Shashi Deshpande novel “That Long Silence” main protagonist Jaya decides to keep silence for seventeen long years. She is a middle-class woman who finds herself trap in by society by being a good mother and wife. In her search for identity Jaya lives with three identities as Jaya a struggling writer, Jaya the victor and Suhasini the name given by her husband which means happy wife that loves cleaning and undertaking wifely duties. In the Indian society, a man and woman lives with the motives of their elders that gender roles are assigned to a boy and girl. For Jaya, she lived the theory of existentialism as she goes through the process of self-confusion and realization. In this Jaya urges to find oneself, to create space and grow without support …show more content…
Rahul’s and Ratios mother. Not myself. ‟ (TLS 69) When one of her novels won the prize her husband became angry. Mohan had find fault with the theme of Jaya’s story and felt as if related to their life. He then tells her to write no more. Jaya does not go against his wishes but departs to silence and thought, “It was so much simpler to say nothing, so much less complicated.” (TLS 99). In time Jaya becomes minimized and loses her true self. She now feels that she is a disappointed mother, wife and failed writer. Silence becomes even more prevalent between Mohan and Jaya when they Mohan is accused of misconduct in his office. They then move to the Dadar flat temporarily and this is where the silence intensifies. At this point, Mohan, constant presence bothers Jaya and they both fail to understand each other. They hanged around confined to the Dadar flat and they only converse if need be. “The fact of what he had done, of …show more content…
She also admits that Mohan is solely responsible for her writing career. Mohan had obviously expected something from her as his wife and she had failed him. And now she decides that she will “erase the silence between us” (TLS 192) because silence can ever make one’s marriage meaningful. In this silence is an image of alienation and obscurity of Jaya’s existence. When she erases the silence, she evolves and turns into a confident mother and wife for silence played a role but, it is of a woman owns making. In the novel, has evokes different feelings such as pain, woman characteristics, fear and marital suffering. However silence in this case is acceptance ones duty as a wife and mother also, fulling the roles to a boy and
In the book Sold by Patricia McCormick shares the story of Lakshmi who at the age of 13 is sold by her step father and is forced into the a life of prostitution. She is born and raised in a simple village community, her only trouble in life is her step father. Lakshmi will soon come to learn there is a whole world outside of her village and it is not as pure as she once believed. Lakshmi is starved and beaten until she finally comes to terms with her new fate. She tells stories of what happened to her while locked away, what she learns from the other girls, and what could happen to her if she angers Mumtaz. Lakshmi does not understand what is happening only they are happening to her. The experiences Lakshmi goes through can relate to everyones’ personal experiences in life.
The entire society never really knows the true them. Gladwell would impose that “our inner states are the result of our outer circumstances” meaning that we are products of our environment, or immediate social context (157). The way being a women affected Jayanthi immediate social context is by her having promiscuous relationships without her family knowing. Gladwell would impose that the power of her social context, which is one of a traditional Hindu family where she is supposed to have one sexual encounter would make Jayanthi behave in that manner. Although she goes against this she is not in control of her identity because her new immediate social context that shapes her. Bell states Jayanthi’s bad-girl mentality allowed her “to control her identity, rather than having it controlled by either her family or the men she encountered” (34). Jayanthi believes that she is finding herself by changing her social context, but in reality she 's becoming a product of her new environment. The first man she had feelings for, played her and after she “vowed not to be played by a man again” (32). This experience is what cause Jayathi to take up this bad-girl persona in hopes to find herself. Unfortunately she is unable to because she just becomes like the men who played her, and starts playing men. Her identity becomes one of her new social
It was in the 19th centuries where a French writer Jean-Paul Sartre who popularized the concept of existentialism during his play No Exit. The play was published in 1943. Sartre explained Existentialism, which states in the belief that life has no meaning. Reynolds stated that, “People should be responsible for themselves rather than make excuses for the occurrences in their life, the belief that humans have free will” ( ). Each is separate from all other individuals, so each person has the power to place himself in the position he wishes, that every individual is responsible for his actions.
Solitude and consequent feelings of displacement is a prominent problem experienced by immigrants is beautifully depicted with the help of the character Ashima Ganguly. The issue of acute lonliness of exile is portrayed elaborately when we come know that Ashima ganguly is pregnant and expected her baby in a couple of weeks. She is hospitalized butthere is no one to give her company. Ashima reflectsthat had it been in Indiashe would have been surrounded by her big family. Lying in the hospital, she remembers when the Gangulis were boarding the plane to the United State, twenty six of her family membersactually came to the airport to bid her good bye. The novel vividly captures the emotional crises of Ashima ganguly:
In the novel, action speaks louder than characters. Each character in the novel represents the dark reality of the society. Locution and the composition of provocative verses leave gaps, which should be filled up by the readers. The character of Lakshmi is the epitome for many unknown and unnoticed Lakshmies, who are the victims of Trafficking and Sexual Slavery world-wide. Through Lakshmi’s stream of Consciousness the readers get conscious about the atrocities done to poor children and women for the sake of money.
