Please bring your journals to class, as we will discuss our Relationships, Rituals, and Restrictions as it pertains to the literature and us.
Where I am Local
Hello. My name is
Eric Pellerin. I am a human being, like
everyone else here. I am a citizen of
the world. I am a local of Reading,
Andover, and Groveland, Massachusetts as well as Paris, Southern Italy and Romania. Nice to meet you! Where are you local?
My Three Rs
Relationships:
Luiza and Aidan: the
central focus of my life is my wife and son.
They come first – always. I know
that “I” should come first, and then I would be able to better serve them, but
I find it difficult to always make this balance. Self and family.
My parents, brother, and sister. This is the group that means the most to me,
especially my brother David. My
therapist noticed that I often exchange my brother’s name for Aidan. David was eight years younger than I was, and
there are times when I see the relationship as similar. David and Aidan do all the talking, and I get
to, merely, be around their presences.
Luiza is also the same. I do not
feel comfortable taking the lead. In relationships
I am most happy to follow.
Luiza’s family. This
is an obligation to make Luiza and Aidan happy. The
whole concept of Romania has become just as much a local for me, now that I
have been welcomed into the family.
Friends. I have friends at work – and friends through Aidan’s
friends. Dan, Josh, and Jason. I feel very close to my friend Jeff who lives
in New York. I do not see him often
enough.
Rituals:
I am obsessive when it comes to cleanliness. I am the primary housekeeper of our
house. I do most of the cleaning and all
the cooking.
Personal & physical reflection. I am constantly working on myself,
whether it be thoughts, feelings, and relationships – or physical aspects of
self like food, exercise, and clothing.
Perfection. It is what I strive for. It gives me life, and is slowly killing me.
Reading. Always
reading. I usually have 3-5 books going
at a time.
Prayer and meditation. I read a page from Book of Daily Thoughts and Prayers by Swami Paramananda every morning.
Music. I listen to music everyday of my life. I still have an Ipod because I need to have
15,000 songs at my disposal at all times, in the mixes that I arrange.
I love all things French.
If I could live anywhere is the world (that I know of) it would be
Paris. I also love the Almafi coast in
Italy, and felt at home there. The
people look like me. My family’s origin
is Naples, Italy and Paris, France.
Restrictions:
I am a white, American, male. 44 years-old.
I have few (or no) restrictions. The only
person controlling me, is me.
In “A Choice of Accommodations”, The Namesake and “Hell-Heaven” Lahiri uses the settings of the characters pasts to help narrate and explain the subsequent impacts it had on their lives. In “A Choice of Accommodations”, Lahiri uses Amit’s recounting of his feelings from when he was a teenager and now his life as an adult, to help the reader see how his surroundings have, and still do, effect his life. Growing up at Langford Academy was a time when Amit felt lost and alone at a boarding school without any family with him, making his teenage years even more difficult and isolating. The setting of this secluded campus in a rural area helps describe how abandoned and isolated Amit felt once his parents left him in this new place with unfamiliar people. Being back at Langford has also now made him feel some regret and loss of time that he hadn’t thought of before as he ponders his adult life to Felicia. The setting of Pam’s wedding being at the place of much confusion for Amit describes to the reader the impact of this location of his youth on the life he leads now. In Hell Heaven, the narrator speaks about the formative years of Pranab Kaku spending time with their family, to illustrate the impact it had on her mother. We get to see their relationship forming throughout the years, he meshed into their fold and was accepted into their family. We also get to see the contrasting feelings of her mother and Pranab, he “mostly ask[ed] my mother what she thought of Deborah. He sought her approval…” while her mother childishly “complained about Deborah’s visits” (68). The setting of being in Cambridge Massachusetts, which is almost like a completely different world to someone like Pranab who doesn’t know anyone and is all alone as he finds a family to be apart of, shows us the different impact that the setting has on them. Pranab feels like they are all family to him and seeks the mothers approval because she is like a mother to him in this country because she took him in when he had no one. But, she already has her family and she see’s him in a romantic way, not as a platonic relationship, making her jealous and angry that he is with Deborah. Lastly, in The Namesake, the different settings in Ashokes life illustrate to the reader the contrasting chapters in his life. When he flashes back to his time in India, it usually revolves around the devastating crash, or him not living his life to its full potental. As he was sitting on the train, right before the crash, he is reading a book and says that he doesn’t travel anywhere because that’s what books are for. A fellow named Ghosh tells him, “pack a pillow and a blanket and see as much of the world as you can. You will not regret it. One day it will be too late”. After this, we can see the change in Ashoke, he marries Ashima, moves to America and starts a new life with his young family. The dichotomy that the two countries creates illustrates the personal ties that Ashoke has with them and both their impacts on the life he leads.
