Mrs. Sen: East vs. West Cultural Conflict and Identity Crisis

This essay delves into the cultural conflict depicted in Jhumpa Lahiri's short story, 'Mrs. Sen.' It examines the protagonist's struggle to reconcile her Indian heritage with American culture. The essay explores the themes of identity, displacement, and the challenges of assimilation, highlighting the stark contrast between collectivist and individualistic values. It analyzes how Mrs. Sen's experiences, including her isolation and difficulties adapting to American life, reflect the broader East-West cultural divide. The analysis also references the characters and themes in 'Catfish and Mandala' to strengthen the argument about cultural identity and struggle. The essay emphasizes the protagonist's inability to fully embrace the American way of life and the resulting sense of alienation. The essay uses evidence from the story and critical analyses to support its claims, ultimately arguing that Mrs. Sen's story represents a poignant portrayal of the complexities of cultural adaptation and the enduring power of one's cultural identity.

Running head: MRS.SEN
Mrs.Sen
Name of the student:
Name of the university :
Authors note:

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There is a stark contrast between the collectivist and the individualistic culture. The
collectivist culture comprised of the family and the social values, and individualistic culture is all
about independence. The paper focuses on the story of Mrs/. Sen and her struggle to cope up in
America and her struggle to come in terms with her life. The paper also focuses on the
Catwoman and mandala and the Protagonist constant struggle between their American and Asian
identities. The struggle of the east and west is represented in both the stories. The contrast of the
cultural conflict is well presented in both the stories. The distinguishing relationship is easily
established in both stories. There is a constant struggle between the two cultures.
The expression of the collectivist culture and individualistic culture occur throughout the
story of Mrs.Sen. The East-West Cultural conflict is a recurring theme in the English literary
scene, especially in terms of Indian literature. Lahiri, throughout her work, has presented the
reader with the ideas that depict the clash of values of the collectivist culture of India and the
individualistic culture of America. The East-West Encounter, in terms of the hybridity in the
relationship, is presented through the post-colonial critics, and it takes place in the postmodern
English literature as well. The story begins with Eliot, who is an eleven-year American
schoolboy who is taken care of Mrs. Sen, who is an Amerindian. Her identity also revolves
around being the wife of a mathematics professor at the University of Boston, USA. The boy is
old enough but wants someone else to babysit here. Lahiri has minutely presented the cultural
difference between India and the West. Throughout the story, Mrs. Sen draws differences
between India and America.
Lahiri, throughout the story, has presented about the isolation faced by Mrs.Sen in
America, and the experiences she encounters mainly revolves around while he babysits the 11
years old boy. The meeting that takes place between Elliot's mother and Mrs. Sen symbolizes the

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stark contrast more minutely. In India, driving a car is not part and parcel of life, and that is not
needed to lead a successful life; however, in the case of America, driving a car is one of the basic
requirements I order to lead a successful life. The protagonist in her story explains that “At
home, you know, we have a driver.”The mother of the child drives nearly fifty miles with her
husband to reach their destination. In one of the instances, it showed a conversation between
Mrs.Sen and her husband. When her husband insists on her learning how to drive a car, she
draws an example from India and says that how in her homeland, everything is there. This
particular instance shows how she is not able to adjust to the American way of life, and her most
loved person is unable to understand the struggle, which makes the issue more difficult for her.
Lahiri has set the character of Elliot's mother as a representation of the western culture,
which is in stark contrast of Mrs.Sen. The western woman is aloof, and there is hardly any
warmth in her towards Elliot, whereas, in the case of the Indian woman, it is shown that she
sowers the child with a warmth which is a sign of the collectivist culture back in her home
(Stefanovici 2016). This is evident in the story through the treatment of the child by two women.
One of the characteristics of the individualistic culture is independence, which is the American
way of life, while in the Indian culture, family values bondings sharing of activities are the stark
characteristics. Here also, Mrs sen resembling her Indian culture is not allowing the boy to
perform little things while his mother leaves work for the boy to complete. In the behavior of the
boy also, it is shown that he is getting used to it and combining the culture.
In the story, the individualistic and the collectivist conflict works on two levels. Mrs. Sen
sticks to her Bengali Indian culture and does not show any sign of adopting any western values,
and the conflict habit of her Indian values arises with that of Edward's mother simply because
she is unable to adopt the culture or introduce any change in her way of life (Chatterjee 2016).

