Francesco Floritto

THEMES:

-          Multiple identities

-          Living in a situation of in-betweeness

-          Cultural shock

-          Cultural differences

The original version brings to surface the protagonist reflection when he comes to face the situation of his own country after his American experience. He seems aware that when someone has lived according to the standards of the state, he is partly deceived in the judgement of other countries that generally appear poor or even declining. This is underlined by the use of the auxiliary model (must) that conveys an obligation, a need coming from the subject himself. Changez says that the American stay influences a human being that since then needs a different way of observing. All that implies that living different cultural experiences, necessarily changes the individual whose perspectives and vision of the surrounding reality becomes weirder.

Changez’s reflection is the result of a past experience that has transformed his perception of the world and, last but not least, of himself, together with his way of looking at and reacting in front of an inner reality. It is as if you look at it with new eyes. In the case of Changez, it is the Americans of his way of looking that makes him suffer in front of his declining original place.

The protagonist’s shock on his return to Lahore is conveyed through of sense impression: in particular, sight and onomatopoeia are used as functional linguistic choices to convey a vivid picture of the decline of his home and country.

The detailed description of the home becomes a vivid and living entity on the point of crumbling conveyed by the alliterative and repeated use of the sound “r” ; “struck”, “ appeared”,”crash”,”running”,”through”,”dry”.

In reporting a memory when the electricity had gone, the narrator/protagonist relies on sight (“gloomy air”) and sound (“hissing gas”). The appeal to senses makes the description tragically high, and the reader receives the impression of a scene displayed in front of his eyes.

Immediately after the description, the narration focuses again on the speaker’s mood: if earlier he was struck (“shabby house”), now he feels sad (“I was saddened”) and his feeling is conveyed by a passing form as if the protagonist could not escape such destiny. Some after confessing how he felt, Changez feels the need to correct himself indeed the phrase is “no, more than saddened, I was ashamed”.

The negative climax created by the narrator ends in the expression” I was ashamed”. That has an epigrammatic effect.

The idea of multiple identities come clearly to life when the narrator confesses he felt almost guilty for the situation he has to face after he’s going back. It sounds as if Changez could not accept the reality that connotes his own town. Here the condition of in-betweeness that is Changez Pakistanis origins and the Americanness of his gaze expresses the double face nature of his enlarge identity and the instinctive changement.

CONCLUSION:

The strength of the original version is the result of the alternation of the first person narration and reflection with a description that allows the reader to see Lahore and the protagonist home with Changez’s eyes.

The language used by the novelist appeals to senses of memories that give the way to reflections and feelings.

The conclusion of such reflection is expressed by the use of “this” in italics, which conveys the image of something he feels emotionally distant from despite the demonstrative, which should imply something very close to the speaker.

The anaphoric reflection of “this” symbolically and epigrammatically underlines Changez’s feelings of distance and shame.

The reader is strongly involved in the narration thanks to the language he uses that creates an intimate relationship of classes.

COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS:

A comparative analysis between the original text and the Italian translation immediately makes the reader feel the English text as something more involving and direct. Probably because of the different impact of sound in the versions.

There is an overall effect in the description of Changez’s home. Because the use of language is less strong in its appeal to sound as a vehicle to create a vivid image of the protagonist home. You perceive a larger distance from the Italian translation probably because the English idiom seems to draw a meaning it wants to convey.

Even the conclusion in the translation reinforces the sense of distance of the protagonist in the choice of “lì”. That conveys the idea given by this in the original version that, as a result, sounds weaker than the English one.

Right from the start the Italian translation conveys the idea of something irrevocable with the use of phrases like “bisogna adattarsi”, that seems to mark a destiny one cannot escape, while the use of” if one comes from America”, seems to communicate some advice.

The nominal style adds a sense of liveliness to communication.

A sense of potential is what the original text expresses when he realizes that a different way of observing is required while seems to refer to something that cannot be avoided/changed.