Orbiting

This blog's all about the story, Orbiting, by Bharah Mukherjee. After reading another short story by her last week, I was interested to see how this story would relate, if at all, to the previous story. Both stories turned out to be strong commentaries on relationships and different cultures.

I looked up a few vocabulary words during my reading to get a better understanding of the story. First off, lasciviously means inclined to lustfulness. Next, poignant means strongly distressing to the feelings. Finally, holism can be defined as the theory that whole entities, as fundamental components of reality, have an existence other than as the mere sum of their parts.

The story starts with the narrator, Renata, preparing for Thanksgiving dinner with her family. She immediately alludes to a past relationship with Vic, so one can surmise that relationships are going to be a strong focus in the story. Renata's parents are also quickly described to start off the story.

One quote I liked was when Renata speaks that "Mom has the simple, immigrant faith that children should do better than their parents, and her definition of better is comfortingly rigid" (page 58). I think this can be related to by many families. The parents work hard to bring their family into the prosperous land of America. Now that they're in the land of the American dream, the parents really see no reason why their children can't surpass them in terms of monetary value and success.

I also liked the quote, "Grumbling and scolding are how we deMarcos express love" (page 58). I can say that this often holds true in my family. My father especially is quick to point out the mistakes that I tend to make. Ultimately, though, this is done to help me out in the future.

A lot of the commentary by Renata is about her thoughts on being with Vic. She often refers to things with him in the present tense, then switches to the past tense in realization that she is no longer with him. For example, she says that "he isn't good with directions that come in four languages. At least he wasn't" (page 61). Anyone who's been in a long relationship can certainly understand these emotions. After being attached to one person for a long period of time, your thoughts become often centered around them. When they leave suddenly, it's hard not to include them in your thought processes.

I like the perspective on America Ro gives the story. Ro describes America as a more chaotic place than many would describe it, talking of sudden raids, papers, detention centers, etc. While Renata comes from a fairly stable background, Ro comes from a much rougher past, including scars received from jailtime in Afghanistan during torture.

I thought the interactions between Renata's father and Ro were particularly humorous. A middle eastern man conversing and trying to relate with a very politically conservative man generally calls out for humor. My grandfather was the stereotypical republican, so imagining him talking to Ro was how I envisioned the father in the story. Two completely different mindsets on politics and two completely different kinds of backgrounds makes for some awkward conversations.

Finally, I do think it's rather sad how people, including myself, often judge people too quickly when they're not the norm. Renata talks of Ro: "He's sophisticated, he could make monkeys out of us all, but they think he's a retard" (page 72). I think in general people need to open up their minds to accept people from all kinds of cultures and see what they can learn from different kinds of people.