The main conflict in this story is a personal conflict of Jayanti trying to convince herself that America is still a great place, ignoring her uncle saying "Things here aren't as perfect as people at home like to think." She tries to stay open minded to how great America is going to be, until her conflict with the boys in the streets. The boys throw nasty slush at Jayanti and her aunt, but Jayanti doesn't seem to want to accept that fact boys that young are so disrespectful in America unlike at home for her. Another conflict she experiences is having her uncle hit her aunt in front of her, but having no idea how to react to the situation because her aunt forgives her uncle almost instantly after getting hit. I would find it very confusing if
Thomas Pynchon's novel, The Crying of Lot 49 is a one of American after modernism writing. As the story proceeds, the writer initially introduces the torment of existence after explaining on the essential idea “existence precedes essence” in Sartrean existentialism, and then talks about the torment of insignificance and of isolation ensuing from lack of essence and the irrationality. Approaching torment, the central character is required to inspect the condition of her existence, therefore recognizing that she has to eliminate the situation of missing meaning in order to attain genuine human being. Inside Sartrean existentialism, open selection is the precondition for selecting one’s condition of existence. It is all the way through free choice that the central character of The Crying of Lot 49 selects to run away from the unreal existence and put efforts to rebuild a proper identity by running away from the domination, imprisonment and conventionality of developed nation, through which the main character wishes to discover the sense of existence and breathe in real living. Though, all the pains completed by the central character lastly finish in breakdown, which makes her wish of rebuilding her individuality. The failure of individuality breaks down the central character into separation and desolation. For the meantime, she can't anticipate to discover the denotation of existence. What the main character has to look is confusion, disarray, invalid and illogicality of existence. The writer of the theory depicts the discussion that The Crying of Lot 49 provides a methodical display of the quandary of the human existence in modern world.
Major study and analysis of ‘Interpreter of Maladies’. Read first 4 short stories. The first four stories are ‘A Temporary Matter’ ,’When Mr. Pirzada Came to Dine’ ,’Interpreter of Maladies’ ,’A Real Durwan’. The first story is about a couple who during temporary power cut in their house exchange secrets. The couple is trying to cope up with each other since the death of their first newly born child. The female protagonist is very upset with this incident and the worst part is after such tragedy she has lost her ability to conceive. In the end Shukumar shares the biggest secret when he gets to know that Shobha is planning to leave him. The next story is about a man living miles ap...
Existentialism is a philosophy, which revolves around the beliefs humans create themselves. Every person has his own view on existentialism and displays it differently. An existentialist in search of his meaning of life to end meaningless existence. Jean-Paul Sartre in his story The Wall attempts to demonstrate the conditions due to which a protagonist loses himself and becomes an existential after a deposited psychological trauma, but afterwards finds his new meaning. In comparison with Sartre, Jules Feiffer in the movie Little Murders shows Alfred a complete existentialist that looks hopeless. However, as a protagonist with the help of Patsy he decides to change and tries to believe in a society. Both Pablo
Ramamoorthy, P. “My Life is My Own: A Study of Shashi Deshpande’s Women” Feminism and Recent Fiction in English Ed. Sushila Singh. New Delhi: Prestige, 1991.
Her works include 36 novels, 48 short novels, 150 short stories, 15 travelogues, 7 collections of articles, one talking book, 4 volumes of literary research books, 2 volumes of anthologies, and biographies of Smt. Indira Gandhi and Sri. G.D. Naidu. Her stories and articles have been published in prominent Tamil periodicals and many have been translated into English, Japanese, Ukranian and other Indian languages.
She hides her actions and attempt to justify them until she is expose by the letter from the paper regarding her novel entry. She is ignorant to her unrealistic judgements about Cecilia and Robert and attempts to fix the problem when she made it worse. She realizes her mistake when the letter questions the conflict of her novel and she witnesses her attempt to hide the true horror behind her decision. While she attempts at hiding her problem in the draft, she made it more noticeable to the paper and drain the luster of the plot. Her realization of her ignorance honor the lovers’ romance and made her strive to atone her former
The Das parents’ negligent relationship with their children in Clear Light of Day mirrors India’s independence from Britain. Before their deaths, Mr. and Mrs. Das were preoccupied and inattentive to their four children, Raja, Tara, Bim, and Baba. They spent most of their time at the club, playing “their daily game of bridge” (Desai 50). This pastime is so important to them that they neglect to take care of their kids. For example, Mrs. Das tires of “washing and powdering” Baba, her mentally disabled baby, and she complains, “My bridge is suffering” (103). Mr. Das also does not focus on his children and “he [goes] through the day without addressing a word to them” (53). Unfortunately, Mr. and Mrs. Das are unable to ever form a loving relationship with their children because they both pass away. After Mrs. Das falls into a...
Urvashi Butalia in her book, The Other Side of Silence, attempts to analyze the partition in Indian society, through an oral history of Indian experiences. The collection of traumatic events from those people who lived through the partition gives insight on how history has enveloped these silences decades later. Furthermore, the movie 1947 Earth reveals the bitterness of partition and its effect of violence on certain characters. The most intriguing character which elucidates the silence of the partition is the child, Lenny. Lenny in particular the narrator of the story, serves as a medium to the intangibility created by the partition. The intangibility being love and violence, how can people who grew up together to love each other hate one another amidst religion? This question is best depicted through the innocence of a child, Lenny. Through her interactions with her friends, the doll, and the Lahore Park, we see silence elucidated as comfort of not knowing, or the pain from the separation of comfort and silence from an unspoken truth.
The language and the set-up are very casual for a first person-narrator taking us through her life. It is very casual and formal, almost like she is telling us about her “everyday-life” so to speak. But when she isn’t telling us and getting us through her everyday life, she is usually talking about her parents, sharing thoughts about them. The thoughts and comment on her parents are a bit different. She is at some moment confronting them and their belief. They can’t grasp why she wont go back to India, and she can’t grasp why they’re so intimately focused on their religion. And that’s is the set-up for the more controversial and sensitive style of language in the