Sexy By Jhumpa Lahiri

Miranda began to take her role as Dev’s lover quite seriously. Not only did she buy what she designated as ‘mistress clothes,’ but she also began to dedicate her time to learning about Dev’s culture, which

In her essay “My Two Lives,” Jhumpa Lahiri, an Indian American, explains the balance between the identities of the two countries inside her heart, as well as her psychological struggle between her bicultural identities. She describes herself as an Indian-American because she moved with her family from India to the United States when she was very young. However, confused with her identity through her growth, she feels that she doesn’t belong to either of the two countries because of its completely different cultures. When she is at home, she deals with her parents in an Indian way, which is strange compared to the American way that she come across outside. She says that she has a distinctive identity in spite of her Indian appearance

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 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.

Upon further investigation into Miranda and Dev’s relationship you realize that Dev’s feelings for Miranda are purely lustful and have no substance, Meanwhile Miranda refuses to see any flaw in Dev’s personality or appearance. So even if the relationship hadn’t been based on deception it was still unhealthy to begin with. However, the relationship was based on the deception of Dev’s wife so not only was it dysfunctional in the ordinary sense, it was also sprinkled with infidelity. Later on in the story Miranda has to babysit what is essentially a tiny version of her lover(a young boy named Rohin) and she is exposed to the ill effects that illicit relationships can have on the loved ones of cheaters. Upon seeing the result that those deceitful actions had on the family involved Miranda seems to realize Dev isn’t that great if he is able to hurt his wife emotionally in that respect. She makes excuses to no longer have to spend time with him and slowly frees herself of a false relationship while gaining some more self-respect and independence. This is an analyzation of the social institution of marriage and relationships in

A person has always been able to choose to what extent their cultural experiences affect their perspective. Amy Tan’s, “Two Kinds,” Bharati Mukherjee’s, “Two Ways to Belong in America,” and Robert Lake’s, “An Indian Father’s Plea,” all show how the main characters have chosen to let their experiences have an effect on their cultural identity. A person’s cultural experiences shape perception based on their own identifications and they may chose to assimilate to different cultures.

Culture affects people’s perspectives of the world and others through their upbringing and how, when, and where they were raised. In the essay, “An Indian Father’s Plea,” Robert Lake writes about how his Indian child’s traditional way of learning is different from those in western education systems and that he's not a “slow” learner but learns in a different way from his peers. In the personal essay, “Two Ways to Belong in America,” Bharati Mukherjee describes her differing views of living in America with her sister, despite both being raised in India. In the poem, “My Mother Pieced Quilts,” by Teresa Palomo Acosta, Teresa how this quilt that her mother made for her involves all these pieces of her past that are stitched together. In the

While Smith and Anzaldua may define identity through a culture or a voice, Jhumpa Lahiri, herself, had a different experience. Rather for Lahiri, she helps the reader

Jhumpa Lahiri’s “The Namesake” examines an immigrant bengali family that has moved from India to America, and tries to hold their bengali culture while trying to accept American lifestyles. Ashima and Gogol each struggle with their cultural identity throughout Lahiri’s novel. The pressure of western society and the crisis of losing one’s culture and identity is demonstrated through the characterization and Gogol and Ashima’s relationships while living in America.

Both of these stories deal with two culture groups, Indians and Americans; Mr. Kapasi has trouble relating to Mrs. and Mr. Das because of the vast amount of differences in their culture: Mr. Kapasi has an arranged marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Das did not, so he also “found it strange that Mr. Das should refer to his wife by her first name when speaking to the little girl.” He thinks, “Mr. and Mrs.Das behaved like an older brother and sister, not parents.” The only way Mr. Kapasi is able to relate to Mrs. Das is that fact that she currently is in a loveless marriage, similar to his marriage, and even this is not enough to bring understanding. The difference in these cultural constructs is vast and continues throughout these stories. Miranda has very little knowledge about India: when Laxmi mentions “[h]e has a Punjabi mother and a Bengali father,” Miranda “thought it was a religion,” but later realizes it is place in India called Bengal. Miranda and Dev share a large cultural difference, “the only Indians whom Miranda had known were a family in the neighborhood where she'd grown up.” She wants to please Dev though, so she learns more about Indian culture and changes her normal routine to incorporate some kind of Indian culture in her schedule. As the meaning of “sexy” is unearthed, Miranda finds it is very different from Devs construct of the word. The cultural differences between all of these characters are as confusing as they are fun, but these differences sever the

MYSTIQUE is wildly entertaining, edge of your seat adventure and very intriguing read. It is full of mystery that will keep you guessing until the last page. Author Shari Arnold has a way with her words that will keep you reading and keep your interest feed until you are done.

When looking at other people’s culture, we like to compare our traditions to theirs. For example, we can’t really “put ourselves in someone else’s shoes” because they have a different cultural background and a different view of the world. In the story, “Two Ways to Belong in America” by Bharati Mukherjee, she sees herself as a different person when compared to her sister Mira, although they both follow the same Indian culture. Bharati and Mira are both sisters that abandoned their Indian culture later on for the reason that they found the American culture interesting than their own. Mira abandoned her Indian culture at 1962, and her sister Bharati abandoned the culture at in

The short story, “Interpreter of Maladies” centers on a day in the life of an Indian tour guide, Mr. Kapasi. An Indian-American family arrives in India on vacation to visit their parents who still live in the country. The Das family obtains the services of Mr, Kapasi as their tour guide. There are five members in the Das family, including Mr. and Mrs. Das and their three children, Ronny, Bobby and Tina. Shortly after meeting the Dash’s, Mr. Kapasi quickly realizes how “American” they are because their manner of dress and attitude give them away despite their complexion. The theme of cultural differences between Indians and Americans is an important component in this story. Although the Das family is Indian, they are no more familiar with India than any other tourist. The cultural differences between Mr. Kapasi and the Das family play a

When adapting to a new culture, many find it hard to assimilate into their new world while still holding on to their past life. Finding yourself in a new place with a new language and unfamiliar faces is challenging for immigrants. Jhumpa Lahiri, an immigrant herself, sheds some light on the Indian culture in her book, Interpreter of Maladies. She conveys many challenges that immigrants face when moving away from their homeland in a myriad of short stories. These short stories introduce similar themes of immigration and adaptation through different experiences. Two of Lahiri’s short stories, “A Temporary Matter” and “Mrs. Sens”, do a great job in showing similar challenges of cultural differences in two different ways. They introduce characters

“An Unknown Girl” by Moniza Alvi is a free verse poem about the author’s experience getting her hand hennaed in an Indian bazaar. Throughout the poem, Alvi makes use of structure techniques like end-stopped lines, occasional rhymes, language, imagery, and changes in tone to explore different aspects of the concept of identity.