Squatter Cultural Differences

Rohinton Mistry’s “Squatter” explores the cultural differences between countries and the struggles and heartbreak people may face when trying to fit into the complex Canadian society that we live in.

When Sarosh’s struggles of being too different and not Canadian enough are too much a burden, he essentially gives up. By not being able to transform himself “completely” into a Canadian within the ten year time frame he gives himself, he finds himself to be nothing but a lesson to learn from. Knowing that Nariman tells stories to children, Sarosh wishes that he tells his story too; that for some it can be “good” or “bad” but for the man coming from the same country as these children, it “was just a pain in the posterior.”

As Sarosh nears the end of relaying his Canadian experience to Nariman, he quotes Shakespeare’s play, Othello. These are the same lines Othello says right before he commits suicide. In the same way that Othello kills himself, Sarosh kills the Canadian identity that he had been building for the past ten years. In Shakespeare’s Othello, Othello ultimately brings the tragedy that is his story upon himself. Because Othello was easily swayed into believing the infidelity of his wife—even though she was being faithful—it was his mind that continued