The Leaving By Budge Wilson

It is extremely difficult to break away from tradition, but it is each individual’s decision to make as they are in control of their own destiny. Life has many paths and each one will lead to a different outcome. In the short story “The Leaving” by Budge Wilson, a young girl named Sylvie is a member of a poor family. She has many chores to complete, and does whatever she is told by her parents. Sylvie is under some of the same circumstances as the woman in the article “Same Story, Different Ending” by Anila Batool. Anila’s family are Shiite Syed Muslims who are planning on arranging her marriage. She has no say when it comes to this matter. Both Sylvie and Anila are told what to do by their families and they both realize at some point that …show more content…
As a young girl, Sylvie looks at her mother who is living an unhappy marriage and where her husband is verbally abusive. Her mother stays home all day doing chores around the house and she does not have a career. Sylvie realizes that she will most likely follow in her mother's footsteps, and that her life will contain unhappiness as well as little education. Sylvie and her mother take a trip to Halifax, and Sylvie observes all the big buildings and grand stores. They visit Dalhousie University and her mother tells her that “If yer as smart as the teacher claims...maybe you’ll come here some day t’ learn” (Wilson,1990, p.2). This was when Sylvie became aware of all the potential her future could hold. When Sylvie grows up, she receives the education she has always dreamt of. She realizes that “possibly it was the egg money that sent [her] to Dalhousie- that and [her] scholarship and [her] summer jobs”(Wilson, 1990, p.4). Sylvie comes to the conclusion that her life does not have to be the same as her mother's. Anila also came to an end result of bliss and joy. Anila knew that she had two choices. “[She] could give in to family pressure and sacrifice love for the sake of family “honour”, or risk everything by marrying a man deemed unsuitable for [her]” (Batool, 2010, p.2). She ended up marrying the boy she was in love with and then ran away from home. Her parents reached out to her and asked that she return home. Anila knew that it was a trap, and that if she came back “they would pretend to agree to the marriage provided it was done by traditional custom” (Batool, 2012, p.2). Anila waited long enough so that everybody who mattered found out, and at this time her family abandoned her. This would be the price she would have to pay for her happiness. Eventually, 4 years later “[her] mother and brother...fully accepted [her] husband” (Batool, 2010, p.3). Anila was now happily