Previous
2. Hell-Heaven
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Unaccustomed Earth, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Cultural Identity and the Immigrant Experience
Family and Generational Conflict
Love, Loss, and Nostalgia
Loneliness and Isolation
Home and Belonging
Summary
Analysis
Amit and his wife, Megan, travel from their home in New York to the Berkshires to attend the wedding of one of Amit’s old friends, Pam Borden. They stay at a small hotel in the area, though the wedding ceremony itself will be held at Langford Academy, Amit’s old boarding school where Pam’s father was the headmaster. Amit doesn’t miss his time at Langford, and he cannot fathom sending his daughters, Maya and Monika, there as his parents once sent him. He notices the view from their balcony is obscured by trees and suggests they switch rooms—as they often do while traveling—but Megan reminds him they’ll only be there for a weekend.
Despite Amit’s ties to Langford, he cannot imagine subjecting his daughters to the same experience, revealing a lingering resentment toward his parents for initially sending him there. His poor view from the hotel balcony and habit of switching rooms speak to his restless search for comfort, even in temporary settings. However, Megan’s pragmatism underscores their differing perspectives, as Amit grapples with a past that Megan views as mostly irrelevant to their present.
Themes
As Amit dresses for the wedding, a wave of melancholy washes over him. His daily life is uninspiring, and Megan is so busy with her Mount Sinai residency. They haven’t taken a vacation, just the two of them, since before the birth of their youngest daughter, Monika, three years prior. Now that they’re here, Amit has a hard time not thinking about his daughters, hoping his in-laws remember everything they’re supposed to while watching them. Megan has always been laxer and more lenient with their kids, whereas Amit obsesses over their safety, convinced something horrible could happen to them at any moment.
Amit’s melancholy reflects his internal stagnation and the emotional distance in his marriage, where the demands of family and Megan’s career leave little room for the intimacy they once shared. His anxiety about his daughters’ safety points to his role as the more cautious parent, further reinforcing the unspoken disconnect between him and Megan.
Themes
Megan discovers a burn mark in her skirt that she hadn’t noticed while packing and tells Amit she can’t go to the wedding. Amit briefly suspects this may be a ploy to avoid a wedding where she knows virtually no one, but her genuine distress convinces him otherwise. In front of the bathroom mirror, she turns the skirt so that the hole is on her side and stands next to Amit, his body concealing the flaw altogether. She half-jokes that if they remain in this position all night, no one will notice the hole. Amit laments the fact that, though Megan is five years his senior, his 37-year-old face somehow appears older than hers—and his prematurely gray hair doesn’t help.
Megan’s self-consciousness and Amit’s suspicion that she might be trying to skip the wedding indicate subtle strains on their marriage, but this moment before the mirror demonstrates the enduring closeness and intimacy they rely on to cover imperfections—both literal and figurative—in their partnership. Still, Amit’s fixation on his aging appearance (in the place where he spent much of his youth) reveals his own insecurity, a feeling he and Megan both share.
Themes
Arriving at Langford, Amit is reminded of his adolescence there. He’d been shocked when, in ninth grade, his parents announced they were moving from Massachusetts to New Delhi and sending him to boarding school. As the only Indian student at Langford, Amit initially felt displaced and homesick, and although he eventually assimilated with his peers, he never forgave his parents for their abandonment. During Thanksgivings, Amit and other students with nowhere to go gathered at Headmaster Borden’s house. Pam, the headmaster’s daughter, was always there, and all the students—including Amit—were infatuated with her.
Returning to Langford prompts Amit to confront complex and uncomfortable memories of his forced independence. His crush on the classically beautiful Pam, like the other male students’, reflects his universal desire for belonging. His time at Langford remains colored by loneliness and disconnection, leaving behind wounds that haven’t yet healed now that he’s an adult.
Themes
Get the entire Unaccustomed Earth LitChart as a printable PDF.
Pam always knew that men perceived her as beautiful and charming, and she always remained just out of the Langford boys’ reach. When Amit decided to attend Columbia, Pam unexpectedly followed suit, and the pair formed a bond during their early years on campus. Once, at a party, a drunk Amit boldly kissed Pam. She briefly kissed back before pulling away, gently letting him know that his romantic feelings were not reciprocated. After college, Pam tenuously kept in touch, sending wedding and birthday gifts but seldom calling or visiting Amit in person.
In high school and college, Amit idealized Pam in part because she was inaccessible. In the present, she remains both a connection to his past and a formative experience of unrequited love. Pam’s polite rejection after their college kiss and intermittent contact afterward underscore how this connection was ultimately never meant to flourish beyond adolescent yearning.
Themes
As guests mingle before the ceremony, Amit finds himself missing Maya and Monika. An old classmate, Ted Schultz, suddenly approaches, and Amit awkwardly introduces him to Megan as “Tim.” Amit explains that he and Megan met in med school, though he dropped out before graduating. They speak briefly about Ryan, the older TV writer who Pam is marrying, though they know little about him. During the wedding ceremony, Amit reflects on his own life. Although Pam remains “the most beautiful woman he had ever known,” Amit doesn’t regret his life with Megan. He only wishes he had more milestones to look forward to.
