Boredom Life Unions in Sunday Menu by Pham Thai Hoai and The Three Fates by Linda Le - Term Paper Example

Comparison of two books Introduction This essay will present a comparison and contrast between the two books, ly, Sunday Menu by Pham Thai Hoai and The Three Fates by Linda Le. The two books discuss various issues about marriage and the topical focus of this paper will be boredom life unions. The essay will bring an understanding of the different concepts that the authors have in common and those that they differ in. Is boredom the contributing factor to marriages breaking? “The Three Fates” by Linda Le The book, “The Three Fates” by Linda Le shows how her parent’s marriage started falling apart following the war that happened in Vietnam. At the time the author was growing, the Vietnamese society was more patriarchal giving men more power (Le 3). The family of the three sisters depicts a troubled family that cannot survive in Vietnam, and the grandmother moved the three ladies and their mother to France. This part of the book shows the power of a woman in saving the grandchildren from her son-in-law (Le 3). The move of the grandmother to the three girls is an indication that a female had the potential of having power, but this was rare. In addition to this, she could not exercise her actions openly because as the author says, she was able to relocate them because of the wealth and influence. It is also crucial to note that France was treating women with more dignity than Vietnam. As in the book “Sunday Menu”, this book shows a troubled marriage in Vietnam. The boredom in marriage is caused by the fear and terror that was experienced during the war. It is the same cause in the other book that led to the life union to become sour leading to separation utterances from the partners. On the other hand, “The Three Fates” gives the enjoyable side of marriage whereby Potbelly is happy in her relationship, and she even appreciates her pregnancy. The author shows that Potbelly had a healthy relationship with her husband who she expected to protect her when she started experiencing the ghost lady at night. This kind of relationship is portrayed in the other book as not involving emotionally when the couples are fighting and waiting to move out of each other’s life. The characters in “Sunday Menu” get intimate, but they hardly wear it on the face, but they interact in their day-to-day tasks as enemies (Le 6). The other aspect of marriage that clearly comes out in this book is the engagement of emotions in a genuine manner. The three girls are living in an era where women have the freedom to speak their mind and, therefore, the patriarchy is considerably reduced. The author clearly describes that the cousin and the first-born girl express their feelings towards their life partners. The first born even looks forward to seeing her father and boasting about her achievements. Clearly, one of these accomplishments is an established and happy family, alongside the husband’s wealth. The words expressed about her husband is an indication that he cares for his family, and the first-born has a confident expectation that her family will be established (Le 7). The other concept of how boredom can break a marriage is the break-up of the youngest sister (Le 8). Theo, who is the partner of Cutie is forced out of her house because of the difficulties they have been experiencing. However, it appears that the boyfriend did not have many mistakes, but the lady just wanted to get rid of him. Just like in the other book, getting lonely and losing interest makes the affected partner want to leave. It is important to note that boredom is visible when one partner starts to act out as seen in “Sunday Menu”. We can also see that King Lear is haunted by the leaving of his family and he feels threatened. The feelings of betrayal come about because he does not know when he will see his daughters again. The moving away of the family is a big loss for him. In addition to this, it is also seen in the other book that Vi’s husband, feels threatened because she wants to leave. “Sunday Menu” by Pham Thi Hoai In this book, marriage is initially portrayed as sweet and a union that a person would want to be. The two characters, Vi, and her husband show a lot of life through the expression of emotions (Phạm and Quynh-Du 125). There is excitement for one another, and nothing seems to go wrong. The couple expresses feelings, of the desire to spend time together and a lot of excitement. This approach is the same to the one in the other book whereby the second daughter was excited by her pregnancy and the husband. Therefore, in the two concepts, the books agree that marriage is something that yields happiness and enjoyment. The marriage between Vi and her husband indicates that there are contributing factors to boredom in a marriage. For example, the man says that Vi started applying lipstick after they got married. This explanation does not come out positive, especially when the marriage is surrounded by so many challenges. The husband could be indicating that the wife that he has today is not the same person he married a year back. The changes in her could be pulling him away leading to boredom for both parties. On the contrary the other book talks of the boyfriend of the younger daughter who is frustrated by the experience of being kicked out. The two books, therefore, indicate that the memories that are not pleasing can lead to boredom in the marriage. The book also shows how Vi and her husband do not show pain when asking each other to break the marriage. The husband was told that Vi is no longer interested, and he reluctantly said it was okay. The two partners are suffering from gunny-sucking of feelings and frustrations. The partners remain silent as tension builds, and this is what is causing the wrong treatment of one’s spouse (Phạm and Quynh-Du 126). Additionally, the book is portraying marriage as a place where issues are not resolved as they occur, and this result in the silent treatment. As compared to the other book, Pham characterizes marriage as a troubled institution. It is like the two parties are enemies during the day, but they share the same bed at night. This kind of life is discouraging and challenging. The couples expected that everything will always be merry when they get married. However, challenges set in and this is not realized, leading to frustration and boredom. The book explains that the joy of a marriage is short-lived, and the bigger part of it can be filled with bitterness and boredom leading to separation and divorce. The book also explains that the role of a woman has not changed much from being traditional. The same concept is brought about in the other book that, even though a female may have wealth and influence, the man is still seen to be superior. Therefore, patriarchy is still exists even though in reduced extents that allow women freely to express their feelings. It is also evident in the sense that in Vi’s marriage, she only acts to suggest that she needs something, but she does not directly ask for the particular thing. The two also get intimate and perform their duties even though they have agreed to separation (Phạm and Quynh-Du 127). The emotions are still attached to the partner, but there is reluctance in letting go. As a result of this, a separation can occur or even divorce because of people who are not ready to drop their ego and save the marriage. The book is a clear example of how marriage demands sacrifice from both the wife and the husband. Conclusion The two books have given a clear explanation of what happens in marriages, which is either positive or negative. Pham dwells on the extreme bad of marriage to some extent, but also tries to balance the good side. In addition to this, the problems that are highlighted in the two books are solvable, but because of the ego held by spouses, the marriages end up collapsing for unfounded reasons. In summary, marriage can be a wonderful experience in one’s life, but maintaining the initial interaction matters in preventing boredom. Works cited Le, Linda. The Three Fates. New York: New Directions, 2010. Print. Phạm, Thị Hoài, and Quynh-Du Ton-That. Sunday Menu: Selected Short Stories of Pham Thi Hoai. Pandanus Books, 2006. Print. Read More