ReplyDeleteIn The Namesake, I think the most obviously profound settings would be the train, Calcutta/India, and their life in America, specifically their home. With the use of the train, we are able to see turning points in both Ashoke and Gogol's lives. For Ashoke, his first time on the train was of course when the horrible crash occurred, but that crash is also what inspired him to go to America and make a new life for himself and Ashima and their family. For Gogol, he chooses to go on the train; he even says a few scenes beforehand to his mother that after everything in his life, this is the first time he actually has felt free. When he goes on the train, it showed to me that Gogol was starting a new journey that combined his lessons learned in America as well as his family's Bengali influence. In "A Choice of Accommodations", as Jyllian mentioned above, the Amit's boarding school and the surrounding town are extremely important in this story. He is able to finally reflect on his life growing up, accepting and facing the good and the bad. Just as Amit felt lost at Langford Academy as a teenager, we see how lost he still feels now, this time concerning different things. In "Hell-Heaven", one of the most striking scenes for me was Thanksgiving. This obviously is an Americanized holiday, but just the fact that they were at the beach and doing all of these very American!! things like having the turkey, and the narrator smoking a joint with a boy she likes, and very cultural aspects of life that are enhanced by where they take place, and arguably more so enhanced by where they do not take any place at all: India, where Pranab, and the narrator's parents, as well as the other Bengali families, all feel most comfortable. In the environments Jhumpa Lahiri lays out for her readers in all three of these works, we are able to see the cultural and generational differences, all of which probably not be so effective if it were not for the simplistic yet necessary settings of all these stories.
ReplyDeleteSetting is very important in all of Lahiri’s works, including The Namesake, “A Choice of Accommodations”, and “Hell-Heaven”. In all of these works the story takes place in the United States, and even Calcutta in The Namesake. The setting places an emphasis on the culture and confusion stressing the main characters. Most often struggle with their identity because they consider themselves neither Indian or American. This is even stressed by Lahiri in “My Two Lives”, saying that others could identify themselves as Irish-American or Italian-American while Indian-American is less heard off. In The Namesake, the setting has a very important effect on the lives and relationships of Gogol’s family. One example of this is Maxine. Gogol meets her in America, where she has lived all her life. She is very used to the culture and rituals of the United States. It is very hard to watch the apparent difference between her ways and those of Gogol’s family. From this, I can infer that many other people the family has encountered in the United states may create the same sense of difference. Especially in the case of Gogol’s mom, I could tell that she is much more comfortable in her home in Calcutta, both when the family travels there after the funeral and at the end of the film when she moves back. I think her move had been coming for a long time shown in the scene of her watching her neighbors, and seeing how different they are from her. In “A Choice of Accommodations”, the setting of the United States as well as Amit’s boarding school are important. His parents enrolled him in this school even though they returned to India, leaving Amit to fend for himself. Leaving him in a place where people had rituals very different from his own, he fronted a struggle that he would face for the rest of his life. This is apparent at the wedding among the challenges he is facing in his marriage. In “Hell-Heaven”, the setting prompts the entire plot. The isolation in a new place causes the family to befriend Pranab Kaku, who was the first other Bengali the family encountered.
ReplyDeleteAnna Vrountas
ReplyDeleteIn “The Namesake”, “Hell Heaven”, and “A Choice of Accommodations”, setting played a pivotal role in defining the characters and their actions. In the Namesake, the setting was practically a character of its own. It informed decisions and influenced people’s actions and character developments. You could not fully understand who Gogol, Ashima, and Ashoke were without being informed of their move from India to America. It was a huge event in their lives that defined their relationships with each other and who they became as people. In Hell Heaven, Pranab Kaku and his visits were an escape for the mother in the story from her daily struggle to be an immigrant in a strange country where her husband and daughter were distant and her family in India was even more distant. The setting of America, since it was very lonely for her, greatly influenced how the mother handled her personal friendship with Pranab Kaku, and in turn her relationship with her own family. A Choice of Accommodations is also essentially about location, though less about the divide between India and America, and more about what one place can say about something rather than another place. I may be examining the story in too literal of a sense, but Amit’s choice to book the fancy hotel room over the dorm room deprived his wife of what she hoped to learn at the wedding, and why she agreed to come. Megan wanted to learn about Amit’s experience at Langford, who he was at Langford, and how the setting of Langford shaped him. Staying in the dorm would’ve helped inform this. Megan also had her suspicions about Amit and Pam, but this was only a part of her search to know her husband better. In this way the location of the dorm vs. the hotel made a difference in the story.
