33 that she and her husband saved together (Albert 99). Her husband, a proprietor of a 7-11 in a dangerous neighborhood, has worked hard for the family to establish a foothold in American society, and to leave his dream behind her seems like a defeat and a betrayal of his memory, as well as betrayal of her new identity. When her husband dies, Sumita knows that to return to India will

Peter Singer and Chitra Divakaruni each offer a powerful commentary on world poverty. Both of their respective essays, "The Singer Solution to World Poverty" and "Live Free and Starve" demonstrate good writing skills and rhetoric are therefore worthy pieces for inclusion into any book club. However, of the two authors only Divakaruni has first-hand experience of poverty. Singer's argument, while more shocking and powerful than Divakaruni's, falls short because of

The characters in the poem are enjoying an Indian movie with a simple plot that makes them cry and feel good among themselves although for as long as the film was running, they have returned to their Indian identity completely loosing their American features. The two authors share the same revelation that came later in life and made them write the two respective literature pieces. but, while Divakaruni is writing

Symbolism plays a major role in Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni's "Clothes," Ralph Ellison's "Battle Royal," and in Colette's "The Hand." In "Clothes," the narrator is a woman in India from a traditional Bengali family. Her parents go through a lot of trouble to arrange a good marriage for her, to an Indian man who now lives in the United States. The husband-to-be flies all the way to India to meet the

Clothes Do Clothes Make the Woman? Clothes, Silence, and Rebirth in Chitra B. Divakaruni's short story entitled "Clothes" Chitra B. Divakaruni's short story entitled "Clothes" begins in India and ends in the Indian community of America. However, Divakaruni clearly hopes to impart in the readers' mind a more universal lesson than one confined to the central protagonist Sumita's immediate cultural context, despite the many details present in the tale that are particular

Asian Studies Segregation can breed empowerment, by creating self-defined and self-sustaining communities. Asian communities, for example, have been able to maintain identities that are separate from the white hegemony. Terms like Asian-American music, Asian-American literature, and Asian-American humor both promote and challenge social segregation in American society. Hawaiian band Sudden Rush uses the vehicle of music to convey a unique cultural identity, and to resist the appropriation of Hawaiian culture. For example,