Values: Similarities and Differences
Similarities:
In Broken Ties, Damini, one of the only female characters, is shown as valuing her freedom and her ability to make her own decisions. She fights every chance she gets so that she can influence or make the decisions instead of having someone else make them for her. Since this value directly contradicts the social norm of having the man of the house in charge, she highly values the times she is allowed to make these decisions. “‘We have now decided,’ stated Satish,’that if you would go to stay with some relative all your expenses will be found.’ ‘You have decided, have you?’’Yes.’’Well then, - I have not!’” (1278). Both of the women in “Bondage” place a lot of importance on their independence as well. Neither of them rely on their husbands to be successful and are fully capable of making their own decisions. The reporter values her independence so much that, once she loses it and conforms herself to the societal norms that conflict with this value, she commits suicide. The values of the men in both stories are also quite similar. The Swami, Satish’s and Srivilas’s guru, places a lot of importance on control and religion. He is highly disturbed when Damini does not follow his orders and makes a point to show others the level of control he has over his followers. The husband and brother in Bondage both value their control over their relationship with the women and their businesses. The mens’ values conform to society’s values much more than the woman's’ do.
Differences
There are differences in the values of the individual characters in these two stories. In Broken Ties, the women feel the need to have a relationship in order to break the shackles they are currently bound by. The ladies still require their freedom in that relationship, but need to have the social status that being married provides. Damini wanted to have Satish be her guru and marry Srivilas so this way she could leave the Swami. However, in Bondage the girl who ran away from her family, Mr. Gupta’s daughter was fine with being an independent woman. Her business was thriving, and society was only referring to her as the daughter who left her family to elope. Society can influence a woman’s value system, but can do so a negative or positive fashion. Another difference is portrayed through the male characters in the story. While, as stated above, these characters do all value control, they value it to different degrees. The husband and the brother in Bondage are okay with the women having jobs, being successful, and making their own decisions until it begins to overshadow and infringe on their control. In contrast, the Swami does not like to allow Damini to do anything he does not approve of, and expects her to drop everything to help him whenever he asks. He wants complete control over her every action as if she is property, which in this time is what she was. The men in Bondage also seem to value religion to a much lesser extent than the majority of the men in Broken Ties. In Bondage, the social norms have much less control over people’s values than they do in Broken Ties, which could be attributed to the passage of time and the influence of Western culture on India.