A Comparison of A Stench of Kerosene by Amritsa Pritam with Veronica by Adwale Maja-Pearce

710 Words2 Pages

A Comparison of A Stench of Kerosene by Amritsa Pritam with Veronica by Adwale Maja-Pearce

In this essay I am going to compare "A Stench of Kerosene" by Amritsa

Pritam and "Veronica" by Adwale Maja-Pearce. The characters in these

stories have many similarities in the personalities and the way they

live their lives even though both stories are set in very different

contries. The authors use similar and a different technique to present

and show their character's lives.

"A Stench of Kerosene" is set into a small village in Punjabi, India,

with the main character Manak who has lived happily with his wife,

Guleri who is unable to have a child. Manak's mother arranges him to

marry another women who is able to have children just so she could

have a grandchild. When Guleri find's out about the marriage she burns

her self to death with kerosene. The story is narrated by Amrita

Pritam, the author.

"Veronica" is set in Africa and is likewise tragic. The main character

and narrato is Okeke who grew up with a girl called Veronica in his

native village, Okeke chooses to leave the village in his youth and

move to a town twelve miles away for employment with his family,

leaving Veronica behind.

In "A Stench of Kerosene" the main and most obvious evidence of the

kind of culture is the names of the characters and the name they give

items used in the play. For instance "hookah" and "chillium" are a

kinds of pipe, a "dupatta" which is a cake at festivals and a

"charpoy" is a wooden bed with a stretched rope.

In "Veronica" you can tell that the culture is unlike ours, with

African names and the way Veronica was treated in a sexist manner.

...

... middle of paper ...

...lture, which caused her to live her life with the tragic

ending.

Manak was also a victim not, of death but of guilt as his was taunted

by the events of his wife and the evidence at the end of the story

proves this: as he thinks his child smells of kerosene, which is the

liquid that caused his wife to burn to death. This shows his future

with his new wife will be very hard for him to cope with.

Both stories do not give all necessary information at the start of the

stories in order to puzzle and keep the interest of the reader. The

theme of the title plays an important role in both stories. In "A

Stench of Kerosene" the meaning of this title only becomes towards the

end of the story and we only realize that the title "Veronica" is the

main character in the story half way through as well as the narrator

is a male.

Open Document