LANGUAGE IN INDIA

Strength for Today and Bright Hope for Tomorrow

Volume 19:12 December 2019
ISSN 1930-2940

Editors:
         Sam Mohanlal, Ph.D.
         B. Mallikarjun, Ph.D.
         A. R. Fatihi, Ph.D.
         G. Baskaran, Ph.D.
         T. Deivasigamani, Ph.D.
         Pammi Pavan Kumar, Ph.D.
         Soibam Rebika Devi, M.Sc., Ph.D.

Managing Editor & Publisher: M. S. Thirumalai, Ph.D.

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Self-identity and Emptiness in Arun Joshi’s The Last Labyrinth

S. Deepalakshmi
Dr. K. Sundararajan, Ph.D.


Courtesy: www.amazon.com

Abstract

Arun Joshi’s The Last Labyrinth was awarded the Sahitya Akademi Award for its excellent handling of the theme of contemporary Indian’s existential dilemma. It was Arun Joshi’s fourth novel dealt with the inner and outer world of a westernized Indian Aristocrat who had lost his spiritual roots. Arun Joshi is concerned with the predicament of modern man and is sensitivity alive to the various dimensions of pressures, exerted by the complex character and demands of the society in which contemporary man is destined to live. In The Last Labyrinth, Som was mentally disturbed and filled with anguish, self-hatred and self- pity, for they consider themselves as strangers in this physical world. Self was explored by in his fiction and brought a central focus of the self has to assess its alienation from the family and society. Joshi dealt with the modern man who had no sense of affinity to society amidst which he lived. He found own existence a burden. There is a two alternatives for the present day man with his tragic plight that is modern man either try to adjust to the others, system and hiding his true self or he may give efforts to keep and develop his individuality and therefore alienate himself from society.

The novel The Last Labyrinth was surrounded by the world of human emotions. It dealt with restive search for a meaning in human survival, its treatment of the numerous levels of reality and challenging narrative technique. The story was not only about the fascination but also great love. In addition, it consisted of more conflicting themes. It was about a distressed man’s search for his existence and search for a practicable substitution among materialism, corruption, alienation and loss in spiritual faith.

The main concern in this research is to explore the sense of alienation and void in the novels of Arun Joshi. Modern man finds himself alienated not only from his fellow men, but also from himself, having nothing to fall back upon in moments of crisis. The malaise of the contemporary man has been greatly irritated by the spiritual stress and strain which is the hallmark of the modern period. Today’s world has shrunk in spirit, languishing in confusion, frustration, disintegration, and disillusionment and meaningless. The most troubling problems that man faces today are the problems of alienation and sense of void. The sharp inconsistency from philosophical viewpoint is that the novelist has mirrored the dilemma of those unbelievers who do not find any metaphysical control beyond this material world.

This is only the beginning part of the article. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE IN PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION.

S. Deepalakshmi , M.A. M.Phil. (Ph.D.)
Assistant Professor
Department of Career Development
Faculty of Science and Humanities
SRM Institute of Science and Technology
Kattankulathur -603203
9952228572
deepu.shan2004@gmail.com

Dr. K. Sundararajan, Ph.D.<
Associate Professor
Department of English
A.V.V.M. Sri Pushpam College (Autonomous)
Poondi – 613 50
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