Bharati Mukherjee is known for her compelling stories about the experience of recent immigrants to the United States from the Third World. Although “The Middleman” takes place not in the United States but in an unnamed Central American country, it features the same theme. Alfie Judah is a naturalized American citizen who found his way…
Tag: The Middleman
The Middleman by Bharati Mukherjee – Setting
East Asian Immigration to the United States Immigration to the United States from India and other South Asian countries greatly increased following the 1965 Immigration and Naturalization Act. By the mid-1970s, there were over 175,000 Indian immigrants in the United States, with four states, California, New York, New Jersey, and Illinois, developing sizable Indian American…
The Middleman by Bharati Mukherjee – Literary Devices
Setting The unnamed Central American country is evoked in full sensory detail. The weather is hot and soon the rains will come, but at the moment it is “so dry it could scratch your lungs.” The wildlife is exotic: “Bright feathered birds screech, snakeskins glitter, as the jungle peels away. Iguanas the size of wallabies…
The Middleman by Bharati Mukherjee – Themes
Amorality, Deceit, and Self-interest The world depicted in the story is a brutal, violent, cynical one. With the possible exception of Andreas, the guerrilla leader, the characters are concerned only with how they can exploit the situation for their own benefit. The finer qualities of love and friendship and behavior guided by moral standards are…
The Middleman by Bharati Mukherjee – Characters
Andreas Andreas is the guerrilla leader. A tall, handsome man, he is Maria’s lover. When Alfie meets him, he realizes that Andreas is the man on the poster that Eduardo has placed on the wall of his room. It shows a man in beret, black boots, and bandolier who looks as if he might have…
The Middleman by Bharati Mukherjee – Summary
“The Middleman” is told in the first person by Alfie Judah, a Jew who is a newly naturalized American citizen originally from Baghdad, Iraq. He has temporarily left the United States because he has been involved in some shady financial dealing and is fighting extradition. He is currently living in an unnamed Central American country,…