Bahmanpour: Female Subjects and Negotiating Identities in Jhumpa Lahiri’s Interpreter of Maladies

Bahareh Bahmanpour's article, "Female Subjects and Negotiating Identities in Jhumpa Lahiri’s Interpreter of Maladies," analyzes four of Lahiri's nine stories in Interpreter of Maladies: "Mrs. Sen's," "This Blessed House," "The Treatment of Bibi Haldar," and "Sexy." The way Bahmanpour intends to use these stories is described in the abstract as "...findings revolve around the fact that by allowing the female subaltern to be voiced, Lahiri’s stories prepare a space through which the subaltern can speak," (Bahmanpour). Bahmanpour intends to speak about female voice in Lahiri's work and how women in these stories are "Dealing with the trauma and the possible success, failure or resistance of female subjects who in their confrontations with the culture of the Other negotiate their new identities," (Bahmanpour). The author organizes her essay in a simple manner and divides the essay up with section headers telling her audience what she will be writing about in that section. Before starting her discussion of Lahiri's stories, Bahmanpour has a section where she writes about "theoretical background." In this background paragraph, she mentions some key terms that must be kept in mind throughout the article, such as "diasporic identity," "hybridity," and "liminality." She begins her body section with her analyzation of the story "Mrs. Sen's." Bahmanpour discusses how Mrs. Sen has trouble adjusting to her future "hybrid identity" in America. The next story analyzed is "This Blessed House," where Bahmanpour discusses how the couple, Sanjeev and Twinkle, are different in how they are at "different stages of their transformative identities," because Twinkle is an American with Indian heritage and Sanjeev had been born in India. The next story discusses is "The Treatment of Bibi Haldar," where Bahmanpour discusses that this story is a commentary on the Indian view of femininity.  The final story analyzed is "Sexy." This story takes a different approach by being told in the point of view of a white woman, Miranda, has an affair with a married Indian man, Dev. This is a native Self/immigrant Other relationship according to Bahmanpour but it is a failing one because the immigrant Other is not as open as the native Self.
The way this article is structured is a great example of what we have aiming at for our own articles in class. Bahmanpour is very clear about what she wants to discuss and excellently executes her argument.

Lahiri: This Blessed House

Jhumpa Lahiri's short story, "This Blessed House," tells the story of a newly wed Indian American couple Sanjeev and Twinkle. In this story, the couple has recently moved into a new home after their wedding in India and discovers various items of Christian paraphernalia left behind by the previous owners in their new home. These various items bring out different reactions from the couple; Sanjeev finds these items ridiculous and wants to be rid of them immediately whereas his wife, Twinkle, finds the items to be good luck and insists on holding onto them. The importance of these items is shown in how they bring out the differences in Sanjeev and Twinkle. Upon the discovery of these items, Sanjeev is very adamant about being rid of them because he is afraid of what his colleagues will think when they come to the housewarming party they will be hosting. "Twinkle, I can't have the people I work with see this statue on my lawn," (Lahiri 147). Sanjeev says this in response to Twinkle's insistence on keeping a statue of the Virgin Mary she found in their backyard.  The effect that these items have on Twinkle is quite the opposite. She believes that these things bring good luck to their household and that every time she finds a new piece it is like a "treasure hunt." She is even able to involve her husband's guests at their housewarming party with her enthusiasm to where they begin to search for items around the house (Lahiri 153-157). The differences between the couple cause Sanjeev to question whether or not he loves Twinkle although he told her he did when she asked him before their marriage. In the end, however, he seems to agree to follow her despite how feels about the things she wants to hold on to.

Bandyopadhyay: Negotiating Borders of Culture: Jhumpa Lahiri's Fiction

In this article written by Debarati Bandyopadhyay, she analyzes two of Jhumpa Lahiri's novels, The Namesake and Interpreter of Maladies, in relation to the cultural borders of India and the United States. One of the reasons for "Negotiating borders, moving across continents and the seven seas" Bandyopadhyay says is for when "an individual is in search for a better life..." (Bandyopadhyay). In this essay, she speaks about how Lahiri's works often combine the ideas of the first world and the third world, East and West, and about how they are united with similar ideas such as "India with her concept of 'unity in' diversity and the USA as the melting pot of cultures and races..." (Bandyopadhyay). In order to show this, she begins to discuss the story "When Mr. Pirzada Came to Dine,"and how people, like Mr. Pirzada and Lilia's parents are willing to assimilate to American ideas like Halloween, but when it comes to situations such as educating children about other cultures, the sentiment is not reciprocated. She then moves on to discuss Lahiri's character Mrs. Sen from Interpreter of Maladies and Ashoke from The Namesake and how relocating themselves from India to the United States are more than physical relocations but they also very emotional and leave behind "permanent fault-lines," meaning that there is a piece left behind in their original home. Bandyopadhyay mentions throughout this article how Lahiri brings different aspects of her cultural connections in this story such as her background as a second generation American born Indian, and how she has a longing for her cultural home in Bengal. The ideas that Bandyopadhyay shares in this are very well shown and is another great example of what I aim to do for my final paper. It is especially helpful to me because it analyzes Interpreter of Maladies, my chosen text for the semester.

