Text - In - Context Paper - Essay Example

The protagonist lives an extremely squalid life upon arrival in England. This feature is revealed at the sharing of tiny rooms amongst numerous men. Feeding standards were entirely low. However, the men moved gradually from the room to get married. The story quotes, “Every now and then someone in the house moved out, to live with a woman whom his family back in Calcutta had determined he was to wed” (Lahiri 174). Iyer, Zare, Shankar and Cheung are major critics in literature. In their publications, they affirm the influence of Lahiri’s life experiences to her writing.

The critics also qualify Lahiri’s work as a short story. “The Third and Final Continent” takes the form of a short story in prose fiction. This story features majorly immigrant families and individuals from India (Iyer and Zare, 42). Iyer and Zare reinforce this fact in his analysis and criticism of the story. Indian immigrants shared a uniform culture. As denoted previously, the men moved out of the room to get married to women chosen by their families (Iyer and Zare, 42). They usually traveled back to their native home Calcutta to get married (Lahiri 174).

This story is narrated in the first person voice. The protagonist expresses his journey and adversities from the onset of his journey from India to England and Britain. He suffers poverty in England after serving in a library. Subsequently, he travels back to India for his marriage processes. He obtains a wife and travels to America where he still lives under squalid conditions in Mrs. Croft’s room. As he lived in this place, he was waiting for his wife in India to obtain a green card. His wife eventually obtains a green card and joins him in America.

The protagonist gets a better house to accommodate his wife. Throughout his stay in America, he was serving in a library at M.I.T (Lahiri 176). The protagonist nurtures his family in this foreign land. His son pursues higher education in Harvard University. At the culmination of the narration, the protagonist encourages his son by narrating his past encounters. He asserts that nothing should be impossible if he survived on three continents. This short story drives much influence from the lives of immigrants in foreign lands (Iyer and Zare, 44).

Lahiri is a major voice in modern literature. However, a majority of her literary works may constitute ancient ideologies. She focuses on harmonizing the antique ideologies and thoughts with the recent happenings (Iyer and Zare 40). This author has a rich history and background. She was a daughter of Indian immigrants. Her father and mother upheld Indian principles and perspectives even after their settlement in America. Lahiri’s father served at a library in the University of Rhode Island.

Her father oversaw her academic achievements from kindergarten to the tertiary level. She went to South Kingstown High School with the support of her parents. After graduating from Barnard College, she joined Boston University to further her course in Literature (Shankar and Cheung x). Shankar and Cheung are major literary critics that also reinforce the influence of Lahiri’s life experiences to her writing of the story. This history had a definite impact on the composition of “The Third and Final Continent.

” Characterization borrows much from her background (Iyer and Zare, 40). There is an evident link of the protagonist and Lahiri’