An author’s imagination undeniably plays a significant role in informing and influencing their audience’s understanding. Real-life events have, on many occasions, been turned into literary works, either stories or films. These actions of turning real-life events or occurrences immortalize them, as the readers and viewers of these literary works greatly understand these events. However, there are subtle differences in these stories based on real-life events to the actual event. This is because authors can feel inspired to write about the victims of a bombing and how they cope compared to the actual bombing. In essence, the stories will be different but inspired by similar events. As such, the authors of true stories are considerably influenced by their “unconscious desires and anxieties” in their recreated literary texts influencing the differences between the event and the story it is based on (Delahoyde para. 1). This is an attribute many authors have mastered in their literary works, as most of their stories are influenced to a significant account by these true events, but their desires and anxieties are manifested in their stories creating psychoanalytical criticism of literature (Delahoyde para. 1). These makes stories differ from the real-life events they are based on. Because of these differences that create an understanding of both the story and the real-life events, it based on, and this analysis examines ‘The Management of Grief’ by Bharati Mukherjee and ‘Canada is Opening Inquiry into Air Crash and Bombing’ by Christopher S. Wren.
Mukherjee’s story follows Shaila Bhave, the story’s protagonist, as people join her in her house in Toronto to express their grief in an attempt to manage it. This is because of the plane crash that killed the protagonist’s husband and their two sons. The protagonist and the other people gathered in the house attempt to come to terms with their reality, as the protagonist hears voices of her boys and Vikram crying out, “with their screams insulating” her (Mukherjee 180). The story is packed with several themes that primarily influence the readers’ understanding of its intended meanings. These themes include hope and despair in managing grief and expressing it to diversity. The plane crash carried many Indo-Canadians, meaning most of those who died were of Indian descent. The characters in the story question why Canadians of Indian descent were onboard the plane, as the boys and the men agreed it was a Sikh Bomb (Mukherjee 180). The protagonist and Judith Templeton embark on reaching out to the victims of the bombing that claimed many lives. As Judith Templeton tells the protagonist, “there are hundreds of people in the Metro directly affected like you, and some of them speak no English” (Mukherjee 183). As such, the protagonist joins Judith in reaching out to other victims to assist them with money and reassure them of the government’s commitment to helping them. Thus, this summary shows that the story primarily relates to the plane crash victims.
In contrast, ‘Canada is Opening Inquiry into Air Crash, and Bombing’ by Christopher S. Wren describes the real events behind the crash and bombing. Crain’s newspaper article states where the planes crashed, such as “Air-India jetliner flying to Bombay from Toronto and Montreal crashed in the sea near Ireland” (Cren para. 2). The newspaper article also spells out the government’s efforts to understand the reasons for the crash, such as its ongoing investigations. Wren’s article also notes that the majority of the victims, “279 of the 329 victims of the Air-India crash,” were from Indian origins (Cren para. 17). Therefore, the newspaper article spells out the details of the crash and governmental efforts for the victims in finding their needed closure and reprieve for their family members and friends.
The two accounts, one from Wren’s newspaper article and the other from Mukherjee’s story, have subtle differences. These differences are critical in understanding the text’s work to shape our understanding of the story and the real-life events on which it is based. McFarlane’s article notes, “ponders where reality ends and invention begins,” which considers how true stories or events are changed in the imagination of authors in their stories (McFarlane 28). This is the case for Mukherjee’s story, which creates characters of Indian descent to tell the story of the victims not covered in Wren’s newspaper article. This is because the changes, which McFarlane calls ‘inventions’ in this story, are intended to capture the voices of victims’ friends and relatives left behind. However, Mukherjee’s story talks mainly about the same clash that Wren’s newspaper article talks about; it reflects on a larger aspect of giving voices to the victims of such events whose voices are largely ignored. Thus, these tragedies leave victims who suffer from grief, financial challenges, and depression due to this sudden disconnection.
In essence, this is the case for the characters of Mukherjee’s story, as the author shows their suffering. The author’s story has omitted and changed several things, such as the number of victims to the meetings held by the government to provide a way forward for the crash and the victims. This is marked by Judith Templeton’s inclusion, who serves as the government’s representative, as the story condemns the bureaucratic process that oozes a coldness, which the story condemns. This coldness is expressed as Judith notes, “some wives are still hysterical,” showing no her lack of empathy for the victims (Mukherjee 183). Also, this coldness is portrayed by the several papers the victims must sign, such as the elderly couple who refuse to sign the papers (Mukherjee 192). Mukherjee’s story concerns itself with the victims, as the author moves away from the technical questions the newspaper article show, how the government is asking the questions on why the plane crashed, neglecting the victims, all together.
As Cao et al. note, the real story “needs to consider all that happens within the wider context” (Cao et al. 251). Mukherjee’s story attempts to ensure the entire account of the story is captured, with the victims and their relatives to the government’s investigations integrated within the story. This gives the audience a better understanding of the incident that claimed many Canadians of Indian descent and how the families and friends left behind cope with their loss. However, both stories have differences, as their account of the incident follows two unique paths; they critically provide a wholesome account of what the incident meant for the victims’ families and friends to the government’s efforts to reduce such occurrences. Thus, the differences in the story and the real-life events promote our understanding of these events and their implications.
In conclusion, the authors recreate the story from many real-life events, which inform our substantial understanding of these events. Authors explore aspects of these real-life events that are not captured by the events. This is seen in Mukherjee’s story compared to Wren’s newspaper article, which focuses on the victims’ families and friends they have left behind, while Wren’s article focuses on government interventions. Hence, these different accounts ensure that readers of both stories can grasp the causes of the real-life event and its subsequent implications, such as what the plane crash meant to the families and friends of the victims.
Works Cited
Cao, Xiang, et al. “Telling the whole story: anticipation, inspiration, and reputation in a field deployment of TellTable.” Proceedings of the 2010 ACM conference on Computer supported cooperative work. 2010. pp. 251–260. https://doi.org/10.1145/1718918.1718967
Delahoyde, Michael. ” Psychoanalytic Criticism.” In Critical Theory: Introduction to Literature. 2015. https://public.wsu.edu/~delahoyd/psycho.crit.html#:~:text=Psychoanalytic%20criticism%20adopts%20the%20methods,of%20the%20author%27s%20own%20neuroses.
McFarlane, Brian. “The whole truth and nothing but the truth? ‘Inspired by a true story.” Screen Education, Vol. 64, 2011, pp. 28–36. https://doi.org/10.3316/ielapa.861509354052360
Mukherjee, Bharati. “The management of grief.” In The Middleman and Other Stories. New York: Grove Press. 1988. pp. 179–197.
Wren, Christopher S. “Canada is Opening Inquiry into Air Crash and Bombing.” The New York Times, 26 Jun. 1985.
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