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Usha narrates “Hell-Heaven.” She’s a first-generation Bengali American girl raised in New England, primarily influenced by her strict, traditional mother, Aparna. Drawn to western values and culture, Usha often finds herself caught between her Bengali heritage and American life, even as her mother tries to instill cultural customs and expectations within her. As a child, Usha idolizes Pranab Kaku—“Uncle Pranab”—viewing him as both a mentor and a friend. She frequently accompanies him and her mother on outings and adventures, and when Pranab begins dating Deborah, Usha spends time with them as a couple. However, as she grows older and matures, Usha’s perspective on Pranab and her family shifts, leading her to reassess her childhood views with new understanding.
Usha Quotes in Unaccustomed Earth
The Unaccustomed Earth quotes below are all either spoken by Usha or refer to Usha. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
1. Unaccustomed Earth
Quotes
Growing up, her mother’s example—moving to a foreign place for the sake of marriage, caring exclusively for children and a household—had served as a warning, a path to avoid. Yet this was Ruma’s life now.
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2. Hell-Heaven
Quotes
There is only one photograph in which my mother appears; she is holding me as I sit straddling her lap [...] In that picture, Pranab Kaku’s shadow, his two arms raised at angles to hold the camera to his face, hovers in the corner of the frame, his darkened, featureless shape superimposed on one side of my mother’s body. It was always the three of us.
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I began to take my cues from my father in dealing with her, isolating her doubly. When she screamed at me for talking too long on the telephone, or for staying too long in my room, I learned to scream back, telling her that she was pathetic, that she knew nothing about me, and it was clear to us both that I had stopped needing her, definitively and abruptly, just as Pranab Kaku had.
Get the entire Unaccustomed Earth LitChart as a printable PDF.
Usha Quotes in Unaccustomed Earth
The Unaccustomed Earth quotes below are all either spoken by Usha or refer to Usha. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
1. Unaccustomed Earth
Quotes
Growing up, her mother’s example—moving to a foreign place for the sake of marriage, caring exclusively for children and a household—had served as a warning, a path to avoid. Yet this was Ruma’s life now.
Related Characters:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
2. Hell-Heaven
Quotes
There is only one photograph in which my mother appears; she is holding me as I sit straddling her lap [...] In that picture, Pranab Kaku’s shadow, his two arms raised at angles to hold the camera to his face, hovers in the corner of the frame, his darkened, featureless shape superimposed on one side of my mother’s body. It was always the three of us.
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
I began to take my cues from my father in dealing with her, isolating her doubly. When she screamed at me for talking too long on the telephone, or for staying too long in my room, I learned to scream back, telling her that she was pathetic, that she knew nothing about me, and it was clear to us both that I had stopped needing her, definitively and abruptly, just as Pranab Kaku had.
