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CLOTHES by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni ABOUT THE AUTHOR Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni was born in Kolkata, India in 1956. She remained in India for twenty years receiving her B.A. from the University of Calcutta before moving to the United States in 1976 to receive her Master's degree in English at Wright State University in Ohio. She then received her Ph.D. in 1985 from the University of California, Berkeley. While pursuing her education, Divakaruni held many odd jobs to maintain a stable living. These included babysitting, selling merchandise in an Indian boutique, slicing bread in a bakery, washing instruments in a science lab, working the dining hall in International House at Berkeley. She also taught several classes at Diablo Valley College and Foothill College. Since her writing career began, her work has been published in over fifty magazines, and her writing has been included in over fifty anthologies. By popular demand, her novels have been translated into twenty nine different languages. Two of her books, The Mistress of Spices and Sister of My Heart, have been made into movies. Currently, Divakaruni resides in Houston, Texas with her husband, two sons, and family dog. She teaches in the creative writing program at the University of Houston while also serving on two advisory boards that help South Asian women who find themselves in abusive situations.

PLOT Clothes, by Chitra Divakaruni, is the story of a young Indian woman, Sumita, and her difficulties as she adapts to her new life as a married woman in California. The story begins with a tone of apprehension and optimism as Sumita prepares to meet her future husband but her idealistic hopes for her future are soon shattered by the cruel realities of life as an immigrant. In California, she struggles to find balance between her identity as a traditional Indian woman and her new American lifestyle. Her difficulty to identify herself heightens when her husband Somesh is murdered and she is faced with the decision of returning to India with her in-laws or remaining in America alone. Throughout the story, her gradual transition is mirrored through the clothes she wears, beginning with a yellow sari and ending with a white blouse and almond skirt.

SYMBOLISM TERMS Symbol- a person, object, or event that suggests more than its literal meaning conventional symbols- symbols that are widely recognized by a society or culture literary symbol- a setting, character, action, object, name or anything else in a work that maintains its literal significance while suggesting other meanings; gain their symbolic meaning within the context of a specific story allegory- a narration or description usually restricted to a single meaning because its events, actions, characters, settings, and objects represent specific abstractions or ideas; the primary focus in allegory is on the abstract idea called forth by the concrete object Quotes “A married woman belongs to her husband, her in-laws.” “I closed my eyes and tried not to jerk away because after all it was my wifely duty.” “I whisper my new name to myself, Mrs. Sumita Sen, but the syllables rustle uneasily in my mouth like a stiff satin that’s never been worn.” “…widows in white saris are bowing their veiled heads, serving tea to in-laws. Doves with cut-off wings.”

Questions Please answer 2 of the following: 1. How does the author use clothes as a symbol of Sumita’s transition? Describe how 3 specific outfits represent her emotions and stage of transition. 2. Describe how Sumita’s visions and hopes for her new life in California differ from the reality of it.

3. Discuss your prior knowledge of arranged marriages. Does your concept of this custom differ from the marriage of Sumita and Somesh portrayed in clothes? How?

4. Do you think Sumita truly loves Somesh or just loves the opportunities that their marriage presents? Use examples from the text in your answer.

5. Discuss Sumita’s connection with the woman’s lake in India. How do her memories of the lake comfort her? How does this act as another symbol in the story?

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