ASPECTS OF POSTMODERNISM OF THE SOCIAL ...This short story tells about how people face and manage...

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ASPECTS OF POSTMODERNISM

OF THE SOCIAL CONDITION

DEPICTED IN BHARATI MUKHERJEE’S

THE MANAGEMENT OF GRIEF

AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS

Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements

for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra

In English Letters

By

GAYUH PENDHIKA PRATAMA PUTRI

Student Number: 134214035

ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAM

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS

FACULTY OF LETTERS

SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY

YOGYAKARTA

2016

PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

ii

ASPECTS OF POSTMODERNISM

OF THE SOCIAL CONDITION

DEPICTED IN BHARATI MUKHERJEE’S

THE MANAGEMENT OF GRIEF

AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS

Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements

for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra

In English Letters

By

GAYUH PENDHIKA PRATAMA PUTRI


ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAM

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS

FACULTY OF LETTERS

SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY

YOGYAKARTA

2016


A Sarjana Sastra Undergraduate Thesis

ASPECTS OF POSTMODERNISMOF THE SOCIAL CONDITION

DEPICTED IN BHARATI MUKHERJEE'STHE MANA GEMENT OF GRIEF

ByGAYUH PENDHIKA PRATAMA PUTRI


Dr. Gabri~l

Approved by

April 11111 ,2017Advisor

\llv .'

Ora. A.B. Sri Mulyani, M.A., Ph.DCo-Advisor

iii

April 11 111 ,2017


A Sarjana Sastra Undergraduate Thesis


DEPICTED IN BHARATI MUKHERJEE'STHE MANAGEMENT OF GRIEF

ByGAYUH PENDHlKA PRATAMA PUTRI


Defended before the Board of Examinerson April 251h

, 2017and Declared Acceptable

BOARD OF EXAMINERS

Name

Chairperson : Dr. Gabriel Fajar Sasn-iita Aji., M.Hum.

Secretary : Dra. A.B. Sri Mlilyani, M.A., Ph.D

Member I : Ni Lull PlItli Rosiandani, S.S., M.Hum,

Member 2 : Dr. Gabriel Fajar Sasmita Aji., M.Hum.

Member 3 : Dra. A.B. Sri Mlilyani, M.A., Ph.D \Ill:-,//-1---

-.....-........r. P. Ari Subagyo, M.Hum.

iv


STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY

I certify that this undergraduate thesis contains no material which has beenpreviously submitted for the award of any other degree at any university, and that,

to the best of my knowledge, this undergraduate thesis contains no materialpreviously written by any other person except where due reference is made in thetext of the undergraduate thesis.

Yogyakarta, April i'\ 2017

~Gayuh Pendhika Pratama Putri

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LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLlKASI KARYA ILMIAHUNTUK KEPENTINGAN AKADEMIS

Yang bertanda tangan di bawah ini, saya mahasiswa Universitas Sanata Dharma

NamaNomoI' Mahasiswa

: Gayuh Pendhika Pratama Putri: 134214035

Demi pengembangan ilmu pengetahuan, saya memberikan kepada PerpustakaanUniversitas Sanata Dhanna karya ilmiah saya yang berjudul


DEPICTED IN BHARATI MUKHERJEE'STHE MANAGEMENT OF GRIEF

beserta perangkat yang diperlukan (bila ada). Dengan demikian saya memberikankepada Perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma hak untuk menyimpan,mengalihkan dalam bentuk media lain, mengelolanya dalam bentuk pangkalandata, mendistribusikan secara terbatas, dan mempublikasikannya di internet ataumedia lain untuk kepentingan akademis tanpa perlu meminta ijin kepada sayamaupun memberikan royalti kepada saya selama tetap mencantumkan nama sayasebagai penulis.

Demikian pernyataan ini saya buat dengan sebenarnya.

Dibuat di YogyakatiaPada tanggal 7 April 2017

Yang menyatakan,

~Gayuh Pendhika Pratama Putri

vi


vii

“Religion is a cultural composition that

entails diverse elements: feeling, rite,

belief, myth, dogma.”

-Whitehead-


viii

I dedicate this work for people who are still searching for freedom, who are still

searching for a voyage in life, who are still managing plans to the better future.


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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First of all, I would like to thank God Almighty who gives me the idea to

write this undergraduate thesis and whose revelation makes me understand that

the diversity is a beautiful and unique thing in this world as well as in fiction.

I also would like to thank Dr. Gabriel Fajar Sasmita Aji., M.Hum. who

showed me the steps and helped me solve the difficulties in the process of writing

the thesis. I would also like to thank Dra. A.B. Sri Mulyani, M.A., Ph.D who gave

me useful advices in improving my writing.

My next gratitude is addressed to my parents, especially my mother for the

patience to support me whenever I feel weary. I also thank my family and my best

friends, who cannot be mentioned one by one, for giving me the spirit of love and

motivation, so that I can finish this thesis. I am also grateful to my friends in the

class 2013 English Letters Sanata Dharma University for the happy time and

experiences I have. I express my gratitude and love to all of you.

Gayuh Pendhika Pratama Putri.


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TABLE OF CONTENTS

TITLE PAGE ........................................................................................................ ii

APPROVAL PAGE ............................................................................................. iii

ACCEPTANCE PAGE ........................................................................................ iv

STATEMENT OF ORIGINILATY ..................................................................... v

LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH .. vi

MOTTO PAGE ................................................................................................... vii

DEDICATION PAGE ........................................................................................ viii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................. ix

TABLE OF CONTENTS ....................................................................................... x

ABSTRACT .......................................................................................................... xi

ABSTRAK ............................................................................................................. xii

CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION ......................................................................... 1

A. Background of the Study .............................................................................. 1

B. Problem Formulation .................................................................................... 5

C. Objectives of the Study ................................................................................ 5

D. Definition of Terms ...................................................................................... 5

CHAPTER II: REVIEW OF LITERATURE ..................................................... 9

A. Review of Related Studies ........................................................................... 9

B. Review of Related Theories ....................................................................... 13

C. Theoretical Framework .............................................................................. 20

CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY ................................................................... 21

A. Object of the Study ..................................................................................... 21

B. Approach of the Study ................................................................................ 22

C. Method of the Study ................................................................................... 23

CHAPTER IV: ANALYSIS ............................................................................... 25

A. The Depiction of the Setting in The Management of Grief ........................ 25

B. The Aspects of Postmodernism in the Settings .......................................... 48

CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION ........................................................................... 56

BIBLIOGRAPHY ................................................................................................ 59

APPENDICES ...................................................................................................... 61

Appendix: Summary of Bharati Mukherjee‟s The Management of Grief ..... 61


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ABSTRACT

Gayuh Pendhika Pratama Putri. Aspects of Postmodernism of Social Condition

in Bharati Mukherjee’s The Management of Grief. Yogyakarta: Department of

English Letters, Sanata Dharma University, 2016.

In the plural society, diversity becomes a crucial problem. It is what

happened in Bharati Mukherjee‟s The Management of Grief . To examine the

problem, this undergraduate thesis applies the aspects of postmodernism.

Postmodernism has aspects to discuss the problem through the way of

communication in which the communication becomes an important thing in

human life. The way of communication mentioned is legitimation and sublime in

which the problems of society involved.

This undergraduate thesis attempts to show the aspects of postmodernism

of the social condition depicted in Bharati Mukherjee‟s The Management of Grief.

In order to be systematically organized, there are two problem formulations. The

first is how the elements of setting are depicted in Bharati Mukherjee‟s The

Management of Grief, and the second is what the aspects of postmodernism of the

social condition are found.

In gathering data, this undergraduate thesis requires library research to

conduct. It uses both printed texts and website references. The primary source is a

literary work written by Bharati Mukherjee, The Management of Grief. The

secondary source is taken from cultural studies books, printed and website

references.

In a basic position to probe the postmodern issue within The Management

of Grief, this undergraduate thesis attempts to show the aspects of postmodernism

of the social condition. The social condition in the story is depicted through the

elements of the setting which are geographical location, occupations and daily

manner of living of the characters, time which action takes place, and general

environment of the characters. By depicting the elements of setting, it shows the

condition of the immigrants in Canada facing and reconstructing their grief after

losing their relatives in terrorist bombing. In the social condition, they find

problems that cause a conflict. However, a toleration can reduce the conflict. It is

when they communicate with each other to face the grief without seeing their

religions, cultures, races, and nations. By seeing the social condition through the

depiction of the setting, it indicates the aspects of postmodernism in which they

support and express their feelings by communication. Therefore, it can be

concluded that the social condition in The Management of Grief depicts the

aspects of postmodernism in which people have to communicate with each other

to express their feelings and influence their thoughts. Without communication,

people cannot solve the problems they face.


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ABSTRAK

Gayuh Pendhika Pratama Putri. Aspects of Postmodernism of Social Condition

in Bharati Mukherjee’s The Management of Grief. Yogyakarta: Department of

English Letters, Sanata Dharma University, 2016.

Dalam masyarakat yang majemuk ini, keanekaragaman menjadi masalah

yang rumit. Hal itulah yang terjadi di The Management of Grief karya Bharati

Mukherjee. Oleh karena itu, untuk menggali masalah tersebut skripsi ini

menggunakan aspek pasca modernisme yang berkaitan dengan gagasan permainan

bahasa. Pasca modernisme memiliki aspek untuk menganalisis masalah melalui

cara berkomunikasi karena komunikasi merupakan hal penting dalam kehidupan

manusia. Cara berkomunikasi yang disebutkan dalam permainan bahasa yaitu

legitimasi dan sublime dimana permasalahan sosial terlibat.

Skripsi ini mencoba untuk menunjukkan bahwa aspek-aspek pasca

modernisme dari kondisi sosial digambarkan dalam The Management of Grief

karya Bharati Mukherjee menggambarkan aspek dari pasca modernisme. Agar

terorganisir dengan baik, skripsi ini berpedoman pada dua rumusan masalah.

Pertama, bagaimana setting digambaran dalam buku The Management of Grief

karya Bharati Mukherjee, dan yang kedua yaitu apa saja yang menjadi aspek dari

pasca modernisme dalam kondisi sosial berdasarkan setting yang digambaran

dalam buku The Management of Grief karya Bharati Mukherjee.

Dalam pengumpulan data, skripsi ini menggunakan metode pustaka. Skripsi

ini menggunakan referensi teks tertulis dan website. Sumber utama dalam skripsi

ini adalah karya sastra yang ditulis oleh Bharati Mukherjee, yaitu The

Management of Grief karena skripsi ini merupakan pembelajaran literasi dengan

pendekatan pasca modernisme. Sumber lainnya diambil dari buku, teks tertulis,

dan website tentang budaya.

Dalam dasar menelaah isu pasca modern dalam The Management of Grief,

skripsi ini mencoba untuk menunjukkan bahwa apa yang terjadi di masyarakat

dalam cerita tersebut adalah aspek-aspek pascamodernism dari kondisi sosial.

Kondisi sosial dalam cerita tersebut digambarkan melalui elemen-elemen setting,

yaitu lokasi geografis, pekerjaan dan sikap keseharian dari kehidupan para tokoh,

waktu terjadinya peristiwa, dan lingkungan secara umum dari para tokoh. Dengan

menggambarkan elemen-elemen dari setting, hal tersebut menunjukkan kondisi

para imigran di Kanada menghadapi dan merekonstruksi duka mereka setelah

kehilangan keluarganya dalam teroris bom. Dalam kondisi sosial, mereka

mendapati permasalahan yang menyebabkan konflik. Namun, toleransi dapat

mengurangi konflik tersebut. Seperti ketika mereka saling menguatkan dalam

menghadapi dukanya tanpa melihat agama, budaya, ras, dan bangsa. Dengan

menelaah kondisi sosial melalui gambaran setting, hal tersebut mengindikasi

aspek-aspek pascaposmodernisme saat mereka menguatkan dan mengekspresikan

perasaan mereka melalui komunikasi. Oleh karena itu, dapat disimpulkan bahwa

kondisi sosial dalam The Management of Grief menggambarkan aspek-aspek

pasca posmodernisme ketika manusia harus berkomunikasi dengan sesama untuk

mengekspresikan perasaan dan mempengaruhi pikiran mereka. Tanpa komunikasi

manusia tidak akan bisa menyelesaikan permasalahan yang dihadapi.


