c u /I ~77-k'~ i;w I- rp 4 1 k A l 4 &I k,

TECHNIQUE AS DISCOVER I'

CHAPTER FOUR

The technique of modern fiction, at once

greedy and fastidious, achieves as its subject

matter not some singleness, some topic or

thesis, but; the whole of the modern conscious-

ness. It discovers the complexity of the

modern spirit, the difficulty of personal

morality, and the fact of evi 1. . . puts its

hard light on our environment, it penetrates,

with its sharp weapons, the depths of our

bewil dement. ark Schorer "Technique as

Discovery" in Twentieth Century Literary

Criticism 399-400)

In a good work of art, form and content coalesce. Technique

helps the writer to execute his thoughts and purpose. The

rich ideas being canalised by various techniques furnish the

work of art with opulence. Profound themes receive singular

treatment wi t k l the advocacy of heterogeneous teclil?iclues.

Novelty is achieved by the introduction of modern

techniques. Owing to their varied applicabilities, modern

n o v e l i s t s b r i n g i n t o p l a y rnu1tifariou.s t e c h n i q u e s

An i t a Desai and Shashi Deshpande whose paramount i n t e r e s t i s

" d e l v i n g deeper and deeper i n a c h a r a c t e r , a s i t u a t i o n o r a

s cene . . . I ' ( ~ a s b i r J a i n "Ani ta D e s a i In te rv iewed" Rajas than

U n i v e r s i t y S t u d i e s i n Engl i sh 12 (1979) 68 ) s k i l f u l l y

handle modern t e c h n i q u e s i n t h e i r n o v e l s . 4 0 t h o f them

dea l wi th t h e age-old theme of man-woman r e l a t i o n s h i p b u t

t h e i r t e c h n i q u e s a r e r e l a t i v e l y new. Focussing on t h e

nuances o f t h e human psyche, t h e y a r e l u r e d by t e c h n i q u e s

1 i ke f 1 ash-back, s t ream of consc iousness and i n t e r i o r

monologues. In accordance w i t h t h e v a r i e d e f f e c t s t h e y

d e s i r e t o b r i n g o u t o f t h e i r c h a r a c t e r s , d i f f e r e n t

t e c h n i q u e s a r e employedk%As An i t a Desai i n h e r i n t e r v i e w 2

with Chelva Kanaganayakam h a s s t a t e d , "Each book r e q u i r e s a

d i f f e r e n t one [ t e c h n i q u e ] " ( John Clement B a l l and Chelva

Kanaganayakam " I n t e r v i e w w i t h Ani ta Desa i" , The Toronoto

South Asian Review 10: 2 , 3 5 ) . L ~ h a s h i Deshpande a l s o i n h e r

r e c e n t i n t e r v i e w w i t h t h e r e s e a r c h e r h a s accep ted t h e

i n e v i t a b i l i t y o f man ipu la t ing mani fo ld t e c h n i q u e s f o r h e r

n o v e l s :

Researcher : Each of your n o v e l s h a s a d i f f e r e n t

t echn ique . How do you s e l e c t t h e t echn ique?

L

Do you discuss it with anybody?

Shashi: I never discuss anything with anyone. I

don ' t talk about my novels at a1 1. Somehow

each novel selects its own technique. It /' doesn ' t come automatical ly. For example, I d wrote fifty pages for That Long Silence.

Then I realized it was not alright. So, I

rewrote everything. Even the latest novel

The Bindinq Vine has a totally different

technique. (Shashi Deshpande Interviewed on

\\

2 4 . 6 . 9 3 )

Portraying the predicament of individuals through mutually

incompatible couples, both Anita Desai and Shashi Deshpande

make fairly good use of the stream of consciousness

technique and interior monologues. The Dictionary of

Literary Terms defines the term 'stream of consciousness'

as follows:

A manner of writing i.n whi.ch a character's

percepti-ons and thoughts are presented as

occurring in random form. In this technique,

ideas and sensations are revealed without

r e g a r d f o r l o g i c a l s equences , d i s t i n c t i o n s

between v a r i o u s l e v e l s o f r e a l i t y . ( ~ a r r y Shaw

The D i c t i o n a r y o f L i t e r a r y Terms 359)

Both An i t a Desai and Shash i Deshpande t u r n from e x t e r n a l t o

i n t e r n a l r e a l i t y , from th.e o u t e r world t o t h e world o f

f a n t a s y . They w r i t e abou t t h e voyage and p i lg r image o f t h e

mind th rough consc iousness While commenting on An i t a b G e s a i ' s u s e of t e c h n i q u e s Shyam Asnani a p t l y remarks:

In r e g a r d t o t h e u s e o f s t r eam of

consc iousness t e c h n i q u e , f l a s h b a c k s and

i n t e r i o r monologues i n h e r n o v e l s s h e does it

w i t h a vi.ew t o c a p t u r i n g t h e p r i s m a t i c q u a l i t y

of l i f e i n h e r [An i t a D e s a i ' s ] f i c t i o n . S ince

eve ry human b e i n g ' s t e r r i t o r y is r e a l l y ve ry

s m a l l , a l l t h a t a w r i t e r can e x p l o r e is a ve ry

t i n y s e c t i o n o f t h i s t e r r i t o r y , and t h i s s h e

f i n d s a more i n t e r e s t i n g t echn ique than

cover ing a l a r g e a r e a r a t h e r s u p e r f i c i a l l y .

(Shyam Asnani "The L i t e r a r y A e s t h e t i c s of

Ani ta D e s a i ' s F i c t i o n " i n C r i t i c a l Resnonse to

Ind ian Enql i s h F ic t i -on 147)

/AS for the flash-back technique, one cannot ignore its k

usefulness in unravelling the pattern of intricate human

relationships. Exclusively, while analysing the inner

turmoils of the heroines, one notices that their

clandestine, suppressed emotions find better figuration by

reclusing into the past memories and incidents. > Cry, the Peacock commences with the death of Toto and the

varied noods of Maya and Gautama. Then it trails backward

to Maya's interior monologues, explicating her neurosis.

