Short Stories - The Third and Final Continent analysis

The third and final continent was written by Jhumpa Lahiri in 1999. It is about an Indian man who lived in Europe and then moved to America. The author is Indian and was born on July 11, 1967.

The narrator was first living in India, but he doesn’t tell us a lot about his life there. He then left India and sailed 3 weeks on the SS Roma. He ended up in England and then lived in North London, in Finsbury Park, and he had to share his room with three or four other people. Then he moved to America, Boston, because he was offered a full time job. There, he first spent some nights in the YMCA in Central Square, Cambridge. Then he moved to a house for eight dollars per week. He shared this house with an old lady. Then the narrator’s wife came and they moved into an own apartment for forty dollars a week.

The narrator is an Indian man from Bengali. He had no high demands and got used to new places very fast. He can act like a gentleman and seems to be really nice. He often thinks about his mother who died a long time ago. Then there is his wife, Mala. He married her, but has never seen her before. She later joins him in America. For some time, they are like strangers to each other. She doesn’t get used to America very fast. Then there is the old (103 years old) woman Mrs. Croft. She was a bit crazy, because she always repeated the same scene each evening, and she couldn’t move very well. She used to play the piano once, but now her fingers were really bad. And she couldn’t get used to the new century. It meant a lot to her, that there was a flag on the moon. Then there is Mrs Croft’s daughter, Helen. She is 68, but is still treated by her mother as if she was a little child. Helen visits her mother once a week and brings her soup. 

The story starts with the narrator leaving India. He comes to England by ship and he lives there for quite a while. He was really poor at the start. Then he got married(arranged marriage) with a woman from Calcutta. About at the same time, he was offered a full time job in America. So right after the wedding, he moved to America, but without his wife. In America, he soon lives in a house with an old woman, Mrs Croft. This woman is really happy about the flag on the moon and tells the narrator every evening, that this was really ‘splendid’. Helen visited Mrs Croft to give her food. Later, the narrator’s wife arrives, and so he moves to a new apartment. They behave like strangers, but that is understandable, because apart from the wedding, they have never met. She has some difficulties getting used to America. Then they visit Mrs Croft, and she says that the narrator’s wife was right for the narrator. The evening at Mrs Croft, made the couple laugh together and for the first time the distance between them got smaller. Later, Mrs Croft dies, which effects the narrator, because she was important to his life. He saw his dead mother in her. Even years later, he often drove past her house and remembered the time with Mrs Croft.

The story is a lot about Indian traditions. We learn that the Indians get married even if the couple don't even know each other. 

The main idea of the story is different cultures and moving. It describes America as something new and different. And then the narrator says some differences. Also comparisons with England are there. The narrator has lived through a lot and shows us his experience. First Asia, then Europe and in the end living in America isn’t a life everybody goes through, especially when you are so poor. Then the story is also a lot about changes. Changes, because of the move, but also changes like Mrs Croft has lived through in her century of life. 

Short Stories - The Lemon Orchard analysis

The story 'The Lemon Orchard' was written by Alex La Guma in 1962, and is set in South Africa at the same time it was written, when South Africa was having political issues.

The setting of the story is South Africa, in the 1960s, and it is set in a lemon orchard at night, and it is very cold apparently. The period South Africa is going through is called the Apartheid, which is a racist system that relied on the splitting up of colored people, and white people.

There are 5 characters in total (assumed); 1 of these is a ‘colored’ captive, who has been taken from his home, still in his pyjamas, and he is being ‘escorted’ by 4 local people, who are treating him badly, and appear to be about to beat him, or even kill him. He is a well-educated school teacher, and has come to work in South Africa. He has been taken from his house for supposedly insulting a white Minister, and he has been punished before for bad behavior. The other 4 men are all local men, presumably, and are not known by name. One, the leader, is carrying a shotgun, one, the lamp holder, is at the front of the party, and the other two are mocking the colored man.

The main story of the Lemon Orchard takes place in a lemon orchard in South Africa, and starts off with a description of the setting, and about how the party is complaining about how dark it is, and how cold it is. They are taking a captive, a colored man, into this lemon orchard, and are going to presumably punish him. They proceed on further into the lemon orchard, and they mock this ‘colored’ man, and physically abuse him. They are taking him into the lemon orchard for a punishment, as a course of his actions, which he was said to have insulted a white minister, and when the Apartheid government was around, this was seen as disgraceful. He had already been beaten up before, and now it seems that they may even kill him. We do not know what happens to him though, and at the end, the 4 men accompanying him are talking about a dog, that is barking.

The styles of this story are quite racist based, and the whole story relies on this ‘colored’ man being physically and verbally abused by these local men, who are out to beat him, or even kill him. Also, these men, local to the area, speak English in the story, but they also throw Africaans words into their dialect, such as Kaffir, or Oom. But these men speak mostly English throughout the story. The language is also quite descriptive, a huge part of this story is descriptions of the night, the scenery, the temperature, the actions towards the ‘colored’ man, etc..

The themes of this story are also racist, and are taken from the daily life in the 1960s from South Africa. They associate the era with that of the Apartheid government, and how it divided the community between the privileged white-skinned locals, and the ‘colored’ people, who were often beaten, and attacked. This also shows what the white locals thought of themselves, as they obviously liked to beat these ‘colored’ men, and make themselves feel more dominant than these foreigners. 

Short Stories - On Her Knees analysis

“On Her Knees” is a short story written by Tim Winton the year of 2004. Its key themes are family, proof and pride. 

The setting of “On her Knees” is supposed to be in New Zealand since Tim Winton is from New Zealand. Most of the story takes part in this wealthy woman's home where the cleaner there is the narrator's mom. The house contains a lot of 'knick-knacks' and normal modern/expensive stuff that wealthy people own in their houses. The year of the story is probably the same year as it was written, in 2004.

The main characters in this story is the narrator, Victor, and his mom who is a cleaner. Another character which is not actually 'live' in the story, but since they are both in her house cleaning, we learn a lot about this 'snobby' rich woman which in fact doesn't look so mean as she seems to be in the pictures of her in the house. Victor is a young adult in University who is very skeptic about things, especially rich people who he for sure is not really fond of. His mother is a very friendly but also a hard-working mom regarding cleaning all of these rich peoples houses. She is very proud of her fame, and has a lot of pride for what she does.

The plot of “On her Knees” is about the narrator and his mom who cleans for a living. In the story, the boy's mother gets a note from one of the rich women she cleans for saying that she suspects that the narrator's mom stole her $500 earrings and that she is fired but that she first needs her to clean her house once more until she is fired. When the narrator hears about this he thinks its crazy and that his mom shouldn't go but his mom wants to keep her cleaning- pride so she goes anyway. Victor as well volunteers to come with and help her clean, but really he wants to snoop around to see what kind of lady this is. But when he's there he can't find anything specifically bad that proves that this woman is mean. While they clean the house they find the $500 earrings and put them next to the letter of money that his mom didn't want to accept for the job by the end of the story.

The language style of the story is in 1st person and in the point of view of the narrator, a.k.a Victor the son of the cleaner. It is in quite an objective voice throughout the story showing what the narrator thinks of this woman and the other rich people. The dialogue between the narrator and his mom is not like other dialogues. It has a more realistic atmosphere.

The theme of “On Her Knees” is to show that people shouldn't always choose their first instinct of things- for e.g. when losing something you think someone stole it- but that you should think about it first and make sure of your accusation and that you have proof for it.