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Rahul
In “Only Goodness,” Sudha and Rahul’s parents are Bengali immigrants with high expectations for their children, emphasizing the importance of education, success, and the preservation of Bengali customs. They are somewhat distant and emotionally reserved, especially with Rahul, whose struggles they largely deny or overlook until they become impossible to ignore. They come to view Sudha as a source of pride and Rahul as a disappointment. Their inability to acknowledge or properly support Rahul in his issues with alcohol places strain on the family, but their genuine love for their children remains clear.
Sudha’s Parents Quotes in Unaccustomed Earth
The Unaccustomed Earth quotes below are all either spoken by Sudha’s Parents or refer to Sudha’s Parents. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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4. Only Goodness Quotes
They relied on their children, on Sudha especially. It was she who had to explain to her father that he had to gather up the leaves in bags, not just drag them with his rake to the woods opposite the house. She, with her perfect English, who called the repair department at Lechmere to have their appliances serviced. Rahul never considered it his duty to help their parents in this way.
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She’d always had a heavy hand in his life, it was true, striving not to control it but to improve it somehow. She had always considered this her responsibility to him. She had not known how to be a sister any other way.
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And so he became what all parents feared, a blot, a failure, someone who was not contributing to the grand circle of accomplishments Bengali children were making across the country, as surgeons or attorneys or scientists, or writing articles for the front page of The New York Times.
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Sudha’s Parents Character Timeline in Unaccustomed Earth
The timeline below shows where the character Sudha’s Parents appears in Unaccustomed Earth. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
4. Only Goodness
...following summer, she’s regularly buying him six-packs, divvying up the cans between their bedrooms so Sudha’s parents won’t find the contraband. Academically gifted, Rahul skipped a grade, beginning Cornell at just 17,...
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...start, but a part of her always envied her brother’s intellect, beauty, and detachment from Sudha’s parents .
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Sudha has always shown more deference to Sudha’s parents than Rahul, who tends to criticize and judge their lives. By the next summer, while...
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...London, her family takes her out to dinner, where Rahul seems happy and engaged with Sudha’s parents for the first time in ages. Late that same night, while his family is at...
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After his arrest, Rahul’s driver’s license is temporarily revoked, and Sudha’s parents are forced to pay $2,000 in fees. Now living in London, Sudha feels at home...
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...with her family in Wayland, opting to take a trip to Seville with Roger instead. Sudha’s parents call and ask her to speak to Rahul, who is now failing out of Cornell...
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...that Rahul was formally dismissed from Cornell and now lives at home with his and Sudha’s parents . He eventually finds work at a laundromat, a job that embarrasses his parents, who...
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...family. When Rahul shows up with his new fiancée, a 30-year-old aspiring actress named Elena, Sudha’s parents are stunned. Sudha’s father, who is typically silent, firmly states that Rahul cannot marry Elena,...
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...rough patch. Not long after, Rahul suddenly disappears, leaving behind no note or explanation for Sudha’s parents . He steals his mother’s gold jewelry and takes a bus out of town, mailing...
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...Rahul often but slowly gets used to no longer having her brother in her life. Sudha’s parents , too, grow accustomed to the void left by their absent son, consoled in part...
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...Sudha gives him a tour, and Rahul observes the recently framed photos of his and Sudha’s parents holding their new grandson. He tells Sudha about Elena’s daughter, Crystal, who treats him like...
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