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THE APOSTLE IN TRIUMPH

(General article based on the cultural conflict and criticism)

Losing Culture to Coca-Cola: an Examination of the Influence from the West in India and Latin America

The introduction of western corporations in less-developed regions often times causes these regions to become alienated from their native cultures. In particular, in India and Latin America, when western companies came, and especially when they flourished in the 20th century, it created a loss of native culture and introduction of certain aspects of western cultures in those regions. This isolation from their native cultures caused mixed feelings in the people of these regions, shown particularly in the writings of Anita Desai of India, and Pablo Neruda of Chile, in Latin America.

Anita Desai was barely ten years old when India received its independence from British colonial rule. This independence was not regarded as a joyous occasion, however. Among others, Mohandas (Mahatma) Gandhi and Lord Wavell, then Viceroy to India, both foresaw violence in the decision to place power into Indian hands. Both were ignored, however, and Lord Wavell submitted his resignation (Duiker 849 and Wallbank p. 85-6). Despite the fact that Clement Attlee, Prime Minister of Great Britain, was informed of the grave mistake granting India its independence would be at that point in time, he was determined to place the power to rule the nation in the hands of the Indians. In this manner, it was the withdrawal of the British from India that brought suffering unto the people, because it aggravated the fighting between the Hindus and Muslims.

While Anita Desai was quite young at this point, it is still likely that she remembers certain events that took place. Regardless of how scant her memory might be, her novels portray the changes that her country was going through, particularly the effects upon families even if her portrayal was often symbolic and placed in a different time period (“Anita Desai [2]” par.1). The theme of missing family members is particularly prevalent in her works. For example, in The Farewell Party, Bina, the hostess, has a handicapped son, Nono, who, until the very end of the story, is not present at the party. It is not until most of the guests have left and only Nono’s doctors remain that he is allowed to join in the party. In fact, Desai writes of this time, “the party now truly began” (par.37). This comment could imply a couple things: first, that while the others re around, Bina feels she cannot relax because she feels like she has to impress them. Since she cannot relax and have fun, the party is not really a party for Bina. However, this fact could also imply that the only true friends present at the party are Nono’s doctors, and since they remain concealed until everyone else leaves (par. 36), it is not until they emerge that the party starts. Inherent in the latter implication is the fact that because the doctors have grown so close to Nono in treating him, so too did they form a more intimate relationship with the rest of the family than anyone else in the town had. In this manner, the family member that is absent for the majority of the party is indeed the one that has brought the family closest together.

The idea of the absence of family members is very telling of India. Traditionally, family is very important, and with the withdrawal of the British and the splitting of India into two nations, it is very likely that some families got split up in the division of the two nations. [[I remember hearing something about this in one of my previous World History classes—it might have just been speculation and I intend to find some sources that say this. If I cannot find some, I’ll nix this point]]. Not only that, but as a result of the withdrawal of the British, many families lost members who died in the riots and other violent acts that took place. [[A friend of mine is going to lend me a movie he has entitled Gandhi, which shows some of the violence that occurred between the Hindus and Muslims. I intend to use that as one of my sources.]]

Another theme common in Anita Desai’s works is that of travel and migration. In her stories, the migration that takes place is much more focused towards movement from the country to the city or vice-versa. In The Farewell Party, the reason Bina is throwing a party is because her husband has gotten transferred to be stationed in Bombay and they will therefore be leaving their house in a small town to live there. This theme of migration and travel could also be attributed to the split [[I’ll find a better word for this]] of India and Pakistan. When India was split into India and Pakistan, many people had to make the move from where they had lived for much or all of their lives depending upon where the prince in charge of their region decided to go. [[I’ll go more into depth about this]]

Another theme that is common in Desai’s writing is that of a dual-culture. This is seen in The Farewell Party particularly in Bina’s children. The children are said to be drinking Coca-Cola and Fanta (par. 21), both beverages which have been made in the west. Not only that, but Bina’s son __?__ runs over to his father at one point, asking to play his Beatles record (par 20), and Bina’s daughter, Tara, dances to a Chubby Checker record (par. 31). Both of these show the influence that western culture is having on India, as the children not only are drinking western-made drinks, but are also dancing and listening to the music that is popular in the west. However, Desai does not seem to be vehemently against this melting pot of cultures, perhaps because of her own dual-nationality with a German mother and Bengali father. I do however get something of a sense of longing for tradition, as Bina does not feel close to all of the “corporate” guests at her party—many of whom are referred to by the companies that they work for, like Imperial Tobacco, Brooke Bond, and Esso. Bina’s closeness and intimacy is with the doctors, who are more likely to still have some kind of hold on traditional Indian culture, while those who are working for these western companies that have come into India are less likely to have as much of a reverence for their native cultures. [[I’ll expand some more upon this]].

