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The Third and Final ContinentShraddha K, Sharmin S, Rehan P, Anya S

+Summary The story is told in first person, by a Bengali man. When

he was young, his father died, which drove his mother to become mentally unstable and his brother to work to support the family. The story begins as the narrator describes how he left India in 1964 and life in London. When he is receiving education in London, and living in a house with many other Bengali men like him, he is offered a job at the processing department of a library at MIT. Simultaneously, his marriage is arranged by his family to a woman names Mala, in Calcutta. He travels to India, gets married and then to America without his wife.

The narrator finds accommodations with a 103 year old woman named Mrs. Croft, a self supporting widow, who fascinates the narrator with her advanced age and still, fierceness. The narrator lives with Mrs. Croft for six weeks until his bride can get a visa and come to America. At the end of 6 weeks, the narrator moves out when his wife arrives in America.

+Contd.

Since their marriage was arranged, his wife remains a stranger to him till he takes her to Mrs. Croft’s house. At Mrs. Crofts house, he sees her laugh for the first time, and feels feelings for her, and from there on, there relationship begins to develop further, and him and his bride begin to grow familiar to each other’s company. A few months later, the narrator comes across Mrs. Crofts death in the obituary and is troubled deeply. His wife consoles him as he begins to realize that Mrs. Croft is the first person he has held in high regard and the first death he mourned in America.

Subsequently, the narrator describes the years that came, mentioning a son who attends Harvard. The narrator points out Mrs. Croft's house to his son every time they pass it and goggles, in awe of how far he has come across three continents.

+Characters

There are 4 main characters in the story 2 of which are round and 2 flat. the characters are described a few in a lot of detail and a few not so much in detail

+Mrs. Croft

She is a round character. In the story she is described as an old woman of an astonishing age of 103 she has a daughter. Still lives all alone. Mrs. Croft at first seems like a panicked old lady as she keeps on tell the narrator to look the doors. But if you look beneath the surface you will see that Mrs. Croft would be very bereave to live alone and with some one she barely knows. Imagine if he was a deranged psycho.

Character traits: brave, old fashion mind set, fragile, cranky,

She plays a very important role in the story as which out her there would be no conflict. He death was what could have brought tears into the eyes of the reader.

+Mala (Narrators wife)

Mala known to be the narrators wife is a flat character even thought she plays and partially important role in the story. This is so because she is not present in most of the story but merely mentioned briefly a couple of time. She the becomes a essential part of the story when she moves to the unite states of America to unite with her husband you could say that she evolved form a flat to a round character. As the first impression you get if on of her not playing such an important role but then you find out that she is one of the key people who play a role in the settling down of the narrator in a a foreign country.

Character traits: sentimental, attached, dependant (subject to circumstances) obedient. Low self esteem as she has been rejected so many times

+Narrator

The narrator is a round character. You could use this as a pun as most of the story revolves around his life. He is a characters who takes a while to adapted to his surroundings. It could be a choice or something else. This is shown though is choice of foods. And when he stays at the Y.M.C.A. He is a man of patience as he doesn’t pressure his wife into change herself to fit into her new home. he is prompt as he gives the rent on time every Friday.

Character traits: Friendly, organized (I mean he works in a library)

+Themes

Cultural differences

One of the principle themes that are highlighted in this story is the difference between cultures around the world. As the narrator moves from continent to continent, the author displays how things work differently in each place, from India to London to Massachusetts, and how the narrator has to adapt to the new way of living. The narrator explains and describes the setting in the different locations, the way people are and the way of life during the course of the story, which epitomizes difference between cultures around the world.

+ Examples of things that display cultural difference in the story:

“I learned that Americans drove on the right side of the road, not the left, they called a lift an elevator and an engaged phone busy. The pace in North America is different from Britain…” (Pg 381, last paragraph)

“…converting ounces to grams and comparing prices to things in England.” (Pg 382)

“Even the simple chore of buying milk was new to me; in London we’d have bottles delivered each morning to our door.” (Pg 382)

“The free end of her sari did not drag on the floor, but was draped in a sign of bridal modesty over her head, just as it has draped my mother until the day my father died. Her thin brown arms were stacked with gold bracelets, a small red circle was painted on her forehead, and the edges of her feet were tinted with a decorative red dye.” (Pg 391)

Conversation between husband and Mala about what she ate on the plane (Pg 391)

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Generation gap

- Another theme that is emphasized on during the story is the gap between generations. By creating characters that have a large age difference between them, through their conversations and reactions, Jhumpa Lahiri shows the differences between the characters of the younger generation and the older (Mrs. Croft and the other characters). Jhumpa Lahiri has paid particular attention to matters such as fashion, abidance of societal norms, and technological advancements.

