Chameleon: Mother and Skin Color
Chameleon
“Love has no culture, boundaries, race and religion. It is pure and beautiful like early morning sunrise falling in lake.” is a quote by Santosh Kalwar, who writes books about truth, love and relationships. What he expresses is that it doesn’t matter what skin color you have, as long it is real love. In the novel “Chameleon” by Ranbir Sahota we hear about a girl named Rita. Rita has problems balancing between who she wants to be, and who she is expected to be because of her race. She is desperately trying hard to be fully integrated but is finding it difficult because her family is so old fashioned. When it comes to love she doesn’t know if she should make her parents happy or follow her own heart.
A first person narrator named Rita, where we have access to only her thoughts, tells the short story. Rita is the main protagonist in the novel and a daughter of an Indian Sikh. Opposite to her family, being integrated means a lot to her, and in her everyday life in England, she is trying to fit in. Her father only moved to England because some of his friends did. Therefore they don’t want to integrate simply because they don’t have the love and passion for the country. She on the other hand has graduated from Sheffield University and went to teach English in Germany. Eating white food, listing to white music and bleaching her own skin is just part of her daily life for trying to be part of the English society.
The title is “Chameleon” and describes Rita and how she can blend in, even though she is dark. According to her, the Indian culture doesn’t allow women to have a voice. Her mother and father has set up an arranged marriage for her, where the men can have expectations for her, but she cant expect anything from them. Rita doesn’t have an interest towards Indian men because she sees them as brothers and boring. Therefore she is dating a white man named Mark behind her parent’s back. Even though it is against the Indian culture values and
“Love has no culture, boundaries, race and religion. It is pure and beautiful like early morning sunrise falling in lake.” is a quote by Santosh Kalwar, who writes books about truth, love and relationships. What he expresses is that it doesn’t matter what skin color you have, as long it is real love. In the novel “Chameleon” by Ranbir Sahota we hear about a girl named Rita. Rita has problems balancing between who she wants to be, and who she is expected to be because of her race. She is desperately trying hard to be fully integrated but is finding it difficult because her family is so old fashioned. When it comes to love she doesn’t know if she should make her parents happy or follow her own heart.
A first person narrator named Rita, where we have access to only her thoughts, tells the short story. Rita is the main protagonist in the novel and a daughter of an Indian Sikh. Opposite to her family, being integrated means a lot to her, and in her everyday life in England, she is trying to fit in. Her father only moved to England because some of his friends did. Therefore they don’t want to integrate simply because they don’t have the love and passion for the country. She on the other hand has graduated from Sheffield University and went to teach English in Germany. Eating white food, listing to white music and bleaching her own skin is just part of her daily life for trying to be part of the English society.
The title is “Chameleon” and describes Rita and how she can blend in, even though she is dark. According to her, the Indian culture doesn’t allow women to have a voice. Her mother and father has set up an arranged marriage for her, where the men can have expectations for her, but she cant expect anything from them. Rita doesn’t have an interest towards Indian men because she sees them as brothers and boring. Therefore she is dating a white man named Mark behind her parent’s back. Even though it is against the Indian culture values and