In Bharati’s Mukherjee’s “The Management of Grief”, the unfortunate event of the explosion, causing the downed plane, symbolizes the difficulties of moving forward from grief, and the uncertainty of the future, expressed through the third person view of Shaila Bhave. The bombing of Air India Flight 182, affected many people and families, whom where not prepared for such a horrific event.
Through Mukherjee’s work she expresses the symbolization of the tragedy, as it had a great affect on the families of the victims. Shaila Bhave had lost a great part of her family, her husband Vikram Bhave, and her two sons Vinod and Mithun Bhave. Shaila is a soft spoken, strong hearted women whom eventually comes to the terms of accepting the plain bombing and the fact she will never see her lost family members again. Tragedy more times then others is an unexpected occurrence, and when it strikes, theirs no way to avoid the difficulties that follow after. Shaila being the strong-hearted person she is express, “I tell myself I have no right to grieve. They are in a better place than we are. My swami says depression is a sign of our selfishness (Mukherjee 109)”. She is dealing with the process of moving forward from grief, though it’s a difficult process, she states remaining depressed and sad is the incorrect thing to do. Remaining bold and strong should be the process taken when dealing with grief. Although many peoples process’s taken with grief are different, there are many difficulties when attempting to move forward from grief. While a government appointed official learns of the way Shaila had been managing the grieving process, she comes to her and asks for assistance to reach out to other families whom have dealt with the tragedy in a different manner. Upon visiting an elderly couple that has lost their two sons in the crash, it becomes apparent to Shaila that they have not accepted the fact of the loss of their beloved children. She attempts to get thorough to them expressing that “the government wishes to give money (Mukherjee 116)”. This elderly couple has gone about grieving in a completely different manner, believing that “God will provide, not the government” “When our boys return, the mother says (Mukherjee 116)”. They chose to remain dependent on their sons, as they have not accepted the fact of their loss through unexpected tragedy.
The plain coming down in comparison also symbolizes the uncertainty of the future through the third person view of Shaila Bhave. Though she has dealt with the management of grieving in an open minded, strong-hearted manner, she still remains uncertain of what the future has in store. “I am trapped between two modes of knowledge. At thirty-six, I am too old to start over and too young to give up. Like my husband’s spirit, I flutter between worlds (Mukherjee 112)”. Shaila doesn’t want to let go of the memory of her lost family members, but doesn’t want to remain trapped, reminiscing on the tragedy that took place, ultimately changing her outlook on the future.
The Air India Flight 182 could have held much different symbolization towards the affectedness on people’s perspective of tragedy, but the symbols in the downed plain, which boldly stood out the most, were the difficulties of moving forward from grief, and the uncertainty of the future.
joepelosi 