American Author Proposal (WA#6)

For my American Author project, I would like to read some work by Jhumpa Lahiri. I have only read one book by Jhumpa Lahiri, and that is The Namesake. I am not very interested in Indian authors, because most of them tend to depict the "worst-case scenario" of life as and Indian American. However, The Namesake leaned more towards reality, in my opinion, and I could easily relate to the book. I have trouble reading many books by Indian authors because they seem to over exaggerate the problems and issues Indians have settling in the United States. There just seems to be too much negativity in the work. Jhumpa Lahiri, on the other hand, doesn't just write about the hardships, she creates characters that you can relate to, and adds culture clashes in to the story. I have found it easier to read her books because she poses real life scenarios that I can relate to my own life.

Jhumpa Lahiri is definitely a reknowned author now due to the success of The Namesake. The novel has been turned in to a film. The story is based around a boy that deals with the culture clash of being an Indian and being raised in the United States. Although the main character may be Indian, the basis of the book is American. Jhumpa Lahiri is definitely an American author. Although she was born in London, England, she was raised in South Kingstown, Rhode Island. Her novels are based somewhat on her childhood experiences, expressing the Indian way of life in America, and the struggles and triumphs that are associated with it. Her debut book was Interpreter of Maladies, a collection of short stories that won the Pulitzer Prize. She recently released a new book titled Unaccustomed Earth. Furthermore, she has also written many other short stories.

Jhumpa Lahiri is an important American author because of her contribution to American literature through another perspective of what it is to be an American. Her books differ in plot and character, but most of them call upon what it means to be an immigrant in America, and the bonds that are siphoned from the new generation living in America and the succeeding one that is born there. Furthermore, there are not that many astounding Indian American authors. I also have not liked any other novels written by Indian authors, and Jhumpa Lahiri's book has been one of the first that has caught my attention.

Since the beginning of the semester, we have studied American literature and we have been asked to define American literature, the American Dream, and even the criteria for being an American author. Jhumpa Lahiri's work can help create many theses that revolve around this central idea. I have already thought of some thesis ideas such as topics about immigrants and their lives in a new country, or parallels between stories, culture clash and how it affects the relationships between immigrants and their American-born children. Many of these topics I can relate to through personal experiences and defend through the novels I may read throughout this project.

For this project, I plan to read Interpreter of Maladies, Unaccustomed Earth, and maybe a few short stories that Jhumpa Lahiri has written. I look forward to this project and learning more about the perception of American literature, as well as defining what is the criteria for being an American author.