Bread And Chutney

Words: 1606
Pages: 7

Why must social constructs dictate or have such a great impact on the outcome of one's life and significance? In the short story “From Burnt Bread and Chutney: Growing Up Between Cultures — A Memoir Of An Indian Jewish Girl” by Carmit Delman, readers follow a young girl understanding her culture’s traditional views of gender while realizing its impact on her familial environment, both explicitly and implicitly. The main character, a younger version of Delman, battles through these constructs by standing up to them and simultaneously submitting to them, essentially creating a distorted identity made up of both her individualistic views and her grandmother’s expectations. In the writing, Carmit Delman uses the analogy of burnt bread and chutney …show more content…
As the story continues, there is a different way in which each character goes about facing these traditional roles. Tzvi, not aware of the inequality, continues to feed into the issue as it benefits him. Carmit does so in multiple ways such as by expressing her disapproval, formulating or reiterating her own independent opinions about the way men and women should act, and actively standing up to them. Similarly, her sister holds a strong disapproving attitude and is much more vocal about the issue. The father and the mother both realize the issue and claim to be removed from it. However, her Nana-bai, aware of the inequality or not, remains silent and keeps to her ways (Delman 285-288). From the siblings, starting with Tzvi, as he is one of the youngest of the family it is understandable that he may not entirely understand the issue at play. However, it is clear that to some extent he understands that he has more freedom and power than other members of his family. He does as pleases because — without realizing that women are made inferior— he knows that he is free to do what he wants without any