The Haunting Story by Marguerite Duras
The essay by Marguerite Duras is a haunting story that takes place in prewar Indochina during Marguerite's childhood. The novel describes a turbulent relationship between a Chinese man and his young French lover.
A Strained Relationship with the Mother
The girl's relationship with her mother was strained. She was dissatisfied with the fact that her mother never changed her mind in any way. This gave her the impression that her mother was desperately frozen and insane while she was in the colonial dictatorship. Marguerite had the impression that her mother was still struggling for money because of her mother's decisions to save the unsuccessful investments that would carry out the family's financial crisis. The relationship the girls had with her brothers was a close one since the author was unable to separate them and give them different lives.
Financial Instability and Struggles
The family is financially unstable due to the death of the woman’s husband. This made her a widow and also left her with a girl child and two boys. The widow was bankrupt, and this made the children grown in absolute poverty. The girl is struggling to live a double life. That of helping her mother raise money for the family and that of a student. The relationship she has with fellow students is a close one. She discusses the Chinese lover freely with her fellow classmate.
Metaphorical and Ironical Elements
It is metaphorical that the wealthy Chinese guy shakes while handing the cigarette to the girl, yet the girl is younger than him, he is the rich one, and he has mastered the art of smoking. Also, it is ironical that the girl is only 15 and she takes the cigarette boldly as if she smokes. There is a backdrop of the French colonial Vietnam system in French Indochina. Flora and fauna have poor development and growth just as the colonial system. Concisely, the girl had a deep admiration for her classmates who were better off than her. In the boat, the girl tells the French lover that she had interest in him the moment she saw the gold he was carrying with him. She admits that she had interest in the gold more than the man.
