Chelsea Medlin Professor Arnold Politics and Culture 22 September 2013 Microtheme 3 The Smells of Home is very interesting

because the author uses several tools to show whether cultural power or the power over ones own life is the strongest power! Avinash has been putting off getting married but he feels culturally inclined to do so in order "not to brea# his mother$s heart% and to abide by "his duty!% &he author uses both of those comments made by Avi$s mother as a foreshadowing to the reasons Avi marries a woman in the first place! &he biggest foreshadowing used is when Savitri as#s him if he$s worried about losing his freedom because he$s married now and he says "'ho is really free anyway(% America is supposed to stand for freedom but even thousands of miles away Avi doesn$t feel free to be with another man because of his cultural influence from bac# home! )ne of the tools the author uses is the use of color! Savitri doesn$t li#e bright colors specifically yellow! )ne of the reasons that Avinash seems the perfect match for her is that he doesn$t wear yellow but he couldn$t be a worsde match for her because he$s gay! *n the end it is a letter a yellow piece of noteboo# paper that turns her world upside down! *t had already been established that she didn$t li#e the color yellow but every time it$s brought up in the story it draws attention negatively to the color! &he author uses groupings of three to ma#e what Savitiri is thin#ing stand out to the reader! *n the beginning of the story she is picturing +ngland when she says things li#e

",avender lilac rosemary!% &hen when she tal#s about America it is all the classic American stereotypes, "-ig buildings fast cars movies!% *n the end the author switches up how she groups completely as Savitri becomes very childli#e and reverts bac# to *ndia as a sort of protective mechanism! She switches from saying most of the names of the spices in +nglish "Mustard poppyseed methi% to the *ndian names for them ".aldi dhania methi!% *t is intriguing that the spices are what Savitri uses to protect herself because in the beginning the author states how she loved the way her aunt$s things smelled because they didn$t smell li#e spices and talcum powder li#e her Mom$s sari always did! /ltimately the author uses the little details to pull the reader into the emotions of the sub0ect!