here are some questions about the shteyengart story we are discussing tomorrow.
1. For the Shteyengart-character (not narrator), what is home? what is home for the Shteyengart-narrator?
2. What is home?
3. How do "alien" and "Mother" work in the story? As in, how are both terms, independently, reimagined or redefined?
4. Where does the text demonstrate Russia immigrating out of Russia?
5. Does the text have a black-and-white, compartmentalized notion of assimilation and/or acculturation?
2. Home, if we want to get really existential, is less a place, more a state of mind while existing within a specific place. Go with me on this: the old adage "you can never go home again" is one of those annoyingly accurate cliche's because it speaks to the elemental truth that we, as human beings, are constantly evolving,sometimes devolving but changing nevertheless. So when we return "home" we realize rather quickly that that place which was once so capable of encompassing all that we were, is now no longer reflective of the people we have become. We project who are onto our surroundings, and when our surroundings no longer display with clear precision our inner-selves, we leave, in search of a new screen. So, I guess you could say that home is the place that best reflects who you are, a place that provides the environment most conducive to allowing you to fully employ your unique inclinations. Which, again, can be reduced to "Home is where the heart is" which, to be fair, is a lot easier to sew onto a throw pillow.
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