The Disappearance Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni

Summary of The Story• The news of the disappearance of the wife spreads

across the neighbourhood.• Everyone suspected that she was kidnapped.• The husband think about the question asked by the

policeman, which was do they had a quarrel before she disappeared.

• He knew that he was a nice husband. He treated his wife nicely and let her have her way and indulged her.

• He remember when he came home unexpectedly, he would hear his wife singing to her son or laughing as they playing together.

• He recalled the first time he met his wife, head bowed with jasmine plaited into her hair, wearing sari just like all other prospective brides (nervouse, he thought) but when she glanced up, there was a cool, considering look in her eyes, almost disinterested, like she was wondering if he would make a suitable husband.

• Since then, he had wanted her to be his wife, married her within the week, in spite of his mother’s protests that something about the girl (the wife) didn’t feel right.

• He let his wife to have her way around him but sometimes, he had to be strict, like when the wife wanted to get a job or go back to school or buy American clothes.

• Two weeks had passed but still, there were no news about his wife.

• He had put a notice in a newspapers about his missing wife, he even offered reward of 100000 dollars to anyone who can find his wife.

• A year has passed, his mother suggested that he remarried again. His son needs a mother and he (the husband) was still young, he remained silent but did not disagreed.

• One night, while cooking cauliflower curry his mother ran out of hing*. He remembered his wife used to keep some spice on top of the cupboard.

• He did not find any spices but instead an old tin which he did asked his wife to hide her jewelry inside the tin in case the house ever got burgled, but all the expensive jewelry were stored in the bank’s vault.

• When he picked up the tin, it felt surprisingly light and there were only empty pink nests of tissue inside the tin.

• He was panicked, but then he reminded himself that his wife had been a careless woman. The jewel might been misplaced.

• He was so restless all the afternoon thinking about the jewellery. The next day, he went to the bank to check his safety deposit box and to his surprised, all his wife jewelry was gone.

• He imagined that his wife walked to the bank with their son in the stroller and took out all the jewelry before wrapping the pieces carefully in plastic bags and put in her bag or maybe she just thrown all the jewelry inside her bag.

• He could not eat any dinner that night. He felt tired but could not fell sleep .

• He wondered where is his wife now, with whom because he knew his wife could not managed by herself.

• He remembered on the day when they married, he wrote a poem and read it to his wife but there is something in unclear in her eyes.

• He drank a glass of brandy, even he knew that alcohol was for a weak men.

• He went to his room, took out an envelope of his wife picture and without much think, he tore the pictures into tiny pieces and dumped into the trash compactor.

• He planned to contact a lawyer to find out the legal procedure for remarriage.

• He planned to tell his mother about this but this time he did not want to marry a college-educated woman.

• He imagined himself married to a simple girl from his ancestral village, who would be suitably appreciative of the comforts he could provide.

• But still in his mind was his missing wife, is she alive? is she happy? And because of anger, he imagined his wife tangled by seaweed at the bottom of the sea, eaten by fish but then, he felt bad at the thought.

• He switched off the trash compactor with a satisfied click and took a long and hot shower before fell into a deep, dreamless sleep

Hing  • Indian spices• also known as Asafoetida, devil's dung, stinking

gum, asant, food of the gods, giant fennel, hing and ting) • is the dried latex (gum oleoresin) exuded from the living

underground rhizome or tap root of several species of Ferula, which is aperennial herb (1 to 1.5 m high).

• has a pungent, unpleasant smell when raw, but in cooked dishes, it delivers a smooth flavor, reminiscent of leeks.

Themes of The Story

• A marriage life dilemma

• Problems of an arrange marriage

• Husband’s responsible toward his family

• Love between the marriage couple

• Conflict in marriage

• Betrayal in marriage

Beginning • The news of the disappearance of the wife

spreads across the neighbourhood.

• Everyone suspected she was kidnapped.

