English Essay Essay

The source, Moniza Alvi, has picked the perfect setting in the poem An incomprehensible Girl for the teller to explore her thoughts and feelings about her Indian birth burnish- an Indian bazaar. Probably like Moniza who has dealt with getting to k nowadays her Pakistani birth husbandry after beingness raised in the UK, the Indian vote counter has great(p) up a elan from her birth grow. Thrown in the middle of the Indian bazaar where everything is unfamiliar and strange to her much like her cultural identity. The writer has the vote counter confront her nuance head on forcing her with the mould of emersion to come to terms with her farming and eventually sweep up it as being an indwelling trip of her identity.By finding connections between her westerly civilization in which she was in all probability raised and this unknown east gloss, the fibber develops strong feelings of longing to get to know her birth goal more. From the amaze of the poem, it is clear that the writer is effectively communicating the narrators feelings of gulf with her easterly heritage. The repeating of the word extraterrestrial being effectively summarises her contact with her goal it is something foreign to her. Her first thought of disconnection is the main feeling in her mind.The situation that finished-out the poem she keeps repeating level, which is usually a clock when wad be asleep and dreaming of important things in their lives, pull ahead highlights that her close has been hibernating within her waiting for someone to wake it up. Presently her culture precisely exists in her dreams it is not a reality in her perfunctory life.The title unknown little lady friend suggests that her own identity is a noncitizen to her she does not fully know herself as she has cut off an requisite part of anyones identity her birth culture. At the same time, the repetition of unknown misfire through-out the poem creates a chorus-like effect that effect ively draws the lecturers attention to the fact that it is the unknown lady friend who is tincting her hand that leave wake up the eastern culture within the narrator.The unknown girl checks what her culture is to her foreign. Unlike the narrator, this unknown girl has embraced her culture which is shown by the fact that she is tingeing her hand which is a tralatitious eastern art and is wearing traditional satin clothes. As the narrator gazes at this girl during thelong process of hennaing her hand, she probably has begun to wonder why she has not embraced the eastern heritage like this girl has. She is perhaps feeling a little timid about getting to know her culture though this unknown girl as the unknown girl steadies her hand. In the first steps towards getting to know her culture, the narrator begins to see some lulu within this eastern culture.The writer effectively shows that the narrator now sees a clear link between her eastern and her horse opera culture and realise s there is mantrap in two. Through the procedure of a metaphor, she compargons the beautiful art of henna flowing elegantly on her hand to that of the traditional western art of glass a cake. frost a cake is naturally beautiful and artistic as well. This girl helps her to recognise that the Eastern traditional art of hennaing her hand since it is like icing a cake is overly a beautiful art-craft that obviously takes skills as the unknown girl is doing it deftly and is, therefore, an art to be admired.Yes, she does recognise her culture and the bang in it, but at this commove she solely associates it as belonging to the unknown girl only. The repetition of the third person pronoun she and her highlights that her culture is currently outside of her and only belongs to the girl hennaing her hand. It hasnt stock-still seeped into her merely the remains of her culture that the unknown girl has begun to give her at this advert only exists on the outside- on her hand. Later on, she realises that the portray that has been given to her is priceless. For a few rupees the unknown girl gave her something that she would value for life. It conveys that a rich gift like her culture was handed to her without any price.Through the process of hennaing her hand, the culture that was at once a distant imagination has now become a reality. At this point in the poem, the writer effectively specifies colour into the poem. The come to of balloons creates and image of bright colour in the readers mind. Since we be all familiar with balloons in our childhood and the carefree times associated with them at parties, the writer has in any case created an idea of joy and happiness one bed experience through embracing their cultural identity.The colour along with the expend of sustained make use of of traditional Indian dialect such as kameez suggests that at this point, the narrators culture is becoming more of a reality she can no longer ignore it. As the unknown girl co ntinues to henna, the narrator notes more beautiful aspects of her culture. As the henna is primed(p) on her hands, sheis struck by the beauty of the peacock lines and she reflects the beauty of the henna with the form of the poem itself. A peacock is a bird that only reveals its beauty by fanning out its colourful feathers, similar to how the radiance in her culture is gradually becoming aware to her.The colours like the northeast lights are vibrant suggesting her culture is alive and shining in the vestige eve. At this point, we are made aware that the narrators culture is becoming more of a part of her reality as the peacock spreads across her palm, suggesting that her culture impart soon not be cut back to estimable her hand. So, while the peacock can be argued to represent the beauty that is unearthing in her birth culture, it could also be argued that since the peacock is a subject field bird of India, it can also represent the national disdain that surrounds her eas tern culture identity which foreshadows that she too will also find pride through embracing her eastern heritage.Furthermore, the fact that a peacock doesnt reveal its beauty until it opens its feathers, suggests that one must(prenominal) be open and volition in order to notice the beauty in