Saving Sourdi Analysis

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Nea is constantly struggling in her relationship with Sourdi, her sister. She seems to slip in and out of reality surrounding her fantasies of life as she narrates “Saving Sourdi” in the first-perspective. The girls’ very different perspectives and varying abilities to cope ultimately pushes them apart. Nea’s ideas of the ‘American Dream’ are freedom and power to do what you need to and want to, while Sourdi is ready to settle with what life hands her. She does not aspire for more than what she can presently grasp. Nea cannot understand why her big sister, her savior, would give up on their dreams of running away and settle for just being a housewife. Why she would abandon their love, and their life. She struggles with what threatens their lives and dreams: the differences in their early upbringings, various men entering their lives, and the unraveling of her naïve view of the world. As you explore the characters of both sisters you can see why Nea sees life as unfair and stifling. You can see why she is trying to ‘Save Sourdi.’ “…Sourdi had walked across a mine field, carrying me on her back. She was nine and I was four,” (Chai 138) recalls Nea of her earliest…show more content…
She finally has to realize she no longer can save Sourdi. In the end Nea must come to terms with the reality of their relationship. She must accept that this is the life Sourdi wants and has chose, that all of the men in her life are not threatening but a part of growing up. They are a way for Sourdi to pave her own way, and make her own path. Nea refers to herself as a “magic serpent, Naga, with a mouth so large, it could swallow people whole.” She is alluding to the fact that she has been defeated and that her dreams are lost among clouds. Nea says, “I wished I was Naga. I would have swallowed the whole world in one gulp. But I have no magic powers. None whatsoever.” She finally accepts defeat in her quest to save
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