Analysis Of 'Clothes' By Chira Banerjee Divakaruni

The Dressmaker (2015), directed by Jocelyn Moorhouse, explores Myrtle ‘Tilly’ Dunnage’s dramatic return to her small hometown of Dungatar, a ‘dump’ located in the middle of nowhere in the Australian outback. Sent away from the town as a child after being held responsible for a murder, Tilly has returned to seek resolution of her murky memories and to take revenge on those who mistreated her. Now a talented dressmaker, Tilly uses her skills to manipulate the townspeople into revealing the intricate secrets that led to her exile. Throughout the film, powerful symbolism present in fire, mirrors and clothing signifies Tilly’s resolution from past issues.

Jhumpa Lahiri’s Unaccustomed Earth is comprised of eight short stories about different Indian families’ struggles in America, many of them going through the immigrant experience. The conflicts are with friends and family, and also with themselves, as each of them attempt to find their own identity along with fitting in with the rest of society. One of the causes of these struggles that because the families in the stories are mixed in terms of generation. Many of the adults in the stories were first generation immigrants from India, while many of the children were raised in the United States, which is the second generation. This led to blending of culture and at the same time, clashes between the immigrant mentality of living and the American mentality of living. In Unaccustomed Earth, Lahiri demonstrates to the reader the important influence of environment, specifically culture and how it impacts parental teachings, on the personality and development of an individuals’ identity, and how the actions and development of characters can affect one’s family and friends; the impact of environment and culture is shown especially by the characters and stories “Hell-Heaven” and “Hema and Kaushik”.

This book depicts the national and cultural status of the immigrant mother, who is able to preserve the traditions of her Indian heritage that connect her to her homeland. Ensuring a successful future for her American-born children is coordinated with the privilege of being an American citizen. Ashima yearns for her homeland and her family that she left behind when

“Clothes” is written by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni. It is a short story about an Indian-American woman, Sumita, who is about to embark on a new chapter of her life, marriage. Sumita, throughout the story, is nervous and confused about what is to come next in her life. The story begins in the women’s lake with Sumita and her friends, Deepali and Radha. The groups of friends are preparing Sumita for her big day, meeting her soon to be husband for the first time.

In the essay “Two Ways to Belong in America” by Bharati Mukherjee. The author talks about the problems immigrants face while they are in America. The author talks about her and her friend Mira’s struggles with Americas policies. This essay examines the audience of the text, the purpose for writing the story, and the subject of the book being read. By examining the audience, finding the purpose of the story, and researching and analyzing the author. The readers can have a deeper understanding of the book.

This short story is about a young Indian woman named Sumita, her impending arranged marriage and subsequent trip to America, which is symbolized by the color and type of her clothes. The author utilizes color symbolism to express the emotional changes that Sumita is going through and how she uses colors to keep her grounded with her Indian beliefs during her transition from girl to bride-to-be to an Indian-American to widow. There are many examples of colors that represent established Indian beliefs and religion are mentioned throughout the story.

Many individuals from another culture strive to live the “American Dream.” In the excerpt from the novel, The Hunger of Memory by Richard Rodriguez, he leaves Mexico to become a middle-class American man and further his education. Sherman Alexie writes “Superman and Me,” which shows how Alexie, a Spokane Indian, teaches himself American literature. Both of these stories intertwine to show how different cultures step out of their own and try to live the American Dream. This leads the audience wondering if culture affects how far individuals go in life? Whereas Alexie describes the ideology of an American Dream as an Indian young boy teaching himself how to read from comic books, Rodriguez describes the ideology of American Dream by escaping Mexico to seek higher education in America.

Since the establishment of the colonies, America has been viewed as the “land of opportunity.” It is thought to be a safe haven for immigrants, and a chance at a new beginning for others. “The Clemency of the Court” by Willa Cather published in 1893, tells the story of Serge, a Russian immigrant, who overcame the struggles of a tough childhood and fled to America to receive protection from the state. “Clothes” by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni published in 1995, tells the story of Sumita, a Indian immigrant, who is moving to America so that she can marry her husband that her family has arranged for her. Both “The Clemency of the Court” and “Clothes” show the evolution of the American immigrant experience.