Gautama's obstinate attitude towards the loss of her pet dog

is extended in his disinclination with Maya herself. This

perpetual frustration plunges her into reminiscence.

The novelist illustrates the incompatibility of the couple

at the outset and recedes into the past to infer the logic

behind it. Intensity is gained by first person nar-ration and

interior monologue. Maya within herself broods over her

loneliness and Gautama's indifference:

Telling me to go to sleep while he worked at

his papers, he did not give another thought to

me, to either the soft, willing body or the

lonely, wanting mind that waited near hi.s

bed.... Yes,I cried, yes, it is his hardness -

no, no, not hardness, but the distance he

coldly keeps from me. His coldness, his

coldness, and incessant talk of cups of tea

and philosophy in order not to hear me talk

and, talking, reveal myself. It is that - my

loneliness in this house.(Cry, the Peacock 9)

The whole narration of Part Two is from Maya's angle of

vision and her psychic disturbance and desperate mood are

"beautifully delineated through sensitive prose charged with

frenzied fervour" ( ~ y a s Bhanushankar Dhavji "Viscid Voices

or the Inner Kingdom" The Journal of Indian Writing - in

Enqlish 9: 1 6).

The shift of viewpoint from third person to first person

narration and again to the third person indicates the

author's intention of highlighting the multidimensional view

on Maya's neurosis. Sudhakar Ratnakar Jamkhandi supports

this idea saying,

Because the novelist manipulates the shift in

the viewpoints - from the dramati-c (part

one) to the first-person (part TWO), and

eventually to the omniscient (Part ~hree) - a

number of effects are achieved.

Firstly, the section that is rendered in the

dramatic viewpoint emphasi zcs the I ack of

the psychological depths that human beings are

capable of.. . . Because the dramatic and

omniscient points of view limit our

appreciation of Maya's predicament and her

personality, we are allowed to witness the

workings of her mind; only then do we probe

beneath her actions and experience the reality

of her mental anguish as she tries to avert

the tragedy that is to befall her. he

Artistic Effects of the Shifts in Point of

View in Anita Desai's Cry, the Peacock" The - Journal of Indian Writinq in English 9: 1

(Jan. 1981) 36-37)

Maya's frustrations, longings and mental ailments receive

proper attention and depth when they germinate from her

point of' view. This shift irl p o i r l t of' view cr~ables the

writer to view a character from all possible angles. A

multidimensional view provides the reader with all possible

minute details of a character. As E.M. Forster puts it,

A novelist can shift his viewpoint if it comes

off and it came off with Dickens and Tolstoy.

Indeed this power to expand and contract

perception (of which the shifting viewpoint is

a symptom), this right to intermittent

knowledge - I find it one of the great

advantages of the novel-form, and it has a

parallel in our perception of life. We are

stupider at sometimes than others; we can

enter into people's minds occasionally but not

always, because our own minds get tired; and

this intermittence lends in the long run

variety and colour to the experiences we

receive. ( E . M . Forster "Flat and Round

Characters and 'Point of View"' in Twentieth

Century Literary Criticism 144)

Moreover, having empathy with a character intensifies the

vigour of the writer. To make it effecti.ve and vi.si.ble one

has to step into the shoes of a character. So it becomes

., ''

necessary for a writer to adapt to shifts in viewpoint. As

Marjorie Boulton explains,

... some variation of viewpoint is not only

usual, but, in a mainstream novel, almost

inevitable, in that someone is at some time

going to put his own side of a case or relate

some experience as he experienced it. he - Anatomy of the Novel 31)

When presented from the point of view of an omniscient i author, one or several characters receive proper attention

and the reader is provided with all the details. The author

keeps himself aloof and objectivity is attained. This point

of view makes it possible for the writer to achieve the

desired effect and omit what he considers unnessary, for

The omniscient narrator, who in a large

majority of novels is the actual teller of the

story, may follow any number of characters for

short or long sections of the book, tell what

he thinks is most interesting and comment if

he wishes. He often gives a large share of the

attention to one character, but sometimes

turns aside to follow another. h he Anatomy of - the Novel 37$ -

Anita Desai makes use of this point of view efficiently in

portraying her introverted heroines Sarah, Sita and Nanda

Kaul. Moulding them as silent sufferers who brood over their

destiny within themselves, she focusses on the inner

workings of their mind. When there is a dispute between

Sarah and Adit regarding pet animals and sacred cows, Adit's

stern and illogical argument irritates the sensitive Sarah.

So she leaves the place abruptly. Her mental torment is seen

through the omniscient narration of the novelist:

After clearing the table, she went straight to

bed with Kipling's Plain Tales From the Hills

and fell half-asleep listening to the rumble

of talk and laughter in the next room,

followed by the profuse strumming of sitars

and pounding of drums on the spinning records.

The music sounded all dissonance to her ears

as did the voices, and she fell asleep from

the fatigue of trying to place them, string

them, compose them, into a pattern, a harmony.

To her closed eyes the darkness moved in a

tumult of black shapes that would not settle.

Her dreams too were in pieces, tormented, like

the night slit and torn by long blades of

rain. (Bye-Bye, Black Eird 50)

Nanda Kaul's brooding over the intimation of her grand

daughter Raka's arrival is reported by Anita Desai in

comparison with her unwanted past responsibilities as the

wife of a Vice-Chancellor.

She had suffered from the nimiety, the

disorder, the fluctuating and unpredictable

excess.

She had been so glad when it was over. She had

been glad to leave it all behind, in the , '

plains, like a great, heavy, difficult book

that she had read through and was not required

to read again.

