Identity construction in Rohinton Mistry’s short stories “Lend me your Light” and “Swimming Lessons”

Looking for light in-between Bombay and Toronto

Hausarbeit , 2012 , 17 Seiten , Note: 2,3

Anglistik - Literatur

Globalization is one of those terms which is used quite inflationary in these times. Regardless which area one is looking at, it doesn’t matter if speaking for instance of economy, communication or education, it seems like every sector of our post-modern world is shaped by globalization. But how does this process influence our lives as an individual human being, as an identity? In his short-story “Lend me your Light”, which is part of the short-story cycle “Taales of Firozsha Baag”, Rohinton Mistry descibes the life of a young man, who emigrates from India to Canada. Even before arriving at his new home, the protagonist has a bad feeling concerning his future.

Kersi, the main character, member of the Parsi community, grew up in an apartment building in Bombay, India, went to an English school, listened to My fair lady in his youth and emigrated to Canada. In order to bring light to the question what causes Kersi to have problems with his eye-sight and to examine if he really resembles Tiresias the following term paper tries to analyze the protagonist’s identity.

Table of Contents

1) Introduction ... 3

2) Main Part ... 4
2.1) Theories ... 4
2.2) Theories applied on the story ... 5
2.2.1) Présence Parsianne ... 6
2.2.2) Présence Indienne ... 7
2.2.3) Présence Européenne ... 7
2.2.4) Présence Américaine ... 9
2.3) Kersi as an hybrid identity ... 10

3) Conclusion ... 11
3.1) Hybridity as a problem ... 11
3.2) Hybridity as a resource ... 13

Bibliography ... 16

• Hochschule: Georg-August-Universität Göttingen
• Note: 2,3
• Erscheinungsjahr: 2012
• Seiten: 17
• Katalognummer: V376372
• ISBN (eBook): 9783668534681
• ISBN (Buch): 9783668534698
• Sprache: Englisch
• Schlagworte: Globalization, Economy, Communication, Literature, Lend me your Light, Education, Identity, Rohinton Mistry, Swimming Lessons