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

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

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,

They also act as a reminder that she, her mother and her mother's mother before her have all ventured out into the unknown -- it is a woman's duty. Her life with Somesh in contrast to her nervousness while they were together in India progresses nicely into a playful and happy union. They live with her in-laws as Somesh works hard to raise enough money for them to move out