You Bring the Distant Near

Tara Das is a loving relative, a sweet-tempered mediator, and a charming performer. Tara’s captivating beauty foreshadows her career as a movie star. In Chapter 1, Sonia offers the following description of her 17-year-old sister: “Tara (‘Starry’ to me) is Indian with black hair. Twiggy is white and blond. Yet the resemblance between them is uncanny. It’s more than the trendy bun, slender body, slightly Cockney accent, and clunky earrings” (11). In addition to detailing Tara’s charming appearance, this passage conveys her talent at transforming into other people. As a teenager, she uses acting to cope with the frequent changes in her life and to feign a confidence that she rarely feels. In addition, Sonia and Ma’s poor relationship influences Tara’s personality by casting her in the role of mediator: “Baba and I live with the Bengali female versions of heavyweight boxers Muhammad Ali and Ken Norton. It’s a good thing he referees along with me, diverting one or the other, telling a joke” (83). Tara possesses a peacekeeping temperament, but there are times when her love for her younger sister spurs her to defend Sonia more assertively. For example, she confronts their mother for reading the 15-year-old’s diary: “My sister and Ma hardly ever fight, but those footsteps sound like a battle’s about to begin” (74). Sweet-tempered and charming by nature, Tara Das is a born performer with a deep love for her family.

Tara is another of the novel’s main characters, and her internal conflicts develop the novel’s symbolism and themes. She narrates a total of four chapters in Parts 1 and 2, making her perspective the second-most prevalent after Sonia’s. Her father’s death shakes her, and her changed outward appearance reflects her inner grief. Unlike her mother, Tara is not expected to dress in mourning clothes after Rajeev’s death. Still, the young woman decides to replace her colorful, fashionable wardrobe with “simple black and white skirts and blouses” (153). Tara’s black-and-white clothes reflect her Bengali American heritage because black is the color of death and mourning in mainstream American culture, while white means the same in Bengali culture. Amit’s love literally and figuratively brings color back into Tara’s life: “I sigh and stroke the green fabric of the sari on the bed. I can tell by the soft, light silk and gold-threaded embroidery that it’s an expensive one” (153). At first, Tara is reluctant to wear Amit’s beautiful gift because the sari is a traditional garment, just as she is hesitant to pursue a relationship with him because he is a Bengali man. However, she discovers that tradition and agency can coincide. She realizes that categorically rejecting everything that aligns with Bengali culture doesn’t empower her any more than accepting all of her culture’s expectations without question would. No longer worried about being typecast as a Bengali woman, Tara gives her future husband a kiss filled with “desire and acceptance and hope” (168). Embracing her love for Amit heals Tara’s relationship with her culture, setting the stage for her to move to India and her success as a beloved Bollywood movie star. Tara’s character arc weaves together the themes of cultural identity and womanhood as she learns how empowering it is to embrace her Bengali culture on her own terms.

The brilliant, passionate, and principled Sonia Das is another of the novel’s main characters. She is eight during the events of the Prologue, and her insistence on finishing her lap even though the race is over demonstrates her tenacity. As a 15-year-old, she provides the following description of herself:

My skin is soft and smooth and the color reminds me of rain-drenched earth. But it’s as if the darkness of it keeps Ma from noticing my assets: curly hair, a round face that makes babies smile, deep dimples in both cheeks, big eyes that notice details other people miss (19).

As this excerpt illustrates, Ranee’s colorism brings her into conflict with her younger daughter. The strong-willed Sonia has clear convictions, and she passionately advocates for equal rights for women and Black people in her frequent arguments with her mother. These mother-daughter debates become even more personal and heated after Sonia becomes close to Lou Johnson. In addition to facilitating her Parisian love story with Lou, Sonia’s success in the French essay competition illustrates her impressive intelligence and writing skills. As an adult, Sonia uses her writing to promote equality and justice: “She’s a journalist who covers women’s rights issues. Plus, now she’s writing a book about girls who are married off when they’re young” (183). Sonia Das is a brilliant writer and a passionate defender of human rights.

Sonia plays an important role in the novel’s major themes as she grows from a child to an adult with a daughter of her own. Although Perkins structures the novel to have several main characters, Sonia’s is the primary voice. The Prologue follows her perspective in the third person, and she narrates five chapters over Parts 1 and 2. One of the most significant challenges she must work through is her complicated relationship with her mother, which provides a significant amount of the development for the theme of family dynamics. In addition, the multi-faceted Sonia develops the theme of cultural identity: “She’s a Bengali feminist Catholic wife of a Louisiana black man. ‘Now that’s American,’ she always says” (268). Sonia is an ardent believer in the American ideals of equality and liberty, and she fights against the injustices and bigotry she sees in her family, her nation, and her world. Her relationship with Lou aligns with her long-held values, has a major impact on her relationship with her mother, and advances the theme of Love and Understanding across Cultures. Sonia also plays a key part in the theme of Womanhood and Empowerment. As a feminist, she finds strength and advocates for women’s rights through her writing. Sonia Das makes significant contributions to the themes of family, love, and empowerment.

The kind, outgoing, peacekeeping Chantal Johnson is Sonia Das’s daughter and another of the novel’s main characters. In Chapter 11, she describes her dance classes and observes that “[m]uscular thighs long, lean limbs and fingers; and a strong butt come in handy for all those twists, bends, and squats” (188). This observation connects to her cultural identity because she takes after her Black father in terms of appearance, and her muscular build helps her excel at Kathak, a traditional Indian dance. Kathak is just one of the outgoing Chantal’s many extracurricular endeavors, which include basketball and chess. Her grandmother, Ranee, praises her “lovely, easygoing nature” (206), and the kind teenager helps her cousin feel welcome when Anna moves to the United States. Another of Chantal’s key traits is her ability to facilitate peace. Fittingly, her nickname, Shanti, means “peace” in Bangla. At only two years old, Chantal demonstrates her peacekeeping prowess by healing the estrangement between her mother and grandmother: “Didu burst into tears, swept me into her arms, and cuddled me close. Everybody bawled, there was some kind of massive family reconciliation, and Didu hasn’t let go of me since” (181). The kindhearted, motivated Chantal fosters peace in her family.

Chantal carries the novel’s themes into a new generation. She is part of the third generation of the Das family in the story, narrates two chapters in Part 3, and is the only one of the five Das women to live in the United States her whole life. With regard to the theme of Family Dynamics and Cultural Identity, Chantal plays a vital role in Sonia and Ranee’s reconciliation, which is one of the most significant plot points. Chapter 11 focuses on her cultural identity as she navigates what it means to be both Black and Bengali. As her father tells her, “You don’t ever have to deny any part of you” (201). Additionally, Chantal promotes Love and Understanding Across Differences. She helps Ranee and Grandma Rose find common ground, and her relationship with the wealthy white Martin Larsen also develops the theme. Chantal Johnson’s character arc paints a portrait of a young American woman who embraces both sides of her cultural identity and helps to strengthen her family’s dynamics.