A Departure from Tradition

In the short story “A Choice of Accommodations,” the burned dress is symbolic of love lost, which departs from the overarching theme of the rest of the stories, in Unaccustomed Earth. In this story, events are explored during the course of couple drifting apart as they approach middle age. Relationships, in this particular case, are also different from the other relationships that are seen in Unaccustomed Earth. For example, Amit, an Indian man takes a more Americanized attitude towards raising a family, and his relationship with his wife Heather. He cares deeply for not only his children’s well being, but also his wife’s. Unlike traditional Indian males in a relationship, Amit truly cares for his wife and even expresses insecurity that he afraid that his wife will leave him. This is in sharp contrast to say the father figure seen in the short story “Hell-Heaven,” who does not care if his wife leaves him, instead saying: “If you are so unhappy, go back to Calcutta” (Lahiri 1151). Amit is extremely attached to his wife and unlike the traditional Indian father, would never ignore the discomfort of his wife.

Amit is also different because he raises the children as a result of Heather being in medical school. This is a radical departure from the wife typically raising the child and the husband working to support the family. When problems arise in the relationship, and the couples starts to drift apart, Amit is lost at how to repair the mend. Having broken away from his traditional Indian culture, of what to do in this situation, to ignore the wife, Amit appears to be adrift from what to do as a father and a husband. He does not live with the security of a well defined identity and thus he does not have a definite way to go about repairing his family.

This insecurity can also be seen in the interactions between the couple. For instance, the symbolism of the burned dress. When they arrived at the hotel, his wife noticed that her dress was burned. The symbolism of the burned dress represents damage, perhaps damage to their relationship, as well as damage to Amit’s relationship with his colleagues and peers. Because of the burn, the couple cares how they will be seen. They care about an exterior life more than the intention emotional aspect of their relationship which seems to have become distant and tense. Ironically, they must stand close so that no one can see the burn, for the sake of appearances. However, Amit chooses to distance himself from his colleagues and friends, by staying in a hotel instead of the dorms, because he is not comfortable with his relationship with his wife. While he is torn by his Indian male perspective where he is the dominant, because the couple is mixed, the tension in the relationship is likely derived because it is a mixed marriage, and Heather is comfortable flirting with other men, which Amit feels goes against Indian culture. Heather’s interactions with other men remind Amit of old times, when they wanted to be so close and as he stands next to her, he sadly is reminded of how it used to feel, being so close to his wife. The reader wonder if there is any future for this couple who live outside of the typical Indian value system while not adopting any new form of control in the relationship, both living lives connected by a rope which seems to be getting in the way of the desires of each.