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CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

A. Background of the Study

Interaction and communication are two important things in human life.

Those are necessary due to human‟s different facts, such as faith, opinion,

attitude, the way of thinking, or custom they might face in the society. These

phenomena show that people in this world, actually, try to exist. Thus, people

want to be considered in society by all the various things they have.

The phenomena of the various things, such as different customs, religions,

and nations, are shown in Bharati Mukherjee‟s The Management of Grief.

This short story tells about how people face and manage griefs. The griefs

were caused by the Sikh terrorist bombing of Air India Flight 182. It was an

actual accident occured on June 23, 1985, which killed 329 passangers and

crews. This story depicted griefs of Shaila Bhave, Kusum, Dr. Ranganathan,

and Indo-Canadian immigrants who were from different cultures and nations.

The accident made them realize to support and respect each other.

Bhave is an immigrant who lives in Canada. She faces the fate by losing

her husband and two sons. As an Indian, she has forms of grief which are

specific to her culture. She regrets losing her husband because she never

called her husband‟s name and showed her love to her husband as Western

people do. In her grief, she is helped and supported by the Sharmas and

friends from Indo-Canada Society. However, when Bhave is in a grief, Judith

Templeton as an appointee of the provincial government comes to ask for


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Bhave‟s help to communicate with people who are also in a grief. It is

because Templeton thinks Bhave is a strong person to communicate with the

other survivors.

In facing the grief, Bhave has new relatives who are Kusum and Dr.

Ranganathan. Even though they have lost their relatives, they give motivation

to each other. Besides, this story tells how people show their care without

seeing the diversity. The way of it can be viewed through either two

perspectives which is modernism or postmodernism.

In modernism, it shows the condition concerning a set of cultural and

aesthetic. Besides, it develops in conscious opposition to classicism in which

it emphasizes the truth behind surface appearance.

Sarup (1993: 131) argues that

Modernism concerns a particular set of cultural or aesthetic styles

associated with the artistic movement which originated around the turn of

the century and have dominated the various arts until recently. Modernism

developed in conscious opposition to classicism; it emphasized

experimentation and the aim of finding an inner truth behind surface

structure.

In other words, modernism had led human beings to the condition in which

there is a social differentiation. It means that there is a distinction of the fact

and value, and ethic and theory. Besides, modernism also has the features that

relate to the narrative and the condition of modernism itself. The basic

features of modernism is mentioned by Sarup (1993:131) that

The basic features of modernism can be summarized as: an aesthetic self-

consciousness and reflexiveness; a rejection of narrative structure in

favour of simultaneity and montage; an exploration of the paradoxical,

ambiguous and uncertain, open-ended nature of reality; and the rejection


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of the notion of an integrated personality in favour of an emphasis upon

the Freudian „split‟ subject.

In defining the condition of modernism, it also relates to the definition of

postmodernism in which one of problems in modernism appears in

postmodernism. In postmodernism, it suggests human beings about the

changes of the way of thinking towards the social condition they are facing.

The condition means that technologies and sciences serve a facility for human

beings to communicate without direct interaction.

Consequently, there are some effects later, such as communication

problem. Postmodernism attempts to have a new view for the condition of

technology and science. People do not only depend on them, but also know

how to use as the useful things.

Postmodernism sees the reality as a diversity, pluralism, fragmentation,

and skepticism. It means that postmodernism as the theory tries to show that

language games is a term to open the consciousness of perspectives to receive

pluralism. It is because human beings use language in their activities to

express their thoughts, feelings, opinions, or idea. Barker (2004: 106-107)

said that

Language is important to an understanding of culture for two central and

related reasons: first, language is the previleged medium in which cultural

meanings are formed and communicated; and second, language is the

primary means and medium through which we form knowledge about

ourselves and the social world. Language forms the network by which we

classify the world and make it meaningful, that is, cultural.

In postmodernism, to understand the social condition, it can be seen

through the language that society uses. By using language, the society can


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communicate each other and understand the different knowledges. As the

result, the society can receive the pluralism as what postmodernism concerns.

By respecting the pluralism, people can reduce the conflict. As this era

shows, there are conflicts because of the diversity, such as religion and

cultural conflict. It is because this era is marked by the radicalism and

fundamentalism. People who live in the pluralism have to know how the

changing of the social condition is important.

The literary work criticizes a conflict or condition of society in this era is

Bharati Mukherjee‟s The Management of Grief. This story presents us how

the aspects of postmodernism depicted through the social condition of the

characters which is the setting of event happens and facing their grief. They

show the condition of postmodern when they criticize the reaction of

government towards the conflict and the effects of that.

Besides, they use a language games as postmodernism said when they

value the fate and live are from God. Another condition of postmodernism

depicted through this short story is the pluralism. Bharati Mukherjee‟s The

Management of Grief tells about how they facing the pluralism in the same

place and solving the problem together without making another problem.

They have toleration for a grief.

In this case, setting is an important thing to be discussed because it is a

basic to prove and understand how unconventional setting is seen by the

aspects of postmodernism. Setting as an intrinsic element of literary work

explains about time, place, and social condition in which the story happened.


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Hence, this undergraduate thesis focuses more on setting and aspects of

postmodernism are depicted in the story.

B. Problem Formulation

1. How are the elements of setting depicted in Bharati Mukherjee‟s The

Management of Grief?

2. What are the aspects of postmodernism in the social condition depicted as

the setting in Bharati Mukherjee‟s The Management of Grief?

C. Objectives of the Study

The point of this undergraduate thesis is to prove that the social condition

of the characters in Bharati Mukherjee‟s The Management of Grief represents

aspects of postmodernism. In order to find the evidence of the condition of

postmodernism in the short story, problem formulation has to be formulated.

Based on the problem formulation, there are two objectives of study. The

objectives are: First, to depict setting in Bharati Mukherjee‟s The

Management of Grief. Second, to analyze aspects of postmodernism in setting

depicted in Bharati Mukherjee‟s The Management of Grief. It is because this

undergraduate thesis focuses on setting, and studies how the condition of the

story depicts aspects of postmodernism.

D. Definition of Terms

There are five terms should be explained, so that the title of this

undergraduate thesis becomes clear for the readers. They are social condition,

postmodernism, and language games. The first term is social condition. In


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general, social condition is a term referring to a condition of the society. It is

usually related to geographical, political, economical, or social status.

Social is defined in (yourdictionary.com, September 19, 2016) as “of or

having to do with human beings living together as a group in a situation in

which their dealings with one another affect their common welfare: social

consciousness, social problems” whereas condition is defined in

(yourdictionary.com, September 19, 2016) as “Anything that modifies or

restricts the nature, existence, or occurrence of something else; external

circumstance or factor.”

The second term is postmodernism. Sarup (1993: 131) said that

Postmodernism is a name for a movement in advanced capitalist culture,

particularly in the arts. There is a sense in which if one sees modernism as

the culture of modernity, postmodernism is the culture of postmodernity.

The term postmodernism originated among artists and critics in New York

in the 1960s and was taken up by European theorists in the 1970s.

The term of postmodernism is also mentioned by Barker (2004: 156) that

“We may understand postmodernism to be a notion that refers us to questions

of culture and knowledge while the idea of postmodernity relates to historical

patterns of social organization.”

This undergraduate thesis uses the word „postmodernism‟ to refer to the

problem of culture and society. Thus, the questions of this undergraduate

thesis is not confined by the text, but it attempts to extend through the culture

and knowledge in the social condition in Bharati Mukherjee‟s The

Management of Grief in order to find the relation of the internal and external

problem. It relates to the definition of the social condition. Besides, the term


7

„postmodernism‟ also includes to related terms, such as postmodern,

postmodernity, and postmodernist.

The third term is language games. Barker (2004: 108) said that

“The concept of a language games is strongly associated with the ordinary

language philosophy of the „later‟ Wittgenstein, for whom the meaning of

words derives from the usage in a complex network of relationships

between signs, and not from some essential characteristic or referent. Thus

meaning is contextual and relational; it depends on the relationships

between words that have „family resemblances‟ and on specific utterances

in the context of pragmatic narratives.”

This undergraduate thesis uses this term because it relates to the topic in

which language is an important to communicate in the society. Besides,

language games is related to postmodernism which uses language games

referring to the meaning of the context of words.

The fourth term is legitimation. This term is used because it is the way of

communication in the aspects of postmodernism which is discussed in this

study. As Lyotard (1984: 8) said that

Legitimation is the process by which a legislator is authorized to

promulgate such a law as a norm. Now take the example of a scientific

statement: it is subject to the rule that a statement must fulfill a given set

of conditions in order to be accepted as scientific. In this case, legitimation

is the process by which a “legislator” dealing with scientific discourse is

authorized to prescribe the stated conditions (in general, the conditions of

internal consistency and experimental verification) determining whether a

statement is to be included in that discourse for consideration by the

scientific community.

It means that legitimation is used by legislator in making rule in order to

fulfill a given set of conditions, so that, it is accepted as scientific. Then, the

fifth term is sublime. Lucy (1997: 35) said that

According to the great eighteenth-century German philosopher Immanuel

Kant, in opposition to whose ideas the Romantic period is often (wrongly)


8

defined, sublime is an order of judgement. The sublime, as distinct from

the beautiful or the horrible, is not to be found in nature, but in the mind.

While the sublime is both „universally valid‟ and „independent of

interest‟,the analytical process by which anything is judged to be sublime

is a cultural ahievement, not a natural priori condition.

This undergraduate thesis uses this term because it is one of the aspects of

postmodernism which explains that communication is used to express

people‟s mind and thought.


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CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

A. Review of Related Studies

Bharati Mukherjee‟s The Management of Grief is a short story with

religious and cultural theme overarching it. It descibes how immigrants who

lost their relatives, in terrorist bombing, face the grief with the various of

cultures and religions in their surroundings. To analyze this study, there are

some studies to consult in order to enrich any perspectives that important for

the study. The first study, written by Katleen Brogan, entitled “American

Stories of Cultural Haunting: Tales of Heirs and Ethnographers.” It deals

with Bharati Mukherjee‟s The Management of Grief, as a short story,

invoking ghosts to dramatize some points in the story. In its article (1995:

150), she mentioned that

In “The Management of Grief” (1989), Bharati Mukherjee invokes ghosts

to dramatize the divided loyalties and ultimate transformation of

immigrants to North America.

Brogan‟s study attempts to analyze how ghosts invokes in the short story

to dramatize the loyalties and ultimate transformation of immigrants who lost

their relatives. It also reflects a phenomenon concerning with the questions of

ethnic identity and transmission. Brogan (1995: 151) said that “Plainly, the

contemporary American ghost story is not solely an African-American

phenomenon; it is, in fact, a pan-ethnic phenomenon, registering a


10

widespread concern with questions of ethnic identity and cultural

transmission.”

By concerning with the questions of ethnic identity and cultural

transmission through the ghosts, she can show the readers how story tells

about historical moments and emphasizes on ethnic and differentiation of race

in the society.

From the above quotations, Brogan considers ghosts as a key point to the

short story. Unlike this undergraduate thesis which focuses on cultures and

religions through social condition, Brogan‟s study focuses on ethnic and

differentiation race through the ghosts.

The second study is Mukherjee‟s stories of American transformations.

The title of study is “Looting American Culture: Bharati Mukherjee‟s

Immigrant Narratives” written by Jennifer Drake. This study attempts to

show how Mukherjee‟s stories create an unsettled time that links to the events

of everyday life so as to rethink American narratives of immigrants. Drake

(1999: 60) said that

Mukherjee's stories of American transformations create an unsettled

"time of writing" that links "the event of the everyday and the advent of

the epochal" so as to rethink American narratives of immigration. In her

tales, people and nations scatter and gather.

In that study, it attempts to show that Mukherjee, as an American writer,

attempts to show the struggle of immigrants and the imagination in social life.

The imagination as social practice and social fact link to fractals, chaos,

globalization, or hegemony.


