The average person wants one thing more than anything else, and that thing is to belong. Usha, a young girl from Calcutta, is no different. Already trying to find her place in the world, Usha must now integrate into the cultural society of the United States. Usha's uncle Pranab Kaku was also from Calcutta having come to America for the first time. His experiences begin worse than Usha's, which leads him to join the family in an act of social regrouping. With the Old World trying to push them back and the New World just out of reach, both must overcome tradition and develop their own personal values. Traditions control how you speak and interact with others in your environment. In Bengali society, a strict code of conduct is respected, which includes dishonor and isolation as punishment for straying. Family honor is a central part of Bengali culture and can determine both the financial and social standing of a family. Usha's family does not behave differently, each member wears the traditional dress of their country of origin and Usha's parents diligently impose these values ​​on their daughter. Those traditions, the thing that her [Usha's] life revolved around, were holding her back from her new life as an American. Her mother in particular held those traditions above her. For example, when Aparna makes Usha wear the traditional dress called 'shalwar kameez' for Pranab Kaku and Deborah's Thanksgiving event. Usha feels isolated from Deborah's family [Americans] because of this saying: “I was furious with my mother for making a scene before leaving the house and for forcing me to wear a shalwar kameez. I knew that [Deborah's brothers] assumed, from my clothing, that I had more in common with other Bengalis than with them” (Lahiri… middle of paper… ultimately backfired on Deborah, because she also revealed that one of the Bengali women she invited to the dinner was the lover for whom Pranab Kaku had abandoned her and their two children A sense of belonging is a primal desire, which both Pranab Kaku and Usha each desired their own personal values. in their own way, defying what society expected of them. At some points in their journey, they helped each other through the obstacles that lay ahead of them. However, after receiving this new freedom, Pranab Kaku decided to return to his own old traditions in the form of leaving Deborah for a Bengali woman, as Usha embraced her new freedom and explored the new world before her Works Cited Lahiri, Jhumpa "The Bedford Introduction to Literature" Michael Meyer 9th ed Boston: Bedford/St. Martin, 2011. 638-651. Press.