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Deborah
In “Hell-Heaven,” Usha’s father is a reserved, dutiful man who is devoted to his family but emotionally distant from them. More pragmatic than Aparna, he adapts to American life without the same cultural reservations, though he does not fully engage with Usha or Aparna’s personal struggles. His practical, quiet demeanor contrasts with Aparna’s emotional attachment to the more outgoing Pranab and her longing for her former life in Calcutta, further highlighting the cultural divide within their family.
Usha’s Father Quotes in Unaccustomed Earth
The Unaccustomed Earth quotes below are all either spoken by Usha’s Father or refer to Usha’s Father. 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:
).
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.
Get the entire Unaccustomed Earth LitChart as a printable PDF.
Usha’s Father Quotes in Unaccustomed Earth
The Unaccustomed Earth quotes below are all either spoken by Usha’s Father or refer to Usha’s Father. 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:
).
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.
