The Third and Final Continent

by Jhumpa Lahiri

The Third and Final Continent: Genre 1 key example

Genre
Explanation and Analysis:

“The Third and Final Continent” is a short story that belongs to the genre of Realism, meaning that it attempts to capture its subject matter realistically (rather than romantically). In this story, Lahiri seeks to depict the lived reality of Bengali immigrants in the late 1960s, weaving references to both Indian culture and Western culture together in the process. This comes across in the following passage, which describes the daily lives of Bengali immigrants in London:

On weekends we lounged barefoot in drawstring pajamas, drinking tea and smoking Rothmans, or set out to watch cricket at Lord’s. Some weekends the house was crammed with still more Bengalis to whom we had introduced ourselves at the greengrocer or on the Tube, and we made yet more egg curry, and played Mukesh on a Grundig reel-to-reel.