In The Namesake Lahiri choice of setting - both in northeastern America and in India - really helped me to visualize and better understand the story. In the film especially, the way the two places contrasted in colors emphasized the difference. When Ashima and Ashoke first move to America and it is the wintertime, the colors are faded and cloudy and it gave America an almost desolate feeling while India in the film was full of vibrant colors and warmth. The surroundings that Lahiri’s characters abide in had a large impact on the meaning; Gogol is from two very different places that each have a unique aspects. I think The Namesake’s setting also has to do with the time period in which the story takes place. It starts with Ashima and Ashoke as their backgrounds are introduced and as they first begin their lives together. It then shifts to the future where Gogol struggles with his self-identity and I think that the way Lahiri had characters from different generations (Gogol and his sister as first-generation American-born children vs Ashima and Ashoke) interact with their settings made the story more complex and interesting.
ReplyDeleteIn “A Choice of Accommodations,” as others have said, Lahiri uses the setting of where Amit grew up as sort of the basis to how he feels in the future when he goes to Pam’s wedding. Amit's town where he attended a boarding school is something he thinks about as he grows up. He thinks about how Langford was a place where his parents let go of him as he was there while they were in India; the desolate setting reflects the loneliness he felt when he was at Langford.
I think that what made “Hell-Heaven” so interesting was the changes in setting and circumstances. The way Lahiri begins the story by introducing Usha and her family as having lived “in Central Square for three years… [and] before that… in Berlin” (61), shows how much they have had to adjust to living in various locations. When Usha tells of how her mother first met Pranab Kaku in Harvard Yard, I thought that this was an interesting choice of setting because it highlights how Usha’s mother was able to find a connection with another Bengali in this new place. Usha’s mother and Pranab Kaku both struggle and make decisions that make them choose a culture over the other and as the setting changes from, for example, Usha’s mother’s kitchen where Pranab Kaku eats the food she cooks to Usha’s surroundings as she grows up I could gain a new perspective and a better understanding of the relationship between Usha and her mother due to everything they went through.
The Namesake- The two most important settings in this movie are New York and Calcutta. These two places are extremely different; New York is cold, isn’t particularly colorful, and they live in a suburban house on a quiet street with spaced-out homes, whereas Calcutta is hot, vibrant, loud, and everyone lives close together. These stark differences are reflected in the characters. When Ashima first moves to New York, she feels extremely isolated, and she misses the happiness and warmth that comes from being surrounded by family. The cold, quiet town matches how she feels. When she returns to India, something in her lights up, and it is reflected by the bustling, colorful city of Calcutta.
ReplyDelete“A Choice of Accommodations”- I agree with Jyllian that Langford Academy as a setting reflected Amit’s emotions as a teenager at boarding school. He felt very alone and isolated, and the campus was in a rural, isolated part of New England. When he returns to Langford as an adult, the setting evokes similar emotions to what he had felt as an adolescent; he feels alone, and detached from his wife. As Kate said, he still feels lost like he did when he was younger, and being at Langford again only strengthens those feelings. However, now that he is an adult, he is able to accept the emotions and try to move forward and resolve them a bit.
“Hell-Heaven”- The setting in this short story essentially forced the relationship between Pranab and Usha’s mother. They would have never interacted if it hadn’t been for the fact that he was alone in Massachusetts and she was another Bengali. Their shared setting of India linked them together, and they bonded over living in the United States. In this story too, cold, lonely New England reflects the character’s inner feelings of isolation from their home and family in India.
Unless it’s crucial to the plotline, I haven’t been in the habit of paying attention to the setting. Obviously, I take note of it, but I don’t think I’ve really understood the meaning and potential impact a setting can have on a story. Going back to two of the short stories we read this summer, I realized that the setting adds a deeper effect and meaning to the story. In The Namesake, the settings can be seen as New York, Calcutta, and, as Kate pointed out, the train that changed Ashoke’s life. The constant tug-of-war between Indian and American culture is caused by these two conflicting settings and identities. Even in the movie, you could see the colors change symbolically from India to America. In “A Choice of Accommodations”, the setting is Langford, Amit’s old boarding school, as well as the hotel they decide to stay in. This setting is a place where Amit felt lost, far from his home culture, rituals, and relationships. Returning to this place in the story is meaningful and shows a parallel between his life as a lost teenager and his life now. The hotel they stay in was, “Without character” (84), reflecting on Amit’s midlife identity crisis. Finally, Hell-Heaven takes place in Boston, as well as a few other coastal towns outside of the city. The importance of the setting in this story is similar to that of The Namesake, since characters feel compelled to please two different cultures and groups of people. The relationships in different settings are especially important in this story, since it follows Usha and her mother’s relationship, as well as their relationships to other Bengalis and Americans. The settings in all of these stories is very symbolic, from the train ride that quite literally sets Ashok's life on a different track, to the bustling city and coastal towns near Boston (Ipswich, Marblehead) in Hell-Heaven that are literally touching the ocean you cross to get to India, but are still completely different worlds.
