49 pages • 1 hour read
Neela Vaswani, Silas HouseSame Sun Here
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2012A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Themes
People are Fundamentally the Same Despite Racial and Cultural Differences
In the current age of globalization, the United States is more ethnically diverse than ever before. However, the majority of that diversity remains concentrated in large cities, such as Los Angeles and New York City. House and Vaswani’s choice to create two characters living in vastly different geographical demographics marks a contrast between the diverse large cities, like Meena’s New York City, and the predominantly white communities in rural parts of the country, such as River’s town of Black Banks, Kentucky.
As Meena navigates life in a new culture, she befriends people from all over the world, such as River, Mrs. Lau, and Ana Maria. Conversely, at the beginning of the book, River doesn’t have any friends who look different from him. The only Indian people in his community are Mr. and Mrs. Patel. Throughout the course of Meena and River’s correspondence, they discover they share many similarities and differences. Meena teaches River about her language, culture, and religious traditions, and River does the same in return. As they learn from one another, they discover that the similarities between them outweigh the differences. Observing the people around them, they also see how struggles such as homesickness, grief, and the desire for acceptance affect all people, no matter their culture or skin color.
For example, one evening Meena hears a woman crying from somewhere in her apartment building. The crying sounds so mournful, Meena worries that the woman may be hurt, but Mrs. Lau says the woman is crying because someone she loves betrayed her, and her heart feels like “a squashed tomato” (130). Mrs. Lau’s swift and understanding judgment about why the woman is crying suggests that she has also experienced heartbreak and knows exactly what it’s like to cry so deeply. Meena’s account of the situation shows that all people experience pain, heartbreak, betrayal, and sadness. No person, no matter their age, race, or culture, is exempt from the most basic of human emotions. This is just one example of how House and Vaswani show that all people are ultimately the same inwardly, despite outward differences.
The Value of Making One’s Voice Heard
Using major plot events, House and Vaswani highlight the importance of standing up for one’s opinions and show the value of using one’s voice to champion justice. Both Meena and River face unjust circumstances—the landlord failing to repair rent-controlled apartments, and the mountaintop removal destroying Town Mountain. However, while River has the opportunity to fight back against injustice alongside Mawmaw, Meena is virtually powerless against the landlord. Even though River’s community is not wealthy, they band together under Mawmaw’s leadership and are successful in bringing attention to the coal company’s destruction of the environment and unsafe practices. On the other hand, Meena and Mrs. Lau don’t have a way to stand up to their landlord. Since they are poor immigrants, they have nowhere else to go. Meena’s family is also afraid the landlord will catch them living in their apartment illegally. Because of their circumstances, they are unable to fight for fair treatment. This shows River’s ability to stand up to the coal company as a privilege.
House and Vaswani highlight two characters in particular that develop the theme of making one’s voice heard. Both Mawmaw and Mrs. Lau have strong opinions and are unafraid to voice them. Mawmaw teaches River to stand up for what he believes, and she explains that there is a right way and a wrong way to express one’s opinions. For example, she tells River that violence and name-calling are not an effective way to win an argument, and she models the right way to speak out in bravery and defend oneself. Mrs. Lau also speaks up for herself when she repeatedly asks the landlord to make repairs on her apartment. Even though he controls her living situation, she doesn’t let fear stop her from voicing her needs. She also takes matters into her own hands by allowing the Joshi’s to rent her son’s apartment. Even though this is illegal, she chooses to follow what she believes is right.
Finally, the authors use the setting of the novel to further this theme. The 2008 Presidential Election occurs during Meena and River’s correspondence, and in both New York and Kentucky, Meena and River see people line up at voting booths to make their voices heard. Meena sees how people of all types and classes are equalized in their right to vote. River notices that voting is such a privilege that people are willing to wait in the rain to make their voices heard. Through River and Meena’s observations on the election, House and Vaswani show young readers the value of voting as a way to make one’s voice heard, as well as the importance of forming political beliefs and opinions, even at a young age. Their use of plot events, characterization, and setting all contributes to their message that young people can and should be aware of current issues and should value the American privilege of making one’s voice heard.
Challenges Immigrants Face
Immigration is more prevalent than ever, and here in the United States, continues to be a controversial political topic. House and Vaswani highlight the Joshi’s immigration experience through the eyes of the youngest family member, 12-year-old Meena. Their choice to share the struggles and experiences of a particular immigrant family shows readers some of the challenges immigrants face when coming to the United States.
First, House and Vaswani highlight the legal process of immigration. Meena’s mother says that the amount of paperwork involved in immigrating and applying for citizenship is “like having another job” (5). Meena’s family attends a citizenship class and spends time studying for the citizenship exam. The inclusion of sample exam questions shows how difficult the exam is; even River, a natural born citizen, does not know the answers to the majority of the questions, and readers have a chance to test their own knowledge to see how many they can answer correctly. The details included about the process of immigration and citizenship show its time-consuming and difficult nature.
Furthermore, the authors show the challenges the Joshi’s face as they navigate life in America. Their family struggles financially, so Meena’s father must live and work in New Jersey. At the end of the story, when they lose their apartment, they face difficulty finding an affordable place to live. In addition to financial struggles, they also face emotional struggles, as they experience homesickness for the mountains of Mussoorie and Dadi. When Dadi dies, Meena’s parents haven’t seen her for nine years. To make matters worse, they cannot afford to fly back to India for her funeral, and they must cope with their grief and find closure from across the ocean. Financial difficulties, homesickness, and the loss of a loved one from home are common challenges immigrants face.
Also, conflict between Meena and her mother shows the division that often results between immigrant parents and their children. While Meena’s mother expects Meena to be her “Indian daughter” (220), Meena, as a young person, adapts to American culture on a deeper level than her mother. Meena’s parents have brought the family to America to give Meena and Kiku more opportunities, but they are perhaps not prepared for the major changes their children will undergo because of becoming American citizens. Similarly, Meena’s father must adapt to his wife taking on a family leadership role out of necessity.
Meena and her family face several other difficulties as immigrants, such as judgment from others based on their skin color and worry that people will discover their illegal living situation. By highlighting the Joshi family’s immigration experience, House and Vaswani show readers examples of real-life challenges immigrants face in the United States. They open the readers’ eyes to the difficulties of immersion in a foreign culture and share a perspective the reader has likely never considered before.
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