The_Rain_in_Sarajevo

Rain in Sarajevo INTRODUCTION IND AFF or Out of Love in Sarajevo is a short story about professor – student romance. Peter (professor) has been married for twenty – four years, but he was cheating his wife with an unnamed young woman (narrator). They went in Sarajevo so he can decide. One historical event plays the important role in this story – the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife in Sarajevo by Gavrillo Princip. IMPORTANCE OF SETTING An assassin named Princip took the life of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife, in Sarajevo. First World War began with this event. Young woman and her lover are in Sarajevo. She can’t stop thinking about his wife, about Gavrillo Princip and about Archduke and his wife. She begins to see parallels between Princip’s decision and her affair with the married man. Archduke’s wife was innocent woman, and so it’s Peter’s wife, too. The narrator wrestles with the idea of destroying a marriage. She asks herself did Princip make a right choice. The rain brings Mrs. Piper into the story, because it’s raining in Sarajevo and it’s raining in Cambridge. The rain destroyed their plans; they wanted to go to Montenegro, on the coast. The rain forced the woman and her lover to eat in a restaurant. As the rain falls the narrator comes to see Princip’s steps more clearly, like they are her own. There were two Bosnian waiters in the restaurant and they were looking at the Peter’s mistress. She finally sees herself as others do. She realized that she was selfish to herself, that she was lying to herself all the time, that she has confused passing academic ambition with love. The young woman is faced with a moral decision – she decided to leave Peter, she didn’t want to carry guilt of destroying a marriage. But she doesn’t blame Peter. She compares Peter with Archduke’s chauffeur; she thinks that he had lost his way; he didn’t see the pain of his wife. CONCLUSION Gavrillo Princip made a wrong choice and killed archduke and his wife, and caused the First World War. Many people died because of it. Princip died in the prison because of his love for country. Narrator realized her own inordinate affection and decided to end it. She didn’t want to destroy marriage. The setting helped her learn a lesson.