Reader Response to “Passion” by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala

            The first sentence is another good example of a declarative sentence that tells us what we need to know. That whole first paragraph gives just the right amount of background information for us to dive into the story. We know “Christine and Betsey had very little in common”, that “Betsey didn’t have all that many [friends]”, and this arrangement “worked very well” (698).

            I love how the author unfolds the scene between Betsy and Manny. At first, it seems like there is going to be a secret love affair revealed when it says: “the longer he was kept waiting the better Betsy liked it” (698). But then it gradually gets more suspicious when it says “he never made any kind of remark” (699). Then you absolutely pity her when he jumps on her for what is probably a drunken kiss. Betsy’s character overall is so quirky and interesting. All of her feelings are very clear and vivid, both through actions and indirect thoughts. When she is sitting with the man who takes the taxi with her and he is drinking, she pauses mid-sentence and we get “she realized she was saying he was not the sort of person one met” (700). This is a personal aside for the reader and no one else. And I needed it because I didn’t catch it. It shows how important it is to let us into a character’s head.

            I’ll admit I got lost in some of Har’s dialogue and I’ll also admit I didn’t like him. Oddly enough, I’m fairly familiar with Indian culture because of all the family friends I have there, but this guy blatantly goes out with Betsy when he has a wife at home. I did find it interesting that we get a snippet of his past on page 703 because it only characterized Betsy more for me. The things she liked about him seemed typical of what she would like. I kept pitying her. It’s cute that Betsy likes Har “for being so typically Indian,” but he is also abrasive and too dominant for my taste.  The very contrasting personalities of Betsy and Har built up for me in the sense that I knew something bad was going to happen but I didn’t know what. The more naïve Betsy became, such as when Christine warned her and the more tolerant Har became, such as when he forgave Betsy for intruding on his home, the more I could sense a climactic moment. Her naivety got to such a dangerous level that she was going to quit her job and I could feel myself nearly screaming at her in my head. It made me realize how important it is not only for things to take place in a story, but for things to take place in people as well. The characters have to change in some way. 

            Yet what I expected and what I got for a climax was extremely frustrating. I’m glad Manny shook up Har, but what the heck is Betsy thinking? I understand she is lost in her so-called “Passion”, but even after everything she takes his silence to mean that he is okay with it? I didn’t someone could be so ridiculous. I’m not sure if I’m supposed to interpret this ending as Har actually falling in love with her by the way he says “I don’t want you to stay with these people one day more” (710) or if I should hate him even more. It was confusing to say the least. My emotions in this story seemed far more complex than Betsy’s. Although I do commend the author on taking me on a rollercoaster that I did not expect. Who would’ve thought the woman with no friends who talks about Indian paintings with men who aren’t hers would lose her mind and fall madly in love?