The Views of Indian Culture Portrayed in A Stench of Kerosene by Amrita Pritam
'A Stench of Kerosene' written by Amrita Pritam, portrays the
consequences of the strong influence of Indian culture in a village,
which destroys a couple's marriage. Manak and Guleri have been happily
married for eight years.
The story opens to give the reader an insight into Guleri's
homesickness. "Whenever Guleri was home-sick she would take her
husband, Manak and they would go up to the top of the hill. 'She would
see the homes of Chamba (her home village) twinkling in the sunlight
and would come back, her heart glowing with pride'. This passage
illustrates a happy couple in love, turning to each other for comfort.
However the reader is given an impression of Guleri's imprisonment by
her village customs and culture. Only 'once every year, after the
harvest had been gathered in, Guleri was allowed to spend a few days
with her parents'
They would send a man to collect and bring her back to her own
village. The story begins with Guleri recognising the neighing of the
mare. She ran out of her in-law's house and put her head against her
neck as if it were a door to her father's house! Doing this would
relieve her from her homesickness. Pritam show sympathy for Guleri's
homesickness, as she is cut-off from her family and there's no one
apart from Manak to relieve her and comfort her.
Because of the village culture her freedom has been taken away from
her. Due to her homesickness one would assume that she would be
allowed to stay at her home a reasonable period of time, but this
isn't the case as she is only allowed to stay for a 'few days'. To add...
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father's lap'. It was likely that her prediction will comes true
seeing as she was able to manipulate her son and plan the destruction
of his marriage and future. Manak accepted this due to the influence
of his custom, of respect ones mother and doing what she says.
The baby boy was placed in 'Manak's lap, he stared' at his son. 'He
stared a long time uncomprehending, his face expressionless. Then
suddenly his blank eyes filled with horror, 'take him away' he
shrieked hysterically, and 'he stinks of kerosene'. The author depicts
the dreadful story of Manak and Guleri who were both imprisoned by
their village custom, which led to disbelief circumstances. The
village customs back fired on Manak's mother, having children is a
gift but not necessarily the key to happiness when love and happiness
is already evident.
everything about New York she doesn’t leave, and instead of staying for the 6 months as
Alexie Sherman, a boy under an Indian Reservation that suffers from bullying since the 1st grade, who would have a hard time being around white people and even Indian boys. US Government provided him glasses, accommodation, and alimentation. Alexie chose to use the title "Indian Education" in an effort to express his internalized feelings towards the Native American education system and the way he grew up. He uses short stories separated by the different grades from first grade to twelfth grade to give an idea of what his life was like. He seemed to have grown up in a world surrounded by racism, discrimination, and bullying. This leads on to why he chose not to use the term Native American. He used the term "Indian" to generate negative connotations
“Alcoholism is an epidemic among Native Americans”(KCTS9). Many people believe that alcoholism is in the Native’s blood, but it is truly just a situational problem. On the reservations a majority of families are poverty ridden, and these families normally stay on the reservation their whole lives. Junior, a 14 year old Spokane Indian, manages to break the cycle of hopelessness and alcoholism in his family by leaving the reservation school to go to the white school in the novel The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. Another character that Sherman Alexie brings to life, Arnold, is the typical alcoholic indian stereotype who allows alcohol to affect the course of his life in the movie Smoke Signals. In both Smoke Signals and The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, author Sherman Alexie shows how alcohol on the reservation can cause accidents, funerals, and heartache.
Deloria, with his analytical survey, Indians in Unexpected Places, recounts the synthesis of western white expectations, and American Indians. The book takes its title from the general thesis, which explores not only the relationship between Indians and their introduction into an alien culture, but also the expectations that we have of Indians and how they “should” interact with our white western culture. According to Deloria, the common notion is that, “Indian people, corralled on isolated and impoverished reservations, missed out on modernity- indeed, almost missed out of history itself.” (Deloria p. 6) This falsified expectation that we have of the Native American peoples causes us to balk at the anomalies of an Indian when combined with Western culture.
Thesis Statement: I believe that a profound effect on Indian religion practiced in the New World was caused by Columbus and the Age of Discovery. Historical evidence proves that, before there were Europeans on this continent, there were native peoples living in communion with their environment and, very often, each other. Their religious practices were interwoven with their daily lives and religion held a prominent, significant place within their culture. The intrusion by Europeans into this peaceful world had profound effects on the Indians, especially their religious practices. What had been a peaceful, harmonic lifestyle changed dramatically that fall of 1492.
In Philip J. Deloria’s Athletic chapter from his book “Indians in unexpected places” he talks about his grandfather’s connection to sports. He goes into further detail about how his grandfather’s place in sports is similar to other Native Americans. Native Americans used sports as a way to find their place in a new society. Sports was also used to strengthen the community. “Many Indian communities responded by drawing webs of kingship and unity ever tighter, trying to keep sport stars humble” (113). Athletics was now being used to bring all of the community, especially in times when it seemed divided. Sports also disproved the “Vanishing Indian” idea because society saw Native Americans playing in these sports and saw that they still existed.
for three days before she would let the coroner to take him out of the house. This can be
The book I chose to read was The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian written by Sherman Alexie. The this novel focuses on is Indian culture. Although I don’t believe I have any biological ties to this culture, I was interested in learning about the culture because a few of my friends are Indian. I am not very aware about much of their culture and I felt that was something I should be more culturally aware of.
India’s culture is very diverse. One may call it strange, weird, or even bizarre. The culture of India includes: different types of rituals, dances, jewelry, languages, people, and different customs. India’s culture is very beautiful and distinguishable. From rituals to languages the culture of India is amazing and full of life.
with. As she puts it, "whoe'er I woo, myself would be his wife." (1-4 l.
Throughout my comparative studies class, American Indians in Film, I have learned a great amount about American Indians and their culture. Since writing my first response paper, I have learned even more information and interesting facts that are displayed through the American Indian culture. In this response paper I will talk about who tells American Indian stories, oral traditions that are most expressed in the American Indian culture and community, issues that are viewed in American Indian literature/film, and film itself.
Throughout ‘To the Welsh Critic Who Doesn’t Find Me Identifiably Indian’, Arundhati Subramaniam argues that the “the business of language”, or the language that one speaks, should not dictate one’s identity. This becomes crucial in her poem as she uses this argument in response to a Welsh Critic, who does not identify her as being Indian. The poem substantiates her perspective of language through various techniques. For instance: Subramaniam reinforces the critic’s cultural assumptions in a defiant tone; she questions him, repeatedly, about language and eventually she challenges him, insisting he should explain to her how he would receive her as “Identifiably Indian”.
Chitra Banerjee’s The Mistress of Spices is a diasporic tale built amidst a stream of voices, both male & female, sharing their joys and sorrows as immigrants to the United States. The author interweaves her text with strands of Magical Realism, Postcolonial Criticism and Feminine discourse to produce a patchwork of messages that overlap but never contradict.
The mind and heart are common terms personifying intellectual and spiritual characteristics. The mind illustrates the current state of what it describes and the heart describes the undying features of which is portrayed. The mind may change depending on influence but the heart is fixed. These regards, the Indian mind and heart may take on many forms.
Ruth Prawer Jhabvala was born in Germany but she moved to England at the age of 12. She then moved to India in the fifties, where she married and settle for the better part of her life.