The structure of this story has a huge effect on how well the story achieves its presentation of the community and other parts in this story. The story starts with a shock but the opening becomes less distressing as the story is explained. Also the way the story moves around in time means the story has more of an impact. The way that the events are set out means at first the story is shocking but then becomes calm and less distressing. The reader is also shocked by how calm Ines is. Even though she has committed a murder she shows no remorse or distress. The way the writer uses magic realism in descriptions makes the writing more powerful. She uses it to describe things, which you wouldn’t have looked at in that way before. The writer combines reality and the surreal to produce a different approach of looking at things. Magical realism is the combination of the real with the magical, which transforms common things into the unreal. It shows a new way to describe something. A good example of this is when she describes the mango’s juice, ‘impregnating the walls with a golden blood.’ Even though the main part of the story is about murder the writer is really trying to write about the community and how it works. The author, Isabel Allende, focuses more on dealing with politics, history and social institutions. I think the murder is partly a way of showing how the community works and how Ines, being a woman, still has much power within her society. The story is written in the third person, which means the reader gets a clear view of all the characters emotions, which helps to visualise the situation.
A Stench of Kerosene is set in Asia. It tells the story of Manak. When his wife, Guleri, returns home to her parents his mother finds him another wife, as Guleri is barren. Manak doesn’t really want another wife as he loves her but he wants to be ‘obedient to his mother and to custom.’ When Guleri hears of his new marriage she soaks herself in kerosene and sets herself alight. In the end Manak gets his baby. In the story there are many mentions of custom and links to Asia. ‘It was customary to settle the bride price.’ The author also uses many eastern words like charpoy, a wooden framed bed, chillum and hookah, eastern smoking pipes, and dupattas, a garment worn around the neck. Also the Mother ‘paid five hundred rupees to get him a second wife’ and rupees are the currency of India. In this society custom and tradition seem to be important. They seem to have very little expectations except to be ‘obedient to custom.’ Men are allowed to have more than one wife. The women have a very low role in this society. They appear to be only expected to have children. Loyalty doesn’t seem very important in this community.
This story is written in short sentences and there aren’t any separate paragraphs. This gives the story a build up to what the reader knows is going to happen. There are some phrases and words used in the story that are quite difficult to understand though this adds to the presentation of the culture. The writer creates tension for the reader by showing Manak’s evasiveness at the start of the story, suggesting he knows what will happen. Manak does not give a direct answer to Guleri’s questions. This shows his intention to avoid something. When Guleri asks why he wishes to stop her from going to the fair he simply replies, ‘just this once.’ This shows his evasion and the way he tries to conceal the truth. The structure of this story is constant the tone doesn’t change much. Even with the shock of the death of Guleri there doesn’t seem to be much alarm. The writer makes a point of filling us in on how the characters met and how their relationship first started. The reason for this is to make the betrayal more outrageous and unexpected because their relationship seems to be built on mutual affection. The bold language is emotionless and factual, emphasising how the society is dominated by tradition. There is also very little said about Guleri’s death or the relationship between Manak and his new wife. This structure helps to keep the story focused on the societal abuse.
The two stories are very similar. They are both focused on the community. In both stories someone dies, this helps show the reaction and the way the society deals with it. In ‘A Stench of Kerosene’ even though there is some grieving by Manak, the death does not seem that important. In ‘The Schoolteacher’s Guest,’ characters are shocked by the death but it does not seem overly significant. Ines was more concerned with ‘calculating that it would take at least two days to wash out the stains and at least two more to rid the room of its odour.’ Also the stories show how much ‘authority’ certain people have and whether this is affected by the expectations of society. The writers both seemed to be focused on history and culture of their society and also how females are presented. They are telling the stories within a cultural context from which the writers, themselves, came from. Overall I think both the Authors were trying to show how political, cultural and social issues affect people. I think both stories show how the characters refuse to remain the victim.
In the two stories the women are presented in very different ways. In The Schoolteacher’s Guest the main character is a woman. She is said to be ‘mightier than that of the priest, the doctor, or the police.’ She is also described as ‘the most respected matron in all Agua Santa.’ In this society the fact you’re a woman has no effect on how they are treated or perceived. In this story it is not unusual for a women to have such a high reputation. In A Stench of Kerosene, women are very dispensable. In the story the wife, Guleri, is only expected to cook and have children. The fact she could not have children, meant in society’s eyes, she had to be replaced. Even though the mother-in-law seemed to have a lot of power over her son, the other women are viewed as an object. They are bought like a possession and therefore can be tossed out like one. In the story Manak’s second wife does ‘not feel like a wife’ and feels ‘just like someone he happened to marry.’ This shows how there was no love in this relationship. In the story men appear to have the general power and more is expected of them. In both stories the way the women are treated are the effect of the society’s cultural beliefs and traditions.
By Lauren Young.