11

Drake (1999: 62) said that

The imagination as social practice and social fact works where myth logic

meets fractals, chaos, fuzzy set theory; globalization is ineffectually

understood purely in terms of Western or U.S. hegemony; narratives of

Americanization here and abroad must be interrupted by narratives of

indigenization; neither the center nor the periphery can hold, or hold on.

From the quotation, in Mukherjee‟s imagination, America is a place in

flux and a metaphor representing freedom from Indian. In their society, they

face fractals and chaos. Darke (1999: 64) said that “In Mukherjee‟s

imagination, America is a place in flux, a metaphor that represents freedom

from Indian history-as-fate.”

From the quotation, it can be concluded that Darke representing the

freedom from Indian history, as their fate, through a metaphor. This

undergraduate thesis considers The Management of Grief is a shot story as a

cultural and religious story that shows the aspects of postmodernism of the

social condition as the setting. The main difference between this

undergraduate thesis and Darke‟s study is the object of the study. Darke‟s

study attempts to prove the freedom of immigrants in the society through a

metaphor, whereas this undergraduate thesis attempts to relate the social

condition as the setting in the short story with the aspects of postmodernism.

As this short story focuses on the setting, there is a study that analyzes

another story with the seting as the turning point. The third study is written by

Lisistrata Lusandiana entitled “Power Struggle Between Modernism and

Postmodernism to Determine Truth as Revealed in Restrepo‟s The Angel of


12

Galilea.” She attempts to analyze the description of the society in the novel

that shows the setting of time and place.

According to her thesis, Lusandiana stated the theory from Holman and

Harmon (2009: xxxix-xi) that

The analysis of the society as setting is based on what Holman and

Harmon said about setting, that it can be constructed upon these elements:

“first, the actual geographical location, second, the occupations and daily

manner of living of the characters, third, the time or period in which the

action takes place, fourth, the general environment of the characters, such

as religious, moral, mental, social and emotional conditions through which

the people in the narrative move.”

In this part, the time and place in which the actions take place are

described. The actions can include conflicts, the condition of characters, such

as religious, moral, mental, and emotional.

In this undergraduate thesis, The Management of Grief is one of the

stories written by Bharati Mukherjee consisting wide-ranging in both setting

and theme. The fourth study that discusses about Bharati Mukherjee‟s The

Management of Grief is Parameswaran‟s journal (1990: 363). It is mentioned

that “Bharati Mukherjee‟s second volume of short fiction consists of eleven

stories that are wide-ranging in both settings and themes.”

This undergraduate thesis will analyze The Management of Grief through

the setting point of view which explains the condition of the characters during

the chaos. The Management of Grief is the final story in the collection entitled

The Middleman and Other Stories. It implies that Mukherjee‟s works

describing culture or events in opposite directions.


13

From those four studies have mentioned, this undergraduate thesis stated

on aspects of postmodernism of the social condition as the setting in Bharati

Mukherjee‟s The Management of Grief. In this undergraduate thesis, there are

different perspectives from the previous studies.

The first is Katleen Brogan‟s study. It discusses about “American Stories

of Cultural Haunting: Tales of Heirs and Ethnographers.” The second is

“Looting American Culture: Bharati Mukherjee‟s Immigrant Narratives”

written by Jennifer Drake. The third is from Lusandiana‟s study that discusses

the description of the society through Restrepo‟s The Angel of Galilea by

modernism and postmodernism approach. The fourth is Parameswaran‟s

study discussing about the background of The Management of Grief is written

by Bharati Mukherjee. In this study, it mentions that culture and event at the

time influence the short story.

This undergraduate thesis attempts to show how the aspects of

postmodernism of the social condition are depicted in Bharati Mukherjee‟s

The Management of Grief.

B. Review of Related Theories

This undergraduate thesis has two points to be discussed. They are the

depiction of the setting and aspects of postmodernism. Therefore, this

undergraduate thesis needs theories on the two fields to answer and analyze

the problem formulation.


14

1. Theory on Setting

The aspects of postmodernism of the social condition in the short story can

be seen by disclosing the setting.

Abrams (1999: 284) argued that

The overall setting of a narrative or dramatic work is the general locale,

historical time, and social circumstances in which its action occurs; the

setting of a single episode or scene within such a work is the particular

physical location in which it takes place.

In this undergraduate thesis, Abrams theory is used to analyze the setting

of the short story in which the action, time, and place mentioned the action

and accident occured. Before depicting the social circumstances of the story,

it depicts a single episode or scene in which the accident or activity happen.

After depicts the single scene of story, the conflict of the characters in the

story appears. The conflicts and the condition that characters face can be

found through the elements of setting, such as location the accident takes

place, time, and the environment in which the characters move and face

various condition in life. However, before analyzing the setting in detail by

using general local, historical time, and social circumstances, this

undergraduate thesis depicts the setting by using the theory of setting of V.

Roberts and Henry E. Jacobs in Fiction: An Introduction to Reading and

Writing. It is to divide the settings in the short story easily.

Such a view follows the theoretical assumption that “Setting refers to the

natural and artificial scenery or environment in which characters in literature

live and move.” (1987: 190).


15

Roberts and Jacobs divide the term of setting into two types of settings.

They are natural setting and manufactured setting. Natural setting is defined

as “Nature, in short, is one of the major forces governing the circumstances of

characters who go about facing the conflicts on which the plots of stories

depend.” (1987: 191). On the other hand, manufactured setting is defined as

“Manufactured things always reflect the people who make them. A building

or a room tells about the people who built it and live in it, and ultimately

about the social and political orders that maintain the conditions” (1987: 191).

To support Robert and Jacobs‟ theory, this undergraduate thesis needs

another theory of setting. The theory of setting is from Harmon. Harmon

(2009: 508) said that

The elements making up a setting are: (1) the geographical location, its

topography, scenery, and such physical arrangements as the location of the

windows and doors in a room; (2) the occupations and daily manner of

living of the characters; (3) the time or period in which the action takes

place, for example, epoch in history or season of the year; and (4) the

general environment of the characters, for example, religious, mental,

moral, social, and emotional conditions.

This undergraduate thesis uses Harmon theory to analyze the social

condition of the short story through the place and time the action and accident

happened, occupations and daily manner the characters have, and the moral,

cultures, religious, and emotional condition the characters have in facing the

grief.

2. Theory on the Aspects of Postmodernism

Lyotard, as a postmodernist, attempts to create a society in which there is a

flexibility of narrative knowledge. It is because there is a conflict between


16

narrative and science in which they have their own thought to solve problem

by language. Sarup (1993: 145) mentioned that

Lyotard believes that there is a conflict between narrative and science

(theoretical knowledge). Narrative is disappearing and there is nothing to

replace it. He seems to want the flexibility of narrative knowledge – in

which the aesthetic, cognitive and moral are interwoven – and yet want

also to retain the individualism which developed with capitalism.

It also mentioned that

Lyotard argues that art, morality and science (the beautiful, the good and

the true) have become separated and autonomous. A characteristic of our

times is the fragmentation of language games. (Sarup, 1993: 145)

From those quotations, it can be seen that there are the notion of

postmodernism which are about the ability to deal with time. As Sarup (1993:

146) said that “Two significant features of postmodernism, as described by

the American critic Fredric Jameson, are „pastiche‟ and „schizophrenia‟.”

The explanation of „pastiche‟ and „schizophrenia‟ are mentioned by Sarup

(1993: 146) that

The practice of pastiche, the imitation of dead styles, can be seen in the

„nostalgia film‟. It seems that we are unable to focus on our present. We

have lost our ability to locate ourselves historically. As a society we have

become incapable of dealing with time.

Postmodernism has a peculiar notion of time. Jameson explains what he

means in terms of Lacan‟s theory of schizophrenia. The originality of

Lacan‟s thought in this area is to have considered schizophrenia as a

language disorder. Schizophrenia emerges from the failure of the infant to

enter fully into the realm of speech and language. For Lacan the

experience of temporality, human time, past, present, memory, the

persistence of personal identity is an effect of language. It is because

language has a past and a future, because the sentence moves in time, that

we can have what seems to us a concrete or lived experience of time.


17

By seeing the notion of postmodernism, it draws the attention to three

aspects of postmodernist thought. Sarup (1993: 150) said that

Firstly, there is a tendency to reduce all truth-claims to the level of

rhetorics, narrative strategies or Foucauldian discourses conceived as

existing solely by virtue of the differences or rivalries between them, so

that no single claimant can assert itself at the expense of any other.

Secondly, a related point, there is often an appeal, especially in Lyotard, to

the Wittgensteinian notion of „language games‟ (sometimes called „forms

of life‟). A belief in heterogeneous language games, each involving a

different set of cognitive, historical or ethico-political criteria, implies that

is not possible to decide between rival interpretations.

Thirdly, there is a turn towards the Kantian sublime as a means of

devaluing cognitive truth-claims and elevating the notion of the

unpresentable (that is to say, intuitions that cannot be „brought under‟

adequate concepts) to absolute pride of place in the ethical realm.

It is also mentioned by Lyotard (1984: xxiv) that “Simplifying to the

extreme, I define postmodern as incredulity toward metanarratives. This

incredulity is undoubtedly a product of progress in the sciences: but that

progress in turn presupposes it.” Hence, there are the differences between

narrative and scientific text. It is clarified by Lucy (1997: 66) that

Before raising them, though, I want to clarify what Lyotard thinks the

differences between narrative and scientific texts (or knowledge or

language games) comprise. The basic difference is that narrative language-

games are heterogeneous as opposed to the more restrictive outcome-

oriented, rule-governed game of science. Science, because it is dominated

by rules, is end-directed, whereas narrative (or more broadly art), because

it produces rules only in and as itself, is completely free from having to

legitimate what it „is‟ according to any external criteria.

Lyotard also mentioned how the postmodern condition is, in The

Postmodern Condition: A Report on Knowledge. As he said, the postmodern

condition is marked by cultures. That condition influences the way of

communication and knowledge of each individuals.


18

Lyotard (1984: 4) said that “The “producers” and users of knowledge must

now, and will have to, possess the means of translating into these language

whatever they want to invent or learn.”

From the term of knowledge, then it develops into problems in which

postmodernism mentioned. For instance, political power or economical

problem occurs in society. Those problems can be analyzed by language

games as the aspect of postmodernism. It is because people as human beings

who live in the world use language as they communicate with each other. It is

mentioned by Lucy (1997: 79) that “This or that language-game might

change, but „the world‟ never could: because any notion of the „world‟ would

be locked inside a particular language-game‟.”

In the term of language games, it includes sublime and legitimation.

Language games itself is mentioned by Lyotard (1984: 10) that

What he means by this term is that each of the various categories of

utterance can be defined terms of rules specifying their properties and the

uses to which they can be put–in exactly the same way as the game of the

chess is defined by a set of rules determining the properties of each of the

pieces, in other words, the proper way to move them.

In the definition of language games, Lyotard argued that “The last

observation bring us to the first principle underlying our method as a whole:

to speak to fight, in the sense of playing , and speech acts falls within the

domain of a general agonistics.” (1984: 10). In this part, those aspects of

postmodernism will be discussed in this study.


19

The first is legitimation. Lyotard (1984: 8) argued that “Legitimation is the

process by which a legislator is authorized to promulgate such a law as a

norm.” He also mentioned that

In this case, legitimation is the process by which a “legislator” dealing

with scientific discourse is authorized to prescribe the stated conditions (in

general, conditions of internal consistency and experimental verification)

determining whether a statement is to be included in that discourse for

consideration by the scientific community. (1984: 8)

It means that legitimation is an impact of scientific demoralization. It is the

condition when the society is developed by the scenarion of the

computerization. In this condition, governmental agencies or pirvate firms

guide a certain decision for managing telecommunications industry. It

mentioned by Lyotard (1984) that

It has been described extensively by the experts and is already guiding

certain decisions by the governmental agencies and private firms most

directly concerned, such as those managing the telecommunication

industry. To some extent, then, it is already a part of observable reality.

