Analysis Of The Old Lady In The Boss Came To Dinner

The relation between culture and age has often been the subject of discourse in recent gerontological studies. It is argued that there is an inherent relation between the two. The difference marked by age or our perception of old age, in particular, is a cultural and social construction. Consequently, the meanings and value assigned to old age are also socially constructed. This in turn leads to a reshaping of identity or what Holstein and Gubrium term as ‘self-construction’(Randall and McKim 235). However, what we need to consider is whether it is only this construct that is solely responsible for determining our response to aging. Does our environment have complete agency in shaping our attitude or is it also dependent on how we, as

Infact, the old lady in The Boss Came to Dinner is a very conventional representation of an old Indian mother whose entire existence centers around her son, Mr.Shamnath. The story opens with Shamnath and his wife making arrangements for a dinner party with his Boss. In preparing their house for the party, the couple makes sure that all the unwanted commodities are shoved underneath in order to be kept out of view. Included among such ‘commodities’ is his old mother: “Suddenly a problem reared up before Shamnath. What about mother? Till now, neither he nor his wife had thought of it”

This signifies that the women here are recognized only in terms of the role that they play. This becomes their sole identity. The question that arises out of this is what is the essential activity of a woman in the society? Are they only meant to adhere to the ideals of feminity? Are they essentially required to play the role of the fundamental carer2(Freixas, Luque and Reina 48)? The mother in Sahni’s story fits into this conception of a woman. Right from the beginning of the story, the author suggests her extreme concern and love for her son as she keeps feeling anxious that “everything should go well”(95). She willingly or unwillingly accepts all his orders and even goes to the extent of agreeing to make a ‘phulkari’ for his Boss inspite of her weak eyesight only to ensure that her son gets “a lift in the office” (101). The son on the other hand is opportunistic enough to exploit her love to meet his own needs. This also points at the question of power-play in the mother-son relationship. There is infact a power reversal where the old mother is dominated by the son. In return, all that the mother asks for is some space of her own. She wishes for independence: “Son, send me to Hardwar” (100). She is indeed given a space but a space of imposed solitary existence in her own household where her freedom is