Since Veronica is the "eldest child a lot of the responsibility for bringing up the other children had fallen on her" she watches her brothers and sisters move away. She has an emotional attachment to her family that the rest of the family doesn’t have. Veronica plays 'wife' from a very early age.
Guleri, the main female character in 'A Stench of Kerosene' is very different from Veronica. For one thing she does not have her maturity, and she is the one who goes away, not the man. In Veronica's case it is Okeke who moves away from the city while she remains in the Village. In 'Stench of Kerosene' however it is Manak asking Guleri to not go to the village where her parents live. As for maturity, Guleri is very childish. She gets excited over little things, and gets annoyed by even smaller things. Amrita Pritam uses the mare as a metaphor to stress Guleri's mood. "Guleri was ready" "Natu saddled the mare", and when Guleri asks Manak what is on his mind, and he gives no answer "the mare neighed impatiently and Guleri got up to leave". The author uses this metaphor very well to cover Guleri's childlessness just like Guleri hides it in the story. Manak is once aware of her immaturity. He once told her, when they met, "you are like unripe corn-full of milk". Unripe, means of undeveloped, fresh and young, and that is precisely what Guleri is. What he doesn’t know is that she hasn’t changed. She has moved out her parents village (Chamba) physically but her heart still belongs there "she would see the homes of Chamba … her heart glowing with pride" this just shows how much she treasures it. This is one of the qualities that Guleri and Veronica share. The fact that they both cherished their homes and families. Veronica says "I can't just leave my family", and while Guleri claims that she can [leave her family], the truth is she never does.
What really stands out in Veronica's story is her selflessness. The way she gives her life to everyone, but never really uses it herself. Once 'Stench of kerosene' is read over a few times, the reader realizes that Guleri is really selfish. She refuses to compromise and does not even consider or think about not going. But then again how could she not go when she "always counted the days to the harvest".
The author uses the sound of the characters name and the setting they each belong to in 'Veronica'. Veronica stays in the village and Okeke moves to the city. This shows how the person is fit for each place indirectly. When Okeke says "That was the trouble with village life: nothing ever changed"; it was as if he was talking about Veronica. While, Okeke "went to the city and made good", Veronica never changed. It was only her appearance that changed over the years, because she did not want to, or was afraid of change. It is strange but, Veronica and Okeke "had grown up together" in the native village, and yet Okeke ended up moving on to a different path, while Veronica never moved at all.
The stream and the flute both symbolize love in different forms. The stream is where Veronica and Okeke go to meet, and where they say goodbye. The flute is what Guleri wants Manak to play. The sound waves show how Manak feels, and when he plays the flute "he releases an anguished wail" which is how he felt inside as he knows that his mother would be giving him a new, fertile wife. The flute is the symbol of Manak's love for Guleri. When he didn’t want to play the flute, he simply did not want to show his love for her, knowing that bad things were to come. The way the flute is positioned also represents Manak. He doesn’t want to play, just like he doesn’t want to talk. The flute is half hidden just like Manak is hiding his feelings away from Guleri. Manak tells Guleri to take his flute with her, indirectly telling her to take her love for him with her.
The stream symbolizes Okeke's love for Veronica. In a way, it also symbolizes him moving on, when she is unable to change, unable to move. It is not just the stream that symblozies their love, it is all the forms water takes in "Veronica". "I helped her fetch water from the stream", here it means that Okeke helped Veronica take love and comfort from him. Then "they snatched time together by the stream" here they were keeping their love for each other alive. Adewale Maja-Pearce uses stream as a symbol not a pond for example because a stream has movement and cycles – similar to life. And she only lives when she is with Okeke, therefore the mention of streams is only when they are together. The end of Veronica and Okeke's relationship is when he "snapped a twig" he goes away to live in the city, just like the twig is taken away by the current of the stream he is taken away by the current of life. Okeke comes back to the village by chance ten years later. When he arrives she is fanning fire; the fire is symbolizing anger and distress. Veronica is trying to fan her anger and distress. Fire is put out by water. Water symbolizes love and comfort. Therefore when Okeke shows up she looks at him "through streaming eyes". He brought back the stream, which in her eyes symbolizes her happiness and love for him. Veronica dies in his arms, and in his love, which is why he"carried her body down to the stream".
The mother-in-law of Manak and the father of Veronica play the similar roles. The mother in law makes a deal with Manak. The deal being that if after eight years of marriage, they do not have children, Manak must then seek another wife because it is traditional to have children when married After eight years, and still no children, Manak knows what is going to happen. Although he still loves Guleri, he doesn’t seem to disapprove. When Veronica tells Okeke that she needs to get back because she has to go prepare dinner for her father, she doesn’t seem to mind and nor does she complain, as she knows it is tradition to help out in the house as she is the eldest. This shows how easy it is for the parents who symbolize tradition, to control their sons and daughters.
In 'Veronica' the narrator is directly involved in the story unlike the narrator in 'A Stench of Kerosene' who is not. This adds a sense of closeness and involvement. Some could argue that this story is more enjoyable to read than the other as you feel closer to the character, I don’t think this is the case. In ' A Stench of Kerosene' the husband was distant from the wife so maybe having a narrator reflected this more effectively.
It is ironic that in both stories a son could have saved the woman. If Guleri had conceived a son, she would have stayed alive. If Veronica's son had not died, she would have lived, or at least tried harder to survive. This explains the women's personalities very plainly- Guleri killed herself because she did not get what she wanted showing her weakness and immaturity; while Veronica lived for others. When her son dies there was no one left to live for reflecting her generosity and responsibility.
