As explained in an earlier entry, Aloka was raised to be the perfect "Hindu wife." For this reason she has made Sujata the black sheep of the family because she is more shy yet at the same time more opinionated than Aloka is. However, her upbringing does not necessarily help her survive in jungle of New York, and in fact does nothing to salvage her relationship with Pranab. Aloka tries to be a perfect as possible for Pranab and pay special care to everything he likes, constantly stepping aside and tending to his every nook and cranny, just as she was taught to do:
"In India she'd been taught to cater to a man's wishes, not challenge them. Modern woman that she had been, she stillcouldn't quite shake herself out of traditional ways. She offered him larger servings at dinner, let him sleep on the window side of the bed, even made sure he got first chance at the front section of the New York Times in the morning." (98)
In the paragraph right after, Aloka blames herself for the failure of the marriage, when Pranab's attitude and inability to be honest with Aloka about his feelings for Sujata, as well as his unwillingness to accept the new life in New York, is also what is breaking their marriage, even though there was not any true chemistry between them in the first place. (So, we're kind of back on Aloka being delusional, except that now she's delusional over what it means to be a woman.)
On an interesting note, Aloka finds success in New York ends up working for newspaper that features her articles as well as her advice columns for Ask Seva, and becomes a working independent woman while adjusting to her new life in New York.
Another interesting thing to note is her relationship with Jahar. Maybe I'm wrong, but it doesn't seem like Jahar holds her up to the same societal standards that her culture and Pranab may have (well, not so much Pranab, but he was to marry her only because of her social status as well as her being the perfect Hindu wife), and in that sense, Aloka is able to break free of her bonds and become here own individual person. You can say that her relationship with Jahar literally has brought her down from her uncomfortably privileged pedestal, which I found to be represented by the high-end lifestyle Aloka lives that lets her fit in, in comparison to Jahar's more down-to-earth interests:
"He was loving, courteous, generous, and protective. In the midst of the brutal chaos of the city, he'd created a small oasis and carved a nook for her in it. But what would her friends say about a man who didn't attend City Arts and Lectures or hang out in the Theater District or at Spierman Gallery, one who couldn't comment on Paul Taylor Dances?" (201)
In this sense, Jahar symbolizes Aloka's heart... which I will explain later...
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Sujata in a Feminist Perspective
Not so positive-- Sujata's affair with Pranab. This is a pretty obvious one, I would think. By persisting in her affair with Pranab, Sujata seems to be evaluating her own self worth based off how close she is or how well she attracts a man. And that if Pranab must think she is worthy than she is, but if he doesn't find her worthy then she isn't. She only starts to take care of herself better and gain confidence because of her affair with Aloka's fiancée, which I should add also seems pretty shallow:
"Only in the last few weeks had she been drawn to makeup and fine clothing, for whenever she exchanged a glance with Pranab, she saw herself radiantly reflected in his eyes. And nothing about seemed to escape his attention. Just the other day, seeing her dressed in a black sari embellished with silver embroidery, he had composed a melodious Sanskrit verse, then translated it as, "Your beauty craves a thousand eyes. Alas, I have but two." (43)
After her exile, Sujata rebuilds herself a small tea business that sustains her and keeps her well respected in her new domain-- without the help of Pranab, who meanwhile literally crashes and burns in New York because of the lack of privilege and respected he receives there and his inability to secure a highly important job: As she later tells Pranab:
"Yes, all those years I threw my life into my work. A small business is a constant struggle, but it also gives you a lot of satisfaction. This morning when I called my assistant, she asked me when I was coming back. She made me feel very good deep down inside." (233)
And then it could be said that in Darjeeling her relationship with Mreenal Bose ends up to be a sort of weakness- not only because Mreenal was picked out for her so that she couldn't go back to Pranab if she had wanted to, but in the sense that she eventually accepts. Which isn't saying she accepts the idea of arranged marriages, but the fact that she accepts Mreenal almost implies that she can't really make her decisions for herself. When she rejects Mreenal, however, she is also saying that she doesn't need the "perfect man" to be happy, and chooses her family's tea business over him-- not only is she showing her willingness to be independent and play an executive role, but she additionally shows her loyalty to her family, which then goes to tie back into the Cult of True Womanhood's idea of domesticity. Essentially, Sujata has returned back home and decided that that is where she is belongs, and the fact that she is taking care of it for her family also ties back into domesticity. So whether she is promoting female independence or a veiled regress into traditional roles is a bit puzzling.
