Cultural Displacement in Canadian Literature-Rohinton Mistry’s “Squatter”

Rohinton Mistry is known as a post-colonial writer. His writings reflect the Indian diaspora - the ‘splitting’ of identity. On the one hand, his characters dream of being integrated into, and accepted by, Canadian society. On the other hand, these same characters are torn my an insatiable desire to be true to their native culture, to honour and cherish their own, distinct cultural identity. This is the theme of “Squatter”. Rohinton Mistry uses satire and …

…to him, as the European influence changed the way he perceived things. The end result was total displacement from both cultures in which he so wanted to be a part and remain a part of. Sarosh later relates this story to his friend Nariman, stating that “for some (integration) was good and for some it was bad, but for me life in the land of milk and honey was just a pain in the posterior".