Social and Cultural Critique

In a 1989 interview with The Iowa Review, Mukherjee criticizes contemporary American fiction for "exist[ing] only in a vacuum of personal relationships." She believes that "[a] social and political vision is an integral part of writing a novel, or being a novelist." In light of these comments, "The Management of Grief" must be understood through a social-political lens. While it is a deeply moving exploration of Shaila Bhave's individual response to the Air India crash, it is also a critique of Canada's racialized society and its inadequate attempts at "handling" the tragedy. In this way, the story is more than a personal narrative, it is a politicized account, offering a social, cultural and political critique.

Through the story, Mukherjee criticizes the Canadian policy of multiculturalism. A superficial reading may fail to discover this subtle critique. The word is briefly but pointedly articulated when Judith Templeton...