In the story “Squatter”, Rohinton Mistry's objection to Canadian multiculturalism is that, as a liberal framework, it functions to further consolidate the non-mainstream people’ minority position. As Smaro Kamboureli notes, "making such people visible only by viewing them as representative of their cultural groups does virtually nothing to dispel the 'marginality' attributed to those people" (Gabriel 3). In Kamboureli’s view, the Canadian policy of multiculturalism only exists as a political tool to satisfy the Canadian mainstream culture. Sarosh, the protagonist of the story, is an immigrant in the western world. He strongly desires to be integrated into, and accepted by, Canadian society. However, during his ten years in Canada, he is afflicted all the while by the process to adapt himself well to Canadian society. He is tormented by "the presence of xenophobia and hostility" (Mistry 331), because he persists in "a grotesquely aberrant" (338) and non-mainstream practice. Mistry mentions that, “mosaic and melting pot are both nonsense, and ethnic is a polite way of saying bloody foreigner” (335). In Mistry’s view, Canadian multiculturalism is merely a political ruse for discrimination and exclusion. Living under this political ruse, the Canadian immigrants will suffer from a series of cultural effects, such as losing their original cultural identity and encountering various daily frustrations and difficulties of adapting to a new circumstance.In general, the Canadian immigrants will gradually lose their original cultural identity in order to adapt well to Canadian society. Once an immigrant gets the citizenship, he will be a Canadian. However, obtaining the new citizenship does not mean that the immigrant will be assimilated into natural, mainstream and real Canadian culture. In the story “Squatter”, Sarosh promises his mother and himself that he will fully adapt to Canadian life within ten years or return to Bombay. Therefore he desperately pursues his assimilation into the national culture: Sarosh changes his name to Sid upon arrival in Canada, overwriting his connection to his Parsi community with this new name. Significantly, a name is actually a sign of culture: as Nilufer notes, “Savukshaw is a Parsi name, variously spelled as Savakshaw or Savaksha” (Nilufer 130). Therefore, this act of cultural erasure definitely set out his determination to be integrated into Canadian culture. With endless efforts, he succeeds in his adaptation in every way except one: he finds it impossible to adjust himself in the Canadian way—sitting instead of squatting. This immigration-related problem exists as the last barrier to prevent him from becoming “completely Canadian” (330). In this situation, he starts to conquer this last problem which is also his last remnant of Indian identity to completely achieve his fulfillment. Moreover, in the Indian Aid society, people who persist in a non-mainstream culture will be considered as “patients”. They are coerced into eating “Wonder Breed” (333) (Canadian bread) and drinking “unadulterated Canadian water” (334). Why can’t they eat their Indian food and drink Coca-Cola freely in such a multicultural country? Perhaps the only reason is that “Indian food” and “Coca-Cola” do not satisfy the Canadian mainstream culture. Consequently, to adapt themselves well in Canadian society, these immigrants have to eat Canadian bread with throwing up and drink unadulterated Canadian water with feeling of nausea meanwhile. They have to give up their original name, change their life-style into Canadian style, treat their “disease” defined by Canadian society and at last forgo any “retention of original citizenship” (334) in order to become a complete Canadian. As a result, after Sarosh comes back to India, Sarosh desperately searches for his old place in the pattern of life he had vacated ten years ago. Friends … gradually disappear … People who sit on the parapet while waves crash behind their backs are strangers … The old pattern is never found by Sarosh (342).Friends have gone; life which should belong to him has gone; the only thing he holds is a wistful recollection of youth. Is it because of his friends’ coldness and unconcern? Actually, it is not. The only issue is he has lost his all Indian culture identity “in the land of milk and honey” (343).

