Dedicated to the study of literature.
1. What seems to be the author’s intention or purpose for writing the narrative? Try to think of several purposes and consider varying audiences in your response.
2. Describe the role of faith in the author’s ordeal or in the narrative as a whole.
2a. In general, what would a Puritan say about God and his providence in their everyday lives?
3. Describe the relationship between Mary and her captors.
4. Based on the reading, what do you think the characteristics of a “good” Puritan are?
5. How do you think Mary feels about her captivity by the end of it?
10 comments:
In "A Temporary Matter," the title, and also the theme of the story, seemed to be introduced to me fairly early. A young couple receives a notice that their power will temporarily be going out each night for about a week. In the beginning it seems so clear that the title of the story is going to revolve around the idea of the power going out. On the other hand, other "temporary situations" of the couple are shown. After losing their child due to stillbirth, the couple, Shoba and Shukmar only know one way to deal with it, which was avoiding each other. Although seeming temporary at the moment, “…he and Shoba had become experts at avoiding each other in their three-bedroom house, spending as much time on separate floors as possible. In the beginning he had believed that it would pass, that he and Shoba would get through it all somehow (4-5 Lahiri).” As time went on, nothing changed. The “temporary matter” between the two of them was becoming more and more permanent each day. The title, and theme of the story, had shifted to the problems between the young couple. Oddly enough the lights going out each night brought them closer together. They ate together in the dark, which made it all that much easier to share stories and secrets about themselves and their relationship together. I thought things between the two were starting to pick up, until the focus shifts yet again. Shoba tells Shukmar that she wants to leave him, which was the end of their happy time together. And somehow the meaning of the title makes a complete circle. By the end of the story, the title and theme, again presents itself in the fact that the lights going out was what the story revolved around. I never realized the impact a title has on a story. The theme seems to have relied on it. The couple lost their once good relationship, but it was recovered by the power shortly going out …temporarily of course.
“When Mr. Pirzada Came to Dine” is more so a story of culture rather than of a young girl trying to figure out a mysterious man. Although that theme is quite evident, I think the story is really dealing with culture and a sense of learning about who you are. Mr. Pirzada is a man from Dacca who visits a family each night for dinner and then watches the world news to hear about the Pakistani civil war, where his family is located. The young narrator spends most of her time trying to figure out this mysterious man, but from what she knows, he’s Indian like her, because of the way he looks. However, she learns one day that Mr. Pirzada isn’t like her, her father explains to her about the civil war in Pakistan, “Dacca is no longer ours. And more importantly Mr. Pirzada is no longer considered Indian” (25). From here on out the young narrator takes an interest in learning about who she is, where she is from, and the situation happening on the other side of the world. She begins to watch the news, or at least tries to listen from her room. Although she is still trying to figure out the mysterious Mr. Pirzada, the story points out her trying to learn more about Dacca and Pakistan. When assigned to go to the library for a project, she picked up a book on Pakistan and the people living there. Living in America her efforts for learning about somewhere else were discouraged, “ ‘Is this book part of your report? Then I see no reason to consult it,’ says Mrs. Kenyon, her teacher” (33). After slowly getting involved in her culture, the young girl realizes that not everyone was so interested. At a friends house she notices that her family wasn’t watching about the war and didn’t even show a concern for it. This worried the narrator but she remained learning about herself and family. The story brings out the theme that it is important to be involved in learning who you are. Although being in a different nation made it difficult for the girl to learn more about herself, she kept trying. Without knowing your culture you really don't know yourself all that well. Mr. Pirzada’s presence at her house each night sparked an interest in the girl to learn about who she was.
Malady: any undesirable or disordered condition. Mr. Kapasi lives in India where he works two jobs as an interpreter and tour guide. One day, Mr. Das and his family of five challenge him to use both talents. The Das family, from America, comes to visit family in India, but first decide to take a tour to one of the pyramids. From the beginning you can tell the couple doesn’t have the best relationship, especially taking into account Mrs. Das’s behavior around Mr. Kapasi. Although for the most part you believe that the story is about the bad relationship between the Das’ and the possible affair that might occur, the reason for the bad relationship is brought out. Mrs. Das seems to have taken an interest in Mr. Kapasi and it’s evident from Mr. Kapasi’s behavior that the feeling is mutual. For the majority of the story I grew not to like Mrs. Das. She was rude to her husband and was making it quite obvious that she was intentionally flirting with their tour guide. I felt bad for Mr. Das because he was so innocent in the situation. As the day when on Mrs. Das and the tour guide in a way got closer and eventually made it so that they were alone together. They begin talking when Mrs. Das brings up something quite surprising to Mr. Kapasi and to the readers. “‘He’s not his. And no one knows of course, I’ve kept it a secret for years’” (Lahiri 62). The news shocks Mr. Kapasi but he doesn’t exactly show it, he sits there calmly. Mrs. Das explains the rest of the story to Mr. Kapasi in detail, about how he was conceived when Mr. Das wasn’t home and how guilty she felt for everything. After finishing her story Mr. Kapasi asked why she has told him, “ Because of your talents” (Lahiri 65). Another side of interpreter was shown here that I never even thought about until this sentence. Mrs. Das didn’t need his talents as an interpreter for a language barrier but because she wanted her feelings interpreted, analyzed. Mrs. Das’s guilty conscience, or malady, was something she couldn’t deal with on her own. She was trying to grow close to Mr. Kapasi so that her problem could be analyzed then solved, only it didn’t work out the way she wanted because Mr. Kapasi took her flirting a different way and then didn’t know how to help. Mr. Kapasi saw his job as interpreting things and words that weren’t understood..so does that entitle the job of interpreting the feelings and thoughts that aren’t understood as well?