Would Raka's coming mean the opening of that

old, troublesome ledger again?

Sighing, she went off to bed, dragging one

foot uncharacteristically.

Discharge me, she groaned. I ' v e discharged a l l

my d u t i e s . Discharge.(+Fire On The Mountain 30)

T h i s t h i r d person n a r r a t i o n h e l p s t o de lve deep i n t o t h e

psyche of a c h a r a c t e r and ana lyse t h e i n n e r workings of t h e

mind. S i t a ' s a s s o c i a t i o n of thought on see ing a t i n y j e l l y

f i s h i s brought i n t o focus by t h e n a r r a t o r t o e x h i b i t h e r

concern and a n x i e t y about h e r unborn c h i l d :

Tossed up and thrown on to t h e sandbar by t h e

d i s c a r d i n g waves, it now l a y q u i t e s t i l l again

a s it had i n s i d e t h e s k u l l of mostly pass ive

and unadventurous s e a c r e a t u r e , f o r S i t a ' s

eyes t o regard till a sudden pu l s ing movement

i n s i d e h e r reminded h e r of t h e f o e t u s s t r anded

between he r h i p s and she was s t a r t l e d by t h e

s i m i l a r i t y of what f l o a t e d i n s i d e h e r ,

mindless and h e l p l e s s , t o t h i s poor washed

t h i n g thrown onto t h e beach, opaque and wet

and sad. (Where S h a l l We Go This Summer?

While Anita Desai ach ieves much from omniscient n a r r a t i o n ,

Shashi Deshpande d e r i v e s t h e b e s t o u t . o f f i r s t person

narration. It makes for emotional involvement with a

character and the work of art gains a more sincere tone and

thus spontaneity is achieved. But on the other hand,

subjectivity often lulls the reader into mistaking the

words of a character for those of the novelist. One easily

mistakes Gulliver for Swift, and when Hamlet utters

"Frailty, thy name is woman!" (~illiam Shakespeare Hamlet

Act I Sc.ii) it lends room for debate as to whether it is

Shakespeare's voice or Hamlet's. However, impersonating a

character intensifies seriousness. As Marjorie Boulton

observes :

Impersonating one character, narrating as "I1',

can give great vitality and conviction; the

difficulty is that the restriction to one

point of view very much limits the field that

can be observed. Howeve*, this, besides

increasing intensity, may well heighten the

sense of reality, in that we all experience

life through one pair of eyes only. Anyone who

has made any effort towards true love, true

friendship or even good professional relation-

ships knows how hard it is to come anywhere

near putting ourselves imaginatively in the

other person's place. An impersonation may

be sympathetic, or ironical or a mixture of

both. (~natomy of The Novel 33)

Shashi Deshpande, being a woman, is able to feel the C fervour of her heroines and sincerity to the cause is

achieved. Saru's narration of her nightmarish experiences

with Manohar, Jaya's disappointments over Mohan and Indu's

inner longings get crystallized in Shashi Deshpande's first

person narration. Saru's inability to fix her husband's

sadism either as his psychic disturbance or her own mistaken

identity is well expressed when she herself delineates her

experience :

And then the two came together. I knew where I

was and what had happened. Panic and sensation

came back simultaneously. I turned my head

slightly, .fearfully, and saw him beside me,

snoring softly. No more a stranger, but my

husband. (The Dark Holds No Terrors

Anita Desai has achieved grip over the readers by presenting

/ Maya in a typically neurotic condition. The sensitive Maya

versus rational Gautama is depicted effectively with the aid

of constant shifts from the present to the past.

4 h i s modulation finds a unique place in Shashi Deshpande's

The Dark Holds No Terrors. It is typical of her style that

the beginning is abrupt. A seeming stranger's sadistic

attitude towards the narrator, pathetically crying, "It was

more as if my mind had deserted my shamefully bruised body,

disowning it, making it insensate1'(12) gradually restricts

its area of focus to identify the stranger as no one but her

husband. Instantaneously the focal point shifts to the

heroine Saru's parental home and the perspective becomes

omniscient. Analogous to Cry, the Peacock, the quandary > being purported at the outset, the assay instantly succeeds.

&he dexterity with which Shashi Deshpande wields the

procedural variation, vivifies the pace of the novel.

The place of action immediately shifts to Saru's father's

house, where Saru is standing out to be welcomed by her

father. From the wordless welcome given by her father, the

reader is taken to and fro as Saru's psyche relates the

incidents of past and present. While she appreciates the

wordless , p e r f e c t , uncomplaining p a r t n e r s h i p of h e r f a t h e r

and Madhav i n doing t h e household work, h e r mind r ecedes

and r e l a t e s t h e c r i t i c a l q u e s t i o n asked by one i n t e r v i e w e r

which k ind led t h e animal i n Manohar. Once again she r eaches

t h e p r e s e n t t o o f f e r h e r hand i n household work:

You cook and he c l e a n s . I t ' s a p a r t n e r s h i p ,

wordless , uncomplaining and p e r f e c t . A t a c i t

unders tanding. A s a l l good p a r t n e r s h i p s should

be.

How does it f e e l when your w i f e e a r n s n o t on ly

t h e b u t t e r b u t t h e bread a s we l l ?

The b i t c h . Why d i d s h e have t o s a y t h a t ? I t

was t h a t day t h a t it began. O r d i d i t ? Damn

t h a t bloody b i t c h anyway... .

She came o u t of h e r though t s wi th a s t a r t . . . .

I wash up t o d a y , ' s h e s a i d . (The Dark

Holds No T e r r o r s 35-36)

,.

