One Amazing Thing

In One Amazing Thing, Divakaruni gives a deliberate nod to Geoffrey Chaucer’s Middle Age narrative The Canterbury Tales. In Chaucer’s work, 29 pilgrims are journeying from London to visit the shrine of St. Thomas Becket in Canterbury. Each pilgrim is challenged to tell two stories on the way to the shrine and two on the return trip, with the prize of a free meal given to the best storyteller. In the opening scenes of One Amazing Thing, Uma is holding a copy of The Canterbury Tales and it is at her suggestion that all nine earthquake survivors tell a story of something amazing from their own lives. It could also be argued that the visa office in the Indian Consulate is the starting point for a pilgrimage, as seven of the nine are planning to travel to India for one reason or another, and the other two are hoping to return.

However, the idea of pilgrimage isn’t strictly a physical act. As they are trapped in the visa office, the stories that the group share take them on another kind of journey—one that traverses human prejudice, secrets, and destinies. Divakaruni purposefully brings together various ages, races, nationalities, and religions in this small assemblage of characters to demonstrate how being human is a universal condition.