A Comparison of A Stench of Kerosene by Amritsa Pritam with Veronica by Adwale Maja-Pearce
In this essay I am going to compare "A Stench of Kerosene" by Amritsa
Pritam and "Veronica" by Adwale Maja-Pearce. The characters in these
stories have many similarities in the personalities and the way they
live their lives even though both stories are set in very different
contries. The authors use similar and a different technique to present
and show their character's lives.
"A Stench of Kerosene" is set into a small village in Punjabi, India,
with the main character Manak who has lived happily with his wife,
Guleri who is unable to have a child. Manak's mother arranges him to
marry another women who is able to have children just so she could
have a grandchild. When Guleri find's out about the marriage she burns
her self to death with kerosene. The story is narrated by Amrita
Pritam, the author.
"Veronica" is set in Africa and is likewise tragic. The main character
and narrato is Okeke who grew up with a girl called Veronica in his
native village, Okeke chooses to leave the village in his youth and
move to a town twelve miles away for employment with his family,
leaving Veronica behind.
In "A Stench of Kerosene" the main and most obvious evidence of the
kind of culture is the names of the characters and the name they give
items used in the play. For instance "hookah" and "chillium" are a
kinds of pipe, a "dupatta" which is a cake at festivals and a
"charpoy" is a wooden bed with a stretched rope.
In "Veronica" you can tell that the culture is unlike ours, with
African names and the way Veronica was treated in a sexist manner.
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...lture, which caused her to live her life with the tragic
ending.
Manak was also a victim not, of death but of guilt as his was taunted
by the events of his wife and the evidence at the end of the story
proves this: as he thinks his child smells of kerosene, which is the
liquid that caused his wife to burn to death. This shows his future
with his new wife will be very hard for him to cope with.
Both stories do not give all necessary information at the start of the
stories in order to puzzle and keep the interest of the reader. The
theme of the title plays an important role in both stories. In "A
Stench of Kerosene" the meaning of this title only becomes towards the
end of the story and we only realize that the title "Veronica" is the
main character in the story half way through as well as the narrator
is a male.
ancestory. His father led anything but a happy life. He had failed in his quest
Throughout the novels Perfume and Chronicles of a Death Foretold the authors tends to use many literary devices in order to really bring life to the work and keep the reader intrigued. Exaggeration is very apparent in both novels and almost seems excessive, but vivid at the same time. In Perfume Suskind refers to “stench” many times and based on the imagery used in the novel the context gives the word “stench” almost a positive meaning at times. For Example, when Grenouille murders the girl, the way he describes her “sweaty armpits, oily hair, and fishy genitals”, makes the sensation seem like an actual perfume to his nose. The author also uses scent to characterize in the novel. Grenouille who had to apparent sent seemed equal to one with
his public perception, it wasn’t hard for other people to accept the relationship between him and
he learned what that truth was, he was compelled to tell it in his speeches and
Secondly, the truth plays a part all of the acts in the book. Again, when Mary Warren
As he begins telling his point of view, he states “It makes me sad to see it, the look of disbelief in each person’s eye. Trudy’s disappearance makes me sad, too… (85)” This shows he is putting a higher value on people’s confidence on his account then his own grief for his vanished wife. This already gives the account a different motive and thus seems like the narrator may be manipulating his audience in order to maintain a notion of honesty.
It was not until a plague infected his city that he summoned a seer, only to find out that he was the cause of it by his relations with his wife/mother. He then questioned his father, who adopted him, and discovered the truth about how he was abandoned as a baby by his natural parents after a seer had foretold that he would kill his own father.
Reasoning: The intentions of the marriage were good. He wanted to end the feud of the two families which worked. Even though it took the
just by the sheer psychological damages it has. This novel does a great job of giving the events
(An evaluation on Everything Stuck to Him and how the ending makes the ending and the story clear.)
Throughout this extract, the narrator seems to evoke a secret and an elusive sense of smell which in turn creates interest. As the narrator seems to reflect on his past, he asks the daughter about the familiar smell without revealing reasons. This may suggest that
believed he could not be stopped and that rules did not apply to him. By being
he must justify it by stating that he had the approval of the courtiers and that the marriage
hear, out of compassion. The book describes the last day of his life, but there
an understanding of the reasons for his behavior and decisions. As a result, the tremendous reversal of