In 'Mrs. Sen's (pp. 111-35), the minor character of the boy, Eliot, functions as a foil to demonstrate Mrs. Sen's inability to assimilate into American culture. Although Mrs. Sen dominates the story, Eliot becomes an important character who not only illustrates the imbalance and differences between cultures, but also develops as a character who grows significantly through experiencing other customs and traditions. Eliot is an eleven-year-old white American boy, while Mrs. Sen, the next in a long line of Eliot's after-school "babysitters" (p. 111), is hired because she is a "wife a teacher, responsible and kind” (p. 111). .111). She is, of course, much more than that – as Eliot will soon discover. She is a traditional Indian wife who feels isolated and lost in the strangeness of American culture. We see Mrs. Sen through the eyes of Eliot, who notices and dissects the striking differences between the domestic lives of Indian immigrants and his own very American childhood. Through his thoughts, we receive detailed descriptions of Sen's apartment, suggesting that he perceives the family as strangely different. Indeed, his ability to absorb and appreciate the differences found in this alternative lifestyle becomes a rich learning experience for him. Eliot, in fact, favorably compares Mrs. Sen's wealth and fine attire – “she wore a shimmering white sari patterned with orange paisley” – to “short-cropped hair…her shaved knees and overly exposed thighs” (p. 112 ). –3). Unlike Eliot's house, Mrs. Sen's is welcoming and her apartment is warm. It constitutes a brutal and exotic departure for Eliot from what he is accustomed to. He soon looks forward to seeing her "as she was cutting things, sitting on newspapers in the middle of a sheet of paper... children as minor characters going on their own adventures." It is interesting to consider that Lahiri highlights through his stories the stress felt by all of his characters due to cultural divides. She highlights all the hard work Mr. Kapisi has done to learn foreign languages, while he worries that his own children already speak English better than him, just from watching TV. Cultural differences are explored in more detail as the children become more distant. of their Indian culture. Lahiri's explanation for this cultural divide is that he grew up in America. So, once again, the minor characters, mainly the younger ones, help to highlight and maintain the main character's flaws while helping Lahiri convey her overall theme of the gap between cultures highlighted by immigrants..