The Thematic Concern in Arranged Marriage by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni

Abstract

 Arranged Marriage (1995) is Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni’s debut collection of short stories. The collection has 11 short stories, and majority of the stories deal with the immigrant experience along with the social- cultural encounter that an Indian experiences when he moves towards the west, which is an important theme in the mosaic of American Indian culture. The paper focuses on some of the short stories in this collection and analyzes them from different perspectives. It also reflects on the impact of the cultural disarticulation on the protagonist and studies whether they end dejected and disillusioned or they learn to acclimatize and accept their conditions. It also evaluates their attitude and approach to life, whether they abandon their conventional values or preserve them.