Comparing "Holding Things Together" and "forty-five a month"
Topic: Both “Holding Things Together” and “forty-five a month” are about the difficulties people face in maintaining close relationships. Who shows the greatest sense of responsibility toward a relationship: Lucy in “Holding Things Together” or Venkat Rao in “forty-five a month”?
Both “Holding Things Together” by Anne Tyler and “forty-five a month” by R.K. Narayan are about the difficulties people face in maintaining close relationships. Venkat Rao, in “forty-five a month”, shows the greatest sense of responsibility towards a relationship. He works hard to earn very little money in order to provide for his wife and daughter. Lucy, in “Holding Things Together”, works to uphold her and her husband, Alfred’s, property without any help from him. Venkat Rao, from “forty-five a month”, regrets that he is unable to spend time with his family; especially his daughter Shanta. Due to his job, however, there is nothing he can do to remedy this because he needs the money in order to provide them with the necessities of life. Venkat Rao promises to take Shanta to the movies after work since he has not spent time with her in a long time. Shanta “insisted on wearing the thinnest frock and knickers, while her mother wanted to dress her in a long skirt and thick coat” (53) because she wanted to look her best for her father. When his manager does not allow Venkat Rao to leave work on time to take Shanta to the movies, he is determined to quit, believing that [he wasn’t a slave who had sold himself for forty rupees” (55). When he goes to hand in his letter of resignation, however, his manager tells him that he will be getting a raise. Venkat Rao is distraught because he knows that this money will help his family, but he also knows that he will no longer have any time with his family. Lucy, from “Holding Things Together”, is resentful that she must complete all of the work around her and her husband’s house. She does not hold her husband in high esteem, believing
Both “Holding Things Together” by Anne Tyler and “forty-five a month” by R.K. Narayan are about the difficulties people face in maintaining close relationships. Venkat Rao, in “forty-five a month”, shows the greatest sense of responsibility towards a relationship. He works hard to earn very little money in order to provide for his wife and daughter. Lucy, in “Holding Things Together”, works to uphold her and her husband, Alfred’s, property without any help from him. Venkat Rao, from “forty-five a month”, regrets that he is unable to spend time with his family; especially his daughter Shanta. Due to his job, however, there is nothing he can do to remedy this because he needs the money in order to provide them with the necessities of life. Venkat Rao promises to take Shanta to the movies after work since he has not spent time with her in a long time. Shanta “insisted on wearing the thinnest frock and knickers, while her mother wanted to dress her in a long skirt and thick coat” (53) because she wanted to look her best for her father. When his manager does not allow Venkat Rao to leave work on time to take Shanta to the movies, he is determined to quit, believing that [he wasn’t a slave who had sold himself for forty rupees” (55). When he goes to hand in his letter of resignation, however, his manager tells him that he will be getting a raise. Venkat Rao is distraught because he knows that this money will help his family, but he also knows that he will no longer have any time with his family. Lucy, from “Holding Things Together”, is resentful that she must complete all of the work around her and her husband’s house. She does not hold her husband in high esteem, believing