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Summary
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Beyond the Sky and the Earth, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Culture Shock and Home
Buddhism and Everyday Life
Ethnic Nationalism and the Outsider Perspective
Women’s Role in Society
Summary
Analysis
Jamie Zeppa, the author of this memoir, will eventually arrive at Paro International Airport in the South Asian country of Bhutan on a bright morning in February 1989. Before that, however, she is living in the suburbs of Toronto, Canada, in a one-room apartment when she sees a newspaper ad that reads “TEACHERS WANTED FOR OVERSEAS POSTS.” One of the locations listed is Bhutan. Zeppa shows it to her boyfriend, Robert, saying she thinks it looks like a good opportunity. Robert agrees but thinks she’s interested because it will improve her résumé.
This memoir is about Zeppa going to an unfamiliar location, and while the opening lines tease this, ultimately, the first chapter is about establishing what Zeppa’s normal life is like before she leaves. Robert’s reaction to the ad—he thinks it would be a good résumé-building experience—shows already how he and Zeppa have different values. It suggests that Zeppa is looking for something beyond traditional measures of success like having a prestigious career.
Themes
Zeppa is planning on doing a Ph.D. in English, but she feels the urge to travel, which she’s hardly ever done before. She gets old books about Bhutan out of the library. Bhutan only began to see modern economic development recently; the barter system was dominant up until the 1960s. Most people are subsistence farmers.
The barter system is trading goods and services directly instead of using money to pay, while subsistence farming is making just enough food to feed one’s family (as opposed to selling or exporting crops). Some people consider these systems “primitive” because they existed before modern monetary systems and farming, but Zeppa tries to keep an open mind about different cultures.
Themes
Zeppa’s grandfather doesn’t understand why she wants to travel, thinking of all other countries as “Over There.” He worries that she’s putting off her Ph.D. since his own education got cut off by the Great Depression, and he lives a simple, cautious life himself. He sees travel as a waste of money and worries that now she won’t marry Robert, whom he likes. Zeppa tries to reassure him that it’s an official government program and applies anyway.
Zeppa’s grandfather holds narrow ideas about other cultures than his own, at least initially. Although Zeppa is close to her grandfather and largely portrays him sympathetically, his inability to understand her decisions shows how challenging it can be for a person to overcome deeply ingrained cultural norms.
Themes
Zeppa gets the acceptance letter in September 1988. Robert is amazed at all the things Zeppa is packing, but she reminds him that she’ll be away for two years. She says he could apply too, but he has other life plans. She gets another letter confirming a departure date of February 16, 1989. Just a few days later, however, she gets a phone call from Ottawa saying that the principal of the college in Bhutan rejected her, thinking she’s too young. Zeppa agrees to go instead to teach younger students, likely grade two, in a more remote area without electricity.
Although Zeppa is eager to go, the fact that she packs so many things shows how a part of her still wants to hang on to home and to Canadian culture. The principal who rejects Zeppa for teaching at a college provides a hint of some of the attitudes toward women that Zeppa will encounter in Bhutan.
Themes
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Robert takes Zeppa to the airport, and they kiss goodbye, promising to write until they can be together again at Christmas. Zeppa goes through airport security and cries, wondering what she’s done.
Zeppa’s initial reaction is to regret her decision to leave, showing how she is afraid of the unknown. However, for now, she feels she has no choice but to move forward.
Themes
