Onward and Forward – Encapsulating the Insightful Evolution of Bapsi Sidhwa’s Feroza

Abstract

South Asian English writing/ (Writings from the Partition, especially those tethered to the Indian subcontinent have) has been depicting the sociopolitical and cultural aspects of living in India. An American Brat by Bapsi Sidhwa is a text that circles around the journey and eventual growth of Feroza, the protagonist who is a Parsee girl from Pakistan. One could study the journey of Feroza from Lahore to America for the purpose of narrowing the focus on the struggles of women with respect to asserting themselves as individuals or members of a community. This paper deals with the living conditions, cultural aspects, religious decrees and biases and challenges faced by women in particular. One can see her transformation from a young conservative girl that criticizes her mom’s dressing to a grown-up woman that makes her own choices – solid and well-thought-out decisions. She is sent to her uncle in the United States of America for a 3-month holiday, but ends up continuing her studies there. From a demure conservative girl, she matures into an independent social butterfly, a young woman who is more westernised that her mother ever wants. The novel and the paper in turn revolve around her troubles, challenges and experiences that she goes through thereafter, and the learnings she gathers from them.