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Hell-Heaven by Jhumpa Lahiri


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             Modernity, on the other hand, is represented by Pranab who is trying to get out of his Indian traditions and Usha who has grown up in America and hasn't experienced much of the Indian culture. Pranab who was raised in Calcutta quickly accepts the modern way of living rather than that of Bengalis. He cuts off the Indian culture by not really speaking to his parents and farther goes on to marry an American girl, getting away from the arrange marriage his parents had for him. Usha doesn't understand why her parents wants her to grow as Bengali even though she is in America. She associated herself with American culture because she dates American guys and she goes to parties ad drinks and smokes like many Americans do at her age. The theme of culture and identity also ties into the theme of tradition vs. modernity. Usha and Parnab are struggling to be who they want to be despite what their parents have expected them to be and what is expected from their culture. For example when the family goes to the Thanksgiving gathering at Pranab and Debroah house, Usha is forced to wear traditional Indian attire and when she changes into jeans and a t-shirt to go on the beach she says she finally feels like herself. .
             The plot of the story changes a lot as the story progresses. The story goes from the narrator being a young girl to eventually at the end of the story her being grown up. The story starts out explaining the relationship between her mother and a friend of the family who they refer to as Pranab who is actually from Calcutta but is in America attending graduate school at MIT. The narrator goes on to explain the feelings for Pranab that her mother develops and how her mother looked forward to his visits everyday. The narrator says her mother lived for the moments she heard Pranab call out "Boudi" from the porch, and says that her mother and Pranab had all the things that her mother and farther didn't have like love for music and film (624).


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