A Comparison Between Desirees Baby Stench Of Kerosene...

A Comparison Between Desirees Baby Stench Of Kerosene Stench Of Kerosene was written by Amrita Pritam approximately fifty years ago. This emotional short story mainly revolves around the relationships between a woman, her husband and his mother. Another important theme is the significance of cultures and traditions in the protagonists lives. The main characters are Manak and Guleri, who are husband and wife. Guleri and Manak are a loving couple who live with Manaks mother in a small village in India. Guleri cannot give birth and her mother-in-law desperately wants a grandchild. Once a year, during a special festival, Guleri visits her parents in a nearby village. This year, Manak halfheartedly tries to persuade his†¦show more content†¦He assumes that his wife, whose roots were unknown, must have come from a black family, despite her fair hair and skin. Desiree, beheld with grief, drowns herself and the baby in a marsh. After this tragedy occurs, when reading some old letters that were addressed to his father, Armand discovers that it was actually himself whom the black blood belonged to. The above two stories have many themes in common, one of the most apparent being the importance of babies in a relationship. In Stench of Kerosene, Guleri has been deprived of having babies. Although the story does not state if Guleri and Manak are happy about it, it is obvious that they still have a strong love for one another. The strength of his love, however, can be debated when Guleri is about to leave for her yearly visit to her village. Manak pleads for her to stay, just this once. If his love was as sincere and strong as the author initially implied, his reasons for repeatedly whimpering youve never been stopped before! rather then honestly saying why he wanted her to stay, are slightly dubious. It is unclear as to why he doesnt answer Guleris question of; Then why do you want to stop me this time. In her descriptions, Amrita Pritam shows Manak to have a very weak and feminine character. From his speech you can decipher that he is also not very educated as he tackled the