Finally, barring economic stagnation or a general recession (resulting, for

example, from a continued failure to solve the world‟s energy problems),

there is a good chance that this scenario will come to pass: it is hard to see

what other direction contemporary technology could take as an alternative

to the computerization of society.

The second aspect is sublime. Lucy (1997: 35) mentioned that

According to the great eighteenth-century German philosopher Immanuel

Kant, in opposition to whose ideas the Romantic period is often (wrongly)

defined, the sublime is an order of judgement. The sublime, as distinct

from the beautiful or the horrible, is not to be found in nature, but in the

mind. While the sublime is both „universally valid‟ and „independent of

interest‟, the analytical process by which anything is judged to be sublime

is a cultural achievement, not a natural a priori condition. Hence the

universal and disinterested sublime is always a product of particular

cultural interests: a stormy sea, for example, may be produced as sublime

–and therefore universal and disinterested –in the mind of someone (the

English Romantic painter J. M. W. Turner, say) whose cultural stock of

images of the beautiful and the horrible includes „the stormy sea‟ as an


20

example of powerful forces, objects or events that induce powerful

feelings of fear, delight or grandeur.

It means that the words understood to express an idea is called as sublime,

but for a culture it is not a sublime. In another meaning, sublime is words

creating an imagination of someone to see a literary work.

C. Theoretical Framework

Theories on setting which are purposed by Abrams, and Harmon are used

to map the social condition in the short story as setting. By showing the social

condition as setting, this undergraduate thesis will answer the question on

how is setting depicted in Bharati Mukherjee‟s The Management of Grief .

Theories on postmodernism which are purposed by Sarup, Lyotard, and

Lucy are used to show and see the aspects of postmodernism depicted by the

setting on how the social condition depicts those aspects in Bharati

Mukherjee‟s The Management of Grief. Besides, this undergraduate thesis

can see how this short story can show a new perspective to see problem, the

way of communication, and pluralism through aspects of postmodernism.


21

CHAPTER III

METHODOLOGY

A. Object of the Study

The Management of Grief is the final story of fiction book The Middleman

and Other Stories written by Bharati Mukherjee, an American author.

Mukherjee was born in Calcutta, India. When she was young, she lived in

London with her parents and sisters. However, she returned to India in 1951

to study at the universities of Calcutta and Baroda. Then, she studied at the

University of Iowa Writers Workshop for her doctorate. She and her husband

Clark Blaise lived in Canada for ten years. She has published three novels

The Tiger’s Daughter (1972), Wife (1975), and Jasmine (1989); two story

collections Darkness (1985) and The Middleman and Other Stories (1988);

two works of non- fiction Days and Nights in Calcutta and The Sorrow and

the Terror. The Management of Grief is the story taken from The Middleman

and Other Stories. It had recently won the 1988 National Book Critics Circle

Award for Fiction.

According to some reviews, The Management of Grief shows the cultural

dissonance. It refers to the fact that this short story explores the cultural gap

between a Canadian social worker and Indian immigrants in Canada. Besides,

this was an actual terrorist bombing of an Air India flight occured in 1985

that was killed 329 passangers and crews. The most of them are Canadians of

Indian.


22

Another review criticizes about the language that is used in the short story.

It says that it is unrealistic because all of the characters are Indian, but they

speak English. The Management of Grief is accessible to a broad American

society.

In this case, this short story focuses on Shaila Bhave, an Indian immigrant,

who lost her husband and two sons in terrorist bombing of Air Indian Flight.

Besides, this short story pictures the condition of people who lost their

relatives. Bhave, who is considered as a brave person to face the condition,

helps Templeton to communicate with people in their grief. Then, she

manages their grief together with the people who have the same grief. After

managing the grief, Bhave continues her new life.

B. Approach of the Study

The short story is analyzed by using Postmodernist Appproach. This

approach is perfect for analyzing this study because this undergraduate thesis

discusses more about the aspects of postmodernism. In the aspects of

postmodernism, there will be discussions about communication, language,

and social condition in which postmodernist approach mentioned. Guerin

(2005: 300) stated that

Postmodernism questions everything rationalist European philosophy held

to be true, arguing that it is all contingent and that most cultural

constructions have served the function of empowering members of a

dominant social group at the expense of "others." Beginning in the mid-

1980s, postmodernism emerged in art, architecture, music, film, literature,

sociology, communications, fashion, and other fields.

Postmodernist approach also shows how postmodernism sees social

condition through language as “grand narratives.”


23

Guerin (2005: 300) mentioned that “Societies must have order. Jean-

FranÇois Lyotard argues that stability is maintained through “grand

narratives” or “master narratives,” stories a culture tells about its practices

and beliefs in order to keep going.”

Since this undergraduate thesis sees that The Management of Grief

teaches a meaningful way on facing a problematic condition,it is the best to

do this study by using postmodernist approach. Postmodernist approach

enables this undergraduate thesis to dig deeper about language, pluralism, and

culture which are depicted in the social condition of the short story.

C. Method of the Study

In gathering the sources, this undergraduate thesis used a library research.

Library research is the most relevant method to use among other methods.

The sources are taken from books, journals, texts which are related to the

study, and web site references. The primary source is The Management of

Grief by Bharati Mukherjee. In analyzing, this undergaraduate thesis needs

secondary sources which are two books on literary research, A Glossary

Literary Terms Seventh Edition (1999) by Abrams, and A Handbook to

Literature 11th Edition (2009) by Harmon, three books on Postmodernism,

An Introductory Guide to Post-Structuralism and Postmodernism (1993) by

Sarup, Postmodern Literary Theory An Introduction (1997) by Lucy, and

The Postmodern Condition: A Report on Knowledge ( 1984) by Lyotard.

There were more printed and web-based sources related to this study.


24

There were several steps taken in order to analyze and finish this study.

The first step was close reading the primary source The Management of Grief

by Baharati Mukherjee. As the primary source was read, studying the

elements of the work raised the intention to study the elements deeper. The

second step was making list of elements which included social condition,

pluralism, and the way of communication. The third step was close reading

the secondary sources in order to narrowing this study could be finished. By

reading those, the topic was decided to this undergraduate thesis. This would

dig more about social condition in Bharati Mukherjee‟s The Management of

Grief and relate it with postmodernism.

Problem formulations were made as the guidance for the analysis. Firstly,

this undergraduate thesis discussed the depiction of setting. Secondly, this

undergraduate thesis observed aspects of postmodernism in social condition

are depicted in Bharati Mukherjee‟s The Management of Grief. Finally, after

getting through all of the steps, the conclusion was drawn.


25

CHAPTER IV

ANALYSIS

In this part of the study, the answers for the problem formulation are

explained. This part is divided into two subchapters based on the answers of

the problem formulation. The first subchapter elaborates the depiction of the

setting. This subchapter consists of the setting representing the social

condition in the short story towards the accident happening in their life by

drawing their life timeline. The setting can be seen in the contexts the story

happens. Understanding these help to make a pattern on how the social

condition depicted in the story. The second subchapter deals with the aspects

of postmodernism. This subchapter elaborates the conflicts happened through

the social condition in detail, so that it can be used to reveal the aspects of

postmodernism depicted in the social condition in Bharati Mukherjee‟s The

Management of Grief.

A. The Depiction of the Setting in The Management of Grief

Before depicting the social condition of this short story which is stated by

Abrams, this undergraduate thesis depicts the setting by using Harmon theory

to show the specific setting before applying Abrams theory which mentions

about social circumstances what this undergraduate thesis attempts to find

out. It is because in social circumstances, there are some elements which are

place, time, the occupations and daily manner of living of the characters, and


26

the general environment of the characters. Those elements help to understand

how the social condition can be depicted.

Therefore, the setting will be disclosed by applying the theory using the

quotations from the short story as the main source of data. To depict the

setting, the life timeline of the story is elaborated. This timeline will explain

the contexts and events happened. Besides, it is to show the changing

condition in the story depicting the problem and conflict. It will explain since

the grief to the recovery of the characters.

1. Geographical Location

a. Bhave’s House

In the beginning of the short story, it depicts the condition in Bhave‟s

house. There are some people who help Bhave to face the grief. Mukherjee‟s

The Management of Grief (1988: 179) mentioned that

A woman I don‟t know is boiling tea the Indian way in my kitchen. There

are a lot of women I don‟t know in my kitchen, whispering, and moving

tactfully. They open doors, rummage through the pantry, and try not to ask

me where things are kept.

From the above quotation, it shows that people‟s conversation and

activities occur in the kitchen. Besides, it depicts that there are not only

people who lost their families, feel the grief, but also people around them

grieving. There are a lot of women, the Sharmas and friends from Indo-

Canada Society are in Bhave‟s house to help and accompany her to face the

grief. The condition is chaos and panic. It is because there are people who tell

about the terrorist bombing, and Bhave‟s and another people‟s condition.

Besides, there is a woman, as Bhave‟s friend, named Kusum. Kusum is one


27

of Bhave‟s friends. She lives across the street from Bhave‟s house.

Mukherjee‟s MToG (1988: 181) said that “Kusum lives across the street from

me. She and Satish had moved in less than a month ago. They said they

needed a larger place.”

In the grief, Bhave and Kusum face this condition together because they

are neighborhood. Besides, they are also immigrants from the same country

which is India.

b. A Bay in Ireland

A bay in Ireland is a place where Bhave and Kusum express their grief.

Mukherjee‟s TMoG (1988: 184) said that

Four days later, I find Kusum squatting on a rock overlooking a bay in

Ireland. It isn‟t a big rock, but it just sharply out over water. This is as

close as we‟ll ever get to them. June breezes balloon out her sari and unpin

her knee-length hair. She has the bewildered look of a sea creature whom

the tides have stranded.

From the above quotation, it shows that there is a rock in a bay where

Kusum squats on it expressing her feeling. Bhave and Kusum choose to visit

this place because they attempt to remember the accident which occured in a

bay. It also pictures that in the grief the two women have a hope to find their

relatives in the bay. Bhave and Kusum express their grief by ruining their sari

in a bay, the place that the accident happened. Mukherjee‟s TMoG (1988:

185) said that

Now I‟ve ruined my sari, one of my best. Kusum has joined me, knee-deep

in the water that feels to me like a swimming pool. I could settle in the

water, and my husband would take my hand and the boys would slap water

in my face just to see me scream.


28

In this place, they knee-deep and ruin their sari to express their feeling and

hope that their families know that they grieve to lose them. Dr. Ranganathan,

who also lost his relatives, experiences the sadness as those women feel. He

walks to get close with them in the bay. He feels what they feel. It is the

reason he tries to join them. Besides, he wants to share his feeling and support

them.

In this case, Dr. Ranganathan is one of the widowers from Motreal has

another way to face his grief. He brings squashed roses and float them on the

water. It is mentioned that “Dr. Ranganathan whips the pockets of his suit

jacket inside out. Squashed roses, in darkening shades of pink, float on the

water.” (Mukherjee‟s TMoG, 1988: 186). It shows that he attempts to involve

the nature in his grief and remember his wife who loves roses.

c. Canada

In Canada, it depicts the condition of the apartment that immigrants live.


The high-rise apartment is a tower of Indian and West Indians, with a

sparkling of Orientals. The nearest bus stop kiosk is lined with women in

saris. Boys practice cricket in the parking lot. Inside the building, even I

wince a bit from the ferocity of onion fumes, the distinctive and immediate

Indianness of frying ghee, but Judith Templeton maintains a steady flow of

information. These poor old people are in imminent danger of losing their

place and all their services.

The above quotation shows that here are some people who will lose their

place and services. Even though it is the high-rise apartment and a tower of

Indian and West Indians, there are two rooms which are dark and stuffy

because they do not pay the bill. They are old lady and her husband live


29

inside the building. Both of them are people who will be visited by

Templeton and Bhave. As Mukherjee‟s TMoG (1988: 193) said that

The two rooms are dark and stuffy. The lights are off, and an oil lamp

sputters on the coffee table. The bent old lady has let us in, and her

husband is wrapping a white turban over his oiled, hip-length hair. She

immediately goes to the kitchen, and I hear the most familiar sound of an

Indian home, tap water hitting and filling a teapot.