While Anita Desai does not tend to demonize the influence of the west in India, Pablo Neruda’s depiction of the influence of western corporations is much more explicitly negative. In his poem entitled “The United Fruit Company,” he lists a number of western corporations that have established themselves in Latin America. He writes, “Jehova gave the world/to Coca-Cola Inc., Anaconda, Ford Motors…/The United Fruit Company/reserved for itself the most juicy/piece” (Neruda ln. 3-8). This depicts the monopolies that certain companies had in the world—Coca-Cola’s monopoly on beverages, Ford’s monopoly over cars, et cetera. However, his comment on the United Fruit Company demonstrates what the rest of the poem is going to emphasize: the United Fruit Company’s involvement in the “most juicy piece” of the world: Latin America.

Starting in the second stanza, Neruda writes, “It baptized these countries/Banana Republics” (Neruda ln.10-11), which shows that the United Fruit Company created these countries anew; upon being baptized, they were no longer the same. The changes that occurred are obvious later on in the stanza; Neruda claims that United Fruit Company “gave out imperial crowns/…attracted the dictatorship of flies:/Trujillo flies, Tachos flies,/ Carias flies, Martinez flies,/ Ubico flies” (ln.21-3). The different flies named are those of the different dictators that ruled in Latin American countries. These dictators would often overlook the well-being of their people by allowing the western corporations to exploit the native peoples of their countries. [[I will research some of these dictators in particular to give more insight about how they changed the countries/wronged the people]].

One of the ways in which Neruda demonizes the corporations is by characterizing the lands and the people as beautiful and noble. Neruda calls Latin America not only “the most juicy piece” but also “the delicate waist of America” (ln.9). The personification of America and in particular referring to Latin America as a “delicate waist” creates an image, at least in my mind, of a beautiful woman with a thin, delicate waist. This instills the desire to keep the woman safe from any brutish hands—and who would those hands belong to? They could be the dictators’, or they could belong to companies like the United Fruit Company. The natives are characterized as noble and brave: “…the unquiet heroes/who won greatness/liberty” (Neruda ln.13-5). This characterization is likely to cause the reader to feel some kind of sympathy for these people who had worked so hard, who had died, to bring their countries freedom, only to have the freedom taken again by dictatorships and by the involvement of western corporations who exploit the native peoples of the land, the descendants of the great heroes who brought liberty to the countries of Latin America.

The characterization of the natives and the land is contrasted with that of the dictators. The dictators are referred to as flies, which are known to fly around carcasses and even to feed off of them. The flies are also “sticky with submissive blood” (ln. 24): the blood of the natives. In fact, not only are they sticky with blood, but they are portrayed as “[flying] over/the tombs of the people” (ln.25-6) and “bloodthirsty” (ln. 29), which implies that they are even thirsty for more blood and that indeed it does not phase them that their peoples are dying.

After the installation of the dictators in the Latin American countries, the state of the natives has changed. They are still their honorable and brave selves, but now they are simply “a corpse… a thing without/name, a discarded number,/a bunch of rotten fruit/ thrown on the garbage heap” (ln. 39-42). This demonstrates that with the coming of the dictatorships into power, the native peoples were no longer looked at as human beings, but were simply nameless numbers, fruits, garbage. They were simply numbers to be exploited by the corporations like United Fruit, to benefit the dictator and United Fruit.

Both Pablo Neruda and Anita Desai grew up in cultures that were overpowered and even run by western cultures at some point in their history. While both spoke out about the loss of culture due to the influence of the west, their viewpoints did differ. With Anita Desai, the loss of culture was much more a changing of cultures and an integrating of western culture into the culture that was already there, whereas with Pablo Neruda, the culture of the natives was, not quite obliterated, but was definitely violently impacted by the influence of the west. To this day, much of Latin America still has instable governments in power, and much of the time this instability can be attributed to the west’s influence.