ReplyDeleteSosha
The settings in The Namesake, “A Choice of Accommodations” and “Hell-heaven” all provide the environment for discoveries and reflections to be made by the characters. Also, the settings play a huge role in defining culture throughout the pieces. Without the vibrant scenes in Calcutta and the dull ones in New York, the duality between the two lifestyles present in The Namesake would not have been as clear. Besides the cultural aspects of setting in the movie, places like the house in New York also had a large impact on the story as a whole. When Ashima is about to leave for Calcutta towards the end of the film, she touches upon how the house she is now selling is where she was able to build her life with her husband. The setting in this case offers memories, which is also similar to the setting in “A Choice of Accommodations”. In this short story, the main character relives his life during high school. While Ashima reflected positively on her home setting, Amit looks at it through a different lense. He reflects on how lonely he felt, and on his failed attempt at a relationship with Pam, which then leads him to analyze his current relationship with Megan. By visiting his old prep school, he is able to sort of revisit his younger years. In this case, the setting provides the chance for a breakthrough in his relationship with his wife. “Hell- Heaven” also has similarities to The Namesake through the isolation of the setting. Much like Ashima, the mother of this home feels disconnected from her Indian culture in Cambridge, MA. The only thing that excites her or takes away from this loneliness is the boy that comes to visit her often, that she ends up falling in love with. There is a large focus on the American lifestyle in this setting, and one of the most provoking part of the story takes place on Thanksgiving- an extremely American holiday- which solidifies the mother’s feelings of detachment from her own culture. These three works had similarities in setting: similar timing, locations in cities and Calcutta. However, setting played a different role in each in terms of the importance to the characterization and plot line.
ReplyDeleteCat Weiner
Going back to Lahiri's tendency to minimize the external conflicts in her stories, Lahiri chooses very inclusive parts of America to base her stories in- The Namesake, Hell Heaven, and A Choice of Accommodations are all in either Boston or New York where the overwhelming majority of the population is receptive to immigrants and there is a relatively high density of other Bengalis. As such, we don't really see Lahiri's characters struggle with racism to too great of an extent, with the worst example being someone painting the mailbox in Gogol's home Gangreen. Had her stories been based in the deep south or near an area where a local company had recently closed a major factory and outsourced the work to India, the experience of her characters in the United States would be much different. To substitute for having setting that does not necessarily "excite" the reader by itself, Lahiri focuses on the smaller details that separate the Bengali protagonists in her story from the general American society- examples including the way they greet each other and the challenges to mixed marriages. When I first began reading Unaccustomed Earth, I was baffled at why Lahiri consciously chose lessen the build-up of plot in her stories. However, I now realize that Lahiri's purpose in writing her stories is to simply show her own experiences growing-up as an Indian America in the United States, over-dramatizing her stories would create an unauthentic account.
ReplyDeleteSetting played different parts in "The Namesake", "A Choice of Accommodations" and "Hell- Heaven", but it was an integral part of each story. In "The Namesake", there are clearly two places in which the characters are local. Calcutta and Cambridge represent the two identities that make Gogol who he is, in the same way that they separate Ashoke and Ashima from who they were in India and who they are in America. This theme of immigrants feeling included and yet left out in both cultures continues in "Hell- Heaven" when the mother is eager to continue to connect with other Bengalis and continue their traditions and customs in America. However, in this story, I felt like the mother falling in love with Pranab Kaku was in a way, like falling in love with aspects of American society that restricted her in India. For example, she was part of an arranged marriage, and obviously falling in love Pranab Kaku was because she truly loved spending time with him. He wasn't an obligation, so she felt drawn to the freedom she gained as an American Immigrant. In " A Choice of Accommodations", the setting represents the passing of time instead of the change of locations. The school provides a backdrop of memories and nostalgia that Amit had completely forgotten about. Bringing him back to this specific time in his life brought back his old feelings and experiences, leading him to question who he has become, what his values are and why.
ReplyDeleteSetting is where the characters are built. Without setting, there is no story as the Norton Anthology had pointed out "All stories, like all individuals, are embedded in a context or setting" and with this in mind we can see that the setting in Hell-Heaven played a major role in the events of that particular story, as in any other story.
ReplyDeleteThis is most evident in the fact that the characters are all Bengali in America, and we definitely do see the conflicts that can create (I am most reminded of the Thanksgiving scene.) But even more than that, being Bengali had meant more than heritage to them, as it so often does for the people who claim to be Irish or Italian despite the fact that they've never been to those countries. It was an ever present force which had dictated who they could marry, where they would live, who they would befriend and most importantly, how they would come to treat Pranab Kaku. Perhaps if they lived in a different context Aparna wouldn't have had an affair with him, or married her husband.
