Themes and message

The main themes explored in the story “The Word Love” by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni are cultural differences and love. The writer’s message with the short story is that cultural differences often challenge relationships, but that people should not let themselves be defined by what others expect of them, but instead find their own ident…

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Cultural differences

The writer explores cultural differences through the whole plot of the story. The conflicts in the story are a result of the fact that an Indian woman enters a relationship with an American man. Through different symbols and references, the story emphasizes the differences between American culture and Indian culture.

The narrator’s mother represents Indian traditio…

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Love

The theme of love is very important in the short story as the text illustrates aspects about romantic love, love for one’s parents, and self-love, and how these types of love can become conflicting.

In the story, the Indian narrator falls in love with an American man. Believing herself to be in love, she accepts things that are in conflict with her own tradition, such as premarital sex and living together with Rex. At the same …