Debby Strotman

Mrs. Connor
English III/5
2 November 2012
A Glorified Fairytale
Will I marry a prince from a far-off magic land, where the pavements are silver and the
roofs are all gold? These are the lyrics to a song the narrator of Silver Pavement, Golden
Roofs used to sing in India when she was still a little girl. Chitra Divakaruni, an award-winning
Indian author, teacher, and poet, illuminates the common misconception immigrants have of
America being this perfect little Fairytale-like land where anybody and everybody can become
wealthy, something that is evidence in the lyrics of the song the narrator used to sing about
America. Divakarunis works often express the themes of women, immigration, and diversity,
themes which can also be found in Silver Pavements, Golden Roofs which follows the journey
of Jayanti, a young Indian immigrant, who enters America with this illusion of it being this
perfect place only to be faced with the harsh reality that America is not as perfect as she thought
it would be. Moreover, Chitra Divakarunis poignant short story portrays the struggle immigrants
face in American society when entering the United States with the American Dream only to have
Reality crush it with poverty, racism, and diversity.
Divakaruni offers insight into the life of an immigrant first moving to America through
the eyes of Jayanti, a young Indian girl who glorifies America at the beginning of her journey to
the Land of Freedom and Opportunity, only to learn later on that America isnt as perfect as she
imagined it to be. For a great portion of the story, Jayanti has this warped fairytale image of
America being this flawless place filled with prince[s] and pavements [that] are silver and
roofs [that are] all gold (83). Jayantis naivety about America partly has to do with her own
nations view of America which also glorifies the belief that all Americans live great and
prosperous lives. When she first arrived in America, Jayantis only knowledge of the country
came from information she learned second-hand and from magazines that emphasized the better
and wealthier parts of America as part of a tourist trap. Naturally, living in a poorer nation of the
world with more than half of Indias 1.1 billion [population] . . . living in poverty, Jayanti
would want and expect so much better from America, a powerhouse country in the world
(Kumar). However, Jayantis fairytale image slowly begins to fade, first by the sight of Bikram-
uncles low-class appearance, and then [their] apartment, which is just another
disappointment; her perfect image of America is completely shattered however when she
experiences her first racist experience in their trashy neighborhood (73, 81). Although she
came to America believing it was this fantastic place that was so much better than her own
country, Jayanti soon discovers for herself through first-hand experience that it is not. In fact, she
discovers that just like her own country it is filled with poverty despite all the opportunity it
offers to get rich. Additionally, she learns that America is filled with not only with poverty, but
also with hatred, racism, and discrimination over a part of herself that she cannot control.
Divakaruni also captures the racism and discrimination Indians face in a land that is
supposed to be the Land of Equality through the creation of Bikram-uncle, Jayantis aunts bitter
husband. At the beginning of the story, Bikram-uncle is portrayed as an extremely bitter and
overall unpleasant character who detests [America] who strives to keep Jayanti and her aunt
under his control (75, 77). With these negative aspects of Bikram-uncle so thoroughly
emphasized and only discrete details revealed here and there about his and his wifes lives before
Jayanti came to America, it is easy to assume he is just an antagonist of the story with no real
motivation behind his bitterness and controlling behavior. However, it is later revealed that the
source of Bikram-uncles unpleasant demeanor and rancorous attitude towards America stems
from try[ing] so hard and want[ing] to give [his wife] so many things only to fail in a
country . . . [that] pretends to give, [only to] snatch[] everything back (82). With this additional
information in mind, suddenly its not Bikram-uncle who looks like the bad guy, but America,
for it was the racism and discrimination he encountered in America that made him so bitter. Her
uncle simply came to America with a dream, the American dream, only to realize its not [that]
easy (75). For a great portion of the story, Jayanti has this negative opinion of her uncle,
believing he only wants to control and dominate aunt. However, Jayanti later comes to the
realization that he isnt controlling because he wants to dominate her aunt, but rather because he
wants to protect her and keep her safe from the unjust hatred of Americans. Through this
characterization of Bikram-uncle, Divakaruni is able to convey the negative aspects of
Americathe discrimation, the racial violence, the povertyand the effects they can have on
immigrants who come to American with a dream only to have that dream shattered like glass.
Divakarunis choice to include the setting in a poor neighborhood filled with poverty and
bigotry continues to highlight how America has been glorified as this wonderfully wealthy and
ideal country by India and other countries, when America, just as flawed as every other nation, is
filled with poverty and imperfections as well. For example, when Jayanti first came to her aunts
and uncles apartment she is surprised because it doesnt look anything like the American homes
she had seen . . . in Good Housekeeping and Sunset at the USIS library (73). Jayanti had
expected her aunt to have this beautiful, picture-perfect American home only to be disappointed
when she is presented with the exact opposite. However, Jayantis idealization of America is
simply a reflection of her own nations view of America. Nonetheless, coming from a less
advanced and much poorer nation than America, Jayantis high expectations of America are
understandable, even if they are farfetched. Jayanti also encounters her first experience with the
racial intolerance that fills parts of America when she and her aunt encounter four sallow
face[d,] . . . grime-streaked boys who throw fistful[s] of slush at them while they take a stroll
through their trashy neighborhood (7981). When she is first faced with such prejudice and
animosityfrom children, nonethelessJayanti is absolutely stunned, obviously because she
never had to deal with racial discrimination in India. But in India, she was basically the same as
everyone else thereshe was Indian; she was part of the same race, same culture. But in
America, she is only one of several minorities in the Great Melting Pot that is America. Her race,
something that she cannot change about herself, is also something others may latch onto to use as
an excuse to blame them for their poor living conditions, as evidence in the climax of Silver
Pavements, Golden Roofs.
Silver Pavement, Golden Roofs brilliantly captures the racial inequality and violence
that takes place daily in America, and the effects these injustices have on immigrants who are
victims to this bigotry. However, Divakaruni manages to kill two birds with one stone by also
portraying the poverty that harbors poor neighborhoods of America and the effects they have on
immigrants as well. The themes of diversity, immigration, and women that Divakaruni often
writes about in her works also help emphasize the immigrants extolment of America and the
inequitableness they find there when they finally do pursue their American dream. As many
immigrants come to learn, America may be this far-off land, but it is definitely not paved with all
riches or Prince Charmings waiting to ride their fair maiden off into the sunset on their white
stallions. If anything, America is just a glorified fairytale . . . .

Works Cited Page
Divakaruni, Chitra. Silver Pavements, Golden Roofs. Imagining America: Stories from the
Promised Land. Wesley Brown & Amy, 7756. Print.
Kumar, Arun. Half of Indias Population Lives below the Poverty Line. World Socialist Web
Site. 2 Aug. 2010. Web. 1 Aug. 2012.
<http://wsws.org/articles/2010/aug2010/indi-a02.shtml>
"Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni." Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Nov. 2012.
<http://www.chitradivakaruni.com/>.