Squatter Rohinton Mistry Analysis

Register to read the introduction… The story in which the excerpt given is from, is about Sarosh. As Nariman, the storyteller, retells the event has gone through we learn that Sarosh is an immigrant from India that once moved to Toronto and struggled with the “conventional” way of using a toilet. This excerpt represents the pressure placed upon immigrants who are unable to adapt to societal norms. In Sarosh’s situation he is unable to use the washroom without squatting up on the toilet, he places upon himself his own interpretation of how it should be done. Thus creating this misperception of people within Canada judging him for not being able to …show more content…
He himself is feeling the effects of his own perceptions of how he should be acting now that he has emigrated. The quotes, “It hung over him with the awesome presence and sharpness of a guillotine”(Mistry 154) and “completely Canadian”(Mistry 155) cause him to have this distorted view on what it is to be “Canadian.” For example, when he squats on top of the toilet, he knows that what he is doing is not “completely Canadian”(Mistry 155). This created a lot of stress on him that it caused him to be consistently late because he was trying to use the washroom in the “conventional” way. In “Squatter”, Mistry is conveying that immigrants that come to Canada are not always readily able to adapt to the different ways of doing things. In Sarosh’s case he becomes so hung up on being unable to use the washroom that it begins to dictate his life. The pressure Sarosh is dealing with is very internalized based on his own misperception of what he believes is “Canadian” and “conventional.” This excerpt is conveying that many of the issues that are placed upon immigrants are related to their own mindset to whatever event is