JHUMPA LAHIRI: AN AUTHOR OF VARYING SHADES

ABSTRACT

Jhumpa Lahiri’s modern approach is evident in her themes as well as narrative style. In the present article, an attempt is made to show how the themes of identity, alienation, isolation and diaspora have been a focal point of the fiction of Jhumpa Lahiri. Indian writers have been contributing significantly to the world literature since independence and Indian fiction continues to flourish in the global market. The immigrant experience, the question of identity and the expatriate experiences continue to furnish abundant material for fiction writers as can be seen in the works of various women writers. For instance, Kiran Desai’s, ‘The Inheritance of Loss,’ reveals the pain of exile and the ambiguities of post-colonialism. Lahiri’s literary works are concerned with the diasporic postcolonial situation of the Indians and Indian-Americans, who are caught between two identities and two cultures – the Indian traditions that they have left behind and a totally different western world that they have to live in. Concerned mostly with the disappointments, the failures and the occasional successes of Indian immigrants in America, Lahiri’s works abound in characters who, on being displaced, struggle to survive in the unfamiliar surroundings they are forced to live in. What sets Jhumpa Lahiri apart as a writer is the combination of her absorbing concern for the moral and psychological truths related to the immigrant’s discontent and the outstanding literary qualities which make her writing unique. Her works reveal her commendable grasp of bi-culturalism and authoritative grace.

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