LANGUAGE IN INDIA

Strength for Today and Bright Hope for Tomorrow

Volume 12 : 7 July 2012
ISSN 1930-2940

Managing Editor: M. S. Thirumalai, Ph.D.
Editors: B. Mallikarjun, Ph.D.
         Sam Mohanlal, Ph.D.
         B. A. Sharada, Ph.D.
         A. R. Fatihi, Ph.D.
         Lakhan Gusain, Ph.D.
         Jennifer Marie Bayer, Ph.D.
         S. M. Ravichandran, Ph.D.
         G. Baskaran, Ph.D.
         L. Ramamoorthy, Ph.D.
Assistant Managing Editor: Swarna Thirumalai, M.A.

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Copyright © 2012
M. S. Thirumalai
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Portrayal of Middle Class Women in Bapsi Sidhwa’s Ice-Candy Man During the Catatonic Times of Partition

N. Gunasekaran, M.A., M.Phil. and V. Peruvalluthi, Ph.D.

Abstract

The women characters "subtly but ef¬fectively subvert the ingrained elements of patriarchy, privileg¬ing female will, choice, strength along with the feminine quali¬ties of compassion and motherhood” in Ice-Candy-man which can un¬doubtedly be termed as a feminist novel - the traditional novel eulogizes the heroic qualities of men, while in feminist narratives women acquire such attributes by their active involve¬ment in and control of situational contexts.

Lenny, the narrator in Ice-Candy-Man is also the centre of the novel, retaining her in-dependent identity in diverse situations. Her attitude towards her nameless cousin significantly portrays the feminist need for as¬sertive equality. Lenny, the child narrator of the novel, witnesses the barbaric cruelties of the Partition days, including the inhuman commoditization of women. Yet what emerges as the dominant note or thematic motif in the novel is not the victimization of women, but their will and sustained effort to fight against it and overcome it.

Most of the other Partition novels in English have concentrated largely on the helplessness of women pitched against oppressive male forces. Khushwant Singh's Train to Pakistan, and Manohar Malgonkar's A Bend in the Ganges, highlight the trauma women had to undergo during the catatonic times of Partition.

The Woman Characters

The women characters of Ice-Candy-Man draw our attention to the facts of victimization of women and their being forcefully compelled to define their lives according to the pre-fixed gender roles. They also expose the patriarchal biases present in the archetypal social perceptions. Lenny, the child protagonist, recognizes these social patterns and exhibits the vivacity to transcend them. She also re¬cords the multi-faceted trauma women had faced during the un¬settling and devastating days of Partition.

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

N. Gunasekaran, M.A., M.Phill., B.Ed., PGDCA.
Assistant Professor
Department of English
Sri Vidya Mandir Arts and Science College
Uthangarai-636 902
Krishnagiri District
Tamilnadu
India
ngsekaran1@gmail.com

V. Peruvalluthi, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of English
Department of English
Government Arts College
Tiruvannamalai-606 603
Tamilnadu
India
valluthi@gmail.com
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