I have chosen to read Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri for my outside reading book. Starting to read, it jumps straight into the life of Ruma, who is trying to balance her life; with a husband who is hardly ever home, a 3 year old child, and one more on the way. They moved to Seattle, where Ruma knows no one and feels alone because her husband is always away at work. Ruma's mother passed away about a year ago, and only has her quiet, awkward father left. He is usually away on foreign trips, but decided to come visit. The visit was very good for all of them, it gave Ruma a break, because her father would play with her son, Akash, and he would also tend around the house.
One thing I noticed while I was reading however, is how much the characters had changed due to Ruma's mother's death. Ruma notes it too, "Though it upset her to admit it, if anything, he seemed happier now; her mother's death had lightened him, the opposite of what it had done to her" (33). Throughout the beginning of the book, Ruma talked about how much she missed her mother, and how she didn't think that it even affected her father, how he never expressed his grief for her loss. Ruma seems confused and depressed at the same time, and doesn't know how to deal with it. She asks her father to stay awhile longer, which I think would be good for them. Unfortuanatley, he does not want to, and leaves. I hope Ruma gets everything figured out with her life and am anxious to see what will happen between her and her father.
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2 comments:
I think there must be something that the author hasn't told yet about Ruma's mother and father. There is probably a reason why her father doesn't seem to be in mourning for her. I'm guessing it's something that will dramatically change the way Ruma views her mom.
Emily, this sounds like a really good book! Since Ruma lost her mother, I think it will really form her character along with trying to take care of her 1 soon 2 kids without a helpful father. You brought up an interesting point at the end of the paragraph when you said that Ruma feels that no one seems to miss her mother, not even her father. I have a feeling that her father really does miss her, but doesn't know how to deal with all of the sadness and pain it is bringing him.
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