Unaccustomed Earth

• The structure of the story is more traditional than the stories that we have read in previous weeks. I wonder if there is a specific reason for that like in “We Should Never Meet” or if it is just part of the writer’s style?
• Unlike the other collections of stories, I think that the stories will not revolve around the complexity of the characters lifestyle but the complexity of the relationships between characters. Similar to other writers, same as others.
• Ruma’s father doesn’t want to be part of their life, which is normal for him. But Ruma wants her father to be with them to make their family normal again. Their concept of normal conflict with each other.
• Ruma’s father is struggling to be both a father and his own person. It is not that he doesn’t care about his family, but he sees his family as an obstacle to himself.

Hell-Heaven

• I remember her other novel revolving around Harvard and the East Coast. This is a personal connection with the author.
• The Narrator’s father has a survivor’s mentality. Meaning he isn’t wasteful and takes what he can to survive. This might symbolize the hardship that he felt in India vs America, but it almost might contrast with how the Narrator perceives the world.
• The joke about thanksgiving with the Indians shows that the environment that isn’t necessarily comfortable for the Narrator and her family. However, the family isn’t necessarily in an environment surrounded people who make them uncomfortable since not everyone laughs at the joke.
• Overtime, the Narrator’s mother learns to accept with the fact that her daughter is both Indian and American. Unlike most stories, there in a more concluded resolution to the question we are answering in class, albeit not as simple.

A Choice of Accommodations

• The setting takes in contrast where the location seems more cheap and dire than the previous stories. I wonder how this dynamic will continue to evolve as it has in Lahiri’s other stories.
• The suggestion of them being connected at all times is entertaining and almost comical. It also shows that even though they are close, they are a bit distant and do not have a relationship in which they have to rely on one another.
• The hole in the skirt and the accommodations that are being provided seem to be foreshadowing that the wedding will not go as planned or something bad might happen between Megan and Amit.
• The beginning of the story was painting a picture of the two being close together but in an unpleasant environment. As the story carries on, Amit seems to find himself elaborating about how their marriage fell/is falling apart.

Only Goodness

• In the first part of the book, we see Sudha keeping a persona from her parents. This might be foreshadowing the future relationship between her and her folks, as well as developing the dynamic in the relationship that they share.
• It appears that the characters do inhabit the same story cycle, or at least some of them do. It doesn’t seem to much of a chronological order unlike the other collections we have read. However, the stories do seem to carry a great length in time.
• Unlike the other authors, the stories in part one seems to have fairly affluent families. The relationships between the parents and children and the relationships between the spouses seem to be the primary focus and economic struggle.
• Rahul is having a hard time living in this sense of affluence. There are great expectations for him, probably reflected in the form of Sudha.

Nobody’s Business

• The title of the story is fairly interesting. Instead of business that is held from anybody, seeing that it would concern nobody, it is nobody’s business, indicating that it is a specific person.
• Harvard appears again. Is there a history between southern Asians and attendance at Harvard, or is it because of the ivy league status associated with it?
• Whether or not Sang asking Paul to be her boyfriend because it is convenient for her, or there is feeling attached is up in the air. However, it is affecting Paul, which might be foreshadowing.
• Paul seems to be caught in the ongoing drama between Farouk, Sang, and Deidre. It seems to have him in this state of confusion, and he doesn’t know when to intervene or stay out of it. Is this a theme of the story?

Once in a Lifetime

• The narration of this story is interesting. It is told in the first person, but the narrator is directing the information as if it were the 2^nd This brings a sort of power dynamic with it, like a grand parent describing their children as your parent.
• There is a second effect that is displayed in this narration style. When talking about how their families were separated, there is a distancing added to your family and my family. There is a forced disconnect.
• There is now this shift from a 1^st person in 2^nd person to a centralized 1^st It is then brought back around to the original format. I am not sure how I feel about this method of narration, but it is more interesting than the previous style.
• Later in the story, we are told that the boy that the narrator is talking too is the one who is adjusting. She never had to because she was born there, but because he is an outsider, he needs that adjustment period. Something that we have seen in the 1^st generations and not in the second generations of immigrants.

Year’s End

• The allusion to Persephone is a way of showing “western” myths applied to an eastern setting. She is using the knowledge she has from the US and referencing the visitation of her mother to Bombay.
• Year’s end examines a time where the main character is not necessarily unfamiliar with the concept her parents’ culture, but she finds it at odds with the American culture she grew up with. The analogy previously stated seems to show it.
• There is a sense of fear of American life that Chitra and her daughters feel. Primarily from Chitra, but it explains her as old fashioned as well.
• There is a return to the use of the 2^nd and 1^st person combination. In this sense, the effect is along the lines of recollection.

Going Ashore

• Here we see the return of the character of Hema, but there is also the shift from 1^st person to 3^rd Perhaps Hema was the one being talked to and is returning to some aspect of whoever was narrating to her.
• The environment of Rome/Italy feels very foreign. It does not feel like America and it does not feel like India. There is a weird neutral ground here.
• One of the characters avoids America if he can. He isn’t necessarily displeased with the country, but more so his relationship with his father. This makes America a point of tension for him and is associated with his strained relationship.
• The final part of this story returns to the 1^st and 2^nd person relationship. With this, it feels like the reminiscent part has ended and serves as a sort of guide for whoever the narrator is talking too.