Arranged Marriage

Arranged Marriage (1995) is an anthology of short stories on the subject of traditional Eastern arranged marriages by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni. Each of the eleven stories is told by a different narrator, most often a husband, wife, or close family member who observes different aspects of marriages that are both functional and dysfunctional, loving and abusive. The stories do not attempt to make a moral claim about the millennia-old tradition; rather, they constitute a mosaic of perspectives that validate its lived experience in the modern world. The anthology became well known for refuting clichés and archetypes about arranged marriages while subtly critiquing them.

The first story, “The Bats,” is told from the perspective of an anonymous seven-year-old who gradually becomes aware that his mother suffers from domestic abuse. The child’s father, a foreman at a local printing press, makes his abuse covert enough that the child only notices it through behavioral changes in his mother. For example, as the narrator feigns sleeping, he hears his mother sobbing. As the months go by, the child begins to notice his mother’s wounds. When he asks questions about their origin, his mother makes outlandish excuses, attributing them to everyday mishaps. The mother escapes with the child to live with a rich uncle in Gopalpur. There, they encounter the titular bats, which constantly attack the uncle’s mangos. One day, during a fishing trip, the uncle and child discover a strange ring, which the uncle claims belongs to an omnipotent wizard. Upon returning home, the child is horrified to learn that his mother wishes to return to her husband. They return and flee again, several times, only for the boy to lose the ring when they leave, possibly for the final time, at the story’s end.

In “Clothes,” Sumita, a bride-to-be, goes with her friends to be considered as a prospective wife. The potential suitor, from California, is likewise being pressured to get married. The two marry, and Sumita is relieved to gradually find that her husband, Sumesh, is a kind and loyal man. The two save for an apartment together, taking on different jobs while managing their families’ judgment about their life choices. After Sumesh is tragically shot during a casual shift at his convenience store, Sumita, despairing, begins to mourn as a widow. Ultimately, in his memory, she rejects her parents’ will for her to return to India to re-enter the marriage market, deciding instead to run her husband’s store.



In another story, “Silver Pavements, Golden Roofs,” Jayanti, the daughter of a rich aristocrat, goes to study abroad in America, taking up lodging at the house of her aunt Pratima. She is quickly embittered when she sees that her aunt’s house and neighborhood are very ordinary. Her uncle Bikram, who strongly dislikes America, tries to inculcate her with his political and social ideology. Pratima also seems to be living in an unhappy marriage. Jayanti invites Patima on a walk, where they are attacked by a gang of racist children. When they return, shaken, Patima’s husband hits her for leaving the house without permission. Later, she overhears Patima console her husband for losing his fortune, which changes her perspective of the feasibility of the American dream.

In “The Ultrasound,” two cousins Runu and Anju, both pregnant, eagerly await their new babies. Anju’s husband, Sunil, is a rich NRI employee; Runu is of modest means, her husband a white-collar worker. Anju tells Runu that her new family is overly demanding, a trait that Runu declares that she enjoys. Meanwhile, Sunil coddles Anju, causing her to become dissatisfied with her non-romantic marriage. When she discovers that her baby’s sex is female, Anju’s family tries to convince her to have an abortion. Sunil concurs, disgusting his wife. Ultimately, Anju cleverly decides to use her status as a mother to enlist Sunil to help Runu become financially independent.

Other stories in Arranged Marriage consider topics such as divorce, death, and the experience of childhood in arranged marriages. The characters make no final judgment about the validity or value of their experiences, deciding simply to live as well as they can. The novel illuminates the too-often tabooed topic, showing that its forms are as diverse, complex, and validating as any other inherited social order.