THE MANGO SEASON

-AMULYA MALLADI-

PART TWO
THATHA AND HIS MERRY WOMEN

Prepared by: Sitty Zulaiqah binti Mohd Zain

 Characters
• Priya
• Ammamma
• Thatha
• Ma
• Sowmya
• Neelima
• Lata
• Nick
• Nick’s mother, Frances
• Nick’s father
• Nick’s brother
• Anand
• Jayant
• Apoorva and Shalini
• Manju and Nilesh
 New words
• Pachadi (p.67) - a traditional South Indian fresh pickle
served as a side dish

• Avakai (p.67) – mango pickle

• Kallu (p.79) - Indian Language word for black guy. Used

instead of the N word.
Feminism Theory
• Radical feminism- against the norm
• Priya was being radical in the family and against the norm
as a woman in that society.
• “So, my brother who lives in Los Angeles told me that
nowadays Indians- not those foreigners, but Indian girls
and boys- live together… do everything when they are not
married. Why can’t they simply get married?”- Lata (p.75,
para.3)
• “Because they want to live together for a while, not spend
the rest of their lives together. Maybe they just want to test
the waters. Marriage is serious business. You don’t marry
the first guy you sleep with or live for that matter…”- Priya
(p.75, para.4)
• Having only daughters and no son in the family
considered as a burden.
• Lata did not want to have another daughter.
• “What if you have another daughter?” I asked what was
probably the most taboo question. “I won’t …. I know I
could, but I hope I won’t. All this for nothing, then.”- Lata
(p.77, para.7)
• Priya also thought that Lata would have undergone
abortion if she had another daughter.
Post- colonialism theory
• India was colonised by Britain.
• Thatha had a bad perspective to all Westerners.
• “All white people do is exploit the others. And the black
people kill. That country is just… no family values,
nothing…”- Thatha (p.80, para.1)
Reader-Response theory
 Discrimination and prejudice
• Priya’s family were being discriminate and prejudice
towards the Westerners.
• “The white people are just… crooks, and the black
people… those kallu people are all criminals.”- Ammamma
(p.79, para.6)
• Priya’s grandmother was being racist towards black
people.
• “All black people… dirty they are… All black people are
doing drugs and they kill on the street…” - Ammamma
(p.79, para. 6)
 Ethnocentrism
• Ma falsely accused Manju and Nilesh’s divorce were
because of the evil American influence.
• “Your friends… Manju and Nilesh, they were fine if they
had not gone to America…They went to America and now
they are getting a divorce after four years of marriage… if
they were in India, it would have never happened.” – Ma
(p.80)
• They had condemned the entire Western world to being
immoral criminals and crooks.
 Caste-based discrimination
• Priya’s family always put their race/caste and also
tradition in the first place.
• Thatha and Ammamma could not accept Neelima as their
daughter-in-law because she was a Maharashtrian, and
not a Telugu Brahmin. They said that Neelima seduced
Annand to marry her. They treated her badly even she
acted nicely.
• Neelima wanted to help Lata and Ma in the kitchen and
she was immediately shooed away (p.73, para.11)
 Obey the family rules
• As a woman, Priya was being asked so many things from
her family.
• “One aunt said I should learn to cook so that my husband
won’t starve, while the other wanted me to get pregnant in
case my reproductive organs gave up on me….my mother
who wanted me to marry any man who made what she
considered “good money.”- Priya (p.75, para.2)
 Family Acceptance
• Although Priya and Nick were from different ethnicity, but
Nick’s mother accepted Priya and she was undoubtedly
fascinated by Priya’s Indianness.
• “I’ve never spoke to an Indian before, but I love curry.” –
Frances (p.70, para. 4)
• “Nick’s mother – Frances – and I became friends. She
was an adorable woman who always remembered my
birthday and sent me gift, something she knew I wanted…
She always talked about our “impending” wedding and
changed the reception dinner menu regularly – her way of
asking us to hurry up and tie the knot and of course give
her grandchildren.” – Priya (p.70, para. 5)