The Management of Grief by Bharati Mukherjee explores the emotional journey of a woman named Shaila Bhave, who loses her family in a plane crash. The story delves into her experiences, emotions, and the process of coping with grief as an immigrant in a foreign land. It touches upon themes of cultural identity, loss, resilience, and the different ways people manage their sorrow.
The Management of Grief | Summary
Seeing a woman boiling tea “the Indian way” in her kitchen, the protagonist is reminded of her kids back in the day when they made omelets for her on Mother’s Day. Dr. Sharma asks her in the hallway if she is worried about money. His wife scolds him, and she is pregnant with her fifth child. All morning, her boys have been talking about the ‘Sikh’ bomb.
In the living room, two radios are playing. Some men swear that people are behaving as if nothing happened, which the protagonist thinks they are not important to think about. The protagonist is tensed, and she hears her boys and Vikram, her husband scream. The woman who is boiling water tells the story: her cousin and his son had heard on a channel that something had happened on a plane. They suspected hijacking, and called Kusum straightaway, whose husband and daughter were booked to go a day before.
Kusum sits with the protagonist and the latter says she never told her husband how much she loved her husband. Pam, Kusum’s daughter, runs in and says some reporter is going to arrive soon. An exasperated Kusum screams that if she didn’t have to take care of her daughter, she’d hang herself. Pam says her mother wishes her little sister were alive and she was dead.
The reporter’s name is Judith Templeton. Templeton wants to help the group with getting their life back on track. She thinks that Bhave’s calm and composed attitude is brought by my shock and calming pills. The protagonist agrees reluctantly to help Templeton, although reluctantly. Among her own community, she thinks, this calmness is considered strange. Templeton believes that grief is something to be managed orderly and not something to give in to.
Bhave and the other mourners fly to Ireland, where they have to identify their families, as the plane crashed near the Irish coast; however, Bhave’s family has not been found yet. Along with Kusum and Dr. Ranganathan, she visits the coast. Dr. Ranganathan maintains a pragmatic attitude throughout and suggests that some crash survivors may have swum to safety. Bhave is hopeful since her sons are strong swimmers. Later, she goes with the protagonist to a police officer who suggests that they may have identified her son, Vinod. Though Bhave does not recognize her son from the picture, it could be possible that his features have been distorted by drowning.
The mourners fly to India, visiting the family that they left behind to migrate to Canada. Bhave’s parents are progressive and do not believe in mystical rituals. A ‘visitation’ from her husband at the temple is a sign to her that she must return to her life in Canada. Kusum decides to remain in India and become an ashram devotee. Dr. Ranganathan takes a job in Texas, but cannot bring himself to sell his old family home.
In Canada, the protagonist meets the reporter Judith Templeton again. She meets a grieving elderly Sikh couple, Bhave fails to convince them that they need any assistance from the government. She is upset about the fact that she is now suspicious of Sikhs. The story ends with Bhave beginning a new life as a widow, having moved to an apartment. She remains in communion with her family, and in the end, she describes the last visitation from her family in a park in downtown Toronto.
The Management of Grief | Analysis
The Management of Grief is a fictional depiction of the June 25, 1985, terrorist bombing of an aircraft en route from Canada to Bombay via Heathrow Airport. The story chronicles Shaila Bhave’s response to the same in which she has lost her husband Vikram and two sons, Vinod and Mithun. Mukherjee captures the diasporic psyche’s struggles in the aftermath of coping with such a tragedy and the various responses these individuals have to the same. The story also captures a well-meaning Judith Templeton’s failed attempt to comprehend the grief and trauma of these Indian Americans.
The story captures the first-generation immigrants as they cope with their grief and make sense of their cultural differences, with other people and even their children. Kusum’s westernized daughter Pam accuses her mother of favoring her dead sister. Mukherjee skillfully portrays Shaila’s emotional turmoil, depicting her inner conflict as she navigates the balance between her Indian heritage and the Western world she now resides in. The story highlights the challenges of cultural displacement, as Shaila is surrounded by well-meaning but often misguided attempts at sympathy from her Canadian neighbors. Through Shaila’s interactions with other characters, the narrative explores different ways of coping with grief — from her friend Mrs. Bhave’s stoicism to Kusum’s aggressive rebellion against traditional customs.
Ultimately, Shaila’s journey becomes a metaphor for the broader immigrant experience, illustrating the resilience required to adapt to a new environment while simultaneously mourning the loss of one’s roots.
The Management of Grief | Theme
The primary themes in “The Management of Grief” by Bharati Mukherjee include grief and loss, cultural identity, and the immigrant experience. The story delves into the complex emotions that arise from losing loved ones, as well as the various ways individuals cope with tragedy. It also explores the tension between maintaining one’s cultural heritage and adapting to a new environment. The story’s characters, particularly Shaila Bhave, grapple with the challenges of straddling multiple identities and the feelings of displacement that can arise from being in a foreign land. Additionally, the narrative highlights the resilience and strength required to navigate these emotional and cultural complexities. Overall, the themes of grief, cultural identity, and the immigrant experience intertwine to create a poignant and thought-provoking exploration of human emotions and adaptation.
The Management of Grief | Character Sketch
Shaila Bhave
The protagonist of the story, Shaila is an Indian immigrant who loses her family in a plane crash. She struggles with intense grief while also dealing with the challenges of cultural displacement. Shaila’s character embodies the conflict between her Indian heritage and her new Canadian environment. She is introspective and resilient, trying to find a balance between her past and present identities.
Kusum
Shaila’s friend loses her husband and daughter in the plane crash. Kusum and Shaila deal with their grief together. She finds refuge with her swami in India.
Judith Templeton
A Canadian social worker, Judith is given the responsibility of carrying out government communications with the people who have lost their families in the terrorist attack. Though she wants to be helpful, Judith is unable to comprehend the cultural differences and fails in her attempt to comfort the victims’ families. She mistakes Shaila’s calmness for her stoic strength.
“The Management of Grief” by Bharati Mukherjee is a poignant exploration of the complexities of grief and cultural identity. Mukherjee’s poignant storytelling and nuanced portrayal of cultural dynamics make “The Management of Grief” a profound meditation on the universal themes of loss, identity, and the human capacity to find solace amid adversity.
