Mendez 1

Nixaly Mendez

Professor VanDyke

ENC 1102-74264

February 7, 2023

Unknown Essay Title

In Pria Anand’s “Wandering Gliders”, the crucial scene begins when Manu, the husband, and

Eve, the wife, are finished delivering their newborn twins. The narrator, Manu, then takes the time to

explain that one of the babies weren’t responding well after the delivery. Manu’s actions and thoughts

throughout this specific scene show the readers his strength and willpower to overcome and obstacle that

comes between him and the people he loves.

While Manu is standing next to Eve in the delivery room, Manu reveals his fears for his twin

daughters. With a motherly instinct, Eve decided to hold the twin that was not responding well. Watching

Eve not being able to hold or even look at her well birthed baby, Manu decides to step in and become the

bigger person and hold his babygirl with no hesitation. “When the nurse offered Eve the other, she closed

her eyes and shook her head”. At this moment he not only becomes brave and vulnerable at the same time

but he also realizes that something has changed about his wife. By showing strength, the readers can

come to a conclusion that Manu is a strong and loving man.

Manu want to be sure that both babies were healthy. Even though Eve did not want to hold one of

the babies, readers could assume that Manu wanted to ensure that no matter what he tried and cared for

both babies. “Instead, Manu reached for her twin, whose chest billowed and bloomed with her gasping

breaths”. Breaking Manus heart, he took the action to hold the baby, he might have not been able to

understand why his wife didn’t want to hold the baby that was born with no complications. The

connection that he most have built with love at first touch.. And although it doesn’t seem like a big action,

it has a highly effective outcome. Manu’s fears, emotions, and connections are what keeps him going.

The author might’ve wanted their audience to understand the connection that him and that twin might

have created in order to support them and continue building together as they grow.
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As Manu holds his babygirl, he relates his baby crying noises to memories that happen later in his

babygirl’s life. These future references symbolize not only his daughter cries, but as well as what Manu

has gone through with her emotionally. “Manu would remember that feeling when, at five, she lost her

footing on the stairs and fell to the bottom… and again at seventeen, when he heard her gasping sobs

through the closed door of her bedroom over a man whose name he would never know”. As the author

gives specific details in Manu’s daughters’ life, Anand could be inferring that Manu is a big part of her

life; by showing that he is doing everything for this daughter and going through every tear with her. As

Manu relates his baby’s’ cries to future memories, this scene also shows Manu’s vulnerability. What

makes someone vulnerable is being able to feel the emotion of love or care, as-well-as being able to truly

understand this emotion and Manu achieves this to the highest extent. This scene could also be a crucial

part in the story to because it could make a reference to tManu’s emotions towards Eves and his

relationship.

While Manu uses many future references, he has one specific line that shows his concerns.

Although the author has not stated what happened to the parents in this scene, the readers a somewhat

informed that they will be separating. And in this scene, the author lets the audience into Manu’s deeper

complications. While Manu is comparing the sounds of his daughter crying as a baby to when she grows

up and continues to cry, He comes to a realization that her cry’s are actually related to her twin sister.

“Feverish and half asleep, she asked then, not for her mother, as Manu had feared, but instead for her

sister, drawing her knees to her chest and curling in bed toward an imagined twin forehead”. Since the

readers know that these are future reference, the readers can infer that Manu told his daughter about her

twin, considering that she was “… curled in bed toward an imagined twin forehead”. Although it might

have been a tough conversation to have, Manu could’ve told her because he loved his daughter and

would do everything to make sure that she knows the truth.

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