The short story “Clothes” by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni is about a young Indian woman, Sumita, and her cultural transition to America that is symbolized by her clothes and the color of her clothes. The traditional Indian attire for a woman is a sari and each one has its own purpose. Her clothes also indicate her progression from daughter, to wife, to woman. The story starts off with the bride to be in a yellow sari preparing to meet her future husband by bathing in a lake. She describes the yellow
"The Disappearance" by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni 1. In Chitra Banerjee’s story “The Disapperance” The husband was a very old fashion guy who was looking for this typical and loving wife. He wanted this girl to be smart; he wanted to feel proud to introduce her to his friends. He also wanted her to be submissive to him, let him make the most important decisions at home. This man was getting help from his man to find a perfect woman that would fit his wish list. He felt in love with this girl that
Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni in the collection of her short stories titled Arranged Marriage, portrays a negative image of the Indian cultural practices while discussing marital relationships in the diasporic space. The title gives the impression that Indian marriage system is not only weird but also barbaric. She fails to understand that gender bias is not unique to India, and it is a global problem. Sarah Elizabeth Webb, a westerner, who works for a rural tribal school along the border of Tamil
The Impossible American Dream in Anzia Yezierska's “America and I,” Uncle and Jayanti from Chitra Divakaruni's “Silver Pavements, Golden Roofs,” and Leon from Fae Myenne Ng's Bone. America has always been characterized
The husband is perplexed in the short story “The Disappearance” by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, as he does not see how his past actions would cause his wife to be unhappy in her life with him (there are no names associated to the characters in this story). The husband is the protagonist of the story. The story is not clear on the reasons for the wife leaving not only the husband, but also her son. The reason for this is the author utilizes a third-person narration that focus on the protagonist
In Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni’s story titled “Clothes”, part of the collection titled Arranged Marriage, she tells the story of Sumita, an Indian woman placed into an arranged marriage with Somesh Sen. Young and nervous, Sumita journeys across the world to live with her new husband in California. Sumita’s story does not solely focus on her marriage, but also displays the evolution of her confidence and strength. She takes a lesser traveled path to self-discovery, facing hardships of moving to a new
immigrants. The present research paper explores the shaken identity of the immigrants in Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni’s novel Queen of Dreams. The term immigrant refers to residents who come to U.S. from other countries. The second generation refers to the U.S. born children of immigrants, and the term third generation refers to everyone born to parents who themselves were born in U.S. Chitra Banerjeee Divakaruni is one of the remarkable women writers to have contributed on explicit fiction to the much
are used to the host habit of eating. Fusion cooking is the product of diasporic cooking method. Immigrant people fuse their native style of cooking with the new one. Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni in Queen of Dreams has portrayed the difference in the food habits of
Yagnavalkya, a Hindu law book, stipulates that men should only marry a woman who hasn’t been married before. However, the same rule was not mentioned in the case of a woman. This very fact is perfectly depicted in the book ‘Palace of Illusions” by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, wherein Bheeshma’s brother says that a woman who has embraced another in her heart is not chaste whereas he himself was to get married for the third
homes and families. These philosophies are clearly perceived in worldwide media increasing awareness to the rising predicament. Films such as "Provoked," directed by Jag Mundhra, and short stories such as "The Disappearance," written by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, demonstrate that Islam and cultures alike, promote the belief that women should blindly submit to men's ideology and reject most western impressions. Up until the 1960's women were considered a minority because of our patriarchal world
using details like metaphors, similes, a theme, and other narrative elements . In the poem “Women with Kite” by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni and in “Grape Sherbet” by Rita Dove both authors use imagery, figurative language, and other narrative elements to show their cultural perspective. Imagery helps the reader visualize what is happening and what the narrator may be feeling. Divakaruni describes certain apparel the woman is wearing that represents the Indian culture. “Kicks of her
The American Dream In the short story “Clothes”, Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni tells a story of a young Indian women, Sumita, and her cultural transition to America after her arranged marriage to Somesh, an Indian man that lives in America. Somesh is co-owner to a 7-eleven store in California which he is very invested in. Throughout the story, he is always working at his store in hopes of making extra money towards his and Sumita’s future. His late nights working at the store later leads to Somesh’s
traditions that have been passed from generation to generation. At times, a person can easily make the transition from one culture to another. As did, Mita in Clothes by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni. On the other hand, some people take on the new culture and embrace it. As shown in Miss Sahib by Ruth Prawer
Chitra Banerjee’s The Mistress of Spices is a diasporic tale built amidst a stream of voices, both male & female, sharing their joys and sorrows as immigrants to the United States. The author interweaves her text with strands of Magical Realism, Postcolonial Criticism and Feminine discourse to produce a patchwork of messages that overlap but never contradict. The novel relates the story of Tilo, a Mistress of Spices. She is a priestess who knows the secrets of all spices. Her background has been
Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni is a renowned South Asian Diaspora writer with her ancestral roots at Bengal. The women authors of the Indian Diaspora are the artefacts of two cultures; firstly, they are unsure of their status-quo related to the mainstream and secondly in relation to their minority group; because South Asian Diaspora itself constitutes a minority discourse in respect of the canons of globalization, neo-colonialism or ‘melting pot’. Grappling with the problem of defining their identities
do they deal with that as they move into a place where self means something quite different? It is also important to note that if they suppress their sense of past and their heritage that will come out in many other ways. As an immigrant, Chitra Banerjee seems to take pride in being more of a Westerner and less of an Indian. Her all works portray the complexities faced by immigrants. She has exceeded boundaries, conveying two different worlds from various viewpoints. In an interview with Morton
Once more the bond between Nel and Sula in Toni Morrison‟s Sula (1973) has remained one of the most celebrated relationships in the quantity of women’s novel. In the expression of the author herself, “Friendship between women is special, different and has never been depicted as a major focus of a novel before Sula. Nobody even talked about friendship between women unless it was homosexual, and there is no homosexuality in Sula” (qtd. in Barat 53). In reality female friendship is central to the fiction
Colton Gillespie Mr. Rutledge English III DC - Period 3 11/30/15 Literary Comparison Essay-Draft 2 “The Clemency of the Court” written by Willa Cather for the Hesperian magazine, and “Clothes” from Arranged Marriage written by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, both discuss immigration to the United States. Although both authors write about the same subject, the author's’ point of view on the subject differ from one another. In “The Clemency of the Court” Cather is showing that the United States is failing
specifically, they are required to be faithful and obedient husbands in order to be contributing members of society. Despite offering unique perspectives on the opportunities for women after arranged marriage, Maxine Hong Kingston’s “No Name Woman” and Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni’s “Meeting Mrinal” reveal the consequences of arranged marriages in Indian and Chinese culture, as they strive for perfection and order within societies and contribute to a definitive characterization of gender roles for women. In
Blood is Not Thicker than Water Adjusting to a major life change is not always an easy task, and adapting to a new culture is no exception. “Mrs. Dutta Writes a Letter” by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni and “Who’s Irish?” by Gish Jen each tell the story of a foreign, elderly woman and her struggle to adjust to life with her family in the United States. Prior to immigrating, each woman had only experienced her native culture, and, upon arrival, each is reluctant to adopt the American lifestyle. However