This non-observance of ch rono log ica l o r d e r and t h e

f l u c t u a t i o n between f i r s t and t h i r d person n a r r a t i o n a r e

i n d i c a t i v e of t h e i n s t a b i l i t y o f women i n t h i s p a t r i a r c h a l

s o c i e t y and t h e mental a i lmen t s r e s u l t i n g from t h e i r

s t r u g g l e t o come o u t of t h e confirmed c i r c l e . A s Adele King

p u t s i t ,

The p l o t s do n o t observe a simple

chronologica l o r d e r , bu t a r e r a t h e r a

jux tapos i t ion of a c t i o n i n t h e p resen t and

memories of t h e p a s t . Time seems t o move

r a t h e r i n c i r c l e s than i n s t r a i g h t l i n e s . . . .

The n a r r a t i v e vo ice i n The Dark Holds No

T e r r o r s f l u c t u a t e s between f i r s t and t h i r d

person; "she" and "I" a r e two f a c e t s of t h e

same s e l f . . . . The c i r c u l a r movement and t h e

s h i f t s i n n a r r a t i v e vo ice both express t h e

p o s i t i o n of t h e woman i n a p a t r i a r c h a l

s o c i e t y - someone without a c l e a r sense of

purpose ( a s h e r a b i l i t y t o choose i s normally

l i m i t e d by t h e w i l l of o t h e r s ) and without a

f i r m sense of h e r own i d e n t i t y . ha has hi

Deshpande: P o r t r a i t of An Indian Woman" i n

The N e w Indian Novel In Enqlish 165) > On t h e o t h e r hand, i n . That Lonq S i 1 ence Jaya n a r r a t e s h e r

story in first person. From her married life to the marital

problems of her servant maid, everything is viewed from her

angle only. Here, as Indira Bhatt feels:

The use of the first-person point of view

provides Deshpande with the control which

gives shape and signifi.cance to the intense

agony that Jaya experiences. ("That Lonq

Silence: A Study" in Indian Women Novelists

161)

In their small Dadar flat Jaya is reminded of Kamak and his

advice, her cousin Kusum and her failures. When Mohan

leaves the flat, she suddenly switches over - to think of

Kusum and her terrible failure as a wife. On hearing Mohan

calling out her name she feels the "burden of his wanting,

the burden of his clinging" (That Long Silence 29) and at

the same time cherishes memories of her childhood game of

keeping house.

The shift of thought from the past to the present and the

present to the past can be well seen in the following

passage :

The tramp tramp of the mill workers' feet as

they went to work, as they came back from it,

these sounds had been missing since we came

here, Mohan and I.

In Saptagiri, our house had stood well back

from a little-used road, so that even the rare

sounds ... had come to us muted by the

distance. hat Lonq Silence 55-56)

From Dadar flat to Saptagiri house and then again to _

Mohan's silence, Jaya's mind traverses quickly. Her restless

psyche gets better portrayed in this stream of consciousness

technique. In delineating the inner urges like Shashi

Deshpande, Anita Desai makes use of three ways:

One is the indirect interior monologue ... the

second method is the depiction of a situation

which echoes the inner mood of the

character... the third method is the apt

choice of situation where feelings and

attitudes are revealed with a sudden dramatic

impact. (J.G.Masilamani "Feminism in Anita

Desai" Kakatiya Journal of English Stud.ies 3 : l

32

As far as the second method - depiction of a situation - is

concerned, Anita Desai makes better use of colours. She

identifies the situation with appropriate colours. In Bye-

Bye, Blackbird, while describing a noon-time with its

liveliness, she brings out the lively mood of Adit and his

friends through gaudy colours:

On the sunburst pond a boy in a blue blazer

sailed a small red boat. A dog ... streaked

over the grass after a blue ball.... Beyond a

clump of trees - chestnuts opulently green and

hawthorns dressed in crinolines of dark pink

blossom - a good game of cricket proclaimed

itself by flicker of white on green, by click

of bat on ball. (14-15)

By presenting contrasting colours in Where Shall We Go This

Summer?, she hints at Sita's state of mind - both hopeful

and in doubt. In addition, it signifies the islanders' gay

mood over the arrival of Sita's father and the fertility he

promises : , I

From the open veranda, wind-swept and

pillared, two strangers came down to greet the

family - a perspiring, purple young man in a

lungi of green checked cotton, who told them

he was Moses and a woman, round-thighed,

yellow-eyed, encased in a pink skirt and an

orange blouse like some ripe fruit ... (61)

If gaudy and contrasting colours symbolize gaiety, dull

colours suggest the melancholic mood. While Sarah and Adit

are waiting for their departure from England at Waterloo

station early in the morning, they are i.n a state of tension

and with mixed feelings, and colours like white, grey and

black capture their mood:

... all was in film shades of grey, black and

white. Even the tea in the cups was rey, its

steam white. Women in white mackintoshes, men

in grey overcoats. ye- ye, Black bird 225)

For Anita Desai, there are colours and shades of light to

denote the varied emotions, whereas for Shashi Deshpande

there are smells and sounds to disclose the multifarious

passions. In Roots and Shadows the fragrance of the champak

reminds Indu of Naren. Its mild perfume connotes Indu's

soft corner for Naren as well as her perfect but brief

physical intimacy with him. Shashi Deshpande describes:

Intermingled with these two perfumes, there

was another, more subtle and cunning - the

fragrance of the champak. To me, nothing can

invoke memories as strongly as smells. And

this one brought back that hot afternoon in

Naren's room. The smell of champak wafting in

with the breeze. (Roots and Shadows 7)

Indu is taken back to her childhood memories at the familiar

smell of Atya's presence. The very smell of Atya makes Indu

secure and loved. Indu's delight i n this smell suggests her

lingering roots with the family, irrespective of her

de l i b e r a t e s e p a r a t i o n from it. I n Indu ' s words:

I t was Atya and a s I reached h e r , she p u t h e r

arms round me, h o l d i n g me s o h a r d t h a t it

h u r t . Her f a c e was wet. I i n h a l e d t h e f a m i l i a r

s m e l l of h e r p re sence and f o r a moment I was a

c h i l d a g a i n , s e c u r e and loved . (Roots and

Shadows 23)

