Characters
- The Narrator (Unnamed)
- Indian immigrant in his thirties.
- Moved to London, then to the U.S. to work at MIT.
- Reserved, practical, and adaptive to new cultures.
- Represents the immigrant experience – balancing tradition and new life.
- Emotionally distant at first, but gradually opens up to his surroundings.
- Acts as the story’s reflective narrator, providing a calm, observational perspective.
- Mrs. Croft
- 103-year-old landlady, who rents a room to the narrator.
- Embodies old-fashioned American values—strict propriety, dignity, independence.
- Represents an older generation of America, rooted in 19th-century values in contrast to the narrator’s more modern outlook.
- Her quirks and stoicism are symbolic of how the narrator must adapt to a new cultural environment.
- Her connection with the narrator grows through mutual respect, even though they have limited verbal interaction.
- Mala
- The narrator’s wife, whom he married through an arranged marriage.
- Distant relationship at first as they barely know each other.
- Her character symbolizes the change and new life the narrator builds in the U.S. — starting a family, finding a home.
- The Narrator’s Son
- Plays a symbolic role at the end of the story.
- Represents the next generation of immigrants who are fully integrated into American culture.
- His presence symbolizes the continuity of life, bridging the immigrant experience with the future of a new, American identity.