As far as "A Choice of Accommodations" is concerned, I felt like the wedding's atmosphere really drove a wedge between Meagan and Amit. Despite the fact that Amit is such a nice guy, he's close with his kids in a way that Meagan never could be, he's still treated really badly. He comes across as a bit of a door mat, and his wife is never there to support him. Again, I'd like to stress the importance of this wedding, a wedding which neither really wanted to attend and had it not been for Amit's attachment to his friend in college they wouldn't have been at. This may have been the catalyst for all of Meagan's outbursts, though I think that she's just like that somehow.
And finally I'd like to touch on the film. The setting of the film isn't too dissimilar from Hell-Heaven, and I would assume that had been a conscious decision on Lahiri's behalf to emulate her own experiences and evoke the states of mind that she had endured as a child and as the child of immigrants. The film sticks with the Urban landscapes but then will also have segments in India, and by doing so Lahiri shows how Gogol and Sophia fail to adapt to its culture due to their upbringing in America. They're an alien at home and abroad, and as such the hot and humid nature of India really shows itself in just how angry both of them become over the course of their stay.
As you can see, setting plays a huge role in the character's mood, their outlook on life, their culture, their values, religion and their personality. Without these elements we wouldn't have a character or a story.
Jhumpa Lahiri’s stories generally go back and forth between India and America. The characters are torn by where their parents are from (their heritage or ancestry) and where themselves are from (the place they’ve grown up in). In “Hell-Heaven”, the mother and the narrator met Pranab due to their habits of frequent visits to Harvard Yard and the stresses of Cambridge. The clash of cultures are strongly shown during Thanksgiving. Deborah and her family go out for a walk on the beach, while the mother and her family (except the narrator) stay indoors. The time the mother and Pranab are together is like heaven, but the time Pranab married Deborah is like hell for the mother. Similarly in the movie “The Namesake”--- like what others wrote in their blogs--- the colors and mood of the scenes of India are so much more vibrant and warm comparing to the scenes of the U.S. Due to cultural differences (India and America physically look different), we see the the clash of cultures again that confuse Gogol. In “A Choice of Accommodations”, feelings of loneliness is brought back to Amit once he steps onto the floors of the school again. Because of the place, he begins to think about his future and his sense of self again because I felt emptiness in him before.
ReplyDeleteThe setting in “A Choice of Accommodations”, “Hell-Heaven”, and “The Namesake”, plays a major role since it is the root of many problems that will arise in the storyline.
ReplyDeleteIn A Choice of Accommodations, Amit’s dreadful experience of attending Langford Accademy shaped him so significantly that he considers it to be the only “profound life change” he’s experienced. Not only it affected him as a child, but it also left an immense impact on his adulthood. The feelings of abandonment that the place inspired and the consequential resentment towards his parents who made him attend boarding school, forged the parent he wants to be for his children. It was determinant in his eagerness to prevent his children from ever feeling the same way or experiencing similar events.
The setting of Hell-Heaven also played a significant role in the characters dynamics. Pranab is a Bengali who has recently moved from Calcutta to attend college in Boston. One day, he saw a Bengali mother with her daughter. He followed them and spoke to them. The mother, Aparna, invited him to her house and prepared for him the first traditional Indian meal he has had since being in the U.S. which gave him a feeling of comfort and joy. He continued to visit her every day, her place became a piece of his original home in Calcutta, in a country where they both felt so lonely. Together, they would play music and tell stories about their villages. Aparna’s place became a bridge that will take them, every time they meet, back to their homeland from a country where they felt as strangers. Eventually, Aparna fell in love with him because he gave her a feeling of warmth that she has missed so much since she is in the U.S. where she feels like an outsider.
In The Namesake the dilemma between Gogol’s two identities is caused by a feeling of not belonging any of his settings, neither the Indian nor in American one. The contrast between New York and Calcutta demonstrates how the characters feel about each. The intensity of the colors depicted in Calcutta, underline the passion and the liveliness of the culture there. In contrast, New York’s gloomy colors represent the emptiness his mother feels in America. In India, she is able to be fully herself, without being cast out and considered as an outsider. She is surrounded by her family, can speak her mother tongue and is allowed to celebrate her culture without being looked at twice.