Like Indu , Saru i n The Dark Holds No T e r r o r s i s c a r r i e d away

t o h e r ch i ldhood by t h e s c e n t of t h e Hamaam soap . She

n a r r a t e s :

A s s h e soaped h e r f a c e and hands . . . t h e same

Hamaam s t i l l . . . t h e sme l l o f t h e s o a p brought C---

back h e r ch i ldhood more v i v i d l y t h a n any th ing

e l s e s o f a r . ( l 7 )

For Jaya i n Tha t Lonq S i l e n c e it is sound t h a t makes a l o t

o f meaning. Var ied sounds b r i n g t o h e r m u l t i t u d e s o f

emot ions . She s e n s e s each and e v e r y r u s t l e around h e r f l a t

minu te ly . One can n o t e a s h a r p c o n t r a s t between h e r keen

sense of hearing and her purposeful silence. She observes:

Almost worse to me than this constant noise

had been the sense of being invaded, not just

by sounds, but by a multitude of people and

their emotions as well. Anger, fear, hatred,

envy, tenderness, love - all of these came to

me as I lay in bed, a fascinated listener.

Sometimes at night, when there was a

diminuendo in all sounds, I had heard even the

tinkle of a woman's bangle distinctly. h hat - Lonq Silence 56)

Further, music that appeals to the sense of hearing serves

to elucidate promiscuous emotions. Commencing with Jaya's

substantial statement about the pseudo-puritanism in

considering film music so outre to Monisha's death, music

finds a unique place in the writings of Anita Desai and

Shashi Deshpande.

In Roots and Shadows after the death of Naren, when Indu

happens to hear his music, she is moved. His voice floats

into the room and leaves Indu depressed. Her pent-up

emotions over the death of Naren find an outlet in his

music. Indu states:

Music filled the room. It was Naren's

music.... I sat crouching there like an animal

in pain. If I don't get hold of myself, I

thought ... I'll start whimpering. I tried to

yet up, but it was as if I was held in a vice

of stillness. I could not move. (8)

Following Naren's song, the sweet notes of the Shehnai fill

the air. But the sweetness does not bring joy to Indu. She

considers it as "throat-chocking sweetness"(9). Shashi

Deshpande utilizes music to tilt Indu's heart so that her

attachment to Naren can be ripped open. For Anita Desai also

it becomes a tool to enclose hidden riddles. In Fire on the

Mountain, during a tea-time conversation, Ila Das heartily

cherishes her past happy days when she used to play music

jubilantly. She expresses her fear over this generation

which seems to lose that mirth:

I'm like that when I get on to musi-c. It

played such a role in our lives, didn't it,

Nanda? I'm afraid it's all out of fashion , '

now - those sweet songs, those musical soirees

at which the family would gather around the

piano and sing.(ll9) 9 1 '

6

Ila Das' positive remark on music is contradicted by Narlda

Kaul's negative approach. To her music records only bitter

memories. She utters:

I never cared for music myself. It makes me

fidget, I greatly prefer silence.(ll9)

If music makes Nanda Kaul fidget, it perforates Sarah's

melancholic mood. Her melancholy becomes that of the flute,

and the transferred epithet is suggestive of her attitude: /

When she opened her eyes again the young man

was lying on his bed and playing his flute,

the melancholy flute that had ushered in the

landscape of iron railings and smoking

chimney-tops that was his landscape by /'

adoption. (Bye-Bye, Blackbird 22)

Music signifying melancholy, is protracted in Voices in the

-"

City to the climax of Monisha's death.

When all the others seem to be enchanted by the music of the

street musicians, Monisha considers herself deprived of the

normal human passions. She rushes to get the feeling of

"fire" only to be burnt off wholly.

Besides human sensuousness acquiring prominence, zoological

and botanical images make an impact on the works of Anita

Desai and Shashi Deshpande. What is important for them

... is the movement of the wing one tries to

capture, not the bird. That is, it is the

image that matters, the symbol, the myth, the

feat of associating them, of relating them,

constructing with them. (Anita Desai "Indian

Writers' Problems" in Explorations in Modern

Indo-English Fiction 226)

In Cry, the Peacock, at the outset animal i-mage is deployed.

It describes the death of Maya's pet dog Toto. According to

Madhusudan Prasad, it emphasizes the death motif and the

psychic disorder of Maya. To quote his words:

Skilfully emphasizing the death motif, Desai

repeats the image of the dead Toto in

different forms with a view toward

objectifying Maya's psychic disorder and her

ineluctable preoccupation with death, the

intensity of which rises in her mind until she

ultimately kills her husband. ("Imagery in the

Novels of Anita Desai: A Critical Study" World

Literature Toda 5 8 : 3 3 6 3 )

For Ramesh K.Srivastava Toto stands for a

child-substitute. It becomes her desirable companion. He I *

affirms:

Maya's pet dog Toto could be a symbol of her

desirable companion - warm, passionate,

faithful, uncomplaining, unphilosophizing,

intimate and closely attached to her. Toto

represents everything that Gautama is not. It

is also a child-substitute. (perspectives on

Anita Desai xxxiv)

If Toto symbolizes a child, the image of rats nursing their

young exemplifies "her agonizing fixation upon her own

childlessness" (~adhusudan Prasad "Imagery in the Novels of / Anita Desai: A Critical Study1' World Literature Today 5 8 : 3

368). Longingly she portrays the scene:

Rats will suckle their young most tenderly. I

know this, as now I lived quite near one, with

seven young ones nestling between her legs .... And the rats with their young, suckling them,

then lashing their tails, spreading plague.

