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Chapter 18
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Inheritance of Loss, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Colonialism and Globalization
Poverty vs. Privilege
Home and Belonging
Gender and Misogyny
Power and Humiliation
Summary
Analysis
Saeed Saeed runs into Biju and tells him that he has left Banana Republic and gotten married to a woman who worked with him at a restaurant. Now, they’re practicing for their INS interview. Biju is surprised that her parents are letting her marry him. Saeed says that her family loves him: they’re a family of “Vermont hippies” and support any subversion of the U.S. government. On the way home, Biju tries to smile at American women. They barely look at him.
Saeed’s progression further illuminates the mythology surrounding American opportunity and social mobility. If the only way to come to America and succeed is to marry someone willing to subvert the U.S. government, then the cycle of economic inequality is not actually easy to break.
Themes
The cook goes to the post office, complaining that the letters are all wet. Lola tries to call her daughter for her birthday, but a man tells her that the satellite for the phones is down. She and the cook commiserate about not being able to phone or send letters.
In many ways, the weather and the natural landscape serve as an equalizer in breaking down economic distinctions. A loss of modern appliances and technology puts the cook and Lola in the same situation.
Themes
