Issues of Women Empowerment in Anita Desai’s Novel Clear Light of Day
Exploring Women's Struggle for Empowerment in Anita Desai's Clear Light of Day
by Dr. Seema Kumari*,
- Published in Journal of Advances and Scholarly Researches in Allied Education, E-ISSN: 2230-7540
Volume 16, Issue No. 5, Apr 2019, Pages 1691 - 1692 (2)
Published by: Ignited Minds Journals
ABSTRACT
This paper seeks to outline the compact of women empowerment Anita Desai’s Novel especially in her stunning novel clear light of day. In her novel Clear light of Day, Anita Desai Portrays Indian women as marginalized characters facing challenges and burdens imposed by partriarchal society. They resemble colonial subjects whose lives are fractured. Among the female characters bin, Tara, their mother and Aunt Mira, all are subordinated by male dominant culture which underestimates female subjectivity. This paper illustrates how these women manage their precarious situation and stand up to a society controlled by men. This study reflects on these women’s lives to see how they find different ways to assert their existence. One way in which these female characters survive is by entering male dominated society and adopting their language and culture. As these women are unable to improve their circumstances, they struggle to establish their own identity using the oppressor’s language and culture.
KEYWORD
women empowerment, Anita Desai, Clear Light of Day, Indian women, marginalized characters, patriarchal society, colonial subjects, female subjectivity, male dominant culture, precarious situation, society controlled by men, male dominated society, language and culture, establish their own identity, oppressor's language
INTRODUCTION
Anita Desai‘s Clear Light of Day (1980) Presents Bim, who is neither baffled by her past nor is she crazy for any aspect of life. Bim is an interesting study of ‗Self‘ in transition from childhood onward, she cherishes and sustains the feeling and thoughts that lead her to a life of social obligations. She is free from any psychological trauma like Maya and Monisha The only trauma she passes through is to understand the cyclic change of time. Tara is her sister and two brother Raja and Baba. They are growing up with their rather indifferent parent-a diabetic mother and father who is nothing for the children but a master of entrance and exit. In this novel we study about two sisters Bim and Tara, two brother Baba and Raja grow up. Their parents are indifferent and disinterested for their needs. Both the sisters struggle for living and indentity. In clear light of day, the protagonist bim is a single woman living in an old house with her mentally handicapped brother Baba. The story centers on an Indian family in old Delhi. Bim had to look after Raja when Tara, and her husband have returned to their home. As the story develops, Tara and her sister Bim reflect on their family. Tara is passive woman who does not try to prove her female Identity. Bim and Tara struggle against the patriarchal Society. In this novel Bim is portrayed as woman who is totally different from the other Indian girls whose only ambition is marriage. She rejects Dr. Biswas, a man with a good position in the society. She becomes angry when Dr. Biswas, who wanted to marry her, behaves in the typically patriarchal way of keeping woman down, by misunderstanding Bim‘s refusal ―Now I understand why you do not wish to marry. You have dedicated your life to others-to your sick brother and your aged aunt and litte brother who will be dependent on you all his life. You have sacrificed your life for them‖ Dr. Biswas does not understand the real reason for refusal because his justification for her refusal is she is a woman who wants to serve her family and sacrifices her life for them. He is not able to visualize Bim as a strong woman who wants to be Independent.
CONCLUSION
Some of the noble qualities of Bim Character are admirable and make her personality outstanding. Although she is often unsteady, oscillating between the struggle in the end she discovers the structure of her own consciousness and achieves wholeness. What is remarkable about her is that she develops the awareness of time and its importance in human life, and strives ― to be whole and to be sane in the midst of decay destruction and death. Bim is able to acquire everything in life without the help of the masculine forces due to her confidence in herself. It is in Bim that we recognize the emerging new and independent woman. In this way we can say that in this novel, women faces many problems and struggle for their identity and at last prove themselves. Empowerment has opened up broader communication lines and brought together different worldwide organizations. These There is no harm in taking good things from western but it does not mean that we should completely adopt and misrepresent our identity, to some extent it is fine but our culture hast to be valued and respected.
REFERENCES
Desai, Aita (1975). Where Shall We Go this Summer? Vikas Publishing House Pvt. Ltd. Delhi.
Corresponding Author Dr. Seema Kumari*
Ex. Assistant Professor, S.C.P.G. College, Mainpuri singh.seema51511@gmai.com