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Lahiri, in her story, tells that she is never out of her memory in Calcutta and thus enables her to
enjoy the way of life. The phrases that she has used in the story throughout establishes the fact.
“And that‟s all… in India?” “Everything is there.” In another instance, it is now (Lahiri 2000).
Mrs. Sen is one of the instances, says how screaming is common in Indian; however, in
America, it is a complaint. Herre her real struggle is shown as she misses her culture where one
of the features is social rules are aimed at selflessness and keeping the community ahead of the
needs here the families, and the community has more control. While in the case of the
Americans, the individual right is at the center stage, and their independence is valued. She
misses her fish of bay of Bengal. She misses wearing her saree; she simply hates the western way
of life. She feels dejected when the other passengers on the bus complaining about the smell of
the fish.
This contrast is also shown in the book the catfish and mandala, where the protagonist's
cultural awareness is slipping between the Vietnamese and the western culture as he feels that is
not a member of the state he is living in. The story shows how he visits his native place to dissect
the deeply embedded unhappiness; however, he unravels the complications. As an American
Vietnamese, the character struggles from the cultural practices in Vietnam, and he tripped into
the western ideas ( Nguyen 2016). He considers himself as a hybrid who cannot be an American
or a Vietnamese. He is leading a lucrative and double life. His self-actualization lies in the
awareness and the side to the American and the Vietnamese identity
At the end of the story, the reader realizes the protagonist has been beaten. Her sob aals
represent her inability to adjust with the American way of life and reflect her frustration. For
many people, American life would be considered as a dream, but this has not happened with the
lady, and she has not been able to encounter the differences. In actuality, Mrs. Sen has been

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trapped as she is unable to adjust with the way of life, and she also has no scope to return to her
place. Without any fault of hers, she is suffering and finding it difficult to adapt to the American
way of life. For her induan way of life is much more simpler than that of mrs sen and the role she
played with her in family. In America, however, things are totally different, and she has got the
opportunity to lead a relatively independent life; however, this is not what she actually was. At
the end of the story, catfish and cat woman, the protagonist's journey is shown as a full circle and
shows his journey has ended where it began. He finally comes into terms with his identity
because he feels connected. (Le and Zhu 2018) He draws connectivity between the past his
sister's future and his own self. With both the cultures he along with reconnecting with the
American friends also gets connected with his long lost Vietnamese American brother.

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Work Cited
Chatterjee, Kalyan. "Negotiating Homelessness through Culinary Imagination: the Metaphor of
Food in Jhumpa Lahiri’s Interpreter of Maladies." Rupkatha Journal on Interdisciplinary Studies
in Humanities 8.3 (2016): 197-205.
Lahiri, Jhumpa. Interpreter of maladies. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2000.
Le, Quynh Nhu, and Ying Zhu. "Mobilizing the Vietnamese Body: Dance Theory, Critical
Refugee Studies, and the Aftermaths of War in Andrew X. Pham’s Catfish and Mandala." Asian
American Literature: Discourses & Pedagogies 9.1 (2018): Mobilizing-the.
Nguyen, Julie Linh. "Occupying the Third Space: Vietnamese American Hybridity and the
Struggle for Identity." (2016).
Stefanovici, Smaranda. "JHUMPA LAHIRI AND PSYCHOLOGICAL DISLOCATION IN"
INTERPRETER OF MALADIES"." Studia Universitatis Petru Maior. Philologia 18 (2015):
103.