The Third and Final Continent

The encounters and experiences the narrator of "The Third and Final Continent" face eventually lead him to the state of happiness and contentment. The narrator's name is not stated in the story but we see him as a lonely character almost. He sheilds away from public noises, for he is distracted and discomforted by them. He moves to America to take up a job at Tech University in the library. This is the narrator's first state of change. He has to adjust from the British setting to the American setting. Everything is new to him. The text says, "Even the simple chore of buying milk was new to me; in London we'd had bottles delivered each morning to our door" (page 175). At first the character is overwhelmed by his new surrounding in Massachusetts but in the end comes to love it, for he desides to grow old there with Mala. Later after living in Massachusetts for awhile, the narrator finds a home to live in alone for awhile until his wife comes to America. At this home he encounters a very old woman at the age of one hundred and three named Mrs. Croft. Upon his first meeting with her, the narrator is slightly intimidated and overwhelmed. But after awhile the narrator becomes accustomed to Mrs. Croft's schedule and habits. The narrator begins to admire her age and marvel at the fact that she is a very special woman who has seen a good many number of days and events. Mrs. Croft is the first death the narrator mourns in America. She becomes part of his life. It says, "I barely recognize the buildings now, but each time I am there I return instantly to those six weeks as if they were only the other day"(page197). He is referring to the six weeks he spent with Mrs. Croft. The narrator's encounters with Mrs. Croft develope his growth of love and admiration that he finds towards his wife in the end. One last encounter is the narrator's wife Mala. It was an arranged marriage between two complete strangers. Mala is described as talented and skilled but not very attractive, for it was hard for her to marry. The narrator, upon Mala's arrival into America, is not accostomed to having her around the house. He isn't used to someone marking on his territory. They are very much awkward apon her first few days in America. That awkwardness soon blossoms into a love that is strong with an outcome of a child. His family is the main seed of the narrator's growth because they define who he is now. He has more than he has ever wanted and has found himself to be over satisfied and happy. The last line of the text reads, "As ordinary as it all appears, there are times when it is beyond my imagination" (page 198). The narrater has found himself, after all of his life encounters, no matter how often they happen, happy and content in admiration.

The Treatment of Bibi Haldar

1. I think that Bibi suffers from hypertension. Hypertension is a desease where strokes accur often. I think her so called "attacks" are strokes. Her "attacks are described as, "Bibi fell to the footpath. She shook. She shuttered. She chewed her lips"(page 167).

2. After many suggestions of how to cure her, one doctor proposed that what Bibi needed was a husband or marriage. The text says, "It was there, after performing a series of blood tests, that the doctor in charge of Bibi's case, exasperated, concluded that a marriage would cure her" (page 161).

3. Well the first thing the narrator does is "argue in favor of finding a husband"(page 163). The narraor concludes that it's what Bibi has wanted all along. Then they began to coach Bibi in wifely ways. They taught her to not frown all the time, and to converse with men. They also combed her hair, changing her part, they "powered the down over her lips and throat, penciled definition into her brows, and walked her to the banks of the fish pond" (page 167).

4. Bibi Haldar gets pregnant and gives birth to a baby boy.

5. Bibi and Boori Ma are very similar in that they are sort of outcasts in society. They are both very unclean in a sense and live very poor lives. They each have their own difficult struggles. Boori Ma's being that she is mostly lonley and tells stories often of a past utopia which she claimed she wonse lived in. And Bibi's being that she has a desease that they can't find the cure to. They are both considered unatractive and lonley.

Unit 1 Etymology

1.Approbation
approbare
Latin
Approve
14th

2.Assuage
suavis
Latin
sweet
14th

3.Decadence
decadere
Latin
decay
16th

4.Innuendo
innuere
Latin
nod to
17th

5.Simulate
similis
Latin
similar
17th

Mrs. Sen Blog Response

Throughout the story there are many possible symbols that relate to some main ideas of the story. One symbol I spotted is in the fish market that Mrs. Sens goes to to get her fish. I think that the lobsters in the tank are a symbol. The text says, "Eliot stood by the lobsters, which stirred one on top of another in their murky tank, their claws bound by yellow rubber bands." The lobsters represent Mrs. Sens. It seems as if she used to live in a wonderful place that she loved and could rome freely. Just like lobsters when they live in the ocean, she was happy and free. But then she was moved to America just like the lobsters being caught by fishermen. Now she feels shut up in a murky place with boundaries. The lobsters feel restricted by the rubber bands on their claws just as Mrs. Sens feels that she can't drive. Both the lobsters and Mrs. Sens were captured in a way and taken away from their happiness.
Another symbol that I spotted were the waves in the ocean. I think that the ways represent the way Mrs. Sens moods change in the story. Ocean waves are continuously changing with weather and wind currents. At one point in the book Mrs. Sen's daily habbits completley change. It says, "In November came a series of days when Mrs. Sen refused to practice driving. The blade never emerged from the cupboard, newspapers were not spread on the floor. She did not call the fish store, nor did she thaw the chicken." This is a complete change. Later in the book we see that that change might have occured because Mrs. Sen's grandfather died. It's just like when the weather is bad, the waves in the ocean are ruff and violent and their calm soothing presense completely changes.

