Model of Short Research Assignment: 2 sources
English Composition II
Essay 2
The Acculturation of Indian Americans in “Mrs. Dutta Writes a Letter”
In Chitra Divakaruni’s short story “Mrs. Dutta Writes a Letter,” she tells a tale of how protagonist
Mrs. Dutta experiences a massive culture shock upon moving to the United States from India to live with
her son and his family. Upon close examination of the story, the main theme seems to be the
psychological aspect of acculturation among the three generations: Old Mrs. Dutta, parents Sagar and
Shyamoli, and kids Pat and Minnie. As the generations progress, their values are slowly changing, due to
“Americanization.” While the older generation wants continuity of tradition, the younger generations
want to do things their own way.
Pradeep and Mrinalini, the third generation in the family, have easily adapted to the American
culture and to the society they live in due to the simple fact that they were born in the United States
rather than India. They are raised in a media-driven society that emerges late in the nineties, when the
setting of the story takes place. Pat and Minnie, as they are called, hold very few Indian values, respect
their Indian culture minimally, and struggle to respect their grandmother’s strong Indian values. In the
text, Divakaruni does not imply whatsoever that the children dislike their grandmother:
[Mrs. Dutta] knows the grandchildren love her—how can it be otherwise among family? And she
loves them…though their bodies twitch with impatience when she tries to tell them stories of
her girlhood. Though they offer the most transparent excuses when she asks them to sit with
her while she chants the evening arati. But sometimes when she listens, from the other room, to
them speaking on the phone, their American voices rise in excitement as they discuss a glittering
alien world of Power Rangers, Spice Girls, and Spirit Week at school” (573).
Mrs. Dutta’s grandchildren are foreigners to her and she is a foreigner to them. In The Journal of
Marriage and the Family, scholars Merril Silverstein and Xuan Chen study the relationships of immigrant
grandparents and their grandchildren. The find that “the gap in cultural values between generations
suppresses social interaction between grandparents and their grandchildren and over time reduces
intimacy in their relationship, at least from the point of view of grandchildren” (196). In an American
nation heavily driven by peer pressure and conformity, Pat and Minnie have conformed to American
ways in order to fit in and be accepted by their peers in school. Because Mrs. Dutta’s values differ from
Pat and Minnie’s Americanized values, there is a struggle to connect the younger generation’s desire for
“intergenerational autonomy” to the older generation’s desire for “intergenerational continuity,” thus
causing conflict between the two generations (Silverstein & Chen, 198).
Sagar and Shyamoli, the second generation of the family, are in a tough situation when it comes
to whether they should have raised their children in a more Indian fashion or a more American fashion.
It seems evident that the children were raised mainly with American values because the parents have
also conformed to American society and its norms. Shyamoli, the wife of the family, was born and raised
in a strict, conservative Indian culture before she moved to the United States to start a family. Mrs.
Dutta describes her as a modest, respectable Indian young lady before she married. However, during ten
years in the United States Shyamoli has conformed to her American surroundings and thus lives a more
Americanized life. Shyamoli is angered by Mrs. Dutta’s Indian culture because of how others around her
might react. When Mrs. Dutta requests to put up a drying rack in the backyard, Shyamoli protests, “It’s
just not done, not in a nice neighborhood like this one. And being the only Indian family on the street,
we have to be extra careful” (573). Shyamoli insists that they must “be careful” due to the fact that
being a minority in a society like the one she is living in, it is very difficult to be accepted by others and
very easy to be discriminated against. Sagar and Shyamoli’s psychological views are quite common
among immigrants who move to America and start a new life. Evon Vogt of the American Academy of
Political and Social Science states that “’forced’ acculturation, if not so extreme to lead to early
absorption of the subordinate group, will result in a high degree of resistance to change in indigenous
cultural patterns” (143). Because Shyamoli and Sagar were forced to assimilate and acculturate to their
new surroundings quickly, they are now more native to the American culture and the society in which
they live.
When Mrs. Dutta first arrived at Sagar’s home, she immediately wanted to visit her next-door
neighbors. However, “such things were not the custom in California, [Shyamoli] explained earnestly. You
didn’t just drop in on people without calling ahead” (577). Mrs. Dutta gets confused; such events were
very common in India, and neighbors enjoyed each other’s presence. Another instance of conflict of
cultures is when Mrs. Dutta sees a woman in the house over the fence. When she waves across the yard
to say hi to the lady, she does not wave back or smile. However, because Mrs. Dutta’s strong Indian
culture cannot be uprooted in such a short period of time in the United States, she feels that her views
and actions cause no harm to anyone around her. “People were people, whether in India or America,
and everyone appreciated a friendly face”(577). Because Mrs. Dutta has not adapted to the American
ways of doing things, she struggles to understand the norms and behaviors her assimilated children and
grandchildren seem to have grasped.
Thus, with many theories and facts stated above, there is sufficient evidence to suggest that the
cultural, societal, and psychological aspect of America have a great effect on one’s cultural views as an
immigrant. As scholars Vogt, Silverstein and Chen all state, the first step of assimilating to a new society
is to experience culture shock. Sure enough, Mrs. Dutta, although unhappy with her surroundings in
America, has learned from the American culture how society and different societal values can impact
one’s happiness. As a result, she returns to India.
In your paper, the Works Cited should be on its own page
Works Cited
Silverstein, Merril and Xuan Chen. “The Impact of Acculturation in Mexican American Families on the
Quality of Adult Grandchild-Grandparent Relationships.” The Journal of Marriage and the Family.
Vol. 61, No. 1 (1999), 188-198. JSTOR. 11 Feb 2009.
Vogt, Evon Z. “The Acculturation of Indian Americans.” Annals of the American Academy of Political and
Social Science. Vol. 311 (2000), 137-146. JSTOR. 11 Feb 2009.