Point of View in Nobody's Business from Unaccustomed Earth

Nobody's Business is one of my favorite short stories in Unaccustomed Earth, and it initially stuck out to me because it is the only the story that is from the point of view of a non-bengali character. The story, overall, focuses primarily on Sang and her relationship with her boyfriend, Farouk (and his infidelity), though it also follows Paul's study process and eventual acquisition of his PhD. Because of the story being in 3rd person- limited only to Paul and his thoughts - the reader sees Sang in vivid detail- Paul often focuses on her appearance and her actions- due in part to his infatuation with her, this infatuation also makes Sang undoubtably the focus of the story. If the story of her relationship was narrated by herself, the reader would perceive a whole new side to the story- Paul would most likely be portrayed as a kind of creepy guy who she knew had a crush on her, and, later in the story, a very creepy guy who was willing to lie to get her to break up with Farouk- although ending up realizing he had good intentions form the start. The reader would also see more of the interior of Sang and Farouk's relationship- how the initial fights started, the extent of their intimacy, and the first confrontation Sang had with Farouk about  Deirdre. The reader also would not know exactly how Sang looked and how disconnected Sang became with other people after Farouk returned- Paul notes that Sang was "oblivious of Heather's disapproving expression" when Heather discovered that Sang was doing Farouks laundry for him- after already being shown to be basically Farouks personal assistant by proofreading articles, going grocery shopping for him, painting his rooms, and checking prices for home improvement goods when he thought about renovation. Sang became so wrapped up in her relationship she would not have noted how she became extremely devoted to helping Farouk - something that Paul immediately noticed. Because of this, I think Lahiri made a very interesting (and the right) choice of narration/perspective- although Paul has a muddled view of their relationship due to his jealousy, I think that his perspective paints a much more honest view of their unbalanced relationship when Sang would have been to love struck to note it.  

Overview of How to Read Literature like a Professor

How to Read Literature like a Professor is a book I went into that I was not expecting to like. Maybe it's because I'm lazy, or not used to it, but I've always really disliked the over-analyzing (in my point of view) that I've come to associate with college-level readings- some of the things I've heard in the past seem like lofty reaches. Can't we just let the blue dress just be blue- does it really have to symbolize the sadness or depression a character is feeling? However, After the first few chapters, I was surprised to find myself enjoying the book. The slightly sassy way Foster writes this book keeps the material interesting and easy to read- many of the important take aways in this book are in bold - for example, in the first chapter, "The real reason for a quest is always self knowledge" is bolded; this condensed guideline comes after a detailed description, which goes from broad to specifics, making the material easy to comprehend. Foster's use of self-asked questions (from the point of view of the reader) adds a nice, personal flow to the book, even if I wasn't thinking of the question in my head in the first place. In fact, this novel gives the context to several things I've heard talked about- deal with the devil, how The Bible and Shakespeare are often deeply entwined with a lot of literature, and detailed discussions of symbolism. Foster even imposes the question I had been thinking of while reading this book: "Does he [The author] mean it?" - which he answers truthfully, with uncertainty, but explains that none of the assumptions and connects come without evidence - research based or not. Overall, the book is fast paced and fun to read, and actually convinced me to understand and respect some of the hardcore analyzing I scoffed at in the past.

Family and Relationships in Unaccustomed Earth

In a lot of literature I've read, a picture of a family is usually really polarized- shown as either unrealistically perfect and happy where there seems to be no discourse or fighting (which should come when a group of people lives in close quarters for so long) or, on the opposite end of the spectrum, family is portrayed as extremely dysfunctional - loveless marriages, abuse, and constant yelling matches. Realistically, family is something in-between- I know from experience that my family gets along well generally, a lot of loving banter, shared dinners, and discussions and debates however, the generally happy environment can be punctured by conflicts- small or large. Small fights- like over how I need to clean my room or do more chores, to larger fights over budgets or beliefs. I really enjoy Unaccustomed Earth for this reason- each short story is a snippet of what I see as typical ups and downs in family life. No over-idealization or demonization. An example of this sticks out in the story A Choice of Accommodations - A part of the story shows Amit reflecting on the time when one of his daughters almost choked on a piece of fruit, which shows both sides of parenthood- a deep rooted anxiety for one's child's safety, and a hardcore devotion to one's child. Amit also thinks about how his wife would leave him and blame him for his daughter's death in that case- destroying their marriage. I love this portrayal because as happy and beautiful having a child can be- anxiety over their safety and success and their effect on the marriage/relationships are two large negatives either over exaggerated or ignored. Although I only used one part of a story for an example, all of Unaccustomed Earth features stories of family and relationships that is often bittersweet - a realistic balance between the good and bad in family and relationships.