A Wife's Story

" A Wife's Story"
This story is about the culture differences between America and India. The main character is first offended by David Mamet's play, Glenngary GlennRoss, when they use racial slurs as "Polish jokes, Patel jokes" and "Their women, he goes again, They look like they've just been fucked by a dead cat"( Mukherjee 26). She is very offended by these slurs and wants to write to David Mamet. But she never gets around to writing Mamet because things start to happen in her life to make her realize the actual distance and different she is from home when her husband visits. She has been in New York for a while getting a degree in Special Ed, while her husband is at home with a well paid job and a rich hesitance. This is mainly why she is offended at the play because they are stereotyping foreigners because they are poor and unwilling to buy property when in actuality she has money back home and comes from a wealthy family. She realizes how removed from her culture she is when her husband comes to visit. He is amazed at the new modern lifestyle as seen, " He picks up hair rinses and high protein diet powders. There's already so much I have taken for granted" ( Mukherjee 34). He tries all new types of foods and buys things that he has to smuggle back on the plane. She almost feels ashamed when she says " I know I'll not be able to describe any of this to Charity, or to Imre. I'm too proud to admit I went on a guided tour" (Mukherjee 37). He wants her to come back to India with him, but she refuses as she is set in her new American ways. Then she gives in to him the night before he leaves. Her husband makes her realize how different her views and culture have become since she has been in the U.S and she may slightly understand why Mamet uses those slurs in his plays.
Magyara- member of the ethnic group, of the Finno-Ugric stock, thatforms the predominant element of the population ofHungary.
Opalescent- having or emitting an iridescence like that of an opal.

The Same River Twice- The End

In the end of the novel Chris Offutt has completed a 360 degree turn around from where his life began. The end portion starts when he is moving to Florida for a new job. The bugs, the heat, the humidity is already proving to be a living Hell for him. He not only moves to one of the warmest places in the country  but to the deep swamplands of Florida where the air is so thick you can barely breathe and you incur 150 mosquito bites a day. He now is self- aware and says "but i was thirty, beyond the excuse of youth. For the first time in my life, I felt aged" ( Offutt 154). He wonders if going to Florida was a mistake. In Florida is where he "found my low spot" , "living on neither land nor water, but in a foreign world of both" (Offutt 161)."  He tries to kill himself during the hurricane but unfortunately survives it. He leaves shortly after heading back to Boston where he meets Rita. They date marry and move around for a couple of years before settling down. Then the two stories meet together at awaiting the birth of their child. Rita was the one that had convinced him to settle down and not run away anymore when he wanted to. The baby was two weeks late, happily safe in the mothers womb, having to be induced. The birth process was a time when Offutt felt completely helpless as seen, " I was powerless and frustrated" (Offutt 182). The baby would surface, then suck back in multiple times. According to Offutt "After being squeezed through a tight tunnel for a quick view, it had opted for return, prolonging the safety of darkness and food. It was certainly my kid"(Offutt 184). This was the beginning of their connection together. Offutt claims "his birth was my rebirth" (Offutt 185). He claims everything he had said before about being scared and nervous was simply ignorance and all went out the door. His son has completely changed him. In the epilogue the reader can truly see the changes, he talks to his family more and wants to have connection with them and the baby. He says " nothing had changed except everything" (Offutt 188). His life as changed for the better with the undeniable growth of love for his son. Overall the novel was a great memoir of Chris Offutt's life. It shows the transition stages of a free- living hobo to a great loving father.

Vocabulary:

Ponce de León - a spanish explorer who accompanied Christopher Columbus on his second trip in 1493. In 1513 he discovered Florida.

Scow- any of various vessels having a flat-bottomed rectangularhull with sloping ends, built in various sizes with or withoutmeans of propulsion, as barges, punts, rowboats, or sailboats.

Androgynous -being both male and female, hermaphroditic