Jan 1, 2010

The Management of Grief | Style

Foil
Kusum serves as a foil to Shaila. A foil is a character whose qualities serve to contrast with and therefore emphasize the qualities of another character. Kusum holds to her traditions and their authority. When Shaila expresses regret that her traditional upbringing kept her from telling her husband she loved him, Kusum reassures her that this traditional way of married life is superior to that lived by ‘‘modern young girls’’ whose love is "fake." But this is not enough for Shaila, and she writes an expressive poem that she sends to her husband on the sea in...