Personal accounts from immigrants preserving through the endless hardships are the living proof that the American Dream is achievable. Their accounts prove that the dream is only achieved because of the toil throughout the immigrants’ lives. Richard Todd describes “a man who embodies American opportunity” (90). This man immigrated from Korea to start his own software company in America. Todd describes his meeting with the Korean immigrant who had recently made the business a publicly traded company. The enthusiasm of the immigrant accurately conveys the dedication he has toward his ultimate goals (Todd 90). The Korean man was able to be successful due to his extensive work in the field of technology. He lives the American Dream of beginning with nothing rising up in the ranks of

What insights into the American Dream are offered through the novella Of Mice and Men and the film American Beauty? In your essay you must consider the influences of context and the importance of techniques in shaping meaning.

D’Souza, on the other hand, is an avid supporter of his image of the American Dream and its presence in America. Dinesh explains the popularity of the American Dream worldwide is because people wish for, “the American way of life.” (D’Souza, 73) As if it was coming from a foreigner, he continues to exemplify the American Dream as an outsider looking in and seeing all of the splendor and appeal of Americans’ lives. It is this enchantment that causes people from all ends of the Earth to migrate to the United States and even leave their families and traditions. The most emphasized element and essentially the core of the American Dream is the ability to, “write the script of your own life.” (D’Souza, 83) The writer gives his own real-life example of the American Dream, through his emergence as a writer and later a White House Staff member simply because he pursued his own dream. Through the constant comparisons with the inequalities present in countries throughout the World, D’Souza is fascinated with the diversity of America and the, “tolerant society”, that this diversity has spawned. (D’Souza, 94)

She explains her thesis by stating “Others who write stories of migration often talk of arrival at a new place as a loss of communal memory and the erosion of an original culture. I want to talk of arrival as a gain,” (360). The key points of the text include Mukherjee describing her transition between Calcutta and the United States, and what it means to be and American and how culture influences that aspect. The information in the text is significant; the people of America are a part of a melting pot, sometimes it is hard for them to find the distinction between American culture and their own. The information in Mukherjee’s story is clear and specific, unbiased, and is relevant to the purpose of the story. I believe Mukherjee has achieved her purpose of informing her audience about cultural differences; she presents certain strengths and weaknesses within the text.

A person’s heritage and cultural identity may be lost when moving to a new country where the culture is different and other cultures are not easily accepted. In the short story “Hindus”, Bharati Mukherjee uses setting, characters and the plot to discuss what it is like to lose your cultural identity while being a visible minority in America. Mukherjee uses the plot to describe the events that take place in the main characters life that lead her to realize how different the culture and life is in the America’s. She also uses the characters as a way of demonstrating how moving away from one’s culture and heritage can change a person’s perspective and ways of thinking. Mukerjee also uses setting in her story to identity the physical differences in culture between living in India and America. Alike the setting and characters, the plot helps describe the loss of culture with a sequence of events.

Obviously Ashima and Ashoke also faced lots of problems when they first lived in a new country; they were forced to leave their “comfort zone”. They spoke a different language, grew up with Indian tradition, and even had to raise a child. They did not have any friends, not to say the economic base to provide the best resources for the whole family. Their foremost goal was to adapt to the new environment and become a real part of their community. But being out of their comfort zone is the crucial step that they must not skip. They have to be confident to make new friends, speak the language that they have not even get used to yet, and “abandon” the tradition in their hometown. Life is like a cliff, and only those who have guts and faith can climb up to the peak of the mountain to see the twilight. They had to try to understand, communicate and even to compromise with each other, and after Gogol's birth, they soon were inundated with daily work. It also has some similarity with my Gateway scholar life at Brandeis.

The short store “Clothes” by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni is about a young Indian woman, Sumita, and her cultural transition to America that is symbolized by her clothes and the color of her clothes. The traditional Indian attire for a woman is a sari and each one has its own purpose. Her clothes also indicate her progression from daughter, to wife, to woman.