+ Examples of things that show a generation gap in the story:

Mrs. Croft was most amazed at the fact that there was an American flag on the moon, and she would keep repeating the fact over and over again in her amazement. This was probably because in her generation, they would never have in their wildest dreams imagined there to ever be a man on the moon, and so the author shows technological advancement between the generations.

“And no lady visitors!” (Pg 385) Mrs Croft tells the narrator he is not allowed to have lady visitors, because during her time, it was an extremely inappropriate thing to do.

“It is improper for a lady and gentleman who are not married to one another to hold a private conversation without a chaperone!” (Pg 388) Once again, according to Mrs Croft, a woman from an elder generation this was wrong, but to the people from the younger generation, it seemed to be acceptable.

“She (Mrs. Croft) added that it was also improper for a lady of Helen’s station to reveal her age, and to wear a dress so high above the ankle.” (Pg 388)

“For your information mother, its 1969. What would you do if you actually left the house one day and saw a girl in a miniskirt?” “I’d have her arrested!” (Pg 388) The last two examples show that according to the elder generation, women needed to be well dressed and covered at all times, and was very inappropriate to not do so.

+ Arranged marriage in comparison to love marriage

- Another theme that is brought out in this story is the difference between arranged marriages and love marriages. In the story, the narrator’s marriage is arranged with Mala in India. Since they do not know each other well enough and have not actually fallen in love, Jhumpa Lahiri shows the awkwardness between them, which is often there between most arranged marriage couples, and majority of the time, later grows into love, as it did in the story. However, it is difference in the case of a love marriage. Additionally, Jhumpa Lahiri shows that according to Indian custom, for a man to accept a woman as his wife, she is expected to know how to do a few basic things, for example in Mala’s case, cook, knit, embroider, recite poems and more.

Struggle for success

In addition to the themes mentioned, Jhumpa Lahiri shows us how many children work extremely hard, leave their home, family and friends at a young age live abroad, in a struggle for success, or as the author puts it “struggling to educate and establish themselves abroad.”

+Author’s Style and Intention

Jhumpa Lahiri uses the technique of flashback, and writes in the point of view of a Bengali man, who narrates his journey as he traveled through three different continents. She uses a very straightforward style of writing, with a tint of humor. For example, when Mala arrives in America she says she did not want to have oxtail soup because she could not stand the thought of eating an ox’s tail.

Lahiri’s use of the language is very simple. Making this story different from the others, the author does not create a major conflict and ends the story with a resolution. Infact, she does not add any suspense or excitement to the story. Although it seems like a simple story of a simple man, there are a lot of themes in it that can be uncovered through interpretation. The author manages to keep it interesting, as she intends to, and does very well, show the reader some aspects of different cultures, and other themes (as mentioned earlier) as she tells the story of an Indian man who lived in three different continents.

+Title

The title of the story is extremely significant to the story. It is a direct title, and the after the reader has read the story, it is easy for him to understand its meaning. The man travels through different continents, spends fractions of his life in each and undergoes several experiences in each too, but the ‘third and final’ continent is where he creates a family, raises his child and finally settles down in.

+IGCSE style questions

Re-read the story “The Third and Final Continent”. Explain how the author brings out the theme of cultural differences around the world, using details from the text.

Explore the ways in which the author shows the growth of Mala’s relationship with her husband, referring to details from the text.

Imagine you are Mala. Describe your feelings as you arrive in America till the day you meet visit Mrs Croft.

+The Third and Final ContinentSetting

+On The Ship Not being very rich, he endured the hardship

of travel on the S.S Roma, an Italian cargo ship in a third class cabin next to the ships engine.

He patiently endured the whirring sound continuously day in and day out as that was the only style of transportation he could afford at that time.

