This paper sets out to examine Mohsin Hamid’s novels Moth Smoke (2000) and The Reluctant Fundamentalist (2007) in regard to their response to and representation of the figure of the fundamentalist. I aim to argue that the fundamentalist in Moth Smoke appears as representative of a rather bizarre sense of confidence: of the conviction that “ultimate right” can be distinguished from “ultimate wrong” at all times. The absurdity of such a claim is demonstrated both by the disintegration of the protagonist’s life and by the atmosphere of social and political disarray that seeps from the novel’s pages. At the same time, justified distrust towards the clearly unreliable main narrator of the novel may well lead the reader to question the notion that distinctions between right and wrong can (and should) be disposed of altogether. In contrast to this, The Reluctant Fundamentalist offers an insight into the sentiments and disappointments of its (maybe debatably) fundamentalist protagonist. The novel gradually unravels his intensely personal story and unveils the core of his turn away from the splendour of the “American Dream.” In comparing these two novels, I will attempt to trace a shift of perspective in Hamid’s work that responds to and parallels political and religious tensions that have been growing in recent years.