Identity struggle is particularly important in this story regarding Mr. Pizada. He is from Pakistan, and he befriends an Indian family, at the same time of the conflict between such races. Also the importance of culture and generation, Lilith's parents hold strong political views regarding this conflict, mainly due to their experiences and their age, but Lilith is an American girl who hasn't nearly as much life experience as her parents or an understanding of the world or the nature of conflict. She is shaped by a different society, a bourgeois society, in contrast to her parents who are from India. She is shaped by American culture and propaganda, whereas her parents are not. Even for Mr. Pizada the holiday of "Halloween" is strange to him.
At the same time they share many similarities. They look and behave the same, even in some cultural situations. Lilith believes that the difference between Pizada and her family are relatively arbitrary, as evident by the fact that when her father declares him no longer Indian, she cannot find the difference or understand why.

The knife symbolizes the difference in culture between India and America. They would all share their knives and chop vegetables all day together, while in America she is alone, chopping with one knife by herself. The car symbolizes independence and being in America. There are certain things that all Americans have to do on the way to becoming an adult, and driving is one of those main things. The key is that most of the important moments of growth in American life happen by ourselves, not for or with anyone else (e.g. getting into college, getting a license, sleeping without a teddy bear for the first time etc).

There is a snowstorm coming and the electricity is about to go out. A young couple whose names are Shoba and Shukumar are forced to converse with each other, something they rarely do. The electricity will be out for the next 5 days so Shoba comes up with the idea of sharing secrets. Before all of this happened, we are told that Shoba has had a miscarriage and Shukmuar and Shoba’s relationship has suffered because of it. Some o the secrets they tell are : Shoba looked in Shukumar’s address book to see if he had written her name, Shukumar forgot to tip a waiter, Shoba went out drinking instead of staying with family, Shukumar admitted to cheating on an exam, Shukumar also kept a picture of another women in his wallet, Shoba didn’t tell Shukumar about a piece of food on his chin. In the end, Shoba tells Shukumar that she is moving out. Shukumar is angry and ends up telling her the gender of the baby and describing him, a secret that she never wanted to know. They end up both crying on the floor.

A lady named Bibi Haldar has some strange disorder/illness (probably epilepsy). She essentially couches with her cousin. It is later revealed in the story that her father, a mathematician, worked endless hours trying to discover a cure to her ailment. He had some success documenting her problem and searching for possible cures or treatments to help her, but his findings were lost after he died, and people no longer helped Bibi Haldar like her father had. The cousin owns a small mom ‘n’ pop cosmetic shop, and she does administrative work for him on the top floor out of view from the public. She, however, isn’t given any monetary compensation for her work. Her pay is essentially food, shelter, and someone to care for her during her seizures. She tried a bunch of voodoo, witchdoctor treatments at the recommendation of her doctor, but to no avail. Ultimately, her doctor realizes that she’s extremely lonely, suggests that the only cure to her illness is for her to get married. She grows ecstatic about the doctor’s prescription and immediately plans for her wedding. She does things to make herself more presentable such as getting her portrait taken and applying makeup. Her cousin is reluctant to help her because a lot of the preparation for the wedding requires Bibi to spend her cousins money. Money that he feels will go to waste, as no one will want Bibi as a wife because marrying her is too risky and she does not possess the qualities that most people want to see in a wife. Later, her cousin’s wife becomes pregnant. Bibi, still very symptomatic, is quarantined, and gradually her cousin pays her less attention. Moreover, her cousin abandons her completely after his shop closes due to a lack of business, leaving her with nothing but pocket change. Bibi ends up living completely by herself, isolated from everyone for months. It is later revealed that Bibi becomes pregnant herself. Her neighbors take it upon themselves to find the assailants, but are left clueless, so they just help nurse her child. Though it was short lived, and she claims she doesn’t even remember having it, Bibi leaves the experience fulfilled.