"Only in the last few weeks had she been drawn to makeup and fine clothing, for whenever she exchanged a glance with Pranab, she saw herself radiantly reflected in his eyes. And nothing about seemed to escape his attention. Just the other day, seeing her dressed in a black sari embellished with silver embroidery, he had composed a melodious Sanskrit verse, then translated it as, "Your beauty craves a thousand eyes. Alas, I have but two." (43)
After her exile, Sujata rebuilds herself a small tea business that sustains her and keeps her well respected in her new domain-- without the help of Pranab, who meanwhile literally crashes and burns in New York because of the lack of privilege and respected he receives there and his inability to secure a highly important job: As she later tells Pranab:
"Yes, all those years I threw my life into my work. A small business is a constant struggle, but it also gives you a lot of satisfaction. This morning when I called my assistant, she asked me when I was coming back. She made me feel very good deep down inside." (233)
And then it could be said that in Darjeeling her relationship with Mreenal Bose ends up to be a sort of weakness- not only because Mreenal was picked out for her so that she couldn't go back to Pranab if she had wanted to, but in the sense that she eventually accepts. Which isn't saying she accepts the idea of arranged marriages, but the fact that she accepts Mreenal almost implies that she can't really make her decisions for herself. When she rejects Mreenal, however, she is also saying that she doesn't need the "perfect man" to be happy, and chooses her family's tea business over him-- not only is she showing her willingness to be independent and play an executive role, but she additionally shows her loyalty to her family, which then goes to tie back into the Cult of True Womanhood's idea of domesticity. Essentially, Sujata has returned back home and decided that that is where she is belongs, and the fact that she is taking care of it for her family also ties back into domesticity. So whether she is promoting female independence or a veiled regress into traditional roles is a bit puzzling.
Maybe I'm totally misinterpreting this...
Update: I couldn't find anything useful on Indian stereotypes. Period. Nothing.
My problem (or at least at first) was the sudden blue-screen-of-death moment he had when he and Aloka started their new lives in America:
"The once-loquacious man had grown silent. His mobile face had become an expressionless mask. The boisterous laugh that used to ripple through the entire upper half of his body had subsided into an occasional sneering chuckle." (96)
This is basically explained within two or so pages, and up until his epiphany Pranab's character basically goes into this overly-nostalgic shell that needs to cling onto the love of his life from eons ago. Really, it goes downhill. And then suddenly it becomes more about the fact that he can't face his problems like a man, or rather that he manipulated Aloka and Sujata:
"Nina suppressed the accusation that burned in her heart. Pranab had maneuvered her granddaughters for his own selfish gratification. He tried to appropriate their property and use their innate strength of character to compensate for his own weakness." (245)
At the point of the events that had occurred, I don't think Aloka, Sujata, or Pranab had any true 'strength of character" in the first place. Maybe they all gained from it eventually but at this point no. I won't deny that in some sense Pranab was playing with the emotions of Aloka or Sujata, but I think he tried to make it pretty clear to Aloka without making her too angry that he simply loved Sujata more.
I honestly don't know how Aloka couldn't catch on--I get that she's the perfect Indian wife and can't think for herself, but she's just unrealistically weak I guess you could say (Having her as Pranab's beneficiary in New York, however, is a nice change of pace). And the fact that she clings on the Pranab and drags her to New York with her just makes her seem a bit delusional if anything and ironically weak.
Sujata on the other hand should have known the risks of the affair in the first place, yet she continued to do so because of her jealousy of Aloka-- being Pranab's sweetheart gave her an ego boost over Aloka. And Aloka for the longest time did not consider how privileged she was in comparison to Sujata, yet still tries to keep Pranab to herself.
With all due respect to Kirchner, I feel like while it's nice to have the women of the story grow strong and powerful, I must ask-- is it really necessary to make the men look bad? I felt that throughout the book the younger women were also behaving immaturely for adults. As in it was not that convincing that they could be that immature.
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