The Clear Light Of Day By Anita Desai Analysis

Anita Desai (1937) is a modern Indo-English writer, she is famous for her fiction writing, not only in India but also around the world. She emerged on the literary horizon after the independence of India and her main focus is, her writing on the ‘contemporary issues’ (Batts, 2011, pg.3). Desai mostly writes about the miserable plight of women suffering under their insensitive and inconsiderate husbands, fathers and brothers. All of which, leads to a man-woman relationship bringing characters into alienation, withdrawal, loneliness, isolation and lack of communication. Most of her novel’s protagonist are alienated from the world, society, family and even from their own selves because they are not average people but individuals. The similar situation also applies in “The clear Light of Day” published on 1980. Like most of her protagonist, Bimla is alienated and single-handedly faces the ferocious assault of existence but finally finds her freedom at the end. Thus this paper will portray Bimla’s unique character which will elucidate Bimla’s entrapment of her own making and attainment of freedom at the end.

Characters in Desai’s novels are generally “neurotic females, highly sensitive and engage with dreams and imagination and are alienated from their environment” (Batts, 2011, pg.5). The protagonist often differs in opinion from others and embarks on a long voyage of contemplation in order to find the meaning of existence. The protagonist usually suffers more due to their relationship as compared to the other characters. Her protagonist, as pointed out by Gabree (2009, pg.1) are not static figures; they attempt to know themselves and in the process, “undergo transformation leading to self-illumination”. Bimla in Clear Light of ...

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...as precious to her. It took away her relationship with Raja, her aspirations and she holds onto the bitterness that remains. However, she fails to acknowledge ‘time as a preserver’ as she lives in anguish thinking that she has lost everything. She only laments over the fact that she is left alone but does not accept the changes that occur with time. She is not able to move on with the passing of time, she lived thinking that relationship among them will remain like in the childhood days forever, caring and looking out for each other. The truth is everyone has their own life to live, dreams to fulfill and different desires. She preserves only the hurt from the past but not the beautiful memories they created together. These beautiful memories did not exist forever like she expected but instead of cherishing them, she overshadows them with her feeling of bitterness.