Postcolonial Lens

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In Jhumpa Lahiri’s short story “When Mr. Pirzada Comes to Dine,” and Claude McKay’s poem “Outcast,” the experience of individuals navigating the complexities of a postcolonial world despite the difference in historical context is explored. Lahiri’s short story, published in 1999, examines the tensions that can arise when traditional values clash with the pressure of assimilation into American society as seen through the eyes of a child of immigrants. In contrast, McKay’s poem, written in the 1920s during the Harlem Renaissance, gives voice to the alienation, isolationism, and marginalization experienced by Black individuals in a society that refuses to accept them. By examining these two works through the postcolonial lens, their use of symbolism …show more content…
Who, must navigate the delicate balance between their family‘s traditional values and the dominant culture’s expectations. On one hand, she embraces her American identity, participating in traditions like carving a pumpkin and trick-or-treating for Halloween. Yet, she still maintains a strong interest in the culture and history of her parents’ homeland. But this challenging balance is made most apparent when Lilia is made aware of the war going on in Pakistan, her parent’s home country, and afterward has to go to school where “[n]o one.talked about the war [they] followed so faithfully in [her] living room” (Lahiri 4). She is faced with a disconnect between her own sheltered, American experience and the realities of the postcolonial world. The war, which had previously been a distant and abstract concept, now takes on a tangible and personal experience through Mr.Pizada, who has family back home. She feels isolated and like an outsider because no one can relate to her experience, especially in her American school. This internal conflict is exasperated by the different expectations placed on Lilia by her parents and the dominant American

Cracking Water Literature

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ENTERTEXT Identity as Cultural Production in Andrea Levy's Small Island Author: Alicia E. Ellis Source: EnterText, “Special Issue on Andrea Levy 9,” (2012): 69-83. Abstract Andrea Levy's Small Island (2004) presents a counter-history of the period before and after World War II (1939-1945) when men and women from the Caribbean volunteered for all branches of the British armed services and many eventually immigrated to London after the war officially ended in 1945. Her historical novel moves…

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The Black Church And Homosexuality Analysis

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