Kaby Maheswaran
ReplyDeleteBoth short stories “Hell-heaven” and The Namesake portray struggles of being an immigrant, with setting be a pivotal point of the entire story. In hell-heaven, Boudi’s relationship with Pranab Kaku gained such power because of Boudi’s setting. Living in the USA, she had no Bengali community to support and relate to. Pranab Kaku was the only reminder of home, urging her to create a strong bond with him. Similarly in the Namesake, we see that Ashima and Ashoke have connected with other bengali families in the area. Setting in both cases are one of the greatest factors that forces the characters in their respective stories to seek ways to feel at home. The setting also allows for portrayals of common stereotypes. These stereotypes are seen from the perspective of an american acknowledging an indian for the first time. The indian immigrant stereotype comes with a thick accent, different clothing and extreme conservative beliefs. Although the extent of these ideas may apply to a good amount of indian immigrants, this certainly doesn’t define the group as a whole. The setting of the United States gives both short stories a historical and societal context to accompany the plot.
In the Namesake, Lahiri sets up two very contrasting settings in India and America. India represents the home for the older generation of characters and it also represents culture and tradition. We find that the characters often return to India throughout the movie because they feel more at home there. America represents the home for the younger generation and is largely foreign to the older generation of characters. It is a land of many new and strange insights, inventions, and customs. The cinematographer in the movie did a nice job of setting up contrasting colors and themes in these two countries. The landscapes in America were very gray, dull, and drab and represented the cold, harsh reality of being a foreigner in America. The landscapes of India were much more vibrant and colorful which gives off a sense of familiarity. In a “Choice of Accommodations” Lahiri uses Amit’s experience as a teenager at Langford to show how he feels when he returns there years later for the wedding. The sense of being separated from the rest of the world that Amit had at Langford comes to back to during the visit and he feels detached from Megan as a result. In “Hell Heaven”, the character also experience a strong sense of isolation since they are Bengalis Living amongst Americans in Cambridge. The setting is what sets the story in motion because the only reason Pranab Kaku came to live with Usha in the first place was that he could associate his experience as a foreigner in the United States in Usha’s mother. The same thing would probably happen with two Americans living in Bengal. They would most likely become friends because they share a common ethnic group.
ReplyDeleteThe setting in “The Namesake”, “A choice of Accommodations”, “Hell- Heaven”, as well as all of Jhumpa Lahiri’s stories play a pivotal role in the overall meaning to her stories; to explain the push and pull that immigrants experience between two settings that they feel local. The two settings in which all of Lahiri’s characters exist seem, to the characters, to be complete opposites. This is the restriction for the character as they believe they need to both be equally upheld in order to appease their families and their new relationships and rituals. As much as I love Jhumpa Lahiri there's really no difference in the settings of her stories they’re all in America and India and this is what causes their struggles and how they deal with them which is always interesting and somewhat different but the settings really don't change. Also, the setting she creates in india is underdeveloped or not developed at all in comparison to the setting in America which is probably attributed to the fact that all of her stories are based on characters that are the children of immigrants.
ReplyDeleteSetting proves to be a crucial part of a story as it lends to characterization and plot, it is usually influenced by the authors point of view as we see in Jhumpa Lahiri’s works. In The Namesake, A Choice of Accommodations, and Hell- Heaven the setting is primarily in America, (the Boston area) with a mixture of flashbacks from Calcutta, representing the Indian- American culture and struggles that come along with being a part of both. Knowing Lahiri’s culture and experiences in America goes hand in hand with understanding the conflict presented in all her works. A sense of belonging is lost as characters especially Gogol in The Namesake struggles with his American vs Indian identity. As many people have mentioned he is too Indian for America and too American for India, so where does he belong. Ashima and the mom from Hell- Heaven also have struggles with immersing themselves into the American culture after they have spent the majority of their life in India. Their struggles to become comfortable with America and the yearning to go back to India is an internal conflict that is amplified due to setting. Overall in all Lahiri's work it's the setting is what causes struggles between characters and within themselves, without this conflict there would be no plot or characterization, proving that the setting can be considered the starting point of most of Lahiri’s stories.
ReplyDeleteSetting tells the reader how characters are responding to their environment. This is important because without external forces, a story would be made up of completely internal conflict. This would produce a relatively boring and one dimensional story. The setting in "A Choice of Accommodations" is a direct representation of the collapse of a marriage. “A pine tree growing directly in front of their balcony obstructed most of the immediate view. The pool was small and uninviting surrounded by a chain-link fence, with no one swimming or sunbathing on its periphery. To the right were the tennis courts, concealed by more pine trees, but he could hear the soft thwack of a ball flying back and forth, a sound that made him tired.” Their room is less than ideal, just like their marriage. There are obstacles to the perfect view and annoyances that are wearing him down. Expectations for a perfect life and a perfect relationship are reflected in the disappointment of their hotel room. In "Hell-Heaven" the setting of suburban America creates conflict for the mother, as she is left alone in an alien environment. This is the catalyst for her one sided love for Pranab. In the Namesake this alien environment is also used, a common theme in Lahiri's works about the immigrant experience. Especially in the movie, the juxtaposition between Calcutta and New York is extremely clear. The color schemes change, and so do the emotions of the characters. The Taj Mahal, while only showed in one scene, is a setting that becomes a great source of inspiration for Gogol and his parents. It was at this backdrop of the most famous Indian landmark where Gogol decided his life career and the relationship between his parents is strengthened with a simple handhold.