(Cry, the Peacock 126-27)

While Maya's barren state finds an outlet in animal imagery,

Sita's fear of delivering her child in this cruel world is

crystallized in the cruel drama between a wounded eagle and

the hovering crows. Her effort to save the eagle, /

pathetically ending in her failure, seems to foretell her

wish to retain the child in her womb and the dolorous

verity.

Sita's pain and agony in witnessing the spectacle of

"survival of the strongest" is well defined in Anita Desai's

impressive prose style:

... it was an exceptionally cruel drama that

had aroused the crow world outside and made

them churn the air... the tortured creature

cowering unshaded in that sun was an eagle,

wounded or else too young to fly.

... they laughed and rasped as they whipped it with their blue-bottle wings and tore into it

with their scimitar beaks. It rose weakly, I

tried to crawl into the shelter of the wall's

shadow and its wings, leaf-red, scraped the

concrete, then its head, gold-beaked, fell to

one side. (where Shall We Go This Summer?

38-39)

According to Ramesh K.Srivastava, Anita Desai makes use of

objective correlative in presenting the image of the

predator and the prey. He finds a similarity to Sita's

condition in the plight of the eagle.

He observes:

Sita in Where Shall We Go This Summer? is

s e n s i t i v e , peace-loving and i n t r o v e r t . The

t ens ion i n t h e novel i s between a s e n s i t i v e

i n d i v i d u a l and an i n s e n s i t i v e world conveyed

through t h e most f r e q u e n t l y r e c u r r i n g image of

t h e p reda to r and t h e prey. Using t h e method of

o b j e c t i v e c o r r e l a t i v e , Ani ta Desai p o r t r a y s

S i t a ' s cond i t ion by descr ib i -ng t h e p l i g h t of

an e a g l e a s it is surrounded and harassed by

t h e crows. ( P e r s p e c t i v e s on Anita Desai xxi,v-

xxv )

Not only t h e t ragedy of e x i s t e n c e bu t a l s o t h e l i v e l i n e s s

of l i f e is symbolized through t h e crawling shrimps. A t

Manori where S i t a f s c h i l d r e n a r e unable t o f i n d any l i f e ,

t h e y f e e l t h e mir th of v i v a c i t y on see ing t h e l i v e shrimps:

S i t a drew back, h i s s i n g with astonishment , f o r

t h e basket crawled wi th shrimps - pink and

i n f a n t i - l e , t h e i r t r a n s p a r e n t whiskers aqu ive r ,

emanating a s t ench t h a t c a l l e d , t h a t shouted

we l i v e , w e a r e shrimps! (Where Sha l l We Go r

This Summer? 105)

While t h e v i v a c i t y of animation is found i n t h e shr imps, t h e

agony of l i v i n g g e t s a form i n t h e "b leeding h e a r t dovesf' i n

133

Voices i n t h e C i t y . Monisha 's t o r t u o u s e x i s t e n c e i.s

r e v e a l e d h e r e :

Doves l i k e b a l l s of r a i n c l o u d , b u t i n each

s o f t b r e a s t a g r e a t open wound, b l e e d i n g ,

s c a r l e t s eep ing over t i n y f e a t h e r s i n a b l o t

of f r e s h b l o o d . . . . These s t a y on t h e ground,

r e s t l e s s , i n f l u x , and b l e e d i n g . (121)

/Consi d e r i n g b o t a n i c a l images, Shsskri Deshpande ' s The Dark 1

Holds N o T e r r o r s demands o n e ' s p r imary concern , a s t h e

opening c h a p t e r u n f o l d s S a r u ' s s t a t e of mind through them.

The f i r s t change she n o t i c e s a t h e r house i s t h e

unmainta ined t u l s i p l a n t , which h a s s u c c e s s f u l l y

accomplished i t s purpose , and t h e second t h e f r e s h

ho l lyhocks . The v e r y s i g h t o f t u l s i b r i n g s f o r t h an

unwelcome thought of h e r mother , and t h e ho l lyhocks , a b i g

q u e s t i o n mark. The d r y t u l s i p l a n t symbol izes t h e l o s t

p resence of S a r u ' s mother , and t h e f r e s h ho l lyhocks , t h e

e x i s t i n g p re sence of Madhav. There l i n g e r s a s u b t l e i r o n y i n

S a r u ' s t o n e c o n s i d e r i n g t h e v e r y purpose of growing t u l s i .

The t u l s i had been t h e o n l y s p o t o f g reen . B u t

t h a t had gone as we1 1. Of c o u r s e , it had

se rved i t s purpose. She had d i e d b e f o r e h e r

husband. Wasn' t t h a t what a l l women prayed t o

t h e t u l s i f o r ? . . . Then s h e n o t i c e d t h e f l o w e r s

i n one c o r n e r a g a i n s t t h e w a l l . Hollyhocks,

t a l l , c o l o u r f u l , and r i d i c u l o u s l y incongruous

i n t h a t p l a c e . Who chould have p l a n t e d them?

(The Dark Holds No T e r r o r s 15))

The green ho l lyhocks welcome Saru w i t h a q u e s t i o n i n h e r

mind whereas t h e o l d charnpak t r e e l e t s Indu know a s e c r e t

on i t s for thcoming end. I t s t a n d s f o r h e r ch i ldhood memories

and t h e unde r ly ing t e n d e r f e e l i n g f o r h e r o l d house. Though

she a p p e a r s i n d i f f e r e n t , Indu h a s a r e a l concern f o r t h e

f'lrni ly and t h i s i s exemplified through t h e champak t r e e .

When she comes t o know t h e s o r e f a c t o f t h e champak t r e e ' s

e n d , d e s o l a t i o n o v e r t a k e s h e r .

'And t h e t r e e ? ' I asked him.

'What t r e e ? ' he s t a r e d a t me, uncomprehending.

