“(un)arranged marriage” - Bali Rai : summary, analysis

Alternativer Bildtext:

make him agree to the arranged marriage, as it is important for them because the reputation of their family depends on it. 3) The use of the first-person-narrator in the text, has the effect on Manjit's reaction being explained more in detail, so that the reader can understand his emotions better. After his father tells him that next summer, he has to marry someone that he never met, Manjit gets upset, anxious and angry. He wants to run away but also to scream at him. With an example of his legs being frozen in place like "two sausages" (1.14), it is described that he cannot move an inch because he's so overwhelmed by his many emotions in that moment. After his mother put up a show of crying and saying things to make Manjit feel guilty for not wanting to marry the girl, he ended up crying too. Though he already knew that she was going to do this to him, he feels helpless and gives in to his emotions. His mother ended up making him feel upset, like she intended to. Manjit then gets thoughts about how he does not want to disappoint his parents and that he doesn't really have a choice to do something different from what they tell him to do. Through repeated short sentences and rhetorical questions, his feeling of helplessness and not knowing what to do becomes even clearer.