Comparative Analysis Between a Story and Poem by Bruce Springsteen and Chitrangadha Banerjee - Essay Example

Comparative Analysis The poem “You’re Missing” written by Bruce Springsteen and “Clothes” written b Chitrangadha Banerjee have some elements which can elaborate on human emotions and life. The poem talks about the bitterness and loneliness a person can bring to life just because he is not present with one anymore. The story talks about the life of a woman who is finding a new life in marriage but ultimately become lonely and bitter due to her husband’s death. The human emotions and mysteries of life is an element which one can get while comparing these works. The poet explains how a person can steal away happiness from other‘s life by going away from them. While Banerjee is facing the death of her husband and is trying to accept life as it is .Both the poem and the story is a reminder to human that separation and loneliness is indeed a fact of life which one can only accept with lot of pain .( Thesis). In the poem “You’re Missing” Springsteen complains that the shirts and shoes are lying there at cupboard and has not been worn for a while. This means the something is wrong at home and indicates that life has been different than before. The poem is explaining how things have changed in life due a person missing. In the story, Banerjee tells the story of a Indian woman who get married and move to America and later get torn between America and Indian culture. However, when she loses her husband shortly in life she had to face life with all its tragedy and confusion. So we can see that how a person can go away from home or life and put a person in dilemma and desperation. Both of these writing show the importance of human relations, love and affections. The poet says that “Mamas in the kitchen, baby and all” (springstein) which means all are there but not you. This line evokes an idea that both mother and child are there but still life is empty without that particular person. In the same way, the woman Sumita who flies to America starts falling in love with her husband but soon she had to lose him to death. Life is a mystery, even though we have every luxury at our lap, if he miss someone special then life can be disastrous. The poem as well the story is showing how a person can mean to us and how in their absence life can look absurd. This is a reality, as we can see when we lose our parents or someone beloved we might even lose a hope to live the life. Human are emotional and we are led by love and affection.You’re missing reminds us that nothing can replace a beloved one as they are special and irreplaceable. This understanding is more exemplified by the story “Clothes” where the woman who is young loses her husband and is left with no choice to merge with American culture. The poet describes that there is mother, baby and all but still life is not complete. So, we can see that loneliness cannot be filled by just anybody. We can understand the Sumati who has left India after marriage found love and solace in her husband and new family. But the loss she encountered through her husband’s death cannot be filled by anyone else. So Springsteen and Banerjee are narrating the loneliness in life which can be filled by anyone else but that special someone whom one is bonded with. From the poem, it can be understood that the poet is talking about a husband and wife separation. It seems that the house is in a mess without the wife and everything is scattered around and nothing is in place like an orderly home. “Coffee cups on the counter, jackets on the chair , Papers on the doorstep, youre not there,Everything is everything, Everything is everything,But youre missing”( Springsteen).The poet is saying everything is same but the wife is missing. In the same way, Sumita in the story is encountering a perplexing situation where she is confused as to return home or stay back in America after the death of her husband. So in both poem and story one can see the aspect of chaos and discontent. Poet is saying the house is waiting for the wife and this means there is nothing alive about here. Even though everything is in place there is a lot of despair and deathly feeling in the house. Many times the words “You’re Missing” is stated in the poem so we can understand that separation and longing is the central theme in the poem. When we look at the story, we can see that even the central character Sumati is in a situation where she is longing for the closeness of her husband who is no more. Sumati tells herself that “I feel caught in a world where everything is frozen in place, like a scene inside a glass paperweight. It is a world so small that if I were to stretch out my arms, I would touch its cold unyielding edges”. There is another aspect of similarity in the poem and story which is family atmosphere. In the poem, the highlight is the relationship between husband and wife and in the story also the marital relationship is the essence. The husband is missing in the poem whereas in the story the wife is missing the dead husband. In the poem, it is said “Youre missing when I shut out the lights, you’re missing when I close my eyes, you’re missing when I see the sun rise, and you’re missing”. While in the story,sumita says that “I really miss you. I sit there and think of you asleep in bed. Do you know that when you sleep you make your hands into fists, like a baby? When we move out, will you come along some nights to keep me company”. From the poem and story, we can understand that a life without a loved one is empty. Even though the house filled with all the furniture and appliances, the absence of the spouse can make the life and house empty. In this poem, the house literally is not empty but the absence of the spouse is making the house seemingly empty. The poet says “Pictures on the nightstand, TVs on in the den,Your house is waiting, your house is waiting,For you to walk in, for you to walk in,But youre missing, youre missing”(Sprinstein).Even Sumita in the story ” Clothes” has her home and in laws around her but she is in a confusion to stay in America or go back home. Sumita thinks “That’s when I know I cannot go back. I don’t know yet how I’ll manage, here in this new, dangerous land. I only know I must. Because all over India, at this very moment, widows in white saris are bowing their veiled heads, serving tea to in-laws” ( Banerjee). So the separation of wife and husband can bring in lot of confusion, isolation and desperation which nothing can fill in. Both the poet and the author of the story explain that life is all about love and not about material pleasures of life. The poet tells that missing someone life can be more crucial and death encountered by the woman in the story also talks about loveless life. So the similarity in the poem and the story is identical. Both the poem and the story are surrounded by a family atmosphere. In the poem, the poet is talking about his wife, home and family relations while in the story, Sumati is thinking of her husband and life with parents in law. So the family related events which are mentioned in the poem and story. The poet is trying to express a woman and a man makes a life and it can become imbalanced at the absence of another. Because his wife is missing he is no more able to continue the regular activities in life. In the same manner, the life of Sumati is interrupted by her husband’s death and all what she could carry forward is his sweet memories. The confusion and stress of losing someone beloved is highly evident in both the writings. We can see that the poet is all time complaining how much he missed his companion. We know that once we lose our loved ones for death we cannot see them again and this is a disastrous feeling. Also he is showing us how life is shattered and how much he wishes that his wife had returned to his life. Same way ,Sumita everyday think of her husband at different instances and the pain she is undergoing is understandable by the readers. So here we can identify the brutal nature of life where death is an inevitable truth. Nobody wants to acknowledge death even though at some point we get clenched in its hands. Death is looming around in the poem and story at every moment. Now one concentrate on the poem and story we can see that death is lurking around as both the man in the poem and the woman in the story are facing death. The husband in the poem is thinking of his dead wife and the wife in the story is missing her dead husband and the life with him. In the poem, the husband says that “Morning is morning, the evening falls I have, Too much room in my bed, too many phone calls, How’s everything, everything? Everything, everything, you’re missing, youre missing”. In the story, sumita is thinking “I straighten my shoulders and stand taller, take a deep breath. Air fills me—the same air that traveled through Somesh’s lungs a little while ago”. We can see for the poem and story that death is something which we cannot stop. We have to accept life in its full essence and death and separation from loved ones is a bitter truth everyone has to face. The man in the poem is saying “Gods drifting in heaven, devils in the mailbox ,I got dust on my shoes, nothing but teardrops”. In the story sumita is thinking“The musky aroma of his aftershave lotion that someone must have sprinkled on the body. It didn’t quite hide that other smell, thin, sour, and metallic. The smell of death.The floor shifted under me, tilting like a wave”. So the separation and loneliness is an important theme in both poem and story. Read More