“A real Durwan” has created a character that you can’t help but to like. Boori Ma serves as a durwan for an apartment somewhere in Calcutta. Never complaining and never asking for too much, Boori Ma did her job as a cleaner and guard very well. Aside from keeping the apartment up and guarding it for the residents from thieves and vendors, Boori Ma served as entertainment for the residents of the rundown building. She tells of the times before she had been deported to Calcutta. She told stories of how rich she was and the life that she had back at home, “the turmoil of partition had separated her from her husband, four daughters, a two-story brick house, and a rosewood almari” (Lahiri 71). Although exaggerations and contradictions in the stories about her luxurious life before, Boori Ma’s stories were so persuasive that it was hard not to believe her. She told stories and took her time doing the job, but, “Over the years Boori Ma’s services came to resemble those of a real durwan” (Lahiri 73). She was appreciated in the apartment and everyone showed her respect and almost sympathy because she really had no where to stay. Boori Ma’s character was funny, caring, and helpful, it was almost impossible not to like her. In attempts to fix up the building, the residents of the apartment were installing and constructing so often that Boori Ma began to leave the building due to the lack of work she was getting done. One day the apartment building is robbed and the first reaction the residents have is to blame Boori Ma for not guarding the gate. The most innocent and helpful person that they had always appreciated was betrayed in the blink of an eye. “So the residents tossed her buckets and rags, her baskets and red brooms, into the alley. Then they tossed out Boori Ma” (Lahiri 82). My favorite character, the one who worked and helped out whenever she could, was treated with disrespect. Boori Ma was a real durwan and should have been more appreciated then what was shown by the ungrateful residents, she was a character that couldn’t be disliked.
Miranda, the very insecure, single, protagonist of “Sexy” is in the middle of an affair with a Bengali man named Dev. They met in a store where they instantly connected and continued seeing each other of since. At the peak of their secret relationship while at the Mapparium on one of their dates, Dev whispers to Miranda that he finds her sexy. The words give Miranda goosebumps and it made her skin tingle. Being as insecure as she was the fact that Dev found her sexy meant a whole lot more to her than it would normally. It was almost as if she found the words sexy and loves as interchangeable. It wasn’t till a few weeks later when she realized that the word could have different meanings, or does it? Miranda has a friend Laximi, whose cousin is being cheated on. When Laximi’s cousin comes to visit Miranda is asked to babysit her little boy, Miranda agrees to. The boy is seven years old and as their day together goes on him and Miranda seem to get along and maybe even get a little closer. It’s when the boy goes into the closet and finds a little dress that he tells Miranda to put on that makes Miranda feel a little uncomfortable. She worries that he’ll throw a tantrum so she decides to put it on to please him. When the insecure Miranda walks out in the dress the boy says something that surprises her, “You’re sexy” (Lahiri 107). Miranda was certain that the boy couldn’t know what that word meant, those were the caring words that Dev had told her. When she asked the boy for the meaning of what he had said she was shocked even more. “It means loving someone you don’t know” (Lahiri 107). She couldn’t believe it. What she had thought meant so much really meant nothing at all. The boy was right, love meant something special, sexy meant lust, and you can’t love somebody you don’t know. Miranda was devastated, she realized that a seven year old boy found her just as “sexy” as the one man she cared about.
