Use of contrasts

The exam question asks you to also focus on the use of contrasts in Lori Pollock's short story “The Royal Flush”. The short story is filled with contrasts which are meant to help the author develop the themes of cultural differences and expectations versus reality.

Attitudes and actions

The first contrast introduced in the short story is between Lindsey’s attitudes. While a few months before she refused to eat meat and claimed to be a vegetarian, she is in the present a flexitarian, a person who occasionally eats meat: 'I thought you were a vegetarian,' Lindsey’s dad observed once they were alone. 'You wouldn’t touch the turkey last Christmas. Eating meat was irresponsible and immoral, you said.''I am vegetarian, Dad. I just eat meat from time to time.' (ll. 12-14)

Furthermore, Lindsey’s attitude towards the provenance of meat in Canada changes in Bangladesh.

...

Expectations and reality

One of the most important contrasts used in the short story is the one between Lindsey’s expectations about her job and the reality. Before going to volunteer, Lindsay has all kinds of expectations about the country and the nature of the project she is going to be sent to, which are later contradicted: “How would she build capacity through communication and information sharing? How would she use the knowledge of women’s oppression gained through reading Taslima Nasrin’s Shame, a book banned – banned! – in Bangladesh, if reduced to plumbing?” (ll. 64-66)

...