Connect “Management of Grief”

In this story “ Management of Grief” by Bharati Mukherjee the main character (Mrs. Bhave) has an unusual reaction to the crash of Air India flight 182 on which her husband and 2 sons were on board .She doesn’t react to the situation like a normal person would . She is pretty calm through out not in shock which the author of the story showed that she didn’t wanted to accept the fact that they have died she was still hoping that she would find them. Once she did found their bodies in Ireland she was later on able to accept the fact that she has to move on because she heard a voice of her husband saying, “You must finish alone what we started together.” And “Your time has come, . . . Go, be brave.” There fore she accepted the death of her husband and kids and is able to move on. The author basically shows how she went through her grief by first rejecting the fact that they have died, then she kind of went in to depression because she was remembering everything about her kids and husband having flashbacks, then by accepting the fact that her kids and husband have died in the plane crash and last but not the least her reconstruction which was her moving on after the acceptance of the tragedy.We can connect this story to the “Story of an hour” by Kate Chopin because in this story the author uses the same kind of style, tone and symbolism to show Louisie unusual reaction to the news of her husband death she didn’t get shocked at all . She just cried a little bit and then went to the room by herself in to her fantasies imagining her life without her husband and all the time she will have for herself now. When she told herself “Free.. Free.. Free” she got over her husband death and accepted the fact that she has to live by herself and for herself now. So here the author also used those concepts of rejection, depression, acceptance and reconstruction but at the end of the story Mrs Mallard dies of shock of seen her husband back because in her mind she had reconstructed her life ahead of her without her husband and got over his death .

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