In Canada, immigrants will suffer from a collection of daily frustrations and difficulties of being assimilated into Canadian society. As a Canadian report narrates, “Focus group participants reported that their (Immigrant Youth in Canada) key challenges were learning the language and overcoming social isolation. These youth were keenly aware of immigrants’ struggles and hardships” (CCSD Par. 5). Also, “Most of the focus group participants reported experiencing racism and bigotry. This was especially so for those who were members of visible minority groups. For younger participants, this problem was experienced mainly at school; for older participants, it was encountered when looking for work. They expressed little hope that racism and bigotry would ever be completely eliminated” (CCSD Par 7). According the report from CCDS, definitely, both of discrimination and exclusion build an invisible barrier in the immigrants’ western lives. In the story “Squatter”, Sarosh encounters numerous daily frustrations to become a complete Canadian. More significantly, Mistry depicts Sarosh’s inability to use the Western toilet as a typically sign of difficulties in his western daily life. “If he could not be westernized in all respects, he was nothing but a failure in this land-a failure not just in the washrooms of the nation but everywhere” (337). Hence Sarosh strives to overcome his inability to achieve total assimilation. He has recourse to professional help, and the counselor recommends the use of a device, developed with “financial assistance from the Multicultural Department” (335). Nevertheless, because of the possible risks posed by the appliance, Sarosh decides not to use it. Due to this decision, he also loses his last hope to stay in Canadian, which also means he fails to “achieve complete adaptation to a new country” (330). However, does he have to push and grunt on the white plastic oval every morning and divest himself of the old way in order to “becoming a complete Canadian” (330)? In addition, in the story “Squatter”, the differences between the western and Sarosh’s own culture causes a series of emotional problems in his daily life. In Canada, Sorash is depressed and miserable, because of his cultural constipation. His non-stream status also causes him “grave anxiety” (334) and fear. Elsewhere if he had to go with his shoes on, he would carefully cover the seat with toilet paper before climbing up. He learnt to do this after the first time, when his shoes had left telltale footprints on the seat. He had had to clean it with a wet paper towel. Luckily, no one had seen him. (331)Every time he is afraid that somebody will see his Indian way—squatting. He is afraid of himself defined as a minority person. He is also afraid of others’ cultural discrimination because of his marginal position in Canadian society. All of these feelings of horror torment him hard in his daily life till he comes back to India. Ridiculously, after he returns to India, he still feels “alienated” “alone” “forlorn,” and “woebegone” (Amin 167), because another cultural gap has been built. Consequently, the difference between Canadian and immigrants’ original culture indeed causes a massive of negative impacts on their daily lives. It is obviously that immigrants like Sarosh are so desirous of acceptance by Canadian society. However, they do not see that their inassimilable difference is unalterable as the meaning of name — “No-Ilaaz”, which means “no remedy”. Their inability to consider themselves "completely Canadian" reflects that Canadian multiculturalism is merely a ruse for discrimination rather than a container for cultural harmony. They are not able to change this situation, so they have to change themselves to adapt to this environment. In this process, on the one hand, they have to “improve” their life style to satisfy Canadian conception. On the other hand, they gradually lose their original cultural identity, and eventually forgo any remnants of original citizenship.

因为明天要交~一时来不及该语法和句型。所以请大家帮忙了

太长．．估计没人看的．．

我觉得也是~~~~~那就你看下吧

我觉得也是~~~~~那就你看下吧

是分析文学作品的??

是吧~research paper~

太高深了..原文我又没看过..读着那些名字很烦琐..SORRY!

算了~我也觉得换了我，如果不是发神经我也不会读

哇~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`

建议楼主换个格式发出来发帖时每行要适时断掉，另起一行，然后行与行之间空出一行，发出来再读就很舒服了

呵呵~估计那样的话，也不会有多少人看的~反正我已经交了昨天因为急需要修改所以发上来，请大家讨论下~

GOD,ARE U KIDDING

who kids？

are u kidding..意思是你不是开玩笑吧...

17楼的我当然知道，who kids，是说，谁在开玩笑啊~

是讨论multiracialism的阿？我没有做过Canada的case study。但是感觉你这里面还有一点点提到assimilation。是做social study一类的论文嘛。