1. Application Of Relevant
Theories Of Literary
Criticism In
The Third & Final Continent
By Jhumpa Lahiri
ZELA ZULFIKAR & NORHIDAYU ROSMAN

2. About the Story
• The Third and Final Continent has a diaspora
theme where its about migration of the
narrator from India to England and finally to
America. This short story is about a married
Indian student arrives in
Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1969, and rents
a room from an eccentric one-hundred and-
three-year-old woman, Mrs. Croft.
Indirectly, this story shows the differences of
the American and Indian cultures.

3. HISTORICAL
THEORY

4. 1. Parallels with Lahiri’s Family History
The story of Third And Final Continent is
parallel with Lahiri’s family history where
everyone in the story represents Lahiri’s
family. Lahiri’s family life experiences as a
diasporic community was being applied by
Lahiri in most of her’s short stories including
this story.

5. LAHIRI’S PARALLELITY EVIDENCES FROM THE TEXT
FAMILY AND
CHARACTERS
1. A Bengali people from India “ I lived in London, in
- The narrator and Lahiri’s Finsbury Park, in a house
father are both Bengalis occupied entirely by penniless
person Bengali bachelors like my
THE self…” Page 3 Paragraph 1
NARRATOR Line 4-6
represented
LAHIRI’S 2. Emigrated from India “ I left India in 1964 with
FATHER (Calcutta) to England and certificate…sailed on the S.S
finally to America (Diaspora Roma…across the Arabian
community) Sea, the Red Sea, the
- The narrator was emigrated Mediterranean, and finally to
to three continents as well as England” Page 3 Paragraph 1
Lahiri’s father Line 1 - 4
- They are called as Diaspora
Community which means
“ I flew first to Calcutta, to
the movement of people
attend my wedding, and a
from any nation or group
week later to Boston, to
away from their own
country. begin my new job.” Page 3
Paragraph 3 Line 1 - 2

6. 3. Both of them work as a “In the morning I reported
librarian to my job at the Dewey
Library , a beige fortlike
building by Memorial Drive.”
Page 4 Paragraph 2 Line 14 -
15
4. Adaptation to alien “ I ate cornflakes and milk
country in the morning and night
- In other countries, they bought some bananas for
need to adapt with their variety, slicing them into
culture and ways of life. the bowl with the edge of
- The narrator and Lahiri’s my spoon” Page 4 Paragraph
father had adapted the 3 Line 1-3
two continent’s culture
that they went but “ I read every article and
never forget about their advertisement so that I
culture would grow familiar with
things…” Page 4 Paragraph 3
Line 6 - 7

7. 1. Talented as a housewife “ I was told that she could cook, knit,
- Women are expected to embroider, sketch landscapes, and
do housework such as recite poems by Tagore…” (Mala)
cleaning, cooking and Page 7 Paragraph 10 Line 4 - 5
many more.
NARRATOR’
- Mala was resembled to
S WIFE Lahiri’s mother whose
(MALA) and talented in those works
MRS. CROFT
represented
LAHIRI’S 2. Holds on their culture and “She added that it was also improper
MOTHER wants to maintain their for a lady of Helen’s station to reveal
culture although live in other her age, and to wear a dress so high
countries above the ankle” (Mrs. Croft) Page 11
- Maintaining a culture is Paragraph 8 Line 3 - 4
really important for
Lahiri’s mother, Mala and “So we drive to Cambridge to visit
Mrs. Croft as culture him, or bring him home for a
represents the identity of weekend, so that he can eat rice with
the community us with his hands and speak in Bengali
, things we sometimes worry he will
no longer do after we die.” (Mala)
Page 18 Paragraph 2 Line 9 - 11

8. 1. Desired to be a modern woman rather than “ For your
“perfect lady” information,
- Helen and Lahiri had the same desire which Mother, it’s
HELEN AND was to be modern woman, but for Helen her 1969. What
NARRATOR’ mother did not agree of her to be a modern would you do if
S SON women as she was holding tight to her culture you actually left
represented of 1800’s as well as Lahiri, she was tangled the house one
JHUMPA with the Indian culture that was more decent day and saw a
LAHIRI for example in dressing which wear sari ( did girl in a
not sexy) miniskirt?” Page
11 Paragraph 9
Line 1 -2
2. Indian – Americans :
- Usually, the diaspora community will face
the problems in sense of identity. They
were American citizen but being isolated
by the community due to skin color
difference but they were also not belong to
Indian nations as they did not live there.
The narrator’s son was being predicted
that he will have the problem as well as

9. 2. History of first astronauts land on the moon
(1969)
The period of the story written was during the era of space races
between Soviet Union and United states whereby in 1969, United
States succeed to place Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on the
moon. President Nixon then had declared a national holiday for
the achievement of the United States on landing a man on the
moon.
“ There is an American flag on the moon!”
“It was in the newspaper, of course, article upon article. The
astronauts had landed on the shores of the Sea of Tranquility, I had
read, travelling farther than anyone in the history of civilization. For
few hours they explored the moon’s surface…”
Page 6 paragraph 9 Line 1 - 5