They have not paid their utility bills, out of fear and the inability to write a

check. The telephone is gone, electricity and gas and water are soon to

follow. They have told Judith their sons will provide. They are good boys,

and they have always earned and looked after their parents.

Those sentences show the condition of Indian people facing their life in

the difficult economic, but they attempt to accept the condition with a hope

that their sons will provide what have lost. Besides, it depicts that the

condition of the apartment is bad because the services has gone.

2. Occupations and Daily Manner of Living of the Characters

a. Treasurer

After seeing the condition, people in Bhave‟s house try to show their

emphaty to Bhave without disturbing her. They try to accompany and help

Bhave to face the grief. One of people who helps Bhave to manage her grief is

Dr. Sharma. He attempts to help Bhave in economic problem. It is because Dr.

Sharma is the treasurer of the Indo-Canada Society.

b. Appointee of the Provincial Government

When they execute their tradition, Judith Templeton as an appointee of the

provincial government comes to meet Bhave to ask a help. Templeton thinks

that Bhave as an immigrant who lost her family in the terrorist bomb has

human touch to face another people with the problem. In this case, the social


30

and political orders come to the short story as the setting. Mukherjee‟s TMoG

(1988: 183) mentioned that

“–and with the complications of culture, language, and customs. Someone

mentioned that Mrs. Bhave is a pillar–because you‟ve taken it more

calmly.”

At this, perhaps, I frown, for she reaches forward, almost to take my hand.

“I hope you understand my meaning, Mrs. Bhave. There are hundreds of

people in Metro directly affected, like you, and some of them speak no

English. There are some widows who‟ve never handled money or gone on

a bus, and there are old parents who still haven‟t eaten or gone outside

their bedrooms. Some houses and apartments have been looted. Some

wives are still hysterical. Some husbands are in shock and profound

depression. We want to help, but our hands are tied in so many ways. We

have to distribute money to some people, and there are legal documents –

these things can be done. We have interpreters, but we don‟t always have

the human touch, or maybe the right human touch. We don‟t want to make

mistakes, Mrs. Bhave, and that‟s why we‟d like to ask you to help us.”

She asks to Bhave‟s help to have a communication with people who are

grieving. Templeton wants Bhave to have human touch because she has no

experience for facing the problem in which there are the complications of

culture, religion, faith, and nation. In this case, it shows that the political and

social problems begin. It is because Templeton as a member of an institution

can not handle and have no experience to solve a big problem. In this case,

Judith does not notice that Bhave is also a person in a grief who needs support.

In their grief, Judith Templeton as a Canadian worker offers them a help.

After the accident happened, some people who lost their family have to face

economic problem, such as losing their place and all their services.

Templeton comes to ask them to sign the bank papers in which they will have

a provincial trustee to pay their bills, and they will get monthly pension. As

Mukherjee‟s TMoG (1988: 194) stated that “Judith asks about the bank


31

papers, the release forms. With a stroke of the pen, they will have a provincial

trustee to pay their bills, invest their money, send them a monthly pension.”

Even though Templeton has offered a help, they still believe that God will

provide what they need. Besides, they think signing the forms means that they

sign their family‟s death. Even though they face some problems about

economic and politic, they still respect the diversity and have a toleration.

c. Immigrants

There is a woman as Bhave‟s friend named Kusum. Kusum is one of

Bhave‟s friends who has just moved, as immigrant, in Canada. She lives

across the street from Bhave‟s house. When the news comes to them, Kusum

has a tradition to celebrate her movement to the new house. Mukherjee‟s

TMoG (1988: 181) said that “Kusum lives across the street from me. She and

Satish had moved in less than a month ago. They said they needed a larger

place. All these people, the Sharmas and friends from the Indo-Canada

Society, had been there for the housewarming.”

In this condition, Templeton comes to meet Bhave. Even though Bhave is

in her grief, she is still polite to treat Judith as a guest. Mukherjee‟s TMoG

(1988: 182) mentioned that “She gives me time at least to put on tea water

and pick up the mess in the front room. I have a few samosas from Kusum‟s

housewarming that I could fry up, but then I think, Why prolong this visit?”

Since Judith visits Bhave to tells the condition of people out there facing

their grief, Bhave decides to help Judith anytime she wants to call. Judith will

call Bhave again to ask her help after Bhave gets back from a long trip.


32

Mukherjee‟s TMoG (1988: 184) said that “She asks me if she may call again,

after I get back from a long trip that we all must make.”

The quotation indicates that Bhave will have a long trip with another

people who are in the grief. The trip they will have is in Ireland. In Ireland,

they will try to find the information and story about the accident and their

relatives.

After passing their grief, they reconstruct their life. They have culture to

execute. It is about marriage for the widows and widowers. Mukherjee‟s

TMoG (1988: 190) said that

Already the widowers among us are being shown new bride candidates.

They cannot resist the call of custom, the authority of their parents and

older brothers. They must marry; it is the duty of a man to look after a

wife. The new wives will be young widows with children, destitute but of

good family. They will make loving wives, but the man will shun them.

The quotation depicts the custom they have after being widows and

widowers. They can not avoid the custom because the authority for executing

the custom is in their parents and older brothers. In this case, a man has to

look after a wife. It does not stop in that process because there are some

processes they have to obey as the quote mentioned before. Besides, after

they have buried their family, they will return to Canada with a new bride.

Mukherjee‟s TMoG (1988: 190) mentioned that “In a month they will have

buried one family and returned to Canada with a new bride and partial

family.”


33

3. Time

In this part, it depicts the setting of time in the short story. It begins when

they know the news about the terrorist bombing in the plane. Mukherjee‟s

TMoG (1988: 179) mentioned that

All morning, the boys have been muttering, Sikh Bomb, Sikh Bomb. The

men, not using the word, bow their heads in agreement. Mrs. Sharma

touches her forehead at such a word. At least they‟ve stopped talking

about space debris and Russian lasers.

The quotation shows the time when they know the news. All morning,

boys and people, in Bhave‟s house, mutter and talk about the bomb. Four days

later after hearing the news, Bhave and survivors have a long trip to Ireland.

When Bhave goes to a bay in Ireland, she finds Kusum is squatting on the

rock. Besides, it is in June, the wind breezes Kusum‟s sari and unpin her hair.

Mukherjee‟s TMoG (1988: 184) mentioned that



close as we‟ll ever get to them. June breezes baloon out her sari and unpin

her knee-length hair.

After getting the information about their relatives and chronology of the

accident in the hospital, Kusum and Bhave go to the bay again. It is at six

o‟clock on a Sunday morning. The two women women attempt to find the

hope that their families are still alive. Actually, they are desperate for lossing

their families after waiting in a hospital room and scanning photographs of the

dead. Mukherjee‟s TMoG (1988: 185) mentioned that

“What is that, out there?” She‟s standing and flapping her hands and for a

moment I see a head shape bobbing in the waves. She‟s standing in the

water, I, on the boulder. The tide is low, and a round, black, head-sized

rock has just risen from the waves. She returns, her sari end dripping and


34

ruined and her face is a twisted remnant of hope, the way mine was a

hundred hours ago, still laughing but inwardly knowing that nothing but

the ultimate tragedy could bring two women together at six o‟clock on a

Sunday morning. I watch her face sag into blankness.

Since the survivors wait for the information about their families, they are

still in the hospital to know another photo that policeman and nun may find. It

is on the first day or two day the policeman shows them only one photo of

relatives they hope to find. Mukherjee‟s TMoG (1988: 188) stated that “The

first day or two the policeman showed us relatives only one picture at a time;

now they‟re in a hurry, they‟re eager to lay out the possibles, and even the

probables.”

Three months pass after Bhave goes on to India from Ireland. Bhave meets

her family and friends. She gets power to continue her life from her families

and friends. They suggest Bhave to be strong and not to give up. Mukherjee‟s

TmoG (1988: 189) said that

Three months pass. Then another.

“Vikram wouldn‟t have wanted you to give up things!” they protest. They

call my husband by the name he was born with. In Toronto he‟d changed

to Vik so the men he worked with at his office would find his name as

easy as Rod or Chris. “You know, the dead aren‟t cut off from us!”

In reconstructing her life, she executes a tradition in her family about a

marriage in which the widowers are shown new bride candidates. After

executing the tradition, Bhave goes to the tiny Himalayan village. It is on the

third day of the sixth month into the odyssey, Bhave makes an offering of

flowers and sweetmeats to the god. In that time, she feels that her husband

comes.



35

Then, on the third day of the sixth month into this odyssey, in an

abandoned temple in a tiny Himalayan village, as I make my offering of

flowers and sweetmeats to the god of a tribe of animists, my husband

descends to me. He is squatting next to a scrawny sadhu in moth-eaten

robes. Vikram wears the vanilla suit he wore the last time I hugged him.

The sadhu tosses petals on a butter-fed flame, reciting Sanskrit mantras

and sweeps his face of flies. My husband takes my hands in his.

After facing problems in her life, Bhave begins her new life. the quotation

above shows that the time after Bhave attempts to recover herself from the

grief, she gets the power after visiting the temple and believing in god of tribe.

Besides, she can feel that her husband comes to meet her. This is the last time

that Bhave can see her husband after the accident happened. The weather is

not cold like the days she lost her family. Mukherjee‟s TMoG (1988: 196-197)

mentioned that

One rare, beautiful, sunny day last week, returning from a small errand on

Yonge Street, I was walking through the park from the subway to my

apartment. I live equidistand from the Ontario Houses of Parliament and

the University of Toronto. The day was not cold, but something in the bare

trees caught my attention. I looked up from the gravel, into the branches

and the clear blue sky beyond. I thought I heard the rustling of larger

forms, and I waited a moment for voices. Nothing.

From the above quotation, it shows that the time when Bhave begins her

new life is a good day. It is different when she was in the grief. The time

when she attempts to recover her sadness and grieving is beautiful and sunny

day. This condition can influence Bhave to face the reality and continue her

life after grieving.


36

4. General Environment of the Characters

a. Religious Condition

Even though Templeton has offered a help, they still believe that God will

provide what they need. Besides, they think signing the forms means that they

sign their family‟s death. Even though they face some problems about

economic and politic, they still respect the diversity and have a toleration.

In that condition, they try to face the the problem. Besides, they face their

grief. They still believe in God. They are not worried about losing their places

and all services. Mukherjee‟s TMoG (1988: 194) mentioned that

“We are strong people,” says the wife. “Tell her that.”

“Who needs all this machinery?”demands the husband. “It is unhealthy,

the bright lights, the cold air on a hot day, the cold food, the four gas rings.

God will provide, not government.”

Kusum is one of them who also grieves. She remembers her swami said

about fate. She realizes that the problem and the grief are a fate from the God.

All of religions, cultures, or nations will die if it is fated. Mukherjee‟s TMoG

(1988: 184) mentioned that

Kusum says that we can‟t escape our fate. She says that all those people–

our husbands, my boys, her girl with the nightingle voice, all those

Hindus, Christians, Sikhs, Muslims, Parsis, and atheists on that plane –

were fated to die together off this beautiful bay.

Those sentences attempt to explain that what they face and experience are

fated by nature. People as human beings cannot escape from the fate,

especially a death. Hearing the news and information about the accident,

Kusum, who is a holy person, she tries to accept the fate that happens to them.



37

Kusum says that we can‟t escape our fate. She says that all those people–

our husbands, my boys, her girl with the nightingale voice, all those

Hindus, Christians, Sikhs, Muslims, Parsis, and atheists on that plane–

were fated to die together off this beautiful bay. She learned this from a

swam in Toronto.

The above quotation show that all of people cannot escape from their fate.

The fate does not come to a certain person. The fate comes to all of people

without choosing which one race, religion, culture, or nation to be in a grief.

In that place, they can meet people who have the same condition. They do

not see the diversity. The thing what they need is having a relative. Besides,

some of them rebuild their power facing the grief.

The term of relative is mentioned in the story, it is when two widows and

four widowers who have the same experience of loss spend their day in the

hospital room and scan the photographs of the dead. Mukherjee‟s TMoG

(1988: 184) said that “Six of us “relatives”–two widows and four widowers–

choose to spend the day today by the waters instead of sitting in a hospital

room and scanning photographs of the dead. That‟s what they call us now:

relatives.”

