there’s a gap being left behind.”"

"“Are you missing Chris?” She nodded, and I saw tears begin to force themselves between her lashes. “Then pretend,” I said, “pretend I am him.” I do not know why I said it; I felt overcome and it seemed, suddenly, a possible way forward."

"“Are you missing Chris?” She nodded, and I saw tears begin to force themselves between her lashes. “Then pretend,” I said, “pretend I am him.” I do not know why I said it; I felt overcome and it seemed, suddenly, a possible way forward."

Source:
http://www.litcharts.com/lit/the-reluctant-fundamentalist