Against the environment of Kerala in Southern India, Anita Nair paints a deeply suggestive tale of generations past and present, of locales near and far, of love, tribute and disloyalty. It is the story of Radha, a woman with modern day skills but still bound by custom, her husband Shyam, her Uncle Konam and Chris who arrives at their resort from the USA. Radha feels forced in her marriage of convenience, her artistic soul free to seek self expression only in conversations with the dreamy and philosophical Konam, who has dissatisfied his family by becoming a famous Kathakali dancer. She is barely tolerant of Shyam, who she sees as worldly and rude, with lowbrow aesthetic tastes. The sudden appearance of Chris in their midst causes her latent vibrancies to erupt with volcanic fury of emotions, which changes the relationships she has with all three men.2
The book is set on the banks of the river Nila, there could not have been a better setting. Just like the river the plot is a journey to self realisation. The four main characters evolve over the course of the story and as usual her s...
Her realization that she is not alone in her oppression brings her a sense of freedom. It validates her emerging thoughts of wanting to rise up and shine a light on injustice. Her worries about not wanting to grow up because of the harsh life that awaits her is a common thought among others besides the people in her community. As she makes friends with other Indians in other communities she realizes the common bonds they share, even down to the most basic such as what they eat, which comforts her and allows her to empathize with them.
Life is a complicated process. It’s filled with many things that keep it interesting but at the same time, very dull. Life’s what you make it and for many, it’s something we all strive for. In the story, The Space Between, the author takes full advantage of the premise as there’s rarely a dull moment- as in life. The book is filled with many literary devices that work nicely with the plot and dialogue. These include; metaphors, similes, irony, personification, and many more. We follow a young man who is finding his way in the world. He has only a week to change his life for the better. But he will face many obstacles on the way that brings the readers into a startling and fun journey.
Radha is emotionally detached and fairly disdainful of her husband, Shyam. Their matrimony existed only in name, without any effort on the part of Radha to keep it lively. She was unable to create a bond with him and considered that her marriage was already “fractured” as she mentioned to Chris. It is the beginning to enjoy her life and first step indirectly to voice out her travail. An affair can add excitement and a sense of purpose to life, and often this activity helps to taste up the state of achieving autonomy, from the hands of the dominati...
This is probably one of the most moving books I have ever read in my life. It is basically a narrative story of the life of an El Salvadorian women named: Maria Teresa Tula. Maria is a wonderful storyteller and the fact the she is describing her own real life experiences greatly add to the impact of the book.
basis of the plot and themes of this novel. The fond memories she possessed of her mother and the harsh ones of her father are reflected in the thoughts and
The novel opens with the imagery and symbolism that is essential effectively telling the story. A grown Louise imagines the ferry ride to Rass Island she will soon take to pick up her newly widowed mother. The only way on and off the island, the ferry represents more than transportation, it is a lifeline between ...
In the “Women in between”: Indian Women in fur Trade Society in Western Canada, historical paper by Sylvia Van Kirk a University of Toronto professor of History and Women’s studies. This article is about Indian women who were in between the Hudson's Bay and St. Lawrence-Great Lake men and the Europeans, the roles women played during the fur trade, the union between native and mixed-blood women with the traders and the advantages the traders had from the native and mixed-blood women.
This book was amazing. It discussed one of the most common problem or disadvantage faced in the present. Each characters is real. They represent those in the world that learn an essential human attritube and have the power to overcome any tough moment in life. We expect the characters to rise above expectations and no one should be disappointed in the end. A real coming-of-age story in which both protagonists learn the value of life.
The novel starts of by an entire first chapter giving a thorough and symbolic description of setting in South Africa and Stephen Kumalo’s village of Ixopo. This detailed portrayal not only gives you great view of the land, it creates the mood and atmosphere that will carry throughout the entire book. The story starts with Stephen Kumalo receiving a letter from Johannesburg, where he has lost mush of his family. The letter was from Father Vincent alerting Stephen that his son, Absalom, has been found. Stephen rushes to Johannesburg and arrives to a very harsh and racist city. His search began with the finding of his sister, Gertrude. That search was completed quickly. Gertrude had changed much ...
This book is full of adventure and excitement and captures the reader's attention. I really enjoyed this book and read it quickly in about two days. I thought it was brilliant the way David Almond described the images by his use of adjectives and similes. All the...
Kothari employs a mixture of narrative and description in her work to garner the reader’s emotional investment. The essay is presented in seventeen vignettes of differing lengths, a unique presentation that makes the reader feel like they are reading directly from Kothari’s journal. The writer places emphasis on both her description of food and resulting reaction as she describes her experiences visiting India with her parents: “Someone hands me a plate of aloo tikki, fried potato patties filled with mashed channa dal and served with a sweet and a sour chutney. The channa, mixed with hot chilies and spices, burns my tongue and throat” (Kothari). She also uses precise descriptions of herself: “I have inherited brown eyes, black hair, a long nose with a crooked bridge, and soft teeth
This book teaches the importance of self-expression and independence. If we did not have these necessities, then life would be like those in this novel. Empty, redundant, and fearful of what is going on. The quotes above show how different life can be without our basic freedoms. This novel was very interesting and it shows, no matter how dismal a situation is, there is always a way out if you never give up, even if you have to do it alone.
The tragedy in the novels of middle phase rises from the intimate interactions of the expatriate women with the Indians in post – independence era since there is no more any shielding protection of the colonial officialdom of British imperialism. The brutal rape of Lee, the seduction of Olivia and her step – granddaughter are some symbolic portrayals of the disparity between the romantic illusions that in turn could provide them nothing but sexuality betrayal and falsehood. In portraying the subjugation of the European women by Indian lover’s husbands or the spiritual gurus Jhabvala hints at the moral and spiritual degradation in modern India. The search of the expatriate women for love beauty or spirituality ends in their victimisation at the hands of male rapacity and they are in a predicament of self – destructive commitments or flight for survival.
The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy tells the story of the communist state of Kerala and the forbidden love between two castes, which changes the lives of everyone. In the novel an ‘Untouchable’, Velutha is a carpenter and works at Paradise Pickles and Preserves for much less than he deserves because of his status as an Untouchable in the caste system. Velutha falls into a forbidden love with a divorced woman, Ammu who is associated with an upper caste Syrian Christian Ipe family. Marriage was the only way that Ammu could have escaped this life, but she lost the chance when marrying the wrong man, as he was an alcoholic and this resulted in them getting a divorce. Ammu breaks the laws that state ‘who should be loved, and how and how much’, as their affair threatens the ‘caste system’ in India, which is a hierarchal structure and social practice in India in which your position in society is determined and can’t be changed. Arhundati Roy portrays the theme of forbidden love within the caste systems and shows how they are t...
The novel also talks about rules (big things) and transgression (by small things), laws and love, decisions and destructions. The novel clearly expresses that the world of decision-making is not a plain world where results tally with one’s assumptions. The result is an outcome of a number of inter-related factors and is always influenced by the meta-narrative of the society. The main characters of the novel, i.e. Ammu, Velutha, Estha, Rahel, Chacko, Margaret Kochamma, Baby Kochamma, Pappachi, Mammachi and Sophie Mol are left in the novel (a miniature of the world) to create an identity of their own by accepting or denying the big things of life. “Neither are they chosen from the common rung of the society, nor are their problems related to food, clothing and shelter.