Page 130 - DENG201_ENGLISH_II

English - II

Notes Mrs. Sen’s
In this story, 11-year old Eliot begins staying with Mrs. Sen - a university professor’s wife - after
school. The caretaker, Mrs. Sen, chops and prepares food as she tells Elliot stories of her past life in
Calcutta, helping to craft her identity. Like “A Temporary Matter,” this story is filled with lists of
produce, catalogs of ingredients, and descriptions of recipes. Emphasis is placed on ingredients and
the act of preparation. Other objects are emphasized as well, such as Mrs. Sen’s colorful collection of
saris from her native India. Much of the plot revolves around Mrs. Sen’s tradition of purchasing fish
from a local seafood market. This fish reminds Mrs. Sen of her home and holds great significance for
her. However, reaching the seafood market requires driving, a skill that Mrs. Sen has not learned and
resists learning. At the end of the story, Mrs. Sen attempts to drive to the market without her husband,
and ends up in an automobile accident. Eliot soon stops staying with Mrs. Sen thereafter.
Analysis of Mrs. Sen’s
Mrs. Sen, the eponymous character of Lahiri’s story demonstrates the power that physical objects
have over the human experience. During the entire story, Mrs. Sen is preoccupied with the presence
or lack of material objects that she once had. Whether it is fish from her native Calcutta or her special
vegetable cutting blade, she clings to the material possessions that she is accustomed to, while firmly
rejecting new experiences such as canned fish or even something as mundane as driving a car. While
her homesickness is certainly understandable given her lack of meaningful social connections, her
item-centric nostalgia only accentuates the fact that the people she meets in America are no barrier to
her acclimation. The man at the fish market takes the time to call Mrs. Sen and reserve her special
mmuff. The policeman who questions Mrs. Sen after her automobile accident does not indict her. For
all intents and purposes, the people in the story make it easy for Mrs. Sen to embrace life in America.
But despite this, Mrs. Sen refuses to assimilate to any degree, continuing to wrap herself in saris,
serving Indian canapés to Eliot’s mother, and putting off the prospect of driving. By living her life
vicariously through remembered stories imprinted on her blade, her saris, and her grainy aero
grams, Mrs. Sen resists assimilation through the power of material objects and the meaning they
hold for her.
The Third and Final Continent
Analysis of The Third and Final Continent
In contrast to depictions of resistance to Indian culture found in several of the stories in Lahiri’s
collection, “The Third And Final Continent” portrays a relatively positive story of the Indian-American
experience. In this story, the obstacles and hardships that the protagonist must overcome are much
more tangible, such as learning to stomach a diet of cornflakes and bananas, or boarding in a cramped
YMCA. The protagonist’s human interactions demonstrate a high degree of tolerance and even
acceptance of Indian culture on the part of the Americans he meets. Mrs. Croft makes a point of
commenting on the protagonist’s sari-wrapped wife, calling her “a perfect lady” (195). Croft’s daughter
Helen also remarks that Cambridge is “a very international city,” hinting at the reason why the
protagonist is met with a general sense of acceptance. In 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed
the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 into law, abolishing several immigration quotas. This
piece of legislation resulted in a massive surge of immigration from Asian countries, including India
during the late 1960s and 1970s. In particular, this allowed many Asians to come to the US under the
qualification of being a “professional, scientist, or artist of exceptional ability” contributing to the
reputation of Asian-Americans as being intelligent, mannered, and a model minority. In this story,
the only reason the narrator even meets Mrs. Croft is because he is an employee of MIT, a venerable
institution of higher learning. Whereas prior to the INS Act of 1965, Asians were often seen as a
yellow menace that was only tolerable because of their small numbers (0.5% of the population), by
the time the Asian immigration boom tapered off in the 1990s, their reputation as a model minority
had been firmly cemented, building a reputation for Asian Americans of remarkable educational and
professional success, serving as the cultural backdrop in Lahiri’s The Third and Final Continent. By
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ending on a cultural tone of social acceptance and tolerance, Lahiri suggests that the experience of
adapting to American society is ultimately achievable.

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