The Management of Grief

Shaila Bhave’s relationship with her husband seems to have been formal and traditional, from what she tells us. How does her idea of love seem to differ from that of a Western reader’s?  

How does Judith Templeton’s idea of “grief management” differ from that of the narrator’s? Are there also ways in which it is similar to the narrator’s? What do you think are some advantages and disadvantages of their different approaches? 

What are some cross-cultural tensions that Bhave encounters when she returns to India? How does her Indian culture’s idea of “moving on” after a tragedy differ from what she encounters in Canada? 

At the end of the story, Bhave tells us that she has ceased to have visions of her family, and that she “take[s] it as a sign” (196). What do you think that she means by this? 

As well as a story about bereavement, this is also a story about living in an immigrant community. How is Bhave’s experience as an immigrant, and her understanding of her immigrant identity, changed or deepened by the plane crash?