In "The Bats", "The Story of the Maid" and "The Disappearance" wives were given little to no respect by their husbands and families. In “The Bats” the mother was abused by her husband, a clear sign that he did not respect her. He also lied to her in his letter when he promised not to abuse her again, but did so after he returned. In “The Story of the Servant” there was disrespect towards both Sarala and his wife. Sarala's husband and mother disrespected her by forcing her into prostitution. The husband showed serious disrespect for both his wife and Sarala when he tried to have sex with Sarala after his wife was sent to hospital because she fell ill. His infidelity shows his lack of respect for his wife and his promise to be faithful to her. Her husband's refusal to stop when Sarala begs him to stop and his justification that "once a whore, always a whore" (144) shows how little he thought of her as a person. In “The Disappearance” the husband raped his wife and justified himself by saying that she was “… an Indian girl from a good family” (172) and that she should submit to him whenever she wanted to have sex. He also didn't respect her enough to let her wear the American clothes she wanted, let her go back to college, or get her a job. He claimed he was just being firm, a lie he told himself to cover his guilt. He was denying his disrespectful behavior. Women in arranged marriages were usually not treated with respect by their families and husbands. This issue of disrespect is only one aspect of the negative nature of arranged marriages. The three predominant themes in Arranged Marriage, abuse, tragic endings and lack of respect, illustrate how toxic the environment formed through arranged marriages can be. Divakaruni uses these themes in the stories of Arranged Marriage to show how a marriage is not formed