"the Royal Flush" Analytical Essay

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“The residents of the Royal scattered at the appearance of their fast-talking, well-fed landlord. The boys began to chase one another around Abi’s car, too fast for the sinewy arms of the driver, their reflections streaking across the shiny black paint. But one by one they too disappeared at the insistent calls of their mothers.”[4]

The landlord shows the materialistic differences there is in the community between the hard workers and the owner. When the locals are in the same picture as the landlord they simply assign the food and everything they created to the one with the power and money. They let him eat the food created for everyone and do not attend the party. Lindsey does not understand this division and contrast between the human beings. She is therefore disappointed by the outcome of her party, which is another sign of her idealistic vision.

The story mostly takes place in Dhaka, Bangladesh were the project Lindsey is participating in takes place. Moreover, the story starts in an English-speaking country, which appears in the farewell dinner between Lindsey and her Father. A contrast in the short story is shown here, where the restaurant has several possibilities of meals with commodities from local farmers and wine glasses toasting. It is far from the food, the culture and the life in Dhaka, Bangladesh were Lindsey works:

“She got through it only by offering to help the women and their daughters prepare the food, laughing and crying over the chopping of onions and boiling rice despite the language barrier.”[5]

The women create their food by themselves with own handcraft. They don’t have the priority to ask for vegetarian options as Lindsey’s father does on the restaurant. However, the community is very embossed by working together even though there is a language and culture barrier. Lindsey greets the food in the community in Bangladesh. Even though she is vegetarian she cannot help but think highly of the fact that this culture cherish the chicken and as a contrast to her home it is ensured, that the chicken is local.[6] Subsequently, the whole setting in Bangladesh is embossed by the different cultures, which the Islamic prayers throughout the story distinctly points out. The fact that the prayers are mentioned gives importance to the religion that prevails in the community. J.P. gives an ironic commentary when the prayers approaches:

“Men unrolled prayer mats and bent down. Lindsey’s heart beat a little faster at finally seeing something authentic. Ash-had al-la ilaha illa llah. “Unless you’ve converted,” J.P. said, “you might want to get to work.”[7]

The quote shows the contrast between cultures, when the locals starts praying the students from abroad does not even make it noteworthy, but focuses on keep on working. There is a difference in which values there is important, where the locals are bound to pray the students from abroad does not have that kind of commitment.

On the whole the, the story illustrates an idealistic young girls hopes and expectations. The short story has an ironic accession, which is reflected in the character J.P, the toilet installing and the contrasts between the locals and the landlord. The short story visions the cultures and the barriers that do exist between multiplicities. The story starts with a discussion on a restaurant where the first world problem is whether the chicken is local or not. This problem is seen in a whole new perspective by Lindsey’s trip to Dhaka, Bangladesh (the third world), where her eyes is opened up for realism in different ways, which truly comes as a big disappointment to her.

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