10. GENDER
THEORY

11. 1. Men’s power in making decision
The power of making decision are usually lies on
the hands of the father or eldest brother. This is
because men are being assumed as the one who is
mature, more rational and have more experiences
in life. In this story, the narrator’s marriage with
Mala was being arranged by the narrator’s older
brother as he was the leader of the family after
their father died.
“ My wife’s name was Mala. The marriage had been
arranged by my older brother and his wife.”
Page 7 Paragraph 10

12. 2. Men as someone to depend on
Women are usually depend on men on certain aspects. In
this story, the narrator felt responsible towards his wife,
Mala and realized that he should protects his wife.
“ It was my duty to take care of Mala, to welcome her and
protect her “ Page 13 Paragraph 5 Line 11-13
Besides that, Mala also financially depended on the
narrator as she was a wife who did not work. So, the
narrator was the one who supported her financial.
“ The next morning before I left for work she asked me
for a few dollars. I parted them reluctantly, but I knew
that this, too, was now normal” Page 15 Paragraph 7 Line
14-15

13. 3. Women need Men
Women are usually seen as someone who needed to be protected.
They are being assume as a soft-hearted, weak, and easily weep.
So, women need men to protect them. In this story, Mala was seen
as a soft-hearted and easily wept person.
“ Each of those night, after applying cold cream and
braiding her hair, she turned from me and wept ; she
missed her parents.” Page 8 Paragraph 2 line 1-3
Men also know that as a men they have a huge responsible towards
women. In this story, the narrator also realized that woman needed
to be protected and he will have a huge responsible towards his
wife and as a leader of family.
“ My wife’s name was Mala…It was a duty expected of me,
as it was expected of every man” Page 7 Paragraph 10 Line
1-3

14. 4. Discrimination of Women
Until modern industrialized era, women had been restricted in in
participating the workforce. Men controlled the economy and
consequently the poor socio-economic status of women had also
restricted their entry into the workforce. Restrictions on women's
access to and participation in the workforce include the wage gap
and the glass ceiling, legal and cultural restrictions on access to
education and jobs.
In this story, the United States announced that they had successfully
landed astronauts on the moon and they were two men. Men on
that time had higher chance to be an astronaut. So that there
were no women as an astronaut during that time.
“…Presiden Nixon had declared a national holiday: two
American men had landed on the moon.”
Page 4 Paragraph 1 Line 2-3

15. CULTURAL
THEORY

16. • This story implies more than one type of
cultures which are the Indian culture and
American culture. The narrator who migrated
from India to England then to America tried
his best to adapted to the new culture that he
learnt at those places without forgetting
Indian culture itself.

17. CUISINE
• The first thing that represents Indian culture in
this story is the cuisine. The most remarkable
cuisine in this story is the ‘egg curry’ which makes
the most constant reference to the Indian culture
itself. This was stated when he ate that egg curry
together with his Bengali friends as he stayed
with them.
“We lived three or four to a room, shared a single,
icy toilet, and took turns cooking pots of egg
curry…” (page 3, paragraph 2)

18. Besides that, it was also stated when the
narrator presents her wife, Mala, food as she
reached in England.
“ I had no present for her apart from the egg
curry.” (page 14, paragraph 10)
"The house is nice," she said. "Also the egg
curry.” (page 15, paragraph 2)
This shows that curry is symbolic to the Indian
culture itself.

19. • Other than that, the original cuisine did not being
forgotten even they were staying in England. The
smelled of steamed rice brought the Indian’s life
into the house. A dish which represents their
belonging that Mala cooked for her husband is
chicken curry made with fresh garlic and ginger
on the stove makes them feel ease to be in
somebody’s country.
“When I came home from work there was a potato
peeler in the kitchen drawer, and a tablecloth on
the table, and chicken curry made with fresh
garlic and ginger on the stove.” (page 15,
paragraph 6)

20. TRADITIONS
• In addition, Indians tend to eat foods using their bare hands.
As we know, eating with bare hands gives more pleasure like
no spoon or fork does. In this story, their son who attends
Harvard University also inherited this habit of eating steamed
rice with his hands.
“ …which we ate with our hands on a table covered with
newspapers.” (page 3, paragraph 2)
“We ate with our hands, another thing I had not yet done in
America.” (page 14, paragraph 10)
“ So we drive to Cambridge to visit him, or bring him home for a
weekend, so that he can eat rice with us with his hands…”
(page 18, paragraph 3)

21. • Apart from those cuisine, arranged marriage is
one of the culture that still existed in Indians
society. Normally, it was arranged by the
parents of both bride and groom. The groom
would not be able to against their parents will
regarding arrange marriage. It worries the
parents when their daughter did not married by
the age of 27 as she might be a spinsterhood.
The narrator who was 36 years old was being
arranged to marry a woman who was 27 years
old named Mala. As it was planned the groom’s
brother and wife, he did not against it as it has
become his responsibility as a man.

