How Does Desai Portray the Life of American Women Through Mrs Patton?

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How does Desai portray the life of American Women through Mrs Patton’s description? Mrs Patton is the sister of Ms O’Henry, wife of Mr Patton, mother of Melanie and Rod and the hostess who had insisted Arun stay with her and the Patton family for the summer holiday in Massachusetts. She is represented as the stereotypical woman, a tool to contrast between Indian and American culture and used to illustrate the role of the American woman. From the beginning of part two of the book, it is easy to spot out that Mrs Patton is the stay-at-home American suburban wife. She is thus the picture of motherhood; slaving around her house cleaning and cooking, having a husband to please and children to feed. When the reader first meets her, she is in the kitchen, unpacking the groceries into the places where they belong though not without concentration. There is a quote from Mrs Patton saying: “I just fill the freezer and let them take down what they like, when they like, keeping the freezer full – that’s my job, Ahroon. [p.183]” This harsh reality is one of the main duties of Mrs Patton. She is of no real employment so filling the fridge is considered about as much a ‘job’ to her as it can get. Mrs Patton is also portrayed to be inferior to her husband. This is made known from how quick Mrs Patton is to react on Mr Patton’s commands. From rapidly getting ready when dinner was announced by Mr Patton to cooing him to calm when his children wouldn’t show up, Mrs Patton shows gender division in their home thus exemplifying gender division in many other homes in the US. I think she also bears connections to Mama, Arun’s mother, as they are both ductile towards their husbands. Both fathers – Papa and Mr Patton – are shown to be at the top of the hierarchy while the mothers at the bottom, obeying an unwritten code of conduct set by society for them to follow. In count to
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