Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Mira Masi's Significance
Aunt Mira was both married and widowed at an early age. She was forced to work at her late husband's famly's house as their maid and became aged beyond her years. After an invitation to live with the Das family, she moved in and began a new life although she could not remarry. She formed a bond with the four children but mainly with Tara. Along with the "well", Aunt Mira can be said to be a strong symbol of death, since her husband died, then the cow and both Mr. and Mrs. Das. It seems as though she was trying to get away from this terrible torment but it finally caught up with her in the Das' family home as there ws no where else to run. She bacame the caretaker for Baba but grew increasingly frustrated with his condition. She saw Tara as the daughter she never had but after Tara left it was even more frustrating to her. It was like everyone was "dying" and leaving her alone. Aunt Mira also saw Raja as her husband because, in essence, under her outward appearance, she was very young at heart. With him being constantly gone, she began to feel the loss of her husband all over again; to her it was like Deja Vu. Bim cared for Aunt Mira physically but not emotionally so that she could stop the emotional suicide of Aunt Mira before her final demise.
Baba's Significance
Baba was the youngest out of the four Das children, howver his mental incapacity prohibited him from having a normal life and being a part of the family physically. Because of his condition, he was constantly forgotten. He stayed by himself on a regular basis, either listening to music on his gramophone or playing with his pebbles given to him by Mira Masi. Baba becomes severly insecure about his surrondings as no one took the time to show him his surrondings. Baba becomes amputated from his family and his engulfed in his own world.
The Cultural and Religious Aspect in Clear Light of Day
In Clear Light of Day, Anita Desaihas pointed out the political and religious battle between Hindus and Muslims. she also shows us their way of life and the role ofnthe parents in India. She is inviting us to be a part of India through Tara's and Bimla's eyes.
The way of life, religion and beliefs that we call culture is much different in the Eastern Hemisphere than that of the Western Hemisphere. in places such as the Caribbeanand America both males and females work at their separate jobs to provide for their family. However, in India, New and Old Dehli to be exact, the women stay home and more or less take care of the children while men go out to work as the sole breadwinner to take care of their family.
The typical woman in India spends less time with their family and more time in front of the mirror looking pretty. This is strongly pointed out in Cear Light of Day as Mrs. Das spent no time with her family. Her daily routine consists of spending time in front of the mirror and going to the Club with her husband. The children are then, practically, left to raise themselves. We first meet Mr. Das when Raja explained to him his wishes to go to Jamia Millia College. His father spoke out for the first time and expressed his dissatisfaction with Raja's choice of college. Shortly after this, both parents died leaving the four children to take care of themselves since Mira Masi was incapable of taking on such responsibility. Neither parent was mourned for, for they were basically strangers to their own children.
In a sense Anita Desai has introduced us to the culture of India and what is accepted there. However, there was Bimla who Desai describes as not being the typical India woman. She was not married as she did not want to, she smoked (and this was not culturally expected in India) and she taught at a women's college. It is shown that Bimla has strayed away from the stereotype way of living for Indian women and has created her own.
From the beginning of the book, Desai has already established that there is an ongoing war in India between the Mulims and the Hindus. It can be said that the world is divided between four main religions: Jewish and Christianity and and Hinduism and Muslim.
It is pointed out in the book that no one is safe from the other side as each religion is trying to eradicate the other. The Das family belongs to the religion of Hinduism, though it is not mentioned in the book that they neither speak of their religion nor practice it. Raja is the only member of the family that shows an interest in the religious beliefs in India. Though in the beginning, Raja is completely Hindu, he begins to change his perspectives of Muslims as he became associated with Hyder Ali and his friends. He now saw Muslims as friend rather foe. Raja became what I call bi-religious and neither his family or friends accepted this. In getting more closer to Hyder Ali and his family, Raja has neglected his families and his position as man of the house after his father died. Anita Desai has centered the focus of religion mainly on Raja in order to show a young man living in India can become confused about his religious identity.
The way of life, religion and beliefs that we call culture is much different in the Eastern Hemisphere than that of the Western Hemisphere. in places such as the Caribbeanand America both males and females work at their separate jobs to provide for their family. However, in India, New and Old Dehli to be exact, the women stay home and more or less take care of the children while men go out to work as the sole breadwinner to take care of their family.
The typical woman in India spends less time with their family and more time in front of the mirror looking pretty. This is strongly pointed out in Cear Light of Day as Mrs. Das spent no time with her family. Her daily routine consists of spending time in front of the mirror and going to the Club with her husband. The children are then, practically, left to raise themselves. We first meet Mr. Das when Raja explained to him his wishes to go to Jamia Millia College. His father spoke out for the first time and expressed his dissatisfaction with Raja's choice of college. Shortly after this, both parents died leaving the four children to take care of themselves since Mira Masi was incapable of taking on such responsibility. Neither parent was mourned for, for they were basically strangers to their own children.
In a sense Anita Desai has introduced us to the culture of India and what is accepted there. However, there was Bimla who Desai describes as not being the typical India woman. She was not married as she did not want to, she smoked (and this was not culturally expected in India) and she taught at a women's college. It is shown that Bimla has strayed away from the stereotype way of living for Indian women and has created her own.
From the beginning of the book, Desai has already established that there is an ongoing war in India between the Mulims and the Hindus. It can be said that the world is divided between four main religions: Jewish and Christianity and and Hinduism and Muslim.
It is pointed out in the book that no one is safe from the other side as each religion is trying to eradicate the other. The Das family belongs to the religion of Hinduism, though it is not mentioned in the book that they neither speak of their religion nor practice it. Raja is the only member of the family that shows an interest in the religious beliefs in India. Though in the beginning, Raja is completely Hindu, he begins to change his perspectives of Muslims as he became associated with Hyder Ali and his friends. He now saw Muslims as friend rather foe. Raja became what I call bi-religious and neither his family or friends accepted this. In getting more closer to Hyder Ali and his family, Raja has neglected his families and his position as man of the house after his father died. Anita Desai has centered the focus of religion mainly on Raja in order to show a young man living in India can become confused about his religious identity.
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