at ease, where she becomes suddenly independent and confident. Controlled atmosphere represents that the place is controlled and that nothing out of the ordinary would happen.
“Her joy lay in carrying home this hoard she had won from the maze of the supermarket, storing it away in her kitchen cupboards, her refrigerator and freezer”
The word ‘hoard’ was used to signify that the grocery she buys are considered as very important because ‘hoard’ is usually used to describe something valuable and that is secret and carefully guarded. Listing was used to list the kitchen cupboards, refrigerator and freezer. This creates an image in our minds of three different places which can contain food, making it seem like Mrs. Patton is buying a lot. With her buying and stocking grocery it shows her position as a wife and a mother, despite that nobody eats what she buys.
She is a shopaholic for food, and makes Arun accompany her to the overpowering supermarkets and stocks up her overflowing freezers. She takes extra efforts to make Arun feel at home, and one can say to the extent of turning herself into a vegetarian for his sake.
We could paint Mrs. Patton as the submissive wife, who has made compromises over every small matter, she is not even free to choose what she wants to eat.
She tells Arun ‘I’ve always hated eating meat- oh, that red, raw stuff, the smell of it! I’ve always, always disliked it- but never could- never knew how- you know, my family wouldn’t have liked it.’
This tells us that although she wants to be a vegetarian, she eats meat because Mr. Patton believes that it’s the only kind of food. Mrs. Patton yearns to be a vegetarian but she probably afraid of turning the peace upside down in her home, and that she hates meat she pretends to enjoy the meat cooked by Mr. Patton to maintain the little balance within her family.
Desai uses metaphors such as ‘lipsticked smile’ to describe how unnatural and artificial Mrs. Patton is. Mrs. Patton is also describes with a “bright plastic copy of a mother-smile”, this could signify that although she is trying her hardest she still cannot be considered as a real mother. ‘Plastic’ could mean that it’s fake or artificial. This shows that Mrs. Patton is quite conscious of her beauty, and to improve it, she takes part in sunbathing.
She also asked Melanie: ‘You have such a bad colour. You’re not sick, are you, dear?’ This is quite ironic, because she desperately tries to become a perfect housewife, and yet she can’t even see what was going on in front of her. It shows that she is quite dense to the atmosphere in the family.
Arun's presence seems necessary for Mrs Patton to discover finally the destructive consequences of Melanie's condition. As her mother she is capable to act, there are many obvious signs and it’s really bizarre how she can’t see it, however she ignores the true character of her daughter's suffering.
Melanie suffers from bulimia—a disorder in which overeating following with self-induced vomiting and fasting Her disorder, along with her mother’s excitement for buying grocery to fill the kitchen, signifies the consumerist culture that she comes from, where too much becomes the sickness. She is a slave to a male-generated concept of female perfection. She yearns for a slim figure which ultimately results in a disaster of health.
She is a victim of parental indifference. She wants a little love and attention. Her alienation from her family points out the hollowness of the so called developed world. Despite all the effort on the part of Mrs Patton, Melanie remains hungry biologically and emotionally.
Her pain is something only Arun realizes and recognizes. When he sees her vomiting, he realizes that “This is no plastic mock-up, no cartoon representation such as he has been seeing all summer; this is a real pain and a real hunger” Throughout the summer, Arun has seen Melanie quite a few times. Most of the time, Melanie would be throwing up in the toilet, however when they go swimming, he finds Melanie in the woods vomiting. He sees the true character of Melanie’s bulimia, and that it’s a big deal and not some teenager issue.
‘Then Arun does see a resemblance to something he knows: a resemblance to the contorted face of an enraged sister who, failing to express her outrage against neglect, against misunderstanding, against inattention to her unique and singular being and its hungers, merely spits and froths in ineffectual protest. How strange to encounter it here, Arun thinks, where so much is given, where there is both licence and plenty.’
Melanie bears a resemblance to Uma. Uma’s intellectual, and emotional starvation finds its physical counterpart in the inexpressible hunger underlying Melanie’s eating disorder. It is mentioned that in America, where so much is given and there is both licence and plenty, Arun can find something or some feeling that is the same as the ones in India. Melanie is allowed to eat what she wants and do what she wants, and yet she can’t find happiness like Uma.
Rod is shown as a typical teenage male. He spends time with his father eating and watching TV. Rod is living the life Mr. Patton wants his son to live which is to be in the football team. Rod is a contrast to Melanie, he is seen as a fitness fanatic, who is seen spending all his time and energy in exercising. This puzzles Arun as
“one can’t tell what is more dangerous in this country, the pursuit of health or of sickness.” Rod and Melanie represents the two sides. Rod overworks himself for health and Melanie throws up for sickness. Compulsive exercising is another outlet of behaviour. On the surface on his goal may seem to train, but ultimately the exercise gives him a sense of temporary power, control or self-respect. It is another way to forget about his underlying issues and to relieve guilt and pressure of the stresses that build.
One of the thing he might be guilty about is neglecting his sister. He knows that she has a disorder but refuses to say anything to his parents. This might build up his stress and a way to relieve it is to exercise.
Rod is a minor character, he is not very important as he doesn’t have many interactions with Arun. His interactions with Arun are small and his lack of presence in the book could demonstrate the lack of family life.
Melanie’s refusal to eat Mrs. Patton’s cooking is one of the conflicts within the family. Melanie does not know what she wants, but instead vents her anger at her mother. Mrs. Patton usually cooks vegetables for Arun, which makes Melanie dislike their guest, she hates and respect Arun at the same time, considering him an outsider while considering herself a victim of injustice.
‘I’m not going to eat any of that poison. Everything you cook is- poison!’
A dash might be used to emphasis the word poison. Poison can kill or severally injure someone. By saying that Melanie could be meaning that her food would kill her or her soul. By refusing to eat Mrs. Patton’s food it might mean that she does not accept Mrs. Patton as her mother.
Meat can be seen as power, this is not only because meat usually cost more than vegetables. Traditionally, meat, is considered to be the food of strength and strengthening, granting vitality, blood and health. It was seen as the food of men, who eat it twice, while the women suffice with a small portion. Meat is seen as important to Rod because he needs proteins to help his exercising. Meat is something that makes Mr. Patton feel macho.
Meat has changed Papa’s life ‘A meat diet has been one of the revolutionary changes brought about in his life.’
Fasting Feasting presents two contrasting settings. It shows two contrasting cultures and in the end both cultures show that women are slaves, the opposites are in the end the same. Although Uma’s family is not perfect, there is still some sort of family inter-connection between them. For example, they eat dinner together, and they talk to each other. But despite that, the Patton family is quite similar to Uma’s family. They live in a male dominated society, where the father runs the house at all times and husbands ignore wives’ requests. While the Patton family lacks family inter-connection, but the females in their society are free do do what they want and eat what they want.
Conclusion America is a consumerist country, even though we have many times more technological advances than a few decades ago, we spend less time with family. I can’t see how they have time to spend with each other when they are constantly busy with buying more and more stuff to engorge themselves. I think Desai is saying that despite America being so much more advanced to India, the ends are still the same. Nobody is happy in the end.