By seeing that condition, Bhave and Kusum meet Dr. Ranganathan who is

also in a grief, meet in a bay when Bhave and Kusum knee-deep in water to

remind Bhave‟s son who likes swimming. Dr. Ranganathan comes to share

his grief to them. The way Dr. Ranganathan remembers about his wife is

bring roses. It is because his wife likes pink roses. This way is to show how

he loves his wife and regret not to say before his wife died.


38

They attempts to come back to the nature in order to remember their

family. It is because they think what happened in this world will be back to the

nature.

By reflecting the chronology, they realize what they have are only from

God. Kusum as the holy person who is always advised by her swami

reminding that the depression they feel is only a sign of their selfishness.

Mukherjee‟s TMoG (1988: 185) mentioned that “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.”

Another part that they attempt to bring their grief back to the nature is

when Bhave floats her family‟s things into the water. It is stated that

But I have other things to float: Vinod‟s pocket calculator; a half-painted

model B-52 for my Mithun. They‟d want them on their island. And for my

husband? For him I let fall into the calm, glassy waters a poem I wrote in

the hospital yesterday. Finally he‟ll know my feelings for him.

(Mukherjee‟s TMoG, 1988: 187).

In the recovery condition, she has a travel with her family to the beach

resorts. Mukherjee‟s TMoG (1988: 190) said that

Courting aphasia, we travel. We travel with our phalanx of servants and

poor relatives. To hill stations and to beach resorts. We play contract

bridge in dusty gymkhana clubs. We ride stubby ponies up crumbly

mountain trails. At tea dances, we let ourselves be twirled twice round the

ballroom. We hit the holy spots we hadn‟t made time for before. In

Varanasi, Kalighat, Rishikesh, Haridwar, astrologers and palmists seek me

out and for a fee offer me cosmic consolations.

From the quotation, it shows that her voyage is the effort to reconstruct

their new life by finding and meeting a new bride. After the days she has


39

experienced with her family, she returns to Toronto. She attempts to assess

her life and think about the plan she can do to continue her life.

In that place, they try to rebuild their power to have a new life without

forgeting them. They try to think positive towards the accident. Besides, they

can meet people who have the same condition whoever they are. They do not

see the diversity. The thing what they need is having a relative.

Bhave is in a tiny Himalayan village when she feels her husband comes to

meet her. Mukherjee‟s TMoG (1988: 190) said that



flowers and sweetness to the god of a tribe of animists, my husband



The sadhu toses petals on a butter-fed flame, reciting Sanskrit mantras


You’re beautiful, he starts. Then, What are you doing?

Shall I saty? I ask. He only smiles, but already the image is fading. You

must finish alone what we started together. No seaweed wreathes his

mouth. He speaks too fast just as he used to when we were an envied

family in our pink spilt-level. He is gone.

It pictures that her husband attempts to give the spirit to Bhave to continue

her life even though she has to continue it by herself. Then, she feels her

husband supports her. It means that her husband wants to give a positive

suggestion to Bhave. It is because a life still continues. Besides, Bhave,

herself attempts to suggest herself by positive thinking that the life must go

on.

Bhave can feel the arrival of her husband who has died, but another person

as her mother cannot feel the arrival. Mukherjee‟s TMoG (1988: 191) said

that


40

When we come out of the temple, my mother says, “Did you feel

something weird in there?”

My mother has no patience with ghosts, prophetic dreams, holy men, and

cults.

It shows that she recovers from the grief by starting the positive way.

Besides, she comes to a tiny Himalayan village to worship to the god of a

tribe of animists.

b. Mental Condition

In this part, it begins when Bhave desperates because of losing her family.

She remembers the memory in her mind about her family. Mukherjee‟s

TMoG (1988: 179) stated that “They remind me of when my sons were small,

on Mother‟s Day or when Vikram and I were tired, and they would make big,

sloppy omelets. I would lie in bed pretending I didn‟t hear them.” It shows

that she attempts to face a conflict in her mind about the memory.

The sadness that Bhave wants to show is when Judith visits her to ask her

help and says Bhave is the strongest person of all. Actually, Bhave attempts

to show her true feelings. Mukherjee‟s TMoG (1988: 183) said that

“But you are coping very well. All the people said, Mrs. Bhave is the

strongest person of all. Perhaps if the others could see you, talk with you,

it would help them.”

“By the standards of the people you call hysterical, I am behaving very

oddly and very badly, Miss Templeton.” I want to say to her, I wish I

could scream, starve, walk into Lake Ontario, jump from a bridge. “They

would not see me as a model. I do not see myself as a model.”

From the above quotation, it shows that there are some parts showing the

sense of humanity. It is when Judith Templeton, as an appointee of the

provincial government, comes to meet Bhave. She asks to Bhave‟s help to

have a communication with people who also grieve.


41

This part begins when Bhave is in India. She comes to her family in India.

In India, Bhave gets some powers and supports from their family and friends.

Mukherjee‟s TMoG (1988: 189) said that “In India, I become, once again, an

only child of rich, ailing parents. Old friends of the family come to pay their

respects. Some are Sikh, and inwardly, involuntarily, I cringe. My parents are

progressive people; they do not blame communities for a few individuals.”

In that place, she also learns that she does not need to blame the

communities involved in the accident because it is a fate and individuals who

involved in the problem. Her family and friends respect to her in facing her

grief. It makes her have power to reconstruct her life.

c. Moral Condition

Another case makes Bhave strong is when she has to meet families to help

Judith in delivering her purposes. Bhave as Judith‟s translator speaks

carefully to them, so that they do not feel sad remembering their families.


We converse a bit in Hindi. they do not ask about the crash and I wonder if

should bring it up. If they think I am here merely as a translator, then they

may feel insulted. There are thousands of Punjabi-speakers, Sikhs, in

Toronto to do a better job. And so I say to the old lady, “I too have lost my

sons, and my husband, in the crash.

In this condition, Judith who has her own purpose does not understand

what they feel. She does not want to understand their condition because they

do not want to sign a paper she brings. It causes Bhave leaves her and stop to

talk to her. Mukherjee‟s TMoG (1988: 195) said that “I am looking out the

window. I want to say, In our culture, it is a parent’s duty to hope.”


42

Bhave is one of people who lost her family, two sons and husband, in the

terrorist bombing of an Air India Flight. She faces the grief with another

people who have the same condition. There are many people from different

culture, faith, and religion.

Facing the grief, Bhave gets some power to pass the condition. It is when

the Irish come to give her hugs. It is on the streets of Toronto. The Irish give

Bhave a hug and carry flowers to Indian they meet. It mentioned that “The

Irish are not shy; they rush to me and give me hugs and some are crying. I

cannot imagine reactions like that on the streets of Toronto. Just strangers, and

I am touched. Some carry flowers with them and give them to any Indian they

see.” (Mukherjee‟s TMoG, 1988: 187). From the quote, it pictures that the

Irish does not think the different religion, culture, or nation they should give

their empathy and care. It is how the sense of humanity works. There is no

diversity to help people and give the simpathy and empathy for their grief. It

shows the sense of humanity is reflected by Irish.

After facing that condition, Bhave begins her new life in a new country to

complete what her family and herself have started as her husband says. Bhave

realizes that her husband and sons do not return even though she wait, listen,

and pray. Then, she considers that it is as a sign. It is a time in beginning her

new life to accept the fate. As Mukherjee‟s TMoG (1988: 196) said that “I

wait, I listen, and I pray, but Vikram has not returned to me. The voices and

the shapes and the nights filled with visions ended abruptly several weeks

ago.”


43

Besides, she makes a change in her new life to face and support people in

reconstructing their life after grieving. Mukherjee‟s TMoG (1988: 195-196)

said that

A wife and mother begins her new life in a new country, and that life is cut

short. Yet her husband tells her: Complete what we have started. We who

stayed out of politics and came halfway around the worlds to avoid

religious and political feuding have been the first in the New World to die

from it. I no longer know what we started, nor how to complete it. I write

letters to the editors of local papers and to members of Parliament. Now at

least they admit it was a bomb. One MP answers back, with sympathy, but

with a challenge. You want to make a difference? Work on a campaign.

Work on time. Politicize the Indian voters.

In this condition, Bhave attempts to make a plane to her new life.

Mukherjee‟s TMoG (1988: 196) said that “We are deep in the Toronto winter,

gray skies, icy pavements. I stay indoors, watching television. I have tried to

assess my situation, how best to live my life, to complete what we began so

many years ago.”

In this time, the writer attempts to show Bhave‟s hope in the future and try

to build her new life from the grief. Bhave recovers her grief in sunny day

when she is walking to her apartment.. She rebuild her life in Toronto. It is a

place where she thinks about her new life and the plan to do in future. As

Mukherjee‟s TMoG (1988: 196-197) said that

One rare, beautiful, sunny day last week, returning from a small errand on

Young Street, I was walking through the park from the subway to my

apartment. I live equidistant from the Ontario Houses of Parliament and

the University of Toronto. The day was not cold, but something in the bare

trees caught my attention. I looked up from the gravel, into the branches

and the clear blue sky beyond. I thought I heard the rustling of larger

froms, and I waited a moment for voices. Nothing.


44

Then, she attempts to support herself to continue her life facing the future.

She finds a power to continue her life through feeling the nature. It is

described in Mukherjee‟s TMoG (1988: 197) that “Then I stood in the path

looking north to Queen‟s Park and west to the university, I heard the voices

of my family one last time. Your time bas come, they said. Go be brave."

In the end of the story, Bhave attempts to find the direction of her life

which way she has to start her new life to complete what she began in many

years ago. Mukherjee‟s TMoG (1988: 197) said that “I do not know where

this voyage I have begun will end. I do not know which direction I will take.”

d. Social Condition

In this part, Judith asks Bhave to help families. She needs translator to

visit them in order to offer them money with bank forms. It is because they

have not paid their utility bills. Consequently, they will lose their places and

all services if they cannot pay it or sign the papers that Judith brings. Bhave

sees the condition inside of their buildings. One of people they visit is an

elderly couple in Agincourt. They are in a danger of losing their place and all

services they have.

The social and political orders are kept in one case. The social part is the

condition of the people is in the grief. The government attempts to give a help

to them by distributing money. The political part is the way the government

offering the help to the people. People have to sign legal documents they have

prepared.

As Mukherjee‟s TMoG (1988: 192-193) mentioned that


45

An elderly couple in Agincourt whose sons were killed just weeks after

they had brought their parents over from a village in Punjab. From their

names, I know they are Sikh. Judith Templeton and a translator have

visited them twice with offers of money for air fare to Ireland, with bank

forms, power-of-attorney forms, but they have refused to sign, or to leave

their tiny apartment. Their son‟s money is frozen in the bank. Their sons‟

investment apartments have been trashed by tenants, the furnishings sold

off. The parents fear that anything they sign or any money they receive

will end the company‟s or country‟s obligations to them. They fear they

are selling their sons for two airline tickets to a place they‟ve never seen.

Templeton as the appointee of the provincial government offers them to

sign the bank forms, so that they will not lose their place and services. Even

though she offers the help for them, they still fear what they will sign and

receive will make them more difficult in economic.

This accident or terrorist bombing has given some effects in economic,

social, and politic. The economic problem happens because some people do

not have a job. Some of them still depend on their families who have died in

the accident. In this short story, the condition is depicted. As Mukherjee‟s

TMoG (1988: 193) said that

The two rooms are dark and stuffy. The lights are off, and an oil lamp

sputters on the coffee table. The bent old lady has let us in, and her

husband is wrapping a white turban over his oiled, hip-length hair. She

immediately goes to the kitchen, and I hear the most familiar sound of an

Indian home, tap water hitting and filling a teapot.

They have not paid their utility bills, out of fear and the inability to write a

check. The telephone is gone, electricity and gas and water are soon to

follow. They have told Judith their sons will provide. They are good boys,

and they have always earned and looked after their parents.

Those sentences show the condition of Indian people facing their life in

the difficult economic, but they attempt to accept the condition with a hope

that their sons will provide what have lost. Besides, they still hope that their

sons are still alive.


