Friday, September 19, 2014
Books of Comfort
When Ashima fits arrived in America she reread the handful of books and magazines she brought from home several times. When her daughter is first forced to move to India she did the exact same thing. People seek comfort when they are placed in a completely different environments. Many become attached to the books they read. They become a connection to the place they used to live. Just reading words written in their native language makes them feel at home. They're somewhere completely new with a new language. Reading their favorite books reminds them that their has some normalcy.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I really agree with you, and this relates to my earlier blog on finding friend groups of the same ethnicity as you. Both of these things bring back some normalcy into the big scary world they were just thrown into. I think the author purposely did this because it shows Gogol's true home is America, not India like Ashima. While Ashima did the best for herself she actually hurt her kids taking them out of the one place they felt comfortable in.
ReplyDeleteReading is almost just like looking back at old photos of home. Both give us a familiar feeling that can be used to comfort us.
ReplyDelete