Indian & Pakistani American Literature

Chitra Divakaruni, “Silver Pavements, Golden Roofs” (70-83)

• Objective 3: The Color Code/Objective 3: Immigrants may suffer discrimination and marginalization by the dominant culture on account of racial and cultural differences.

Jayanti and Aunt Pratima are seen by the boys as African-Americans. While Aunt Pratima and Jayanti are not black, the boys see their darker skin tone and condemn them for it, throwing sludge and harassing them. This isn’t the first time this has happened, it’s later revealed.

79-80: “Then we see the boys. Four of them playing in the middle of the street with cans and sticks. …The boys bend their heads together, consulting, then the tallest one takes a step toward us and says, “Nigger.”

Compares boys to Anglo male:

80: “ … In the mouth of a red-faced gin and tonic drinking British official, perhaps in his Colonial bungalow or a sneering overseer out of Uncle Tom’s Cabin as he plies his whip in the cotton fields.”

• Objective 5: To observe and analyze the effects of immigration and assimilation on cultural units or identities.

Family: They live alone in the New World and don’t keep much contact with home.

“I hardly know Aunt Pratima, my mother’s younger sister with whom I am to stay while I attend college. And her husband, who I am to call Bikram-uncle— I don’t know him at all. They left India a week after their wedding and have not been back since. Aunt is not much of a letter-writer.” 

Gender: Pratima practices Old World gender roles by staying home and cooking. Uncle doesn’t like for her to leave the apartment.

74: “Aunt cooks happily all afternoon … Dinner turns out to be an elaborate affair. [Uncle] eats quickly and with concentration, without raising his head. When he wants more he points silently and Aunt hurries to serve him.”

77: “Aunt is in the kitchen— where I have noticed she spends most of her time.”

Question: Do you think that it was Pratima and Uncle’s initial assimilation or inevitable resistance that caused them to be so disheartened by the U.S.?

Tahira Naqvi, “Thank God for the Jews” (IA 229-236)

• Objective 2, Stage 4 of the Immigrant Narrative: Assimilation to dominant American culture and loss of ethnic identity (departs or differs from minority experience).

While Fatima still wishes to honor her religion and the Quran. It is inconvenient. The Pakistani women have agreed to accept Kosher meats, traditionally for the Jewish, is lieu of their own practices. This, to me, seems like assimilation to the dominant culture of sorts. Rationalizing this New World practice, despite the Quran seems very “American.”

235: “By the way Samina, is there any halal meat available around here?”
“What about kosher?” Samina’s voice rang out with authority.”

• Objective 2: Model Minority

Fatima’s husband, Ali, is a doctor. (well-educated professional.) While assimilating economically and educationally, as the objective states, the family still maintains most religious and ethnic customs.

-Notable irony with the war in Jerusalem raging on television and Fatima and her family (and other Pakistani families) being in the U.S. using Kosher meat. “Thank God for the Jews.”

AND

-“Kosher” being found in the dictionary under “Koran.”

Question: South Asians tend to act as a “model minority” of sorts, assimilating economically and educationally but resisting culturally and religiously. In the end, do you feel like Samina’s idea of using Kosher meat in place of Halal meat is assimilation or resistance?

Bharati Mukherjee, “A Wife’s Story” (IA 57-69)

• Objective 3: Overlap between Immigrant and Minority Identities (Immigrants may suffer discrimination and marginalization by the dominant culture on account of racial and cultural differences as long as those differences are visible or audible.)

58: “It’s the tyranny of the American Dream that scares me. First, you don’t exist. Then you’re invisible. Then you’re funny. Then you’re disgusting. Insult, my American friends will tell me, is a kind of acceptance.”

• Objective 2. To chart the dynamics, variations, and stages of the immigrant narrative.

Panna seems to have assimilated to life and her freedom from Old World values/restrictions without her husband. When he pleads with her to return home, she resists.

68: “Come back now. I have tickets. We have all the things we will ever need. I can’t live without you.” “Special ed. course is two years. I can’t go back.”

69: “The body’s beauty amazes. I stand here shameless, in ways he has never seen me. I am free, afloat, watching somebody else.”

Question: I think we all can agree that post 9/11 both Indian and Pakistani groups were discriminated against as “Muslims,” (despite the fact that Indians could be Hindu or other religions) simply because of their skin color. How do you see the color code at work today within these cultural groups?