46

Templeton as the appointee of the provincial government offers them to

sign the bank forms, so that they will not lose their place and services. Even

though she offers the help for them, they still fear what they will sign and

receive will make them more difficult in economic. This accident or terrorist

bombing has given some effects in economic, social, and politic. The

economic problem happens because some people do not have a job. They

depend on their sons or husbands who have died and lost in the accident.

e. Emotional Condition

In reconstructing life, Bhave experiences some processes to make her sure

that she can face the problem. In this case, Bhave learns about grief

management from Judith‟s. Mukherjee‟s TMoG (1988: 192) said that

There are still some hysterical relatives. Judith Templeton‟s list of those

needing help and those who‟ve “accepted” is in nearly perfect

balance.Acceptance means you speak of your family in the past tense and

you make active plans for moving ahead with your life. There are courses

at Seneca and Ryerson we could be taking. Her gleaming leather briefcase

is full of college catalogues and lists of cultural societies that need our

help. She has done impressive work, I tell her.

“In the textbooks on grief management,” she replies–I am her confidante, I

realize. one of the few whose grief has not sprung bizarre obsessions –

“there are stages to pass through: rejection, depression, acceptance,

reconstruction.” She has compiled a chart and finds that six months after

the tragedy, none of us still reject reality, but only a handful are

reconstructing. “Depression Acceptance” is the plateau we‟ve reached.

Remarriage is a major step in reconstruction (though she‟s a little

surprised, even shocked, over bow quickly some of the men have taken on

new families). Selling one‟s house and changing jobs and cities is healthy.

The quotation shows that Bhave attempts to realize which stage she

positions herself in the grief. Besides, she also attempts to think that there are

many people she has to help to recontruct their life into the new life. Another


47

case, she still worries that she does not have job to live her life. Mukherjee‟s


How do I tell Judith Templeton that my family surrounds me, and that like

creatures in epics, they‟ve changed shapes? She sees me as calm and

accepting but worries that I have no job, no career. My closest friends are

worse off than I. I cannot tell her my days, even my nights, are thrilling.

By realizing her surrounding, she realizes her friends are worse than her

condition. This is the reason why she cannot tell Judith that she also worries

about her future life without a job. Besides, she cannot tell Judith about her

family still surrounds her. It is because Judith has thought Bhave has accepted

the fate. Bhave, Dr. Ranganathan, and the other people wait for an

information about their relatives. As the result, the policeman shows them a

picture if there is a possibility they find their relatives. Mukherjee‟s TMoG

(1988: 188) said that “The first day or two the policeman showed us relatives

only one picture at a time; now they‟re in a hurry, they‟re eager to lay out the

possibles, and even the probables.”

In that condition, the nun comes to console Bhave that there is a hope. The

nun shows the picture and fingertip to Bhave. That effort does not work.

Bhave only wants to find her relatives.


The nun assigned to console me rubs the first picture with a fingertip.

“When they‟ve been in the water for a while, love, they look a little

heavier.” The bones under the skin are broken, they said on the first day –

try to adjust your memories. It‟s important.

“It‟s not him. I‟m his mother. I‟d know.”

Those quotations show that there are people who care to Bhave and

support her to face the condition. It is not only Bhave, but also Kusum


48

attempts to have a new life. In her recovery, it begins when Kusum sell her

house and in Hardwar. Her moving is an idea of her swami to recover her

condition and find the peace. As Mukherjee‟s TMoG (1988: 191) said that

“Kusum‟s put her house up for sale. She wants to live in an ashrams in

Hardwar. Moving to Hardwar was her swami‟s idea.”

There is also Dr. Ranganathan who reconstructs his life by his own way.

He does not sell his house like Kusum, but he changes his job. It is because

he thinks that the house is a temple. Mukherjee‟s TMoG (1988: 191) said that

He is changing jobs, going to Ottawa. But Ottawa is over a hundred miles

away, and he is forced to drive two hundred and twenty miles a day. He

can‟t bring himself to sell his house. The house is a temple, he says; the

king-sized bed in the master bedroom is a shrine. He sleeps on a folding

cot. A devotee.

B. The Aspects of Postmodernism in the Settings

In this part, the elaboration between the setting and aspects of

postmodernism will be shown. Aspects of postmodernism will be elaborated

with the theories of setting. In extending the culture and society, this

undergraduate thesis attempts to depict the setting of the short story. By

depicting the setting, the aspects of postmodernism which is language games

can be found because people use language in their activities. The language

that people use referring to their each experience and it depends on the time.

In this undergraduate thesis, it uses the theories of setting to depict the

condition in the short story, so that, aspects of postmodernism can be easier to

find. By depicting the setting firstly, the language games and another the


49

aspects of postmodernism which are related to language can be analyzed. It is

because the setting of people‟s life is an effect of language.

In analyzing this study, the elaboration of language games in the short

story will be discussed. As the basic argument, language is an important thing

that is used in many aspects. It is shown in The Management of Grief when

Templeton asks Bhave‟s help to communicate with some people who are also

in a grief. It is because Templeton thinks that Bhave has the same culture,

language, and customs with them. Besides, Bhave is the right person who has

human touch because of the experience in grief. The focus of this part is the

language when Templeton asks Bhave‟s help, so that Bhave wants to help

her. Mukherjee‟s TMoG (1988: 183) shown that

I hope you understand my meaning, Mrs. Bhave. There are hundreds of

people in Metro directly affected, like you, and some of them speak no

English. There are some widows who‟ve never handled money or gone on

a bus, and there are old parents who still haven‟t eaten or gone outside

their bedrooms. Some houses and apartments have been looted. Some

wives are still hysterical. Some husbands are in shock and profound

depression. We want to help, but our hands are tied in so many ways. We

have distribute money to some people, and there are legal documents –

these things can be done. We have interpreters, but we don‟t always have

the human touch, or maybe the right human touch. We don‟t want to make

mistakes, Mrs. Bhave, and that‟s why we‟d like to ask you to help us.

Then, Bhave accepts the order to communicate with them. Templeton uses

the language games to suggest Bhave to help her. She understands when she

has to ask Bhave to help her. In this part, Templeton is in the Bhave‟s house

and it is when Bhave is also in a grief. Consequently, she accepts the order

because of human touch as the same experience.


50

In this case, Templeton and Bhave have used the language games in which

Templeton as a sender message, Bhave as an addressee, and Templeton‟s

statement to ask Bhave to help her as the referent. Another statement that

makes Bhave accepts Templeton‟s statement is “But you are coping very

well. All the people said, Mrs. Bhave is the strongest person of all. Perhaps if

the others could see you, talk with you, it would help them.” (Mukherjee‟s

TmoG, 1998: 183). That statement can affect Bhave‟s feeling. Even though,

Bhave feels that she is not as strong as they think. She also needs to talk to

another about her grief.

In analyzing language games, there are two aspects using language to

identify the problem in society. They are legitimation and sublime.

1. Legitimation

It is shown in The Management of Grief, Judith as an appointee of the

provincial government comes to meet Bhave to ask a help in order to face the

condition of people‟s grief directly. Besides, it fulfills her analyisis about the

grief management.

Judith needs Bhave‟s help to face people with their grief because Bhave

has human touch and experience about the problem. It is the first process of

legitimation to fulfill a given set of the grief condition. After asking Bhave‟s

help, Templeton attempts to meet some people who are in a grief, so that, she

can legitimate what in the textbooks on grief management.


There are still some hysterical relatives. Judith Templeton‟s list of those

needing help and those who‟ve “accepted” is in nearly perfect balance.


51

Acceptance means you speak of your family in the past tense and you

make active plans for moving ahead with your life. There are courses at

Seneca and Ryerson we could be taking. Her gleaming leather briefcase is

full of college catalogues and lists of cultural societies that need our help.

She has done impressive work, I tell her.

“In the textbooks on grief management,” she replies–I am her confidante, I

realize. one of the few whose grief has not sprung bizarre obsessions –

“there are stages to pass through: rejection, depression, acceptance,

reconstruction.” She has compiled a chart and finds that six months after

the tragedy, none of us still reject reality, but only a handful are

reconstructing. “Depression Acceptance” is the plateau we‟ve reached.

Remarriage is a major step in reconstruction (though she‟s a little

surprised, even shocked, over bow quickly some of the men have taken on

new families). Selling one‟s house and changing jobs and cities is healthy.

The quote shows the legitimation because Templeton must prove the

process of grief management in the textbooks she has by facing and meeting

many people who are in a grief. Thus, she can know how the condition of

people and which process they are. The process she has to face is people who

have different culture, customs, and languages. For the reason, she has to ask

Bhave to help her. The condition she faces is the economic problem they

have. Some of them do not have job. Consequently, they can not pay the bills

for their apartment and all services they have. Some of them will lose their

places and services. In this case, Templeton offers them a help by asking

them to sign the bank forms she has brought. They will get some benefits if

they sign the form.

The process of legitimation of this case happens when Templeton says her

statement about bank paper in order to influence people‟s thought to sign it.

People who receive this statement can accept or refuse the offers. In this case,

those people refuse to sign bank papers.


52

In this condition, legitimation as the language games is played here in

which Templeton as the appointee of the provincial government has to ensure

and influence people‟s thought to obey the order.

As Mukherjee‟s TMoG (1988: 194) mentioned that “Judith asks about the

bank papers, the release forms. With a stroke of the pen, they will have a

provincial trustee to pay their bills, invest their money, send them a monthly

pension.”

In this process, Templeton finds a difficulty to ensure them about her

offers. They refuse to sign the forms because of any reasons, such as they fear

what they do is a wrong decision and they think that government does not try

to help them, but the government will get the money. Mukherjee‟s TMoG

(1988: 194) said that

“Government will get its money. Tell her not to worry, we are honorable

people.”

I try to explain the government wishes to give money, not take. He raises

his hand. “Let them take,” he says. “We are accustomed to that. That is no

problem.”

In the end of the process, Templeton feels dissapointed because they

ignore to sign the forms. She thinks that they are stubborn. In this case, Bhave

who feels the grief as them, not accepting what Templeton says.


In the car, Judith says, “You see what I‟m up against? I‟m sure they‟re

lovely people, but their stubbornness and ignorance are driving me crazy.

They think signing a paper is signing their son‟s death warrants, don‟t

they?”

I am looking out the window. I want to say, In our culture, it is a parent’s

duty to hope.


53

After the moment, Bhave attempts to recover herself from the grief by

writing letters to the editors and Parliament. She attempts to show the

democration of delivering the idea. In this part, she gets a chance to campaign

her movement and politicize Indian voter to make a difference in their life

after many problems they have faced. Mukherjee‟s TMoG (1988: 195-196)

said that

A wife and mother begins her new life in a new country, and that life is cut

short. Yet her husband tells her: Complete what we have started. We who

stayed out of politics and came halfway around the worlds to avoid

religious and political feuding have been the first in the New World to die

from it. I no longer know what we started, nor how to complete it. I write

letters to the editors of local papers and to members of Parliament. Now at

least they admit it was a bomb. One MP answers back, with sympathy, but

with a challenge. You want to make a difference? Work on a campaign.

Work on time. Politicize the Indian voters.

From the above quotation, it shows the legitimation is used by Bhave to

influence editors of local papers and members of Parliament to receive and

accept what Bhave writes as her opinion. As the result, Bhave is success to

ensure the editors of local papers and members of Parliament about the

opinion. Consequently, as her movement and challenge, she campaigns to

politicize the Indian voters to make a difference.

2. Sublime

As the theory said, it is shown in The Management of Grief. It tries to

show the specific place the grief comes which is a bay. In the Mukherjee‟s




close as we‟ll ever get to them. June breezes balloon out her sari and unpin


54

her knee-length hair. She has the bewildered look of a sea creature whom

the tides have stranded.

Ireland is a place where Bhave and Kusum express their grief. Besides, a

bay in Ireland here is a place where the accident happens. This place pictures

the condition of people memorizing their families who had died. „A bay in

Ireland‟ here as an object that induces feeling of grief of Kusum. It is because

she memorizes her family who lost in the flight bombing in this place. It is

because „a‟ bay express the idea of „the‟ bay, hence, it will be a sublime.