A Real Durwan: Blog Response

1. Boori Ma mainly mutters her life stories. She starts out by talking about her life struggles such as when she was separated from her husband and four daughters. But she also talks about easier times in her life like her daughter's wedding. She also talks about her former home and how wonderful it was.

2. First Mr. Dalal comes home with two basins. Rumors were spread that he baught Mrs. Dalal two kilos of mustard oil, a Kashmiri shawl, 12 cakes of sandalwood soap and he had filed an application for a phone line. And then Mr. and Mrs. Dalal plan on buying two sheep wool blankets.

3. Upon Mr. Dalals return home with two basins, Mrs. Dalal is upset. She doesn't feel as if she has enough. He had promised her a refrigerater, and she doesn't have it, they don't have a phone and she wants one, and she still cooks on kerosene. She asks Mr. Dalal, "You expect two basins to make up for all that?"

4. At first the wives of the apartments are excited to have running water and a sink. But later, sinse there is only basin in the apartment, they begin to be frustrated in waiting on their turn to use it and they are upset that they can't leave their "stuff" beside the basin. They also become sort of jealous of Mrs. Dalal. She has her own basin and rumors start spreading that all she does is wash her hands in it all day and that her husband has been buying her lots of nice things. So, the wives begin to plan on making the apartment better. They think to themselves, if Mrs. Dalal can do it, why can't we? So they make preparations for improving the apartment.

5. One wife batered a stack of wedding bracelets to get a white washer to freshen the walls of the stairwell. Another sold her sewing machine and got an exterminator. And another went to a silversmith and sold back a set of pudding bowls so she could have the shutters painted yellow.

6. Borrie Ma is tossed out of the apartments along with all of her items. They resisdents of the apartment did this because they were upset that someone stole their basin while Boorie Ma was roming the streets and not doing her job. They were upset because of what they did for her and then she doesn't give back by protecting and watching the gate. The resisdents consult Mr. Chatterjee and what to do about this. And he says that along with all the new renovations to the apartments, they need a real durwan. So the residents throw Boorie Ma out and begin looking for a real durwan.

Interpreter of Maladies

1. One symbol that I see in the story is Mr. Kapasi's favorite statue. It is described on page 58. It says, "This Surya had a tired expression, weary after a hard day of work, sitting astride a horse with folded legs. Even his horse's eyes were drowsy." I think that the statue is referring to Mrs. Das. To the eye, Mrs. Das looks very simple and tired. But to Mr. Kapasi, Mrs. Das is beautiful. The statue is Mr. Kapasi's favorite because of how beautiful it is to him.

2. Throughout the story Mr. Kapasi changes. His views change. The one instant in the story that automatically changes Mr. Kapasi is when Mrs. Das says, on page 50, "But so romantic," reffering to Mr. Kapasi's job as an interpreter. After she says this and begins to take in interest in Mr. Kapasi his whole day changes. He looks forward to having time to talk to her and wants to give a longer tour just to be with her, when usually he wants to give the tour as quickly as possible then return home. His views of Mrs. Das also change after she says this. He sees her has something more than she is. He sees the beauty in her when at the beginning of the story he saw her as plane, simple and shallow.

3. He falls for her because she takes in interest in Mr. Kapasi's job. She uses the word romantic to decribe it. She sort of sets him on fire when she puts off an interest that she doesn't give to her husband or her children. As the story continues he sees that she sees beauty like he does when they are looking at the statues.

4. Mrs. Das has been keeping a secret for 8 years. The secret is that her son Bobby is not Mr. Das's son. She goes on to explain to Mr. Kapasi that one evening the Punjabi friend, that had been staying with her and Raj, touched the small of Mrs. Das's back and they made love on the sofa. And that is where and when Bobby was conceived. Mrs. Das hasn't told anyone her secret except Mr. Kapasi.

5. Mr. Kapasi starts his interpretation by asking, on page 66, "Is it really pain you feel, Mrs. Das, or is it the guilt?" He is reffering to the way she feels about her secret. Mrs. Das responds by glaring at him, wanting to say something, but doesnt. Mr. Kapasi, upon being asked to interpret her secret, feels insulted. Mr. Kapasi thinks of telling her to tell the truth to Mr. Das, to be honest but skips right to the important question. Then Mr. Kapasi sees that knowledge came over her after he asked that on question and nothing else was to be said between them.

