This paper discusses Bharti Mukherjee's short story in an analysis of gender and cultural themes in eight pages. Two sources are cited in the bibliography.
Name of Research Paper File: JR7_RAfthr.rtf
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that the old ways are kept rigid and that the immigrants only want better opportunities for survival. Others imagine that the old culture becomes completely lost in the new one,
as though the old culture held little significance to the individuals. The truth, however, is far more complex than any of these possibilities. More often than not the transition between
old worlds and new worlds is incredibly devastating to families who lose touch with one another or who eventually separate completely on many different levels. And, to add to
the complications inherently possessed in such cultures we are also presented with gender conditions that are incredibly stressful in adjusting to new cultures. In Bharti Mukherjees short story "A Father"
we see many possibilities as they relate to gender and culture in old world and new world adjustments. In the following paper we examine the conflicts in the old world
and new world beliefs systems as they involved the mother, the father, and the daughter. The paper then discusses gender as it relates to old world beliefs. In the end
the paper discusses the implications of the tragic and surprising conclusion to the story. Through it all the paper clearly presents the understanding that there is no one way, nor
no simple way, for an old culture to adjust to a new one. New and Old World Beliefs The primary character in this story is the father, Mr.
Bhowmick, who is clearly a man that is caught between the old world and the new world. There is his wife, a woman who is perhaps slightly caught in the
old world but rarely demonstrates this fact because she is so in love with the American culture. Lastly there is the daughter, a young woman perhaps haunted by the old