The Middleman and Other Stories 811migrants but fails to realize that, ironically, he too is
dependent on them to make a living. He attempts to
“regain control” by raping the Indian girl, a throw-
back to his war days, a clue that he never really left
Vietnam. Other characters like Rindy and Jason
enter significant relationships with their migrants
and learn of the real America that is brutal in its
treatment of the Third World and its people. They
also learn that the freedoms they enjoy have been
created with the blood of such refugees. Other
characters like the old migrants offer a mixture of
support and exploitation, and this is seen between
Jasmine and the Daboos, Ro and Mumtaz, Danny
and his girls. Thus the freedom to move between
and within borders can bring other losses and gains,
which the migrant must be prepared to deal with if
he is to survive in his new world.
Saadiqa Khan
SucceSS in The Middleman and Other Stories
Bharati Mukherjee explores the theme of success
in her collection of short stories through an exami-
nation of her immigrant characters, who attempt
to renegotiate their lives in their new homelands.
These immigrants belong to two groups that define
and achieve success in different ways.
The first group includes immigrants who pursue
different ambitions and goals that often involve
the reshaping of cultural patterns and codes from
the old homeland. Ro, Jasmine, Panna, Maya, and
Mrs. Bhave are not afraid to surrender some of their
cherished traditions and assimilate new ones in
the quest for more rewarding lives. This cultural
exchange challenges accepted patterns of identifica-
tion as the immigrants demonstrate that there are
new ways of being Afghan, Trinidadian, and Indian,
respectively. Their attempts at integration, especially
through relationships with Americans and other
immigrants, also force them to confront stereotypes
that seek to define and contain them. Ro, Panna, and
Maya maneuver between superficial sympathy and
racial insults while breaking sexual and social taboos
and pursuing their educational careers. Mrs. Bhave
and Jasmine fearlessly assume new roles through
their labels of helpless Indian widow and exotic,
naïve island girl. The movement from an inferior,
backward, Third World victim to being equal to
a Western individual is a rite of passage that the
immigrants undergo; resilience and the willingness
to adapt to new situations are two qualities that
ensure success through this process.
In contrast, the other group of immigrants
defines success through its manipulation in the host
societies. Alfred Judah, Danny, Aunt Lini, Mumtaz,
Mr. Chatterji, Eng, Blanquita, Mr. Venkatesan,
Queenie, and the Patels are bent on material gain
and social security at the expense of other vulner-
able migrants and citizens or through the exploita-
tion of the existing social and economic systems.
Such immigrants are content to remain entrenched
within their cultural norms. Devinder Chatterjee,
the Patels, Blanquita, and Eng attempt to recre-
ate the homelands they left behind in their new
domestic spaces to the extent that it alienates others
who enter the spaces and strains their relationships
with others. On the other hand, Danny, Aunt Lini,
Alfred, Mumtaz and Queenie, and even the Patels
profitably conduct their legal and illegal businesses
from their homes, which creates new economic
spaces within the host society. Although they are
socially isolated, their economic input cannot be
ignored. Their economic success also introduces new
power relations between their dependent migrant
clients and themselves, which were nonexistent
in the old homeland and which ignore traditional
claims of class and gender on either side of this
power binary. Aunt Lini as the female moneylender
and brothel owner enjoys a power that would have
been impossible back in the homeland, whereas Ro,
the son of a wealthy landlord, is forced to do lowly
jobs such as plucking chickens in Mumtaz’s business
to pay rent. The ability to transcend such praxes
entails a limited social success.
Yet there is a final group that requires con-
sideration. This is the “fringe citizenry”: white
Americans such as social misfits, corrupt exiles, and
Vietnam veterans, who are considered outsiders in
their own land. These outcasts are often intricately
linked with both immigrant groups described ear-
lier. Ironically, even though the American outcasts
regard the migrants as outsiders, they are frequently
dependent on them economically and socially. For
Jeb, the Vietnam War never ended; he continues
as a thug in Mr. Vee’s pay, even though he hates