Upheaval and Resettlement in The Immigrant

Abstract

            Manju Kapur’sThe Immigrant is the story of Upheaval and Resettlement, which explores the theme of cultural disparity which the immigrants are subjected to. They have been born and brought up in their native boundaries with specific cultural habits but the immigrant compels them to adopt the contrasting culture of a foreign country. Manju Kapur with her intense understanding of human nature vividly portrays the themes like alienation, rootlessness, loneliness, nostalgia in her novels. She deals with the life of a married woman all alone in an alien land where Indian culture and individualism has often remained alien ideas. Marital bliss, women’s role at home, upheaval in alien land, thought of resettlement, loneliness and a feeling of being uprooted from the place of origin and their change of attitude is the central focus. At the end, readers find a complete change in the personality and mental status of the character Nina. She develops a new attitude towards life and was moving ahead with a new career and job.In my paper I have tried to show how the cultural dilemma often causes many emotional setbacks and the immigrants suffer in the new countries, as depicted in Manju Kapur’s novel.