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Helen said she was sixty-eight years old, old enough to be my mother, but Mrs. Croft insisted that Helen and I speak to each other downstairs, in the
parlor. She added that it was also improper for a lady of Helen’s station to reveal her age, and to wear a dress so high above the ankle 186.
When the time of his wife’s arrival is getting near, he has to find a new
place of residence for him and his wife, Mala. He moves to a furnished apartment a few blocks away, with a double bed and a private kitchen and bath 190. Mala
is twenty-seven, and she can cook, knit, embroider, sketch landscape and recite poems by Tagore 181. Even though for the first time it feels strange for both of
them to live together in one room, they live their daily life by speaking Bengali at home, eating Indian food as well as going to supermarket and having a picnic.
Their connection as husband and wife is bought closer after their short visit to Mrs. Croft’s. When he reads Mrs. Croft’s obituary, he is stricken with
grief, it is the first death he mourns in America 196. After thirty years of living his life in America with his wife and his only
son, they continue passing the tradition to their son, like eating rice with hands and speaking in Bengali 197, things that they sometimes worry their son will no
longer do after they die. They reside as American citizens, own a house with a garden and have social security. They have survived for three continents, as well
as survived in the crossroads of cultures.
B. The Experience in Exile
In this part, the writer will present several facts which are written in those three short stories, including the life experiences in exile experienced by the main
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characters, and then followed by the writer’s analysis to search for the deeper meaning of those three short stories.
a. Mrs. Sen’s
When someone is living outside his homeland and questioning which identity he should embrace, thus he faces the crisis of cultural identity. In Mrs.
Sen’s, it is Mrs. Sen who tackles the crisis of cultural identity as she follows her husband to move to America. The knowledge gap between Mrs. Sen and Mr. Sen
deepen the crisis of cultural identity experienced by Mrs. Sen. Mrs. Sen is positioned as a housewife without any productive activity. The
only attempt to bring meaning to her life made by Mr. Sen is to urge her to drive, so she will become independent. However, Mrs. Sen keeps on questioning how
she belongs in this country. Is she an Indian wife, or an American wife? Eventually, she chooses the first one. She feels that she is comfort to be Indian
and always collects memories from her homeland through several symbols depicted in the short story despite the fact that she lives in the land of America.
This condition worsens the crisis in Mrs. Sen. Through several symbols that she embraces tightly, she claims her resistance toward the American culture.
The first symbol is the blade she brought from India. The usage of the blade instead of knife symbolizes Mrs. Sen’s refusal to accept the new culture. The
second symbol is sari. She always wears sari everywhere she goes, both at home and outside. She even has a set of collection beautiful saris in her closet which she
regrets she never have a chance to wear.
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The third symbol is fish. How she favors fish more than meats indicates that she is longing for being in Calcutta where she can buy fish anytime, not like
in America. Meanwhile, the car which represents the way to open her minds to new surroundings is neglected by Mrs. Sen. She rejects the car, like she rejects to
be an independent American woman. As Jonathan Friedman explains that this crisis consists in gap between the weakening of former national identities and the
emergence of new identities 86, Mrs. Sen is facing also the confusion between dual identities but at last she resists and fails to adapt to new surroundings.
b. This Blessed House
In this story, it is Twinkle who is facing the crisis of cultural identity. She lives between two cultures both Indian and American.. She is portrayed smoking
139, drinking whiskey 140 and interested in Christian paraphernalia 137. Even her nickname, Twinkle is the famous nursery rhyme in America 142 and
she does not want to use her Indian name, Tanima. In addition, she cannot cook Indian food 143 even though she also dislikes wearing high heels 141 and is
not in favor of classical music 140. Though she has become American, she has not ceased to be Indian. These attitudes are typical of the confusion for second
generation of immigrants who are born and raised in America from non-American parents.
Sanjeev is the example of an Indian man who thrives in America. He has prospects of becoming a vice president 138 in the firm he works and is able to
cook Indian food much better than his wife 150. He can overcome the crisis of
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cultural identity by keeping the tradition as well as accepting the new cultures without distorting one or the other.
c. The Third and Final Continent
The Indian man in this story does not face serious problem regarding his emigration to Europe and America, but his wife, Mala, does. The crisis of cultural
identity is seen when she first arrival in America. However, with the great help of her husband, she overcomes the crisis.
The couple struggle to prevent the crisis of cultural identity affecting their son. They teach their son Indian traditions, like eating rice with hands and
speaking in Bengali 197. By planting the roots of Indian tradition and encouraging their son to comprehend his own culture before learning other
cultures, he avoids the loss of Indian identity. As it already reveals in these explanation above, all characters in these
three short stories are seeking a ‘home’ in a new continent. However, they have different approaches to defining ‘home’.
