2. Group G - rdavis25

In my novel The Brief Wonderous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz, Oscar and his family struggle with this ancient curse that he believes has been brought up on his family. They don't really struggle with any immigration barriers or struggles, however Oscar and his sister struggle with their mother who works 2 jobs and is a hard person to connect too. Oscars mother develops breast cancer and that's when his mother and his sister start to fight a lot, after alot of fighting it eventually drives his sister to run away. "All my life I'd been swearing that one day I would just disappear. And one day I did."(Diaz 61) This is when his sister finally ran away after thinking about it for a long time. I would say that their biggest struggle is within the family and connecting to each other and living in peace. 

In my book Rani Patel In Full Effect by Sonia Patel it talks about a young Indian girl in Hawaii. Rani is bullied and teased for who she is. She lives with her mom and dad, who are in an arranged marriage. One day Rani is out and catches her father cheating, which was something she has suspected without proof.  This event turned her life upside down, and she shaved her head in response. Rani’s father, Pradip is a terrible person, who has abused her and caused suffering to the family. Pradip emotionally abuses the mother which makes her constantly want to end her life. Growing up Rani has always fixed their marriage problems, and stopped her mother from ending her life countless times. During these times, her dad sat watching, doing nothing. Rani knows this is a situation she can't fix. The mother  has always obeyed her husband, done all the work, and overworked herself. She never stood up for herself, choosing silence. However the father comes home and says he wants the girl he’s cheating on her with to come and live with them. After Rani and Pradip have an argument for the first time about the situation. The mother finally stands up for herself and says she wants a divorce and tells him to get out. The father continues to try and get his way, by confronting Rani in the store she works at. Instead of having a civil conversation with his wife. Pradip with his new lover chose to emotionally manipulate Rani in public. Rani feels guilty knowing she can’t do anything. She also feels irritated at her fathers audacity to come crawling to her. Pradip ends up almost hurting her, but Mark steps in. Mark is an older man whom Rani has practically fallen in love with. Pradip also gets family members that live outside of Hawaii to call Rani. The family members are also trying to manipulate and convince her father to move back in with his new lover.  However Rani doesn’t fall for any of these tricks. She ends up cutting off all hope she has with her father. Hope he will change, love her and his wife, and be a good dad. She feels guilty that she’s lost hope with her father. Knowing there is nothing in her power anymore that she can do. She can’t sew what has been ripped a long time ago.

In my book my main character Rani doesn’t deal with guilt due to immigration barriers. She was dealing with guilt due to her family problems. Though she is getting over this guilt. Growing up, Rani has always been the peacekeeper between her parents. Now she knows she can no longer do that. Rani knows there is no saving her family this time. With that she is pushing away the guilt. However her father still expects her to deal with it. He wants her to feel guilty again. “Oh. I get it now. That’s why he’s here. He wants me to feel sorry for him. That he’s depressed and anxious. That he has to take pills. And the pills messed him up and made him have an affair. And that, since it’s not his fault, I’ll agree to convince mom to let him move back in. With Wendy.” (Patel 125) Her father, Pradip, is a manipulator. He wants her to feel guilty so she will do as he says. Although Rani doesn’t feel guilty this time. She knows there is no point in feeling guilty anymore. Pradip has no remorse for anything he has done. He isn’t guilty so should she be guilty. She had done nothing wrong.

Rani would feel more free, and less pressured if guilt wasn’t pushed on her by her parents. I also think that Rani would still have a connection with her father. Even though she wouldn’t forgive him for cheating. If her father took responsibility for his actions and accepted the consequences. The two could have a mutual relationship, maybe even a loving one. All hope wouldn’t be completely cut off.