Wife

This section of the novel, Wife by Bharati Mukherjee covers the time between Dimple, Amit and the Jyoti family are preparing to leave the party that is held at Mullick’s apartment to choosing an appropriate name for the newborn baby. During this section, Dimple fears insomnia, and the typical American stories that Amit and Jyoti talk about; consisting mainly of murder, suicide and shootings, only increase Dimple’s fear. For example she wakes up in the middle of the night only to hear, “…men putting keys in the front door…had baby faces and hooded eyes” (97). Adding to the plot, Dimple now feels, “…bitter that marriage had betrayed her, had not provided all the glittery things she had imagined…” (101). Overall, character deterioration establishes within this section of the novel. Theses sets of problems are the rising events leading to the climax of the novel.

In this section, there is a change in setting from Jyoti’s house, where the new immigrated couples Dimple and Amit were settling, to their own apartment. Amit’s success in receiving a job, not only had been the reason for the change in setting to occur, but the job struggle conflict is resolved. The couple’s new apartment is significant because, now, in order to live and function as a family, they are not relying on others. Independence is establishing with the alteration in setting, and also intensifying the atmosphere of loneliness for Dimple. Dimple is even more withdrawn from social activities because of Amit’s job.

Many themes are present in this section. Such themes include