Mrs. Sen is both comforted and haunted by her memories of growing up in India. Reading letters from her family or listening to tapes that they make causes Mrs. Sen’s expression and mood to change as she is taken over by the longing for home. Eliot describes the sound of Mrs. Sen’s native language as “rapid and riotous” (240). Mrs. Sen becomes more animated when reading letters from home because she has happy memories associated with her family and living in India. Typically, Mrs. Sen is reserved, but when she is reading letters or reminiscing, she is livelier and more excited. Eliot notices that the apartment feels too small for Mrs. Sen when she is in this state.

Mrs. Sen prefers to think about the past because she feels powerless and voiceless in her marriage. She asks, “Eliot, if I began to scream right now at the top of my lungs would someone come?” (229). Because she isn’t connected to a community, she feels sadness when comparing her life to her memories of India. Mrs. Sen longs for and misses the past. She goes through a period of depression during which she cannot perform routine domestic tasks.