In this case, Dr. Ranganathan, who lost his huge family, also expresses his

feeling through the pink roses he brings. The pink roses reminds him to his

wife who loves pink roses. When his wife is still alive, the pink roses he

brings to her is to show his love. Mukherjee‟s TMoG (1988: 186) said that

“My wife loved pink roses. Every Friday I had to bring a bunch home. I

used to say, Why? After twenty odd years of marriage you‟re still needing

proof positive of my love?” He has identified his wife and three of his

children. Then others from the Montreal, the lucky ones, intact families

with no survivors.

Thus, when his wife died, he comes to the bay to bring the pink roses to

show his love and grief of losing his wife. Besides, he also shows his grief to

somebody‟s died. In this case, the sublime is shown by „squashed roses‟

picturing the idea of „the‟ roses. Mukherjee (1988: 186) said that “Dr.

Ranganathan whips the pockets of his suit jacket inside out. Squashed roses,

in darkening shades of pink, float on the water. He tore the roses off creepers

in somebody‟s garden.” The quote shows that roses as an object to express

people‟s feelings.


55

Another case that shows sublime is when Bhave comes to a temple in a

tiny Himalayan village to workship. She feels her husband comes to her to

support. Mukherjee‟s TMoG (1988: 190) said that



flowers and sweetness to the god of a tribe of animists, my husband



The sadhu toses petals on a butter-fed flame, reciting Sanskrit mantras


You’re beautiful, he starts. Then, What are you doing?

Shall I saty? I ask. He only smiles, but already the image is fading. You

must finish alone what we started together. No seaweed wreathes his

mouth. He speaks too fast just as he used to when we were an envied

family in our pink spilt-level. He is gone.

It means what Bhave feels that her husband is coming, it comes from her

mind. It is because the condition of Bhave is in a grief and she wants to see

her husband and sons. As the result, she can feel the arrival of her husband

even another people around her do not feel as she feels.

In the end of the story, Bhave attempts to show the sublime through the

place where she begins her new life and plans in the future. Mukherjee‟s

TMoG (1988: 196-198) said that

Then I stood in the path looking north to Queen‟s Park and west to the

university, I heard the voices of my family one last time. Your time has

come, they said. Go, be brave.

I do not know where this voyage I have begun will end. I do not know

which direction I will take. I dropped the package on a park bench and

started walking.

It expresses her feelings of fear to face the future with the new plan. She

also still confuse to take which way she has to choose to begin her new life.


56

CHAPTER V

CONCLUSION

The Management of Grief is a short story about the social condition of the

immigrants in Canada against the government in reconstructing their life after

grieving. The story consists of the elements of the setting which are location,

occupation and daily manner of the characters, time, and general

environment. Those picture the social condition of the characters in which

many conflicts happened, such as diversity, economical and political

problems, and communication. By depicting the elements of setting in the

story, it depicts the aspects of postmodernism.

Through this basic position to probe the postmodern issue in the story, this

undergraduate thesis attempts to show the aspects of postmodernism of the

social condition which are depicted in The Management of Grief. By

depicting the social condition of the story, this undergraduate thesis shows the

different faith, culture, opinion, attitude, custom, and the way of thinking

occuring in the society. The diversity shows that they involve language to

interact and communicate in the society. Therefore, it pictures the way of

their communication which is legitimation and sublime. In other words, the

way of their communication in facing their grief and government rules

represent the aspects of postmodernism which is language games.

By analyzing the social condition through the elements of the setting, this

undergraduate thesis concludes that the first is the elements of the setting


57

show the social condition influences the characters‟ feeling, thought, and life.

It is shown by the way they reconstruct their life and solve their economical

problem after losing their family, such as selling their house, moving to

another place, meeting their family in another place they live, or making a

new plan to continue their life. Besides, social condition shows that people

have different facts, such as faith, religion, culture, opinion, attitude, and

custom by depicting the location, time, occupation and daily manner, and

general environment. It is shown by Sheila Bhave, as an immigrant, faces her

grief with Kusum, Dr. Ranganathan, and Irish in Ireland. They share their

grief even though they are different in faith, culture, and nation. They support

each other to face the problem. The social condition of the story shows that

there is pluralism.

The second is the social condition of the story depicts the aspects of

postmodernism on the way how they face the grief and solve their problem by

using language. Since they face their grief, they use Kantian sublime as the

aspects of postmodernism to express their feeling. It is shown by Kusum who

expresses her feeling of grief in a bay which is a place the accident happened.

A bay for her is a place that appear her grief because she can remember her

family who lost in the terrorist bombing. It also happens to Dr. Ranganathan

who brings pink flowers as his wife loved. It proposes to remember his wife

who lost in the accident. Besides, there is Bhave who also shows her grief in

a temple in a tiny Himalayan village. She can hear that her husband supports

her to continue her life. In seeing this condition, those cases show that


58

Kantian sublime is one of the aspects of postmodernism which functions to

express people‟s feeling that comes from their mind. It is also the way to

exprees what people can not say and describe what they feel.

Besides, the aspects of postmodernism they use in facing and solving their

problem is legitimation. It is to influence poeple‟s mind and make the

decision. It is shown by Judith Templeton who comes to ask Bhave‟s help to

communicate with survivors. She uses legitimation to influence Bhave to help

her. In this condition, Bhave as the addresee can accept or refuse the

statement of Judith.

From here it can be said that the social condition of the story manifests

metanarrative in which it emphasizes the way of their communication

influences people‟s feeling and thought to decide and express something.

At last, by seeing the social condition in the short story, this undergraduate

thesis concludes the elements of the setting show the social condition of the

story which is pluralism. By seeing the pluralism in the story, it links to the

aspects of postmodernism in which language games is the way of

communication. In this case, language games is used to unify the diversity

occuring in the story. It is because the function of the language is to

communicate and share the knowledge. By communicating, people can

receive and understand the diversity. From the analysis, it also show that the

aspects of postmodernism occur in the different condition in which social

condition influences people‟s feeling, thought, and experiences.


59

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Abrams, M. H. A Glossary of Literary Terms. Seventh Edition. Boston: Earl

McPeek, 1999.

Barker, Chris. The SAGE Dictionary of Cultural Studies. London: SAGE

Publications Ltd, 2004.

Brogan, Kathleen. “American Stories of Cultural Haunting: Tales of Heirs and

Ethnographers.” College English. Vol. 57. No. 2 (1995): p. 149-165.

JSTOR. (www.jstor.org/stable/378807). August 29, 2016.

Drake, Jennifer. “Looting American Culture: Bharati Mukherjee's Immigrant

Narratives.” Contemporary Literature. Vol. 40. No. 1 (1999): p. 60-84.

JSTOR. (www.jstor.org/stable.1208819). August 29, 2016.

Guerin, Wilfred L. A Handbook of Critical Approaches to Literature. fifth

edition. New York: Oxford University Press, Inc., 2005.

Harmon, William. A Handbook to Literature. New Jersey: Pearson Education,

Inc., 2009.

"Social". YourDictionary. Wiley Publishing, Inc., 2010.

(www.yourdictionary.com/social). September 19, 2016.

"Condition". YourDictionary. Wiley Publishing, Inc. 2010.

(www.yourdictionary.com/condition). September 19, 2016.

Lucy, Niall. Postmodern Literary Theory An Introduction. Massachusetts:

Blackwell Publisher, Inc., 1997.

Lusandiana, Lisistrata. Power Struggle between Modernism and Postmodernism

to Determine Truth as Revealed in Restrepo's The Angel of Galilea.

Thesis. Yogyakarta: Sanata Dharma University, 2009.

Lyotard, Jean-François. The Postmodern Condition: A Report on Knowledge.

Minnesota: University of Minnesota, 1984.

Mukherjee, Bharati. The Management of Grief. The Middleman and Other Stories.

Broadway: Grove/Atlantic, Inc., 1988: pp. 177-197

Parameswaran, Uma. “Review.” World Literature Today. Vol. 64. No. 2 (1990):

p. 363. JSTOR (www.jstor.org/stable/40146601). August 29, 2016.


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Roberts, Edgar V. and Jacobs, Henry E. Fiction: An Introduction To Reading And

Writing. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1987.

Sarup, Madan. An Introductory Guide to Post-Structuralism and Postmodernism.

second edition. Essex: Pearson Education Limited, 1993.


61

APPENDICES

Summary of the Bharati Mukherjee’s The Management of Grief

The Management of Grief is the short story which taken from The

Middleman and Other Stories. The Management of Grief , the short story, based

on the actual 1985 terrorist bombing of an Air India flight.It explores the cultural

gap between Judith Templeton, as an appointee of provincial government, and

Sheila Bhave, as an immigrant. Bhave helps Templeton to handle grieving Indo-

Canadian immigrants who lost their relatives in the accident.

In The Management of Grief, the problem appears in the beginning of the

story. It begins when Bhave knows the news about the terrorist bombing in the

plane in which there are her sons and husband. In her depression and grief, she is

helped and supported by people surround her. They are Dr. Sharma, as the

treasurer of the Indo-Canada Society, and the Sharmas and friends. They are in

Bhave‟s house where they tell about the accident and accompany Bhave. Besides,

there is also Kusum who lost her relative. Kusum and Bhave support each other to

face the grief. In grieving, Judith Templeton comes to ask Bhave to help her in

communicating with the other survivors. It is because the government wants to

help the survivors to solve economic and social problem. After losing their

relatives, some widows have no job and no handle money, some of them will lose

their places and services. Bhave shows her human touch by accepting the order.

She wants to meet the survivors after getting back from Ireland. It is the place

where the accident happened.


62

In the Ireland, Bhave and the other survivors hope to get the information

about the accident and their relatives. Bhave and Kusum choose to go to a bay in

Ireland. They express their feelings of grieving. They realize that what happen to

their relatives are a fate. They cannot escape from the fate. They have no right to

grieve because their relatives are in a better place than they are. Kusum, as a holy

person, attempts to support Bhave and herself to accept the fate. She learns the

spirit from her swami in Toronto.

In facing the grief, the two women meet Dr. Ranganathan. He is one of

them who lost his huge family. They support and suggest that they can pass the

problem. They have their own way to express their grief. Bhave and Kusum knee-

deep in water. Bhave floats her family‟s things on the water, while Dr.

Ranganathan tears the pink roses off creepers in somebody‟s garden. It is because

his wife loved pink roses.

After getting the information from the hospital, Bhave is one of the

survivors who cannot find her relatives. In her grieving, she meets Irish on the

streets of Toronto who support her by giving her hug and showing their emphaty.

It shows that the short story depicts the toleration in which they do not differ the

race, religion, class, nation, and culture.

Bhave, Kusum, and Dr. Ranganathan begin to manage and reconstruct

their lives. Kusum puts her house for sale and lives in an ashram in Hardwar. Dr.

Ranganathan has given up his house and job. He accepts an academic position in

Texas where no one knows about his story. Bhave manages her grief and begins

her new life by facing another problem. First she meets her family. By meeting


63

her family, she gets a new spirit to continue her life. Besides, she feels that her

husband comes to meet her when she is in an tiny temple in Himalaya. She feels

that her husband has suggested her by saying that she has to continue her life.

Another problem which has to be faced is when she meets families. They will lose

their places because they cannot pay the bills. In this case, Judith Templeton

attempts to offer the help. They have to sign the bank papers, but they refuse to

sign it. They believe in God that God will provide what they need.

Judith Templeton who does not experience the grief cannot handle the

situation. Bhave who knows their feelings of losing the relatives attempts to

explain it to Templeton, but Templeton does not understand the situation. After

this condition, Bhave decides to stop to help Templeton. She has another way to

help the survivors. She writes letters to the editors of local papers and members of

Parliament that the the accident was bomb. One member of Parliament wants

Bhave to work in a campaign to politicize the Indian voter.

In reconstructing her life, Bhave is in a new country to complete what her

family and herself have started. She is in the Toronto attempting to assess her

situation, how best to live her life. Besides, she makes a new plan to continue her

life and experience the voyage of life in her future.


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