22. “Every now and then someone in the house moved out, to
live with a woman whom his family back in Calcutta had
determined he was to wed. In 1969, when I was thirty-six
years old, my own marriage was arranged.”
(page 3, paragraph 2)
“The marriage had been arranged by my older brother and
his wife. I regarded the proposition with neither objection
nor enthusiasm. It was a duty expected of me, as it was
expected of every man.”
(page 7, paragraph 10)
“She was twenty-seven, an age when her parents had
begun to fear that she would never marry, and so they
were willing to ship their only child halfway across the
world in order to save her from spinsterhood.”
(page 8, paragraph 1)

23. • In all marriages, the wives must know how to
do all housework. Usually, the Indian women
were not working as they were being taught
of cooking skills and doing other Indians
women should done. Mala was not a working
woman. However, she managed to learnt a lot
of skills that at least makes her able to do
something even though all those could not
frame for the fact that she did not have a
beauty fair skin like other women had.

24. “I was told that she could
cook, knit, embroider, sketch landscapes, and
recite poems by Tagore, but these talents
could not make up for the fact that she did not
possess a fair complexion, and so a string of
men had rejected her to her face.”
(page 7, paragraph 10)

25. • In marriage session, all women have different ways
on how to show the signs that she is married. This
culture that being practiced by the Indian women
were still being used until nowadays. Usually, we
only knew that Indian women would wear sari for
their wedding. At the early wedding, they will wear
iron bangle on wrist, plus applied vermillion
powder to some part of their hair. After a long
time, they will have gold bracelets on their arms,
put a small red dot painted on the forehead and
have red dye being tinted at the edges of the feet.
This shows that the women were married. Some of
them tend to lift up the end of their sari to their
forehead to cover it.

26. “And yet we were bound together; for six weeks
she had worn an iron bangle on her wrist, and
applied vermillion powder to the part in her
hair, to signify to the world that she was a
bride.” (page 13, paragraph 3)
“The free end of her sari did not drag on the
floor, but was draped in a sign of bridal modesty
over her head… Her thin brown arms were
stacked with gold bracelets, a small red circle
was painted on her forehead, and the edges of
her feet were tinted with a decorative red dye.”
(page 14, paragraph 2)

27. NORMS
• Besides that, Indian society are quite synonym
with coconut oil and cricket. Cricket is a game
played on grass by two teams of 11 players.
Cricket has become a popular sports in Bengal
region for men. Meanwhile women are more
synonym with coconut oil. They tend to use it
when they are going to sleep as it help to
moisturize their hair. However, the smell of this
coconut oil makes other people avoid of using it.
In this story, the narrator watched cricket games
as his routine when he came to England. When
he is married, he did not used to the smell of
Mala’s hair which being added coconut oil.

28. “On weekends we lounged barefoot in drawstring
pajamas, drinking tea and smoking Rothmans, or
set out to watch cricket at Lord's.” (page 3,
paragraph 2)
“ I was not used to the fragrance of the coconut oil
she rubbed every other night into her scalp, or the
delicate sound her bracelets made as she moved
about the apartment.” (page 15, paragraph 6)
From that, it can be concluded that Indian’s culture
mostly similar to Bengali’s culture. Proudly, no matter
where we are, we should not forget where we come
from.

29. LIFESTYLES
• Next, the American culture which totally differ
from the Indian culture. From what we can
see, the Indian culture still can be practiced even
when the American culture dominates the
society. In this story, the narrator tried his best to
adapted to the American culture without
diminishing his own culture. He also learnt that
some American culture could also being accepted
such as when Mrs Croft counsel Helen for
wearing inappropriate attire and when Mrs Croft
told that Helen did something improper with the
narrator.

30. “I learned that Americans drove on the right
side of the road, not the left, and that they
called a lift an elevator and an engaged phone
busy.” (page 3, paragraph 3)
“In the end I bought a carton of milk and a box
of cornflakes. This was my first meal in
America. Even the simple chore of buying milk
was new to me; in London we'd had bottles
delivered each morning to our door.” (page 4,
paragraph 2)

31. “She wore a sleeveless summer dress…” (page
10, paragraph 5)
“It is improper for a lady and gentleman who
are not married to one another to hold a
private conversation without a chaperone!”
(page 11, paragraph 7)
“She added that it was also improper for a lady
of Helen's station to reveal her age, and to
wear a dress so high above the ankle.” (page
11, paragraph 8)

32. RELIGION
• From the religion view, ox which is quite similar with cow
being assume as God to the Indian society. It was a holy
symbol for them. That is why Mala did not have the oxtail
soup that being offered when she was on a flight to
America to meet her husband.
“I told her I had prepared some egg curry at home. "What
did they give you to eat on the plane?“
"I didn't eat.“
"All the way from Calcutta?“
"The menu said oxtail soup.“
"But surely there were other items.“
"The thought of eating an ox's tail made me lose my
appetite.“ (Page 14, paragraph 4)

33. The End