The Third And Final Continent By Jhumpa Lahin - 1832 Words

Ramsey Parra ENGL 110 – 05 FORMAL ESSAY #3 Often times, gender roles play an immense role in society. Countries such as Kenya, India and the United States have all been known to have gender norms and stereotypes. Although the people in those societies may not be aware of them, men tend to be considered alpha males or strive to become them. The women in these societies tend to take a backseat to the men in their lives and never branch out and become their own person. They usually remain a shadow of the man that is representing them, whether it be their fathers, husbands or brothers. In â€Å"The Third and Final Continent† by Jhumpa Lahin, the narrator is a man from India who is bringing his wife, from an arranged marriage, back to the United States. In â€Å"Retrenched† by Ken N. Kamoche, we see the main protagonist Maina obsessed with remaining to be called the alpha male, even after he loses his job and source of income. Although both of these stories seem different, they share similar masculine themes. After an analysis of â€Å"Retrenched†, â€Å"The Third and Final Continent†, and other scholarly articles, it is evident that masculinity is formed through the perception others. Each of the stories previously mentioned take place in different countries were masculinity is interpreted differently. Retrenched is set Kenya, while The Third and Final Continent is set in India and the United States. In Kenya, masculinity is taken very seriously. Chimaraoke Izugbara is a Professor at the