Lahiri's "Unaccustomed Earth"

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Name: Instructor: Course: Date: Textual Analysis of Lahiri's Unaccustomed Earth As an author, Jhumpa Lahiri for some time has explored the experience of Indian expatriates and Unaccustomed Earth covers a similar theme. Unaccustomed Earth takes a close look at the experience of Indian immigrants living in the United States, using different viewpoints. The author uses points of view from children, and other views from the older generation, who are all true Americans but have to carry the burden of possessing an Indian cultural past. The characters, in the book, are mainly successful professionals from the middle class who have children that have either gone on to be just as successful or have been provided, with an environment, to become just as successful (Wulandari 221). In the Unaccustomed Earth selection, the children are shown to have refused to follow their Indian heritage by marrying non-Indians or forming families with people who are not Indian. Intermarriage and the consequent events that it leads to form a fundamental narrative force in Unaccustomed Earth. The title story, Unaccustomed Earth, is the most striking story in the collection. The main character in the title story is a girl named Ruma who practices law and lives in the United States as a second generation Bengali. Ruma is married and her husband is an American with the two of them having a three-year-old son named Akash. In addition, they are also expecting another child, and she is very isolated. In the story, her husband’s work commitments make them shift base to Seattle, which is the cause of her isolation as she is not familiar with anyone in the city. Additionally, she has also been forced to leave out employment and look after their son before resuming her schooling. However, in spite of herself, Ruma discovers that the life she is living is the same one she had always contended was below

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