Son’s Death

In Part I, the death of the son symbolizes the permanent disconnect between Indian and American culture in the man’s life. The father was born in India, but his son was born in the United States. The father takes his son on a tourism trip to India, but the boy only finds the trip frightening. The boy then dies of sudden and unclear causes, thus representing his inability to exist within the realm of his father’s birth country.

Cookbook

In Part II, the narrator’s cookbook project symbolizes the will to document and investigate specific aspects of culture. The man is highly critical of employer-servant dynamics in India, and he uses his cookbook project as a pretext to investigate the life and background of Renu, his parents’ cook. Renu's position in the household further expands the scope of the man's attention toward...