Unaccustomed Earth

In today's day and age, it's easier to talk to other people than ever. But, that doesn't mean that people will necessarily open up to each other. Rather, sometimes we have a tendency to hide from each other, overwhelmed by everything that is going on in the world. In the last three stories of Unaccustomed Earth, Jhumpa Lahiri tells the story of Hema and Kaushik, two children of immigrant parents. In the first book, "Once in a Lifetime", Kaushik's mom dies of breast cancer after Kaushik's family has moved to America. Later on, in "Year's End", Kaushik's father remarries against Kaushik's wishes, and in "Going Ashore", Hema and Kaushik reunite as adults in Rome. When someone hides their feelings or emotions, they lose

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”.

Death is inevitable part of human experience, which is often associated with fear of unknown, separation, and spiritual connection. Death is an individual experience, which is based on unique perceptions and beliefs. Fear of death and dying seems to be a universal phenomenon, which is closely associated with apprehension and uneasiness. Death is allied with permanent loss, thus personal experiences of grief are similar in many different cultures. There are different mourning ceremonies, traditions, and behaviors to express grief, but the concept of permanent loss remains unchanged in cross cultural setting. With this paper I will identify cross-cultural perspectives on death and dying, and will analyze

Death is a topic that unites all of humanity. While it can be uncomfortable to think about, confronting death in unavoidable. “Dying” addresses that discomfort and universal unwillingness to consider the inevitability of death. Pinsky’s use of imagery, symbolism, and tone create a poetic experience that is like death, something every reader can relate to. In “Dying,” Pinsky describes how people are oblivious and almost uncaring when it comes to the thought of death. Pinsky is trying to convince the reader that they shouldn’t ignore the concept of death because life is shorter than it seems.

Death is one of the most avoided topics because of the finality that comes with it and the fear of the unknown after death. However, there are quite a number of authors such as AtulGawande, Elisabeth Kubler-ross and Ira Byock who have attempted to go ahead and deal with death as a topic and other connected topics.Each of these authors have delved into one of the most revered topics that is death including related topics that come with it such as the dying process itself. Ira Byock’s Dying well: Peace and possibilities at the end of life is a book that looks at the moment prior to death when an individual is terminally sick and is at the point of death. A

The way that Death communicates with the reader helps them to see many sides of the narrator. Such as their remarks in the beginning of the book, “A small fact: You are going to die....does this worry you?”. They are trying to tell the reader this, so that they aren't frightened later in the novel. Their emotions fluctuate as humans emotions do causing the reader to feel a relation to Death.

When we get older and when we deal with someone else who is nearing death we misunderstand what happens and how to understand the death process, we do not know what to expect and how to handle the process.

3. Page #______ Why is a woman brought back to her kinsmen to be buried?

the graveyard of her brother, when she steals: The Gravediggers Handbook, Death tells us the

¨His mother was singing in the kitchen. He could hear her singing there and the sound of her voice was the sound of home.¨(Trumbo 15) As Joe remembers his mother singing in the kitchen it reminds him of home, so even when he doesn't know where he is it provides him comfort remembering that. Similarly in Shenandoah, Charlie is shown talking to her grave. At the end of the movie, after they had all gotten back he makes a comment when he is talking to her grave. ¨I don't know what else to say about the war¨(Shenandoah). Charlie finds comfort when talking to Martha's grave because it makes him feel like she is still there with him. Differently, Macia provides comfort when Joe is calling for his mom in his sleep. ¨Mother where are you? Hurry mother hurry hurry hurry and wake me up. I'm having a nightmare mother where are you? Hurry mother. I'm down here.¨(Trumbo 63). Joe is calling out towards his mother to come and save him because he feels comfort being able to feel her

On the drive, “[the family] passed a large cotton field with five or six graves fenced in the middle of it, like a small island” (519). The reader would have to be actively analyzing the text to realize the significance of the graves. There are six members of the family that are riding in the car, the grandmother, the two children, the baby, and the two parents. The grandmother sees six graves, one for each family member, or five graves. If there are only five graves, the baby could share a coffin, or it could be that one of the family members may have survived.

1. Now my friends, the dialogue between the girl and her mom is just a glimpse of the Tibetan Sky burial. 2. Around the world, there are about 7 billion people and people died everyday. So, there are lots of ways to bury the dead

“Home Burial” is a look into a troubled married couples’ relationship and the emotional stress the death of their child has inflicted upon them. Being isolated on a farm in rural Massachusetts, the wife, Amy, has no one

The ability of the father to carry on with life after his son's death is one part of the stereotype that pertains to the male figure. The male character is suppose to be someone who does not cry, someone who is full of inner strength and is the central rock for all those around him in a time of crisis. The husband in "Home Burial" fulfills these requirements. After the burial, he continues on with his daily chores and attends to the various needs of the farm. These actions are not ones of denial but acceptance. He knows that he and his wife must carry on with their lives after an appropriate period of mourning is over. Understandably, his vision of the length of that time period is considerably shorter than his wife's. He understands that life is for the living and not for the dead. He understands that his son is dead. He also understands that he cannot force these views on his wife, because she must come to her own conclusions and find her own closure to her son's death.

The set of roller coaster of events about coping with death is painful, but fresh wounds hurt the most. Sometimes the fresh wound happens, before someone even dies, it could happen when the people do not have much time left. Like when Kaushik told Hema why he is upset. He's upset because his mother is dying, and cannot do anything about it, "'It makes me [Kaushik] wish we weren't Hindu, so that my mother could be buried somewhere …' I looked at you, confused, and so you continued, explaining that there was cancer in her breast, spreading through the rest of her body. That was why you had left India. It was not so much for treatment as it was to be left alone" (Lahiri 249-250). When Kaushik took Hema to the woods to show a family of six buried, he said the following. Leaving Hema confused, that was when Kaushik told her his mother is dying of breast cancer. Kaushik currently has