ReplyDeleteThe short stories within Jhumpa Lahiri’s Unaccustomed Earth, more specifically “A Choice of Accommodations” and “Hell-Heaven”, in addition to the movie The Namesake, all encompass the struggles that exist within contrasting settings and environments. In the context of these stories, we witness the characters experience inner conflicts as they attempt to find themselves as Bengali-Americans. I think this is especially evident with The Namesake, as we see how the setting affects the way in which Gogol acts. For example, when he is surrounded by those that identify with the American lifestyle, Gogol is intimate with his girlfriend Maxine, but when he is surrounded by those of Bengali origins, he keeps his distance from her. Gogol’s disconnect with his Bengali background is also evident when he travels to India with his family, during which he questions the culture and the mannerisms of the people living there. This struggle is also evident within the character Usha in “Hell-Heaven” in her difficulties as a Bengali immigrant studying at MIT and also within Amit in “A Choice of Accommodations” as he tries to find solitude in his life and maintain his relationship with his wife, Megan.
ReplyDeleteSetting plays an important role in most of Jhumpa Lahiri’s stories, in particular, “Hell-Heaven,” "The Namesake,” and "A Choice of Accommodations.” It perpetuates a common theme of immigrants struggling to find their place. In “Hell-Heaven,” the mother is searching for other Bengalis in the hopes of keeping home close to her as she experiences life in America. I agree with Rory’s mention of Pranab Kaku. The friendship she found with Pranab Kaku allowed her to feel emotions that were often restricted in Calcutta, but her new independence allowed her to have that friendship and experience a love that wasn’t pre-determined. Yes, it destroyed her, but it was a meaningful experience nonetheless. In “The Namesake,” the characters are clearly local to Cambridge and Calcutta, with Moshimi being the exception with a locality in France. Gogol is a combination of his parents bringing Calcutta to America and his own experiences in Cambridge, the same goes for Ashoke and Ashima. They’re familiar with their lives in Calcutta but they understand the changes that occur as they transition into American-Indian life. In " A Choice of Accommodations", the setting refers more to the passing of time instead of the location itself. The school is connected to many memories and nostalgia hits Amit pretty hard. He had forgotten about his experiences and the people but after returning he’s hit with, what I’d say is, the equivalent of culture shock but a culture he’s vaguely familiar with. He returns to a set time in his life, a still life painting of sorts, that forces him to question the person he’s become and the values he carries. It broke my heart because his wife (Meghan?) was caught in the middle of it and I know if I were in her shoes I would’ve been overwhelmed with confusion and a desire to fix something I knew nothing about.
ReplyDeleteLike many other here have said, setting appears to be the common thread in most, if not all, Jhumpa Lahiri stories. However, the say in which setting is presented in each story manifests itself in different ways, in different texts. In The Namesake, the themes of identity and setting are made to be equally important. The name Gogol represents his traditional Indian heritage, also influenced by his father's intellectual love of books. Meanwhile, Nikhil is the "Westernized", more lethargic version of that same man. These two identities occupy the same body in a cultural struggle for dominance, and leads to Gogol/Nikhil making some drastic changes in his life (like marriage) in the pursuit of finding himself. Such a struggle is easier to see in a movie than a short story, but make no mistake: setting and struggle are also integral to "A Choice of Accommodations" and "Hell-Heaven." But with these short stories, the differences lie more in location than identity. Pranab is stuck in Boston, but in a way remains homesick for Calcutta when forming a close relationship with Usha and Aparna. Deborah then comes along and metaphorically threatens to keep Pranab away from his Indian roots. Likewise, in "A Choice of Accommodations," there is more tension going on between Amit and Megan.
