Short Story Reading Worksheet-Jhumpa Lahiri, "The Thrid and Final Continent"

Remember two aspects of the presentation in the lecture--the parallel between the mother of the narrator and Mrs. Croft, and the juxtaposition of the extraordinary news event of the moonwalk and the ordinary events of life.

Historical/Regional setting.
Here we are in mostly Mass., but there is a range of immigrant experience, from the sordid rooming house in London to the trip back to Calcutta to marry, and also recollections of “home.”

Social/ economic/ class factors:
Loss of parents probably made his family less well-off than they would have been. His studies in India prepare him for work, but it is probably the case that there is nothing for him there—thus the sojourn to London.
As an impoverished immigrant to America, he is put in a position to meet Mrs. Croft.

Cast of Characters (Brief descriptions):
Three primary characters.
The narrator. As the primary voice for the story, has an almost affect-less tone. No real excitement about what he sees in any of the places. No real ambition. No desire to connect with his new wife. Is it his temperament, or is it the death of his unfortunate mother which has brought on this voice. At any rate, it is perfect for the sense of the ordinary that pervades the story.
Mrs. Croft. One of the great modern characters. Her life is a mystery—what she had been doing for the 103 years prior to meeting the narrator, besides playing the piano. But her own way of communicating, and her sense of decorum—especially when her daughter and the narrator are alone in the upstairs—that is precious.
Mala. Dutiful daughter, dutiful wife. Doesn’t really break out of this mold, but becomes something more than she could have.

Primary Action of the story: It is mostly about the immigrant experience, and the habits by which our narrator learns to cope with the U.S. But the other action is his relationship with Mrs. Croft, which is in a sense a reliving of his relation with his own ailing mother. And the way his actions contribute to the sense of his learning to love and live, even within the “ordinary.”

Quirks, twists, surprises:
These pretty much come in the character of Croft—with “Splendid,” and her admonishments to her daughter.
But the pivot of the story is the chance reunion with Croft and the way that her Splendid and “She’s a proper lady” allowed the couple to smile and laugh with each other.

Tone or voice of the story:
Here is a simple, sober, straightforward, storytelling—yet there is an underlying humor that elevates it.

Some significant lines from the story.
174. His own wedding is such a non-issue that he is able simply to mention it in the first long paragraph where he documents his life in London.
Language issues—even in English. A lift is an elevator, and engaged phone is busy.
Not significant on its surface, the mention of the lunar landing becomes a foil to what I think of as the primarily theme—the extraordinariness of the ordinary.
175—from “three or four to a room” in London to the Y on Mass Ave. there is some difference. Here the primary factor that of the noise of the street which he can’t get out of.
177-8—Look at the eye for description, where Mrs Croft is first described.
179—The description of the great event is made ordinary (they put rocks in their pockets) as is the everyday person’s experience (a woman had been baking rolls. . .)
181—Here the qualifications of the wife. Not a fair complexion (equating beauty with fair or white skin.)
Here we get the admission—“I did nothing to console her.” His awkward position with his new wife leads him to thoughts of his mother. Her own dementia shrouded death might be compared to that of Mrs. Croft. We also see the dutiful son, who can not only do the duty, but is able to face the less savory tasks of cleaning the excrement off of her and touching the flame to her temple.
182. Nice touch—“she looked so much the same that I wondered if she’s spent the whole night on the bench.”
183—the events on the moon even more humbled—the astronauts had seen the flag fall.
184: the lovely recognition of her as human when he hands her the envelope. Had he meant it to be kind, or was it simply practical taking care of his money?
187: He is shocked as much by her survival of widowhood (not a wife or mother, but a woman) as by her exceeding a century. Another invitation to compare the mother with the old lady here.
189: A simple “I was not touched by her words.”
195: It is only when Mrs. Croft becomes, ina sense, the eyes through which hesees Mala that he is able to have some sympathy for her. He remembers what it is like to be a stranger, and what it is to be judged as foreign in a strange land, and realizes that these shared experiences would forever unite them.

“Rare” vocabulary: Dictionary definitions:
Tollygunge school. Simply a location in Calcutta

What the story conveys (the moral, the message, the larger implications).
I think this is about how life is pretty much made of ordinary moments, but sometimes we are given a gift to see them afresh, and this keeps giving, so that we can live our life fresh, and create something extraordinary—a loving family, for instance.