Lahiri: When Mr. Pirzada Came to Dine

In this specific story of Jhumpa Lahiri's the question of logistical borders and the difference between people on both sides of those borders is the question in mind of ten year-old girl Lilia. In her own words, Lilia describes her confusion by listing the things that she notices are similar between her parents and Mr. Pirzada, "It made no sense to me. Mr. Pirzada and parents spoke the same language, laughed at the same jokes, looked more or less the same," (Lahiri). In this excerpt, Lilia only sees the cultural similarities that her parents and their guest share, so when her father insists that they are different she does not believe how. In order to show her the difference, Lilia's father "insisted that [she] know the difference, and he led [her] to a map of the world taped to the wall over his desk," (Lahiri). The reason behind Lilia's lack of understanding between the logistical borders between India and Mr. Pirzada's home country of Pakistan is because of her youth. She becomes more knowledgeable of the logistical difference of India Dacca as she participates in the viewing of the evening news with her family and Mr. Pirzada, but as for the cultural differences, she sees no difference other than the pocket watch that her parents' guest carries with him. Although there are no significant cultural differences between her parents and Mr. Pirzada, she begins to understand the logistical border differences as she sees Mr. Pirzada miss his family in Dacca and see the worry in his eyes because of the violence occurring when they see the evening news at dinner.

Walcott: The Sea is History (how it connects to Children of the Sea)

I think the connection between these two works lies with the sea, being that it is something that both the story and the poem seem to revolve around, and what the sea means in both works. In Walcott's poem he describes the sea as a "grey vault" that "has locked them up," alluding to the lives that have been lost at sea. In the story "Children of the Sea," Danticat's young man talks about how the sea is deadly and merciless "...like the sharks that live there. It has no mercy."

Davis: Oral Narrative as Short Story Cycle: Forging Community in Edwidge Danticat’s Krik? Krak!

Rocio G. Davis' article, "Oral Narrative as Short Story Cycle: Forging Community in Edwidge Danticat’s Krik? Krak!" is her literary analysis of Edwidge Danticat's novel, Kirk? Krak! Davis states her thesis by saying "This article will explore the short story cycle as a vehicle for the development of ethnic literature by analyzing Haitian-American writer Edwidge Danticat's Krik? Krak! to show how the drama of identity and community is mediated through a genre that is linked to the oral narrative, itself a way of fostering imaginative communities and developing identities," (Davis). Throughout this article she greatly focuses on how Danticat uses the mother daughter relationships in the stories that she writes as well as how these stories tie into each other and her people and she uses the works of Amy Tan, Gloria Naylor, Julia Alvarez, and Louise Erdich as examples of how mother-daughter relationships have been used in ethnic literature over time. Davis believes that "Danticat's narrative presents the voices and visions of women, usually mothers and daughters, whose personal tragedies impel them to form community in the midst of oppression and exile," (Davis). Davis shows this by summarizing and analyzing the stories in Krik? Krak! such as "Children of the Sea," "Nineteen Thirty-Seven," and "Wall of Fire Rising." Davis also talks about important symbols in these stories of Krik? Krak! such as the sea, butterflies, and death. This type of article is an excellent example of what this English class will be aiming to achieve for our literary analyses. The thesis was clear and easy to find and Davis' argument follows what she tells her audience what she intended to write about.

Danticat: Children of the Sea

Edwidge Danticat's story, "Children of the Sea," is the first story in her collection of narratives Krik? Krak! This story is shared by two narrators, a young man and a young woman who are in love with each other. They write letters to each other that will never be read by the other because they have been separated by the horrid events occurring in their home town which caused the young man to flee because of his opposition of the Haitian government. The young man is on a boat to America, along with many other passengers hoping to escape Haiti. The young woman is left in Haiti with her family but leaves their home in Port-au-Prince to Ville Rose in order to save themselves from the macoutes. Besides the constant violence and death, a common motif in both sides of the story is the sea. At the end of one of the young man's letters he writes: "Maybe the see is endless. Like my love for you," (Danticat). Quite similar to what her lover wrote, the young woman writes at the end of the story: "behind these mountains are more mountains and more black butterflies still and a sea that is as endless as my love for you," (Danticat). These two quotes show that the sea symbolizes the strength of their love for each other despite the distance that has been forced between them.