Widowed Gauri’s Characteristics
As the years passed Gauri is found to be withdrawing little by little from her role as a mother, contrary to the position she had naturally asserted
earlier stating, Im her mother” Lahiri, 2013:146
Her choice to leave the house was also because she wanted to pursue her education in Philosophy. Her professor Otto Weiss said, “You belong in a
doctoral program, Mrs.Mitra” Lahiri, 2013: 167. She had offered her the requisite assistance to get her into the doctoral program and she was looking
forward to this. Gauri often left Bela alone leaving her engaged while she took a walk alone. The five minutes doubled to ten. Sometimes a bit more Lahiri, 2013:
174. Gauri had never compromised the joy in sacrificing her time or energy to be a mother.
Dealing with choices, she finally decided to leave home. When Subhash and Bela reached their house after the funeral of Mr.Mitra, they were in for a
shock: Gauri left the place for good to California leaving a farewell letter on the table. She had accepted a teaching position in a college just to get out of the mess
she was in, exposing only her self-interest, her ineptitude. Shed done it, the worst thing that she could think of doing Lahiri, 2013: 232. She was also quite
indifferent if they should be in touch with one another. Reading the letters, Subhash was prepared to quell Belas shock. But it was Bela who comforted him,
holding him tightly, as if he would float away from her otherwise. I will never go away from you Baba, she said Lahiri, 2013: 212.
In the meantime, Gauri, away from Subhash and Bela, got settled in southern California, in a small college mainly meant for undergraduates. Her job
was not only to teach students but also to mentor them. Gauri seeking an outside PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
reader for her dissertation, unravelled her leading to the exploration of their own female bodies.
Her roles had changed so many times in the past: From wife to widow, from sister-in-law to wife, from mother to childless woman... She had
married Subhash, she had abandoned Bela. She had generated alternative versions of herself, she had insisted at brutal cost on these conversions.
Layering her life only to strip it bare, only to be alone in the end Lahiri, 2013: 240.
In her “new” life. Gauri prefers to be alone. Yet she preferred isolation because it offered its own form of
companionship: the reliable silence of her rooms, the steadfast tranquility of evenings Lahiri, 2013:237.
This act becomes a symbol for her inability to speak; her silence becomes a scream that echoes unheard. She will most likely not be able to move upwards in
society but will remain very dependent on others: a truly and sadly ‘pure subaltern’. After Gauri received Subhash’s letters, Gauri had to spend many hours
weighing the pros and cons, in case, she should decide on a travel to Rhode Island to give those papers personally to Subhash. It was then that she decided to attend a
conference in London. And for this she arranged a connecting flight with a nights stay at an inn in Rhode Island. After imagining possible encounters with Subhash
in his house, and rehearsing her possible reactions, weighing all the presumptuous chance, she walked up the path and rang the bell.
After elaborating Gauri’s lifetime timeline, I can conclude that, Gauri is a rebellious woman. She liked to think and pursue her interest in Philosophy. When
Gauri became a mother, she struggles to cope with the feelings of guilt and inadequacy on the concept of perfect motherhood. She experienced a lot of things
in her life, since her childhood to her adulthood. Gauri had never understood and PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
enjoyed her position as a mother. For Gauri, motherhood was a big burden. She feels that it is difficult to be a confident mother; Gauri’s position shows from that
she is oppressed and marginalized by the society.