Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni's The Disappearance

The husband, in Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni’s short story “The Disappearance” thinks of himself as a modern, progressive man, who while he holds onto tradition and old ways, is willing to change to adapt to Western standards for the comfort of his wife and children. He only thinks this way of himself to better his view of himself and as a means of justifying the treatment of his wife. In reality, his wife sees him as an overpowering, demeaning husband who is not at all like the Western thinker that he professes to be and in some instances abusive. A key example of this is when he is speaking of having sex and indicates “And he always told himself he’d stop if she really begged him, if she cried. After some time, she would quit struggling and let him do what he wanted.” (586) …show more content…
While he concedes to her desire for certain tiles in the kitchen and a Yosemite vacation, her life is controlled by him in the way she must dress to please him, “You look so much prettier in your Indian clothes, so much more feminine.” (585) The husband often indicates that they cuddle and end up in bed together which seems to demonstrate objectification of the wife which exemplifies her second class status and illustrates the husband’s view that she is his to control as he wishes.
A further example of his wife’s inferiority to her husband is mentioned when her mother-in-law arrives after her disappearance. The husband is angry that there is gossip but goes on to praise how his mother “dusts the house daily, laundry folded and put into drawers”. (586) He also goes on to credit her with “cooking all of his favorite dishes, which his wife never managed to learn quite right.” (586) This once again demonstrates that the husband is not content to have a modern wife like he professes but rather desires a kept woman who cooks and cleans like his mother