“AWAY FROM THE PRIVATE DETRITUS OF LIFE": KAUSHIK’S UNROOTEDNESS IN THREE SHORT-STORIES FROM UNACCUSTOMED EARTH, BY JHUMPA LAHIRI

KAUSHIK’S UNROOTEDNESS IN THREE SHORT-STORIES FROM UNACCUSTOMED EARTH, BY JHUMPA LAHIRI

Abstract

Taking into account the value that critics pay to the work of Jhumpa Lahiri as a representation of the Indian diaspora on the occidental soil, we will investigate the three narratives from the second part of Unaccustomed Earth, “Part II – Hema and Kaushik,” examining how the male protagonist Kaushik Choudhuri deals with the geographic spaces in which he is placed. His continuous changes of residence, associated with the loss of his mother who is a symbol of birth, make him run way from everything that can offer him the possibility of putting down roots (DELEUZE & GUATTARI, 1995). This is emphasized by his displacement from his motherland; by his fleeing his family home in the USA; by his professional life; and also by his lack of desire to build a legitimate relationship with the woman he loves. Therefore, the spaces identified as homeland (the United States), adopted land (India), work space (several countries), and burial space (Thailand) offer an understanding of our interpretation of this reading. Since he is unable to grow roots and flourish, metaphors used to mark the adjustment of the main character to a soil, Kaushik ends his narrative being swallowed up by a liquid space, element that represents death and rebirth (CHEVALIER & GHEERBRANT, 2009) (BACHELARD, 1997).