According to Maxwell, in all three short stories analyzed there is a disjunction between place and language, the writer brings her own language to an
alien environment and a fresh set of experiences 25. This will lead to next Maxwell’s theory which he identifies two groups,
the settler colonies United States, Canada, New Zealand, Australia and the invaded colonies India and Africa.
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Maxwell’s theory suggests that in the case of invaded societies like India, where indigenous peoples were colonized on their own territories, writers
were not forced to adapt to a different landscape and climate, but had their own ancient and sophisticated response to them marginalized by the
world-view which was implicated in the acquisition of English 25. Thus, the term ‘exile’ appears here. ‘Exile’ is defined as the problem of
findings and defining ‘home’, physical and emotional confrontations with the ‘new’ land and its ancient and established meanings 27.
In Mrs. Sen’s, Mrs. Sen has her own way to define ‘home’. She believes ‘home’ is where she lives in India. She portrays ‘home’ as whatever brings her
close to her homeland in Calcutta. Thus, she always keeps the ‘memory of homeland’ so tight in herself through a series of symbols and rituals; using the
blade she brought from India instead of a knife, putting on the vermillion powder, wearing a sari every day and cutting fish according to the Indian custom. She feels
that America is not a ‘home’ to her. Different from Mrs. Sen, Sanjeev and Twinkle in This Blessed House
somehow handle the adaptation to American culture. They accept America as ‘home’. Nonetheless, when the problem emerges regarding to the finding several
‘Christianity treasures’ at their new house, the definition of ‘home’ are revealed to be fragile. They have their own way to define ‘home’. Sanjeev, who is a Hindu,
refuses to place the Christian symbol in their house as Christian effigies are not part of Indian culture. Meanwhile, Twinkle has different attitudes in defining
‘home’. She desires to be as same as other Americans. Thus, they still stand in cultural crossroads. They do not fully perceive America as their ‘home’, but at the
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same time they also do not identify India as their ‘home’. They are American and Indian, but at the same time they are neither American nor Indian.
In The Third and Final Continent, the man seems easily adapts to his new surroundings. In this point, the man is experiencing the second, and even, the third
‘home’. He neither resists the new culture, nor grasps the traditions. He is experiencing the cultures in Europe and America, while in the same time not
abandoning his roots as Indian. No doubt that the man does not face ‘a feeling of displacement’. Like what Bill Ashcroft says about three stages of ‘Adopt’,
‘Adapt’ and ‘Adept’, the man is fruitfully achieving those three phases. First, he adopts new things he encounters in the new land, like drinking tea and smoking
Rothman in London 173, next he adapts to the changes, like preferring milk and cornflakes for his breakfast instead of hamburger 175 and finally becomes adept
in the third continent with his own house, an American citizenship and social security 197. The reason why the man can endure the life in three continents
and stays comfortable with his dual identities is his ability to adapt and his constant effort to understand himself and his origin. He has his own understanding
in defining ‘home’. By strengthening the roots of his origin and his culture as well as putting the ‘home’ in his heart, he can make anyplace in this Earth his home.
To conclude, it can be implied that feeling at ‘home’ is not a matter of place or setting, but it is the atmosphere, both physically and spiritually. While
physical conditions relate to place, spiritual conditions relate to the heart and mind. If we are physically and spiritually accepting of the place we live as a
‘home’, we can make anyplace in this Earth our home.
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CHAPTER V CONCLUSION, SUGGESTION AND RECOMMENDATION
This chapter consists of three parts, namely Conclusion, Suggestion and Recommendation. The first part describes two conclusions drawn from the
answers of formulated questions in this study, whereas the suggestions and recommendations are directed for teachers who want to make the implementation
of one of three short stories analyzed for the reference in teaching English and the future researchers who want to conduct study in the same subject.
A. Conclusion
After analyzing those three short stories written by Jhumpa Lahiri’s Mrs. Sen’s, This Blessed House and The Third and Final Continent, it can be
concluded that the experiences in exile experienced by people who seek new life in the new continent are always faced into three stages of post colonialism which
are adopt, adapt and adept. Thus, people who can survive with those three stages will physically and spiritually accept the place they live as a ‘home’.
B. Suggestion for Teaching Implementation
For the English teacher, it is suggested to take one of three short stories, Mrs. Sen’s, This Blessed House and The Third and Final Continent as the
references for teaching materials, especially for teaching Intensive Reading II.
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