I know that I said in a previous post that my favorite book that we read for this class was Self Help by Lorrie Moore, but now coming up on the end of the semester, I would have to say that my favorite book was Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri. While I thoroughly enjoyed the second person point of view that Moore used, something about the simplicity of which Lahiri wrote drew me into the stories.
I also felt as though I could relate more to the stories Lahiri wrote. Even though I was born in this country — I even admit that I have never even been to India — I could relate to the struggle of balancing between American and Indian culture that was presented in some of these stories.
The first story that comes to mind when I think of this struggle is "A Blessed House." In the story, Twinkle finds these Christian posters and statues all over the house. Twinkle wants to put them on display, however Sanjeev doesn't. While I agree with the point brought up in class about how the little statues don't really matter that much, I can see where Sanjeev is coming from. The specific detail that made me sympathize with his point of view was when we were told that it was the first thing that you see when you enter the house.
When I read this, I thought about my own home. If you enter through the main door, you will see two statues of Indian gods, and if you walk through our house, you will see decorations that my parents brought from their hometowns in Africa. A home is a reflection of yourself. I could tell throughout the story that Sanjeev seems more tied to his culture than Twinkle did. One details that really solidified this conclusion was that when Sanjeev goes to introduced Twinkle he uses her real name, Tanima, she immediately tells them to call her Twinkle. I saw this as an attempt for her to separate herself from the Indian culture and become more Americanized. The two seem to be connected to their culture in different ways and because of this I could see why Sanjeev didn't want the statue to be front and center. I can see Sanjeev wanting to stay connected to his roots and his culture.
We never hear Sanjeev's reason for not wanting the statues, posters, etc. around the house. This is my justification for his reasoning. What do you think his reasons were?
"Americanized," for Twinkle, doesn't seem (to me) to be a matter of trying to pass their home off as "Christian," or to "assimilate." Her approach to these gaudy and garish artifacts is more kitschy, ironic--she thinks they're "great" because they're so funny and over-the-top, like a giant velvet rug with pastel Elvis Presley on it. (Seriously, a nativity-scene *snow globe*?!)
ReplyDeleteSanjeev seems to object because he takes a much more literal view--"people will think we're Christian," and it's a misrepresentation. As you say, this is no minor issue: a home should reflect its inhabitants' tastes, culture, and history, and this is what these two newlyweds are trying to negotiate.
The misunderstanding over the Jesus pieces might reveal an even more consequential rift (in my view)--a lack of a shared sense of humor, which is (according to Lorrie Moore, at least) an absolute requirement for any relationship to be successful. Sanjeev maybe needs to learn to lighten up, and laugh at these weird artifacts stacked around his house. His co-workers and casual friends seem to get the humor. Is this kind of kitschy irony a distinctly "American" quality? I don't know--but Twinkle does seem more "American" in her pop-culture sensibilities than Sanjeev. And yet, India brought the world Bollywood, so it's hard to claim there's no appreciation of irony on that continent!
I agree with Mr. Mitchell, in that I think that Sanjeev doesn't want to give an impression of being Christian because he doesn't want to be misleading. It is also true that the objects are way over the top, some of them almost ridiculous, and it is definitely odd for them to have a huge display of odd religious objects on their mantel. Therefore, I think Sanjeev is definitely worried about the impression that he makes on their guests, too, as they have these Christian objects and aren't Christian, and with them being so over the top. This is especially true because many of these guests are his colleagues or people he knows. Meanwhile, Twinkle doesn't know anyone, so she doesn't really have anything to lose.
ReplyDeleteSanjeev kind of reminds me of my parents (and I guess to some extent asian dads in general) -- they want stuff to be clean cut and to the point. If you have a big a** statue of Jesus in the middle of your house then you probably have at least SOMETHING to do with Christianity, and Sanjeez doesn't want to give off that impression. We also do see that he has to tell people over and over that he's not Christian, which I can imagine be quite irritating. As for my favorite book... I'd have to say it's either "Nine Stories" or "In Persuasion Nation" -- "Nine Stories" because I like Salinger's style, and "In Persuasion Nation" just because some of the stories are so ridiculous(ly funny). Then again, when you posted this you haven't read Saunders yet... I wonder if your favorite book is still "Interpreter of Maladies" now :) (@Mr. Mitchell I don't know how to use italics when commenting... sorry I had to use quotations :( )
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