A Temporary Matter

1. A time that Shoba shows leader ship takes place on page 13 when she proposes the game. She says, "You're thinking of truth or dare. This is different. Okay, I'll start." Shoba is pretty much forcing Shukamar to play her game in the dark.
Another time that Shoba shows leadership is on page 21. After a few nights of playing her game with Shukamar, Shoba desides to tell Shukamar the secret she has been holding in. She says, "I've been looking for an apartment and I've found one." She proposes that she is moving out and Shukamar responds/reacts by telling her his secret about having known their baby's sex. On page 22 Shukamar says, "Our baby was a boy." This is his way of "getting even" with Shoba.

2. One secret that Shoba tells Shukamar in her game is found on page 13. It is her first secret that she shares. She tells Shukamar, "The first time I was alone in your apartment, I looked in your address book to see if you'd written me in. I think we'd known eachother two weeks." Another secret she shares with Shukamar is found on page 16. She says, "That time when your mother came to visit us. When I said one night that I had to stay late at work, I went out with Gillian and had a martini."
A secret that Shukamar shares with Shoba is on page 17. He says, "I cheated on my Oriental Civilization exam in college." And then he explains why.
Another secret that he shares with Shoba is on page 13. He tells Soba, "The first time we went out to dinner, to the Portuguese place, I forgot to tip the waiter. I went back the next morning, found out his name, left money with the manager."

3. The plant that Shukamar uses to put candles in is dead. It is very dry. Yet it is placed right beside the tap. So, it could be watered, but simply is not. I think that the plant represents Shukamar and Shoba's marriage. Their relationship is dry and dying. They are becoming farther and farther apart. They avoid eachother and only communicate in the dark. In order to keep a plant alive, it needs to be watered. A relationship also needs to be watered. The water in a relationship comes from honesty, communication, trust and flexibility. These things are easy to fix and it can be done in Shukamar and Shoba's relationship but they simply won't. Just like the plant is so close to the tap but neither Shoba or Shukamar will water it. So, therefore, it remains dead.

4. Some things in the story that are temporary are 1) Shoba's make up. In the story Shoba touches up her make up. She wears a mask that is only temporary for the time being. It wears off after awhile. Another example of something that is temporary are the time sessions that Shoba and Shukamar have together when the lights are off. They only last about an hour and then they are over. Also there baby was temporary. It was born dead.

5. An adjective that describes Shoba is tired. On page 1 it says, describing Shoba, "She wore a navy blue poplin raincoat over gray sweatpants and white sneakers, looking, at thirty-three, like the type of woman she'd once claimed she would never resemble." This line shows that Shoba has inherited a look from her job. She is a prooofreader of textbooks. This look that she has must be a tired look.

When Mr. Pirzada Came to Dine

1. Mr. Pirzada comes to dinner each evening with hopes of finding information of the life or death of his family, which consists of a wife and seven daughters, by watching the news.

2. Mr. Pirzada's coat, which is described as wool that is checkered gray and blue. Mr. Pirzada's pocket watch which was always set to the local Dacca time. And the confections Mr. Pirzada would always bring in his pocket to dinner for Lilia. And another object could be the birch or maple leaf that was tucked into Mr. Pirzada's coat pocket indicating that he enjoys nature.

3. When an indian official on the news announces that "unless the world helps to relieve the burden of East Pakistani refugees, India would have to go to war against Pakistan"(pg. 36).

4. Halloween

5. One example is when the narrator states "Several people told me that they had never seen and Indian witch before"(pg.39). This indicates that there is some sort of division of race in America. I think this may have made Lilia feel awkward or different as people told her this. It's as if an Indian child on Halloween dressed up is not common in America.
Another example is on page 25 when Lilia's father says, "More imporatantly, Mr. Pirzada is no longer considered Indian." This is stating that at one time Mr. Pirzada was considered to be Indian but isn't any longer. This is the destinguish of race. Ever sense partition in 1947, their country was divided. This also devided races.

6. One example is on page 24 when the narrator tells the reader that Mr. Pirzada had not heard a word from his family in over six months. We see a sense of loss in Mr. Pirzada that comes with his frequent visits. He comes to see the news in hopes of learning of the life or death of his family. This is his only way of knowing what he has at his home.
Amother example of loss in the story is found on page 42. The narrator informs us of how Lilia feels once Mr. Pirzada returns home. It says, "Though I had not seen him for months, it was only then that I felt Mr. Pirzada's absense." Lilia is feeling a sense of loss when she realizes that she may not ever see Mr. Pirzada again.