Summary

In the section “The Fragile Shelter” Jhumpa tells her reader that it was when she began writing in English as a child that she felt she finally had an identity. She wonders why she wants to give up writing in English, a language in which she feels authoritative, in order to write in Italian, a language in which she struggles to express herself. She comes to the conclusion that she can be more creative if she breaks out of her comfort zone.

She tries to explain to her reader that she writes because it is her way of understanding the world. For this reason, she believes her desire to write in Italian is her way of wanting to know the language in the fullest way possible. Because she grew up feeling as if she didn’t have a culture or a country...