Page 134 - DENG103_English - I

Gowher Ahmad Naik, Lovely Professional University Unit 11: Literary Analysis: The Third ...

Unit 11: Literary Analysis: Notes

The Third and Final Continent by Jhumpa Lahiri

CONTENTS
Objectives
Introduction
11.1 Literary Focus
11.2 Literary Analysis

11.3 Summary
11.4 Keywords
11.5 Review Questions
11.6 Further Readings

Objectives

After studying this unit, you will be able to:
• Know the biography of Lahiri
• Write the summary of ‘The third and final continent’

• Know the characteristics of Jhumpa Lahiri.

Introduction

Jhumpa Lahiri was born on (July 11, 1967) is an Indian American author. Lahiri’s debut short
story collection, Interpreter of Maladies (1999), won the 2000 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, and her
first novel, The Namesake (2003), was adapted into the popular film of the same name. She
was born Nilanjana Sudeshna, which she says are both “good names”, but goes by her nickname
Jhumpa. Lahiri is a member of the President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities, appointed
by U.S. President Barack Obama.

Notes Lahiri was born in London, the daughter of Bengali Indian immigrants. Her family
moved to the United States when she was three;

Lahiri considers herself an American, stating, “I wasn’t born here, but I might as well have
been.”Lahiri grew up in Kingston, Rhode Island, where her father Amar Lahiri works as a
librarian at the University of Rhode Island; he is the basis for the protagonist in “The Third
and Final Continent,” the closing story from Interpreter of Maladies Lahiri’s mother wanted
her children to grow up knowing their Bengali heritage, and her family often visited relatives
in Calcutta (now Kolkata).
Lahiri’s early short stories faced rejection from publishers “for years”. Her debut short story
collection, Interpreter of Maladies, was finally released in 1999. The stories address sensitive
dilemmas in the lives of Indians or Indian immigrants, with themes such as marital difficulties,

LOVELY PROFESSIONAL UNIVERSITY 127