Plot of The Story

Rising• Two weeks had passed but still, no news about

his wife. He had put a notice in a newspapers about his missing wife, he even offered reward of 100000 dollars to anyone who can find his wife.

• A year has passed, his mother suggested that he remarried again but he did not answer.

Climax• He found an old tin at the top of a cupboard which

he used to hide his wife jewelry but the tin felt surprisingly light and there were only empty pink nests of tissue inside the tin.

• He was panicked but then he reminded himself that his wife had been a careless woman. He was so restless all the afternoon thinking about the jewellery. The next day, he went to the bank to check his safety deposit box and to his surprised all his wife jewelry was gone.

Falling• He wondered where is his wife now and with whom• He remembered he wrote a poem and read it to his

wife.• He drank a glass of brandy even he knows that

alcohol was for a weak men.• He went to his room, took out an envelope of his wife

picture and without much think, he tore the pictures into tiny pieces and dumped into the trash compactor.

Resolution• He planned to contact a lawyer the next day to

find out the legal procedure for remarriage but this time he did not want to marry a college-educated woman but a simple girl from his ancestral village.

• Still lingering in his mind was his missing wife but with an anger for her betrayl.

• He switched off the trash compactor with a satisfied click and took a long and hot shower before fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.

The husband• Nice husband – He was a good husband. No one could deny it. page 38

• Honest – He had told the truth about them not having a quarrel, hadn’t he? (He

prided himself on being an honest man, he often told his son how important it was not to lie,…) page 37

• Responsible – But he always softened his no’s with a remark like, What for, I’m here

to take care of you,… page 38

• Loving – (…but he was happy to watch his little boy, play ball with him,…) page

37

Characters

The Wife• Loving - Or laughing as she chased him around the family room. Mama’s going

to get you, get you, both of them shrieking with delight..

• Smart - But she had to be smart, at least a year of college,..

• Traditional

-….we waved from our car and she waved back, she was in that blue salwaar-kameez, yes, she never wear American clothes….

• Quite - Quite. That’s how she was, at least around him… page 37

Little Boy• Love his mother - And when the boy’s thin face would crumple, want Mama, when she

coming back… page 37

- Or laughing as she chased him around the family room. Mama’s going to get you, get you, both of them shrieking with delight.. page 37

- …he pushed them from him with all strength in his small arms, saying, Go away, don’t want you, want Mama, want Mama. page 40

• Obedient - Hush now, she would tell the boy, settle down, and they would walk

over sedately to give him his welcome-home kiss. page 37

The Grandma• Caring - …the boy started crying (which he hadn’t done for months), shrill

screams that left him breathless. And when his father and grandmother rushed to see what the problem was,… page 40

• Responsible in finding the wife for her son - he’d flown to Calcutta to view several suitable girls that his mother has

picked out. page 38

Setting • The story set in America

(“she never did wear American clothes.” 2nd paragraph, line 5.)

• Limited – The narrator only knows what he experiences or learns about in some way – the narrator’s knowledge grows as the story unfolds.

Type of Narration

The Mood The Tone• Sadness and worry• Surprised and angry

• Worry• Sad• Surprise• Angry

Flashback• A method of narration in which present action is temporarily

interrupted so that the reader can witness past events--usually in the form of a character's memories, dreams, narration, or even authorial commentary 

• Example: Later he would think about what the policeman had asked,

while he sat in front of his computer in his office, or while he lay in the bed which still seemed to smell of her….

Language Style

Imagination• Example:

…or while he lay in bed which still seemed to smell of her. (But surely that was his imagination-the linen had been washed already). …

…. He ground his fists into his eyes and tried to imagine her on that last morning, putting the boy in his stroller….

Flashforward (Prolepsis)• an interjected scene that takes the narrative forward in time

from the current point of the story

• often used to represent events expected, projected, or imagined to occur in the future.

• Example:

.... Tomorrow he would contact a lawyer, find out the legal procedure for remarriage. Over dinner he would mention to his mother, casually, that it was OK with him if she wanted to contact second aunt. ....