'Our champak t r e e . '

'Oh, t h a t one! I t ' s r i g h t i.n t h e middle of t h e

house , i s n ' t i t ? I n t h e back. cou r tya rd?

Wel l , w e l l , it w i l l have t o go , of c o u r s e . '

A t t h a t , such a s e n s e o f d e s o l a t i o n and

bereavement came over me, t h a t I cou.ld have

wept t hen and t h e r e , . . . The evergreen l e a v e s ,

t h e golden f l o w e r , whose p e r v a s i v e f r a g r a n c e

had , it now seemed t o me, permeated a l l my

l i f e . (Roots and Shadows 201)

Bes ides z o o l o g i c a l and b o t a n i c a l images, p l a c e s s t a n d a s

symbols i n t h e w r i t i n g s of An i t a Desai and Shashi Deshpande.

A s S i t a and h e r c h i l d r e n e n t e r t h e Manori i s l a n d , t h e y f i n d

o n l y a lone soda wate r shop. The soda wate r t h a t c o n s i s t s

of n o t h i n g b u t wate r combined w i t h carbon d i o x i d e , w i th i t s

s t r u g g l e t o b u r s t o u t , symbol izes S i t a ' s pent-up, b o i l i n g

emotions which seek an o u t l e t .

The p l an t o e scape b o i l e d up i n h e r w i t h such

suddenness , s h e was h e r s e l f t aken by s u r p r i s e ,

n o t r e a l i z i n g t h a t i t had been simmering

i n s i d e h e r s o long a l t hough she was h e r s e l f

t h e p o t , t h e wate r and t h e f i r e . (where S h a l l

We Go Th i s Summer? 5 7 )

S i m i l a r l y , t h e p l a i n soda wa te r t h a t remains w i thou t

carbon d i o x i d e connotes S i t a ' s s t i l l mind a f t e r h e r

s o j o u r n i n Manori i s l a n d . B e s i d e s , t h e i s l a n d i t s e l f s t a n d s

a s a t e m p t i n g m y s t e r y s u g g e s t i n g a t once t h e charms o f t h e

c i t y and t h e i s l a n d .

Ramesh K . S r i v a s t a v a c o n f i r m s t h i s i d e a :

The s e a between t h e c i t y and t h e i s l a n d and

s u r r o u n d i n g t h e l a t t e r can symbol ize t h e s e a

of m y s t e r y , t e m p t i n g , unfa thomable b u t no l e s s

d r e a d f u l , which a d d s t o t h e charms o f b o t h t h e

c i t y and t h e i s l a n d , pav ing t h e way f o r two-

way m o b i l i t y . ( P e r s p e c t i v e s on A n i t a Desa i

XXXVI )

A l l i e d t o t h i s , England i n Bye-Bye , El a c k b i r d "symbol i s e s - a wor ld g o l d e n and g l i t t e r i n g on s u r f a c e b u t h a r d and c o l d

underneath1'(XXXV). According t o R.S.Sharma England " a p p e a r s

a s a s i r e n and a t e m p t r e s s " ( ~ n i t a Desa i 9 2 ) . I n t h e

b e g i n n i n g it seems t o warn Dev and t e m p t A d i t and t o w a r d s

t h e end it i s v i c e v e r s a .

I n t h e n o v e l s o f S h a s h i Deshpande, t h e h e r o i n e s ' p a r e n t a l

home s p . b o l i z e s emot iona l b i n d i n g w i t h t h e f a m i l y and t h e

b l i g h t e d hope o f t h e i r m a r r i e d l i f e .

Both Saru and Indu enjoy t h e i r s t a y i n t h e i r p a r e n t a l home

l i k e S i t a i n t h e Manori i s l a n d . To them i t i s a p l a c e of

b l i s s , a p l a c e away from t h e i r mechanical l i f e . In a d d i t i o n ,

it r enders them with an answer t o t h e i r exigency and endows

them wi th a vigour t o comport themselves.

Along with symbols, images, s t ream of consciousness and

flash-back techniques , t h e word " s i l e n c e " executes d ive rgen t

t e n o r s i n t h e w r i t i n g s of both t h e w r i t e r s . The language of

s i l e n c e is one of t h e powerful t o o l s i n t h e hands of a

postmodernis t w r i t e r .

A s Ikiab I-lassan observes ,

. . . s i l e n c e develops a s t h e metaphor of a new

a t t i t u d e t h a t l i t e r a t u r e has chosen t o adopt

toward i t s e l f . T h i s a t t i t u d e p u t s t o ques t ion

t h e p e c u l i a r power, t h e a n c i e n t exce l l ence of

l i t e r a r y d i scourse - and challenges t h e

assumptions of our c i v i l i z a t i o n (The

L i t e r a t u r e of S i l e n c e : Henry M i l l e r and Samuel

Becket t 11)

Both Anita Desai and Shashi Deshpande make use of t h i s ' 8

pos tmodern is t t e chn ique s p a r i n g l y b u t e f f e c t i v e l y . A b s t r a c t

i d e a s and f e e l i n g s a r e made t a n g i b l e by means of " s i l e n c e . "

"S i l ence" s t a n d s f o r empt ines s , i n a b i l i t y , s t r e n g t h ,

b a r r i - e r , h u r t , f e a r , a c c u s a t i o n and unde r s t and ing i n

accordance wi th t h e s i t u a t i o n , c h a r a c t e r and temper.

In That Lonq S i l e n c e J a y a ' s empt iness i n her r e l a t i o n s h i p

with h e r husband i s e x p l i c a t e d through t h i s s i n g l e word

s i l e n c e . She r e c a l l s how s h e had shaped a l l h e r d e s i r e s and

p l a n s t o be i n harmony w i t h Mohan's. Yet t h e r e is no th ing

b u t empt iness and s i l e n c e t o be r e t a i n e d . She laments

p a t h e t i c a l l y :

I had shaped myself s o r e s o l u t e l y t o h i s

d e s i r e s a l l t h e s e y e a r s , y e t what was I l e f t

with now? Nothing. J u s t e m p t i r ~ c s s and

s i l e n c e . (144)

When Jaya f i n d s empt iness i n t h e s i l e n c e between h e r s e l f and

Nohan, she beholds i n a b i l i t y i n t h e s i l e n c e o f t h e

neighbourhood girl. That girl's inability to answer the

queries of her husband results in her silence.