a foreign culture otherwise they skill just be blinded by the negative images and blaring neon lights. Despite recognising the beauty that surrounds her culture, the writer indeed shows us that the narrator is beginning to feel conflicted about her cultural identities. The dummies weight and stare at her as if they are judging and questioning her.The dummies are an external symbol of her versed struggle. They wear traditional clothing and yet have western perms. Through the personification of the dummies through their tilts and stares the writer suggests that the narrator feels as if they are mocking her, asking why she is embracing this eastern culture when the western one she comes from is far from superior. It makes her self-conscious, and yet again, she is left confused. Shes just like them its like she cant come along to decide whether to embrace the eastern or western culture. Can they both exist together? Whats more, the people in the bazaar itself only compound her conflicting feelings.It seems that people within this neon bazaar are also being pulled into two directions as they have embraced many aspects of the western culture. The banners of fail India make her wonder why she should embrace her eastern culture when people in her own culture have abandoned it. The Miss India contest is originated from the west it requires females to be less modest than the eastern culture permits. The streets are furious with soundswhich implies chaos and I imagine that is how she feels at the moment.Yet, it could also be argues that the banners for Miss India also reinforce the idea that there is beauty in her culture. Probably due to her upbringing in the west, the narra tor most(prenominal) like felt like she was different from the norm, but back in the eastern culture she sees that people that look like her are also considered beautiful. This is probably the first time that she realised that someone with dark skin, whisker and eyes could be used as an icon as in the west the standard for beauty is fair skin, blonde hair and down(p) eyes.This knowledge that she is beautiful is comforting that she feeling knowing that there is beauty in her culture. Before, she associated culture with the unknown girl hennaing her hand, but now, she sees it as an essential part of her. She was metaphorically asleep, in a dreamlike state, in this evening bazaar. But now she is waking up. The writer at this point shows that the narrator has acknowledged that her culture is an essential part of her. Through the use of a metaphor, the writer effectively communicates that the narrator has new brown veins. These represent her eastern culture seeping into her skin and g oing all the way to her heart like veins do, replacing (metaphorically) her previously western blood with eastern blood. It is as if a new life force, flowing powerfully through her.As we know, veins travel through-out our body and provide a blood interpret to vital organs indicating that her culture is now a vital part of her being. This change towards embracing her culture was only done through the intellect of safety. Here the writers use of free verse is seen as important suggesting that one should be free to explore their feelings and culture at their own free will when you are ready as being oblige to might cause someone to develop negative feelings towards those nerve-wracking to force the culture on them.The free verse suits the poem as it reflects that the narrator is exploring her thoughts freely and at her own pace, as everyone comes to important understandings at their own speed and should not feel rushed or forced to confirm. Because the writer essentially allowed t he narrator to freely explore her thoughts, she is able to embrace the beautiful aspects of her culture. In addition, the writer effectively shows the narrators discouragement to cling onto her culture. She expertly conveys this through her use of the simile like people who cling to the side of a train.Like the people clinging onto the train, the narrator feels she must clingonto her culture, grab it and never allow go, because you dont know when another(prenominal) train will come again. This could be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and if she doesnt catch this train she may never get another chance. This may well be her last chance to connect with her culture, and she must grab it, otherwise, it might fade away. This feeling of desperation to cling onto her culture matches with the fact that her cultural reawakening is very faint to begin with.Like the henna that initially is soft as a snail trail her reconnection with her culture is fragile and weak. If she doesnt hard like s craping the henna off she might never unearth all the beautiful aspects of her culture like the atomic number 79 bird beneath. She knows that if she doesnt put effort to fully prod and embrace her culture, it will disappear just like the henna that will fade in a week. Her once conflicting feelings are now calm she has fully embraced her culture.The juxtaposition of contrasting sounds of the streets, signals the end of her internal conflict. The furious streets at first represented her confusion and how out-of-place she felt, but once she has unearthed the beauty beneath the brown lines of henna, the furious streets are now placid, and this contrast shows how great her feelings towards her culture have changed. To conclude, she is grateful to this unknown girl but realises that if she doesnt work hard to reconnect with her culture after this evening bazaar that she will lose connection and her reawakening will fade just like the henna of her hand will fade in a weeks time.So a gi rl who once fix the scene strange and foreign now reaches across the table in thanks and in desperation to get to know this unknown girl. She now has new brown veins as if the henna has seeped inside and her culture courses through her blood. On this night, a bond has been made between the two cultures. kind of of distancing herself from her eastern heritage, the narrator will now lean across gain out, yearning for the unknown girl symbolising that she will not let the bond she has developed with her birth culture die.