Struggle with Self and Society in the Select Short Stories of Robert Olen Butler

Name of Author : S. Balatharani

Abstract: Literature holds a renowned position in the hearts of people for generations. America as a country is an amalgamation of many people from different parts of the world. American Literature is the interaction of these people and their different cultures. For centuries it produced versatile but unique tales to share with the rest of the world. The American writers dealt with diverse themes in their works. Robert Olen Butler wrote with his boundless imagination and adept inventiveness, about diverse characters in his works. Butler presented a variety of characters through his works. He portrayed the lives of diverse people through his characters. In his short story collection A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain he successfully captures the inner thoughts of his characters through his vivacious writing. He depicts the lives of immigrated people from Vietnam to USA as they struggle between two different worlds.

Keywords : Robert Olen Butler, Vietnamese women, struggle, identity crisis, immigration, tradition and culture

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