The Queen of All Tantrums, “My Only Gods”
Actually, the first-person narrator of this story is, like the other characters, not identified by name. It is a recollection of childhood written by the adult woman that the young girl in the story ultimately becomes. The story is ostensibly about the close relationship between a daughter and her mother, but the dark undertones of distance between wife and husband and daughter and father make it the first of many in the book that is equally about Indian patriarchy and rebellious females.
Siddharth, “Bahu”
This story also features a female narrator. And, indeed, this is a collection powered by female protagonists. Undoubtedly, the narrator here is the most electrifying character in the tale and a good argument can be made she is the most memorable character in the entire collection. But Siddharth, her husband, is also fascinating as a representative of the absence of male strength among the stories. This is a collection of feminist fiction but not didactically so. Siddharth is weak in an unusual way but that weakness is defined by uncritical adherence to the rules of patriarchy.
Mr. Srivastava, “When Anklets Tinkle”
The landlord with a distinctive preference for certain ethnic groups within India over others is an example of how the author is able to create secondary characters in her stories that lend them a certain depth. It is this depth that helps prevent them from devolving into feminist didacticism. In Mr. Srivastava, a further element of Indian society is presented that adds a layer to the familiarity of the women-versus-patriarchy gloss that connects most of the stories together.
Sangeeta, “Incantations”
“Incantations” is the most brutally direct interpretation of Indian misogyny and the privilege of patriarchy and Sangeeta is its most horrific victim as well as it most extreme heroine. The tale opens on the night before Sangeeta is to marry with the confession to her younger sister that the brother of her husband-to-be has raped her. Years later, in her narration, the younger sister wonders what the consequences would have been had Sangeeta decided to tell their parents of this assault and concludes she would have lived alone with the shame of being spoiled goods. Instead, the marriage goes on as planned and the brother-in-law subsequently moves in with couple, systematically raping Sangeeta every morning after her husband leaves for work. In the end, she hangs herself from a fan, but not before castrating the brother-in-law as he is sleeping.