The escape route for the author was onto the deck of the ship without the incessant noise of the ships engine.

He passed the time watching the glittering ocean and cooling breeze on his face.

+In London

The Finsbury Park apartment, in North London in which the author lived shows us the poverty in which he struggled to achieve his aim.

He shared his house with 3 to 4 Bengalis in a room and took turns in cooking pots of egg curry.

The state of financial economy is clearly evident by the fact that they could not even afford a table cloth, but used newspaper instead.

They lacked cutlery, using their hands to eat.

They wore drawstring pyjamas, drank tea and watched cricket. They even played Mukesh

+In America {The Third and Final

Continent} The protagonist came first to a cheap accommodation, the YMCA,

which was walking distance from his work place.

The room was simple with a Spartan cot, desk and a wooden cross, hanging on the wall.

A simple bare window overlooked Massachusetts Avenue which was a crowded major road in stark contrast to the quite setting of the room.

The next day he bought a plastic bowl and spoon, unable to afford glassware and proper stainless steel cutlery.

He also bought cornflakes and a small carton of milk.

The sizes clearly indicate that he was being careful with spending his money.

+In America {The Third and Final

Continent} Continuation For his interview with Mrs. Craft, a hundred and three

year old lady, he wore a coat and a tie, in spite of the heat, to look formal enough to present himself as a decent young gentleman.

Mrs. Craft was particular about locking the front door. Her safety was paramount.

She even needed to use a wooden cane, but it was so dusty that it seemed she hardly used it.

She was clearly enamoured of the landing on the Moon by Neil Armstrong.

+The House The house was surrounded by a chain – link fence, which was

light brown coloured with a dark brown border.

It was a stand alone house, covered with wooden shingles and fresh forsythia bushes on each side.

Next to the bench on which she sat was a small round table whose legs were completely hidden by the lace tablecloth.

On it were carefully positioned a lamp, a transistor radio, a leather change purse with a silver clasp and a telephone. There was a parlour with many bookcases and shabby claw – footed style of carved furniture.

In the corner was a grand piano which had its top down and on it were piles of paper. The piano stool had been moved elsewhere, and old Mrs. Craft sat on it.

The house had a narrow carpeted staircase leading to an upper floor where there were 5 doors, 2 on either side of an equally narrow hallway & one at the opposite end.

+His Room

His room contained a twin bed under a sloping ceiling, a brown oval rug, a basin with an exposed pipe and a chest of drawers.

The other doors were that of the closet, toilet and bathtub.

The walls were covered with grey & ivory striped paper. The window was open and pastel net curtains

The view was of a small back yard with few fruit trees and an empty clothes line.

+Massachusetts Avenue

An Indian woman, one evening, was walking on Massachusetts Avenue.

She wore a sari as she pushed a pram along the sidewalk.

Her loose end nearly brushed the footpath.

A white American woman was walking her dog, passed by.

The dog leapt up and seized the end of the sari. The author realised that now it would be his duty to take care of his newly wedded wife.

+The Furnished Apartment and Mala

It had a double bed and a private kitchen and bath.

As a welcome gesture, he had cooked egg curry. The wife arrived tired and hungry.

She had not eaten a thing as the menu carried oxtail soup, the thought of which had disgusted her.

Mala had knitted 2 bright blue sweaters for the author. One was a v neck, the other with cable – knit all over.

Both, however were tight in the armholes, indicating that he had gained height in the 6 weeks of their separation.

She had also remembered to bring 2 new pairs of drawstring pyjamas and Darjeeling tea.

+ In The End

Together, husband & wife explored the city and socialised with all other Bengalis.

They found a man named Bill sold fresh fish on Prospect Street, a store in Harvard Square called Cardulla’s sold bay leaves and cloves, both essential ingredients for tasty Bengali food

In the evening they walked in the Charles River in Boston to watch the sailboats go pass and eat ice cream cones in Harvard Yard.

Having bought an instamatic camera, they documented their life together and decided to grow old in America & collect `social security’.

The author and Mala lived in a town about 20 miles from Boston on a tree – lined street in a house they had bought with a garden that grew tomatoes.

They had transformed themselves from Bengali Indians to American Citizens, but since their roots lay in Calcutta they visited every few years to bring back drawstring pyjamas and Darjeeling Tea!