"Gifts Of Passage"
From “Gifts Of Passage” by Santha Rama Rau
I chose to write about 1 quote from the excerpt which describes when Santha and Gita think that they've seen a ghost. Except the quote that I chose has to do with the ideas of marriage within her family as well as in India.
“Radha’s should have been an extremely easy marriage to arrange, because she was very beautiful in a way that is much admired by Kashmiris… In every way she was most eligible, but Radha herself said disdainfully that she had no intention of getting married, that she wanted to get a job, and that people could think what they wished but she wasn't going to discuss the matter further” (Rau, 681)
This quote explains how Radha viewed marriage. Santha describes Radha as the “perfect candidate” for marriage because of her looks and personality. But the text says that Radha had made it perfectly clear that she did not want to get married. But just like I have seen in many of the other excerpts that I have read in this class, most women have to choose between being married and having a career. Santha is adamant that she wants to get a job and does not want anyone to change her mind. In countries like India, arranged marriages are very common and they are often created as a form of power rather than by love. I don’t blame Santha for not wanting to be in an arranged marriage, but instead making a choice to start a career. In her case, she did not have a say in who she married, but she had a say in whether or not she got married or got a job.
Word Count: 288
I can't imagine how awful that would have been for Radha. Her own family was almost sexualizing her in regards to her beauty and how all the boys would be throwing themselves at her while at school. She was suppose to marry a man of a certain family group for them to combine, she did not want this. She wanted to be an independent person and work for herself and no marry someone that is planned. I think she showed strength in this situation, it would be so difficult to deal with something like this during this time period and the area she was raised in.
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