Again the blows, and still the woman clinging

desperately to her silence, abandoning it only

to cry softly, 'mother, mother, mother.' (That - Long Silence 57)

If Jaya discerns emptiness and inability in 'silence', Mohan

perceives strength in the silence of a woman like his mother

who silently bore her husband's ill-treatment.

Jaya narrates the incident:

When the boy finally drifted off to sleep, she

was still sitting there in front of the fire,

s i l e n t , m o t i o n l e s s . . . . He saw s t r e n g t h i n t h e

woman s i t t i n g s i l e n t l y i n f r o n t o f t h e f i r e ,

bu t I saw d e s p a i r . I saw a d e s p a i r s o g r e a t

t h a t it would n o t v o i c e i t s e l f . I saw a

s t r u g g l e s o b i t t e r t h a t s i l e n c e was t h e o n l y

weapon. S i l e n c e and s u r r e n d e r . hat Lonq

S i l e n c e 36 )

Unlike Mohan Jaya d i s t i n g u i s h e s d e s p a i r and s u r r e n d e r i n h e r

mother - in - law 's " s i l e n c e " . Veena S h e s h a d r i , whi le commenting

on t h e n o v e l , remarks:

The novel i s n o t o n l y about J a y a ' s e f f o r t s t o

o b l i t e r a t e t h e s i l e n c e t h a t i s s u f f o c a t i n g

h e r . I t i s a l s o abou t t h e d e s p a i r and

r e s i g n a t i o n o f women l i k e Mohan's mother ,

J a y a ' s s e r v a n t ; J a y a ' s m e n t a l l y d i s t u r b e d

c o u s i n Kusum. I t a l s o d e a l s w i t h Mohan's

s i l e n c e which i s t h e s i l e n c e o f a man who

speaks b u t can f i n d no one t o l i s t e n t o him.

( hat Long S i l e n c e " L i t e r a t u r e A l ive 2 : 1

(1988) 95)

k s h i Deshpandels f e m i n i s t i c p r i n c i p l e g e t s c r y s t a l l i .zed i n

scanning t h e s i l e n c e of women a s n o t s t r e n g t h bu t d e s p a i r .

She p r e s e n t s " s i l e n c e 1 ' a s a b a r r i e r i n S a r u ' s t i e s wit.h

I never r e v e a l e d t h a t t o anyone. Not even t o

Manu f o r he asked me n o t h i n g . And t h e y began

t h e n . . . t h e s i l e n c e s t h a t grew beween u s . J u s t

c j r c w and g r e w l i k e J a c k ' s b e a n s t a l k . ('l'l-~e Dark

Holds No T e r r o r s 94 )

Each t ime she undergoes t h e t o r t u r e s p e e c h l e s s , t h e b a r r i e r

between them grows s t e a d i l y . Saru i s v e r y wel l aware of t h e

f a c t s a y i n g ''And each t ime it happens and I d o n ' t speak , I

p u t a n o t h e r b r i c k on t h e wal l o f s i l e n c e between u s " ( 9 6 ) .

N o t o n l y t h e n e g a t i v e a s p e c t s b u t a l s o p o s i t i v e e f f e c t s a r e

sl,Lainc.d through "silence". S a r u , tier fatllcr- L\tld Madhav foriu

a p e r f e c t p a r t n e r s h i p i n doing household d u t i e s . The i r

w o r d l e s s , &mmotionless l i f e p o r t r a y s unders tanding \ Ani-ta

Desai i n Where S h a l l We Go T h i s Summer? a t t r i b u t e s t h i s

meaning t o a ve ry r a r e moment of S i t a ' s unde r s t and ing w i t h

h e r husband. On r e t u r n i n g from t h e i r p i c n i c S i t a obse rves a

silent link between herself and Raman. Raman's gentleness

towards a foreigner has moved her:

Sita sitting intently from the back seat,

thanked him for his gentleness, thanked him

ardently in silence, and leaned forward to

take a cigarette herself. Raman lit both their

cigarettes and they smoked nervously, Sita '

acutely conscious of this silent link between

them of a shared physical act of inner

nervousness.(51)

In Fire on the Mountain the sudden silence between Nanda

Kaul and Jla Das, on recalling the name of Miss David who

had an illicit relationship with the Vice-Chancellor,

indicates their hurt. The very mention of the name brings

back Nanda Kaul's bitter old days:

But the line was cut suddenly as a thread is

cut-snip-completely. She was silent . . . . The

badminton court - mixed doubles - Miss David -

and here were Ila Das and Nanda Kaul, both

beaten, silent.(122)

rcul ti iaceted meanings are envisioned through "si 1 ence" by

both the writers competently. A single word contributes

volm.inous elucidation by its potent usage. Animals, plants

and birds dance to the writers' tunes and make their work

invaluable. Colours offer profound layers of explication in

portraying the psyche of their characters. Flash-backs and

the stream of consciousness technique offer the readers a

rnul ti dimensional view of situation and character.

The uniqueness of their art lies in their use of manifold

techniques without identifying themselves with a type. Both

the writers demonstrate the reality about the suppression

of women in their own individual way. Anita Desai's helpless

women characters tolerate the injustice meted out to them

silently and alone. On the other hand, Shashi Deshpande's

women characters are more emphatic, more aggressive, their

arguments resulting in difference of opinion between man and

v ~ i fe.