English 123

    The ending of The Tenant leaves room for much discussion. What Ashoke Mehta's last words to her mean? What he meant by having to take care of his vices? All of this is debatable since Mukherjee leaves the reader with only scraps for what will happen with Maya.

    To start, Ashoke claims he had to take care of some "vices". Now these vices could be anything. But looking back to their first conversation, Ashoke states he is a man of temptation, and some temptations he does not try to resist, combined with him taking out an ad to meet people solely for sex. I interpreted this combination as Ashoke being a sex addict as well. With the vices he had to take care of were a few more flings before contacting Maya again. When he tells Maya that she has a problem too, it seems like she told him that she was addicted to sex too, which is why she will come back to him. Mukherjee even slightly foreshadows a marriage between them when Maya states that, "He knows how to come across to a stranger who may end up a spouse." So since Ashoke has satisfied his vices, it seems he is ready to settle down with Maya and get married.

    It's really hard to overlook the cultural implications attached to the ending as well. Maya is constantly attempting to evade the fame that her family has back home in India. That seemed to be the motivation for her not desiring a relationship with an Indian man. When she finally met Ashoke, her whole view point seemed to change instantly. For me, this symbolized that no matter how hard you try, you will have to embrace your roots one way or another. I am not implying that the only way for Maya to embrace her roots is to marry an Indian man, but it seems like the most logical choice for a character such as Maya.

Overall, this ending is extremely debatable and from what I read and noticed this is what I believed Bharati Mukherjee meant. With both Ashoke and Maya being sex addicts it makes some sense that they would end up being a couple. Along with the cultural implications, this point of view on the ending makes sense.