Amit’s deep embarrassment at mixing up Ted’s name and his awkward interactions speak to his discomfort in revisiting his teenage stomping grounds. Though the thoughts of his daughters and his life with Megan point to an objective contentment, they’re tinged with a desire for greater fulfillment. Pam’s timeless beauty reminds Amit of his youthful perspective, but he recognizes the value of the life he’s built with Megan.
Themes
After the ceremony, Pam introduces Amit and Megan to her husband, Ryan, and her stepchildren. She’s disappointed that Amit didn’t bring Maya and Monika, whom she had hoped to meet. Later, while Megan waits in line for the bathroom, Amit grabs fresh drinks and catches up with old instructors and classmates. Mr. Nagle, his former English teacher, is surprised to learn that Amit didn’t pursue a career in journalism. Amit had gone to medical school to please his parents, but he left after two years of feeling overworked and unmotivated. When he finds Megan again, she’s seemingly flirting with Ted Schultz, but Amit is somewhat relieved her attention is occupied.
Amit’s choice to pursue—and eventually abandon—medical school highlights his lifelong struggle between familial duty and personal identity. Megan’s security in her own medical career contributes to his feelings of inadequacy. His mix of relief and detachment as Megan chats with Ted emphasizes their unspoken understandings and the quiet, complex dynamics that have evolved throughout their years together.
Themes
During dinner, Amit and Megan are seated by a couple, Felicia and Jared, who quickly engage them in separate conversations. Felicia asks Amit about their wedding, and Amit, growing increasingly drunk, explains that they eloped at City Hall. At the time, it had felt exciting and rebellious, and he’d reveled in angering his parents. As Felicia asks more personal questions, Amit frankly admits that his marriage “disappeared” after their second daughter, Monika, was born. Privately, he reflects on the resentment he harbors toward Megan, who, due to her demanding work, leaves much of the parenting to him. He feels they’ve only grown more distant with each passing year.
Amit’s drunken openness with Felicia reflects his pent-up frustrations and detachment from Megan. His confession that their marriage “disappeared” after Monika’s birth reveals the toll parenthood has taken on their intimacy, particularly as he feels burdened by the demands of Megan’s prestigious career—one that he, too, could have had if he’d remained in medical school. In his tipsy midlife crisis, Amit ponders whether he married Megan purely out of love or, perhaps, to spite his parents.
Themes
Amit tells Megan that he’s going to find a payphone to call Maya and Monika before their bedtime, as they said they would. Megan promises they’ll dance together when he returns and stay up to watch the sunrise. Amit drunkenly stumbles back to the hotel—only a few minutes’ walk from Langford—but is angry that he cannot remember his in laws’ phone number when he gets to the room. Suddenly woozy, he passes out. When he wakes up, it’s 11 a.m., and he has only a faint recollection of the night before. He notices that Megan didn’t sleep in their bed and then spots her sitting on the balcony, drinking coffee.
What could have been a much-needed evening of bonding for Amit and Megan devolves into a disappointment when Amit passes out early in their hotel room. Megan’s romantic hopes of dancing with her husband and staying up to watch the sunrise together are dashed by Amit’s irresponsibility, inching the couple closer and closer to a breaking point.
Themes
Without turning to face Amit, Megan coldly recounts how she returned at three in the morning—by which point the hotel concierge had informed her that her husband was safe—and watched the sunrise alone. Amit apologizes for abandoning her, but Megan is silent, deeply upset. She tells him she’s called her parents and informed them they’ll be returning home that afternoon to pick up Maya and Monika, a day earlier than planned. Though Amit would rather stay, he knows he has no room to protest. He does, however, suggest they briefly stop by Pam’s wedding brunch, and Megan passively agrees. They pack their things and wander across the Langford campus, the weather overcast and cool.
Megan’s executive decision to leave Langford early communicates exactly how she feels about Amit’s behavior at the reception. Still, agreeing to attend Pam’s brunch signals her willingness to forgive and to compromise, especially considering her implied suspicion that Amit and Pam may have once been romantically involved.
Themes
Without knowing exactly where they’re supposed to go, they nearly give up their search, but Amit and Megan eventually find the remnants of what was a buffet of pastries and coffee. By now, the brunch is long over. Heading back to their car, the rain intensifies, and they slip into a nearby open dormitory, which is still vacant as school isn’t in session. Megan asks Amit if he ever had romantic feelings for Pam, and he finally admits to his schoolboy crush. Moments later, they make love on the bare mattress of an empty dorm room, uninterrupted, enjoying the thrill of the moment. As Amit strokes Megan’s arm afterward, admiring her body—which is still so beautiful to him—he hopes she’s forgiven him.
Langford’s eerily empty campus mirrors the aimlessness and distance that Amit and Megan feel in their marriage. But when Amit admits to his former crush and spontaneously had sex with Megan in a rainstorm, it reignites the excitement and tenderness that once defined their relationship. Thus, it suggests a return to their natural rhythm. In this moment, the rain symbolizes a renewed connection, emphasizing the natural cycles and fluctuations of romantic partnership.
Themes
