Mrs. Dutta Writes a Letter [Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni]

Mrs. Dutta Writes a Letter by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni implements the movement of time in a compelling way. I loved how natural the flow was between times outside of the current moment of the story. It’s reflective of how we actually think – with little flashes of the past constantly blinking and then evaporating in our minds unless we choose to hold onto it a little longer. Mrs. Dutta’s conflict between old and new is heartbreaking, and interesting from a feminist standpoint. She’s a woman who longs for a life many American women today would frown at – would call her a victim of sorts – but it was her life. She wants to be wanted, needed, once more and her will to live is based on her family. Alone, she has no reason to carry on for herself.

            Divakaruni arranges the flashbacks so that there is a physical response: “The children. A heaviness pulls at Mrs. Dutta’s entire body when she thinks of them.” As she digresses into memory, we are literally pulled down along with her. In this way, it’s not just a memory, but it has a shape and a tone – in this case, disappointment.

The “real time” of the story is taking place all on the same day, but we journey for years between breakfast, laundry, dinner, and finally the written letter. Cooking breakfast this morning is like cooking for 20 years because that scene is extended through a flashback and thought. Each scene still remains significant, however, to character and plot. Mrs. Dutta is living primarily in the past and so it makes sense that the story’s real action takes place in past events, both distant past and recent past. When Mrs. Dutta thinks about Shyamoli’s reaction to her cooking, that’s the recent past. But Mrs. Dutta’s kitchen would be more the distant past.  It isn’t until the letter where she Mrs. Dutta appears at all hopeful or considers much about the future.