ReplyDeleteAn important focus of many of Jhumpa Lahiri’s stories, is the connection between setting and the characters relationships and sense of identity, specifically how the former influences the latter over time. Take, for example, the film adaptation of Lahiri’s “The Namesake”, which uses direct esthetic details within the setting of the film to signify the characters relationship to it. In the very beginning of the film, when we are seeing the beginnings of Ashoke and Ashima’s marriage, there is a stark difference in color and pallet between the scenes taking place in India and the scenes of their life in America. India is portrayed in lush and warm colors, signifying the happiness and sense of home and identity Ashoke and Ashima attribute to their home country, while the scenes of their early life in America are cold whites and greys, representing the sense of isolation, alienation, and lack of identification Ashoke and Ashima feel towards their new home. This type of symbolism is relatively straightforward, however it is most meaningful when it is applied not to the lives of Ashoke and Ashima, but to the life of their son, Gogol. The story of Gogol is a story of self identification and the film represents his changes in identity through the setting. The first half of Gogol’s story (his graduation from high school and his attachment to Max and her family) is portrayed in the same warm colors of his parents lives in India. Gogol identifies as American, feeling at home within american society and culture, while his parents still find it isolating and unfamiliar. He feels American and his parents feel Indian, a disconnect of identity which drives a wedge between Gogol and his family as he cannot connect with the experiences or culture his parents cling to and so seeks comfort and familiarity with the traditionally American family of his girlfriend. However this disconnect of culture identities breeds a severe guilt in Gogol after his father dies and he realizes that he abandoned his whole family. In order to remedy his guilt and mistakes Gogol embraces his Indian heritage and identity. Marrying a bengali girl from his childhood who his mother wanted to set him up with (mirroring his mother's traditional arranged marriage to his father), who actively rejects American culture (hating American television), and tries to have a traditional Bengali homelife with her, which ultimately backfires and drives her away. During this time in Gogol’s life, as he is rejecting his American identity and embracing a Bengali one, the American setting that was once colorful and warm for Gogol has taken on the same cold isolating whites and greys of Ashoke and Ashima’s early years in the country, showing how Gogol is not only trying to alienate himself from his previous identity, but trying to recreate the experience and identity of his parents, and how doing that results in his failed marriage. For Jhumpa Lahiri, the connections between one's setting and identity are intimate and constantly changing, and in turn inform their relationships. Gogol’s relationship to the country where he grew up is what caused him to date Max and to separate from his father, and after it changed, to marry Moushumi and grow closer to his family. This dynamic between setting and relationships is seen throughout Lahiri’s other works also. In “Hell-Heaven”, the alienation towards the United States and homesickness for India are what drive Pranab and Aparna into forming a close familial bond, and Pranab’s growing accustomed to his American setting allows him to form a relationship with Deborah which sparks jealousy and depression ion Aparna who cannot grow accustomed to her American setting and therefore cannot escape the emotional isolation of her traditional Indian family. In “A Choice of Accommodations” The main character, Amit, visits his old college campus in the hopes of rediscovering the feelings of independence and freedom that defined his youth only to find that it has changed and become foreign to him and that his identity that he once cherished is now
ReplyDeleteSetting appears to be one of the most important factors in Jhumpa Lahiri's stories. However, the setting she portrays in her writing is not your typical use of imagery and descriptive language. Lahiri manages to create a setting of culture where the reader is able to feel and visualize the life of an Indian family. In “The Namesake”, the conflict of culture is beautifully depicted through Gogol and his struggle to find who he is. The movie effectively captures the difference between American and Indian culture through the scene where Gogol explains to his girlfriend not to hold hands, kiss, or be revealing in front of his family. This allows the reader to visualize the awkwardness of the situation and difference in culture essentially depicting the setting. Lahiri also uses these same tactics in “Hell Heaven” and “A Choice of Accommodations” through Pranab and Amit. In the case of Pranab, Lahiri creates an environment where Pranab is exposed to western cultures and as a result misses his home. While Amit is struggling with his relationship with Megan due to him being out of touch with himself. It seems the common theme in Lahiri’s writing is the clash of culture that the protagonists deal within her story. Her settings seem to be of culture adding a different perspective within her stories.
ReplyDeleteIn the movie "The Namesake," there are several juxtaposition sprinkled throughout. For one, there is a constant bouncing between the present, in New York, and Calcutta, represented by flashbacks and memories of the city. Likewise, there are contrasts between Ashima and her son, and their beliefs, dispositions and behaviors; while Ashima tends to be more reserved and conservative, her son embraces all things American, and also desires for others to view him as a fellow American, rather than an individual stuck between two countries, unable to find an identity worth sticking with. Ashima is on the other end of the spectrum, a lover of her motherland India, and the people, sights and sounds that accompany it. Irrespective of their differences, they still are able to understand, at least to a certain degree, each other's beliefs. This idea of relative contrast is also quite evident in "Hell-Heaven," in which the protagonist is unable to abandon his Indian heritage in pursuit of love, but also cannot entirely embrace it and deny the fact that he is an American. Not to mention, the title of the story itself, "Hell-Heaven" is indicative of two poles, which, although they are opposites, both have a place in our society. This, I believe, encompasses Lahiri's writing style, and allows anyone, irrespective of nationality or perspectives, can relate to.
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