Saturday, October 25, 2008

Refusing to Live in the Margins of Another Person’s Life

The emotional wisdom in Jhumpa Lahiri’s book, Unaccustomed Earth is rich and is evident in these thoughts of Ruma’s father who had been invited to stay permanently with Ruma and her family but who at the end of his visit was coming to this conclusion:

“Being here for a week, however pleasant, had only confirmed the fact. He did not want to be part of another family, part of the mess, the feuds, the demands, the energy of it. He did not want to live in the margins of his daughter’s life, in the shadow of her marriage.” (p53)

A review of Jhumpa Lahiri’s Unaccustomed Earth is posted at Reviewing Books and Movies.

Dr Geoff Pound

Image: “He did not want to live in the margins of his daughter’s life.”