Problems:
(1) no latin american history. i have a couple books on it now so hopefully that'll be easier... once i start reading a couple portions of the books.
(2) hemal keeps pointing out fallacies/wrong interpretations of the indian history. it wasnt wrong interpretations as much as it was me trying to write it easily when it's not as easy as i have it written. it's drawing connections and placing blame where it doesnt necessarily belong.
(3) i need to change my thesis to tie in the other stuff about anita desai--the theme of missing family members and migration need to be tied into the thesis. so the thesis is gonna have to be more general--not western companies/corporations, but the influence, period, of the west there are probably many other things too. but i'll leave that to furgol and collins to comment on. Btw, shoutout to goddessoffate, my dear friend mindy--she may not be reading this, but i'm thinking of her constantly. i've gone from feeling like she was surely going to die, to having the utmost faith that she can get better. She’s truly a living miracle and i feel so fortunate to have gotten to know her. :)

FASTING, FEASTING - ANITA DESAI 09 OCTOBER 1999

Plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose! The more things change the more they remain the same. It doesn't matter where you live, how much you earn, what you do. The vacuousness and lack of purpose that can pervade our lives, will do so, irrespective. Neither in excess, nor in deprivation or denial, is there happiness or peace of mind.
The first half of the book deals with life in a small, slow town in India, with rigid parents and well-drafted routines while the other half deals with "rule-less' life in suburban US.

The more detailed, "Indian half" deals with an orthodox family in a small provincial town. A partly successful, proud father, who goes through life, with set patterns and no passion. A mother who goes along with her husband, doing what is supposedly right and expected of her, curbing and killing all her innate desires. Three children. The eldest, Uma, clumsy and "Forrest Gumpish". The middle daughter Aruna, pretty, ambitious and smart, but eventually also a victim of her choices. The last, a son, Arun, on whom the parents put all their dreams and energies. All of them along with members of their extended family go through some form of deprivation - of will, of fun, of passion and of love.

The second half deals with Arun, who finds his way to the US, on a scholarship, having being forced by his father to "mug" his way through school and college. There, he finds solitude to be his best friend. Quirkily, even this desire to be alone, does not get fulfilled to the extent he wants. Unlike life in India, in the US he finds a world of excesses - of food, of body and of non-interference, both parental and otherwise. Through his eyes we see the Patton family - a "barbecuing", disappointed father, a nervous, uncertain, wannabe vegetarian mother, a body-obsessed, jock son and a bulimic, neurotic daughter. All of them go through some form of corruption - of will, of fun, of passion and of love.

Uma is the main character in the first half. She is a clumsy, uncoordinated woman who finds it difficult to succeed in almost everything she does - she fails in school, can't cook, spills food and drink and can't find anyone worthwhile to get married to. Two attempts at getting her married end in disaster - in the first, a family cons her father into giving dowry and then breaks off the engagement, keeping the money. In the second, she actually gets married, but to an already married man - when her father realizes this later, he brings her back and gets her divorced. When she has an offer to work in a local hospital (when she is already in her 40s), her parents refuse to let her even consider the offer. Aruna, Uma's younger sister is a pretty and ambitious woman, who eventually gets married to a "prize-catch" and migrates to Bombay, apparently moving up in life. But she too is unhappy, with the need to constantly keep up with appearances and the "Joneses", at the same time neurotically obsessed with the need to keep her husband and children under her control at all times.

In Anita Desai's world, there is only one winner. The bubbly, next door neighbor who throughout the rule of her evil mother-in-law maintains her sense of humor and eventually when the mom-in-law dies, takes over the house benevolently and raises her children, properly and reasonably happily. Every other character in the book is in trouble.

The problem with the book is its dry, clinical approach in chronicling the lives of its characters. The book is obviously well written with hardly a word or phrase out of sync. Yet the book lacks passion. I was always on the outside, a mildly interested voyeur, looking into the lives of uninteresting people. The book offers no chance of getting involved with the characters - unlike "An Equal Music", it is not a page-turner - you can read the book over ten days without even remotely feeling the compulsion to finish it quickly. But, as happens with such books, it will eventually get a whole bunch of awards and will probably become prescribed reading in university literature courses. And I suppose, it is presumptuous of me to even try and review such books....