The story of “Mrs. Sen” is of a married Indian couple living in America at a college university. Mr. Sen is a college professor and seems to be at the university more than he is at home. Mrs. Sen chooses to babysit a boy named Eliot everyday after he gets home from school. Eliot is quiet when he gets to the house and likes to observe the behavior of Mrs. Sen. Throughout the story it becomes more evident that Mrs. Sen is deeply missing her home, not at the university, but in India. She misses the people and the lifestyle more than anything. “ ‘At home you know, we have a driver’ ‘and that’s all in India?’ ‘Yes. Everything is in India’” (Lahiri 113). She tries as hard as she can to keep the customs of those in India, she cooks the same meals, wears saris, and even wears the vermilion in her hair, and even if Mr. Sen doesn’t understand why she does the things she does. A big conflict in the story is the fact that Mrs. Sen can’t drive. She feels as though once she can that her life in America will be different. She likes to practice when Eliot is there but once she is with Mr. Sen she gets too nervous and doesn’t want to do it anymore. So for a long time Mrs. Sen had to call him whenever she needed something picked up and brought home. Although it was working out, it seemed like she felt constricted. It became clear to me that Mrs. Sen resented Mr. Sen for bringing her to America. She enjoyed her life in India and once she didn’t have the same freedoms here in America she was mad that she had to adjust. The story of Mrs. Sen is about how she was a babysitter. It was about her adjustment to the American lifestyle and how she had to adapt to all the changes.
A couple of extreme opposites is one of the center points of “This Blessed House.” But though the conflict of an unmatched couple is evident and plays a main role in the story, it’s not exactly the plot behind the short story. Sanjeev and Twinkle are another couple from India. With a lot of push from their parents, after only four short months of knowing each other they were married and began living in Manhattan, New York directly after their marriage. The longer they were married it seemed like the more differences they came across. There were little things about Twinkle that started to drive Sanjeev nuts. “Now in the second month of their marriage, certain things nettled him-the way she sometimes spat a little when she spoke, or left her undergarments after removing them at night at the foot of their bed rather than depositing them in the laundry hamper” (Lahiri 142). Aside from small annoyances, a bigger problem arises when Twinkle becomes obsessed with the small, catholic treasures she begins to find all around the house. Being from India, Sanjeev wants to throw all these things away but can’t because the obsession that Twinkle has with them. As they keep finding things the tension between the couple keeps building. The couple butts head and I think the reason being is made clear. The fascination that Twinkle has with these objects is making Sanjeev jealous. They’ve been together but they haven’t had the solid relationship that he once wanted but now these small “treasures” are standing in his way even more. It’s made clear by Sanjeev’s strong opinions about the things around the home. It’s not so obvious to Twinkle because these objects are the first things that she has loved since she’s been with Sanjeev. This poorly matched couple was bound to be in fights because they’re so different and conflict was destined to happen. “The Blessed House” is somehow both causing the problems and yet the only thing that is keeping this couple from losing they’re poor relationship.
At twenty-nine years old, Bibi Halder had lived the majority of her life as a medical mystery. The unknown disease caused prescriptions that were only in hopes of curing her. Bibi wanted one thing in life..and that was to be wed to a man so that it was proved to her that she was loved. But the fact that she couldn’t be healed caused Bibi to lose hope in anything that she wanted. When Bibi’s doctor gave her the prescription of marriage to cure her illness, Bibi’s faith and hope was renewed. At first sign of excitement Bibi’s family were immediately disgusted. They believed that she had caused enough problems and that the though of someday getting married was even more of a hassle for them. Knowing how hard it would be to find Bibi a husband, the women in the town taught Bibi how to become a good wife. The family and town were always there supporting Bibi because of her illness, or so I thought. But once her cousin gave birth to a sick baby they realized that the disease was spreading and left Bibi with nothing. Bibi did the only thing she could do and chose to rely on herself to get by. She gave up on the marriage thing when she became pregnant with a baby boy. After giving birth and raising enough money for her new family her illness was cured. The story showed that you can’t expect what is going to happen next. Sometimes you have to fend for yourself and experience things in life on your own. Although things aren’t always what you thought they would be, everything will work out in the end.
Right away you know “The Third and Final Continent” is a story of transition and adapting to change in life. The protagonist, a young newlywed man, has just moved to America to take a job at MIT in Boston, Massachusetts. That’s where the first demonstration of transition comes in. A young Bengali man moving to America on is own is a big chance to change. After somewhat adjusting he moves into a boarding house run by a one hundred three-year old lady, named Mrs. Croft. At first she seems strange and her behavior is odd but once again he adapts to the situation and gets used to the behavior of the old lady. Some while later the man’s wife, Mala, is able to move to America to live with him. They’re relationship has turned into them being complete strangers. They barely know each other and have no affection for each other in the least bit. But one day that changes, when the protagonist of the story takes Mala to meet Mrs. Croft. “I like to think of that moment in Mrs. Croft’s parlor as the moment when the distance between Mala and me began to lessen” (Lahiri 196). The couple is almost immediately reconnected, yet another transition. The couple received something from Mrs. Croft that they were going to use for the rest of their lives, a better relationship. “The Third and Final Continent” is a story of change. The protagonist had to adapt to life in America and develop a better relationship with his friend Mrs. Croft. When Mala came both of them had to try to adjust into a relationship with a stranger. But luckily for them, Mrs. Croft was there to help them become happy together, which was ultimately the greatest transition they could’ve had.
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