CONFLICT BETWEEN TRADITION AND MODERNITY IN SHASHI
VEDA’SJOURNAL OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE (JOELL)An International Peer Reviewed Journalhttp://www.joell.inVol.2 Issue 42015RESEARCH ARTICLECONFLICT BETWEEN TRADITION AND MODERNITY IN SHASHIDESHPANDE’S NOVELS(That Long Silence, The Dark Holds No Terrors, Roots and Shadows & A Matter of Time)R. Kumaraswamy(Research Scholar, Acharya Nagarjuna University,Guntur.)ABSTRACTArticle Info:Article Received 04/10/2015Revised on:15/11/2015Accepted on:24/11/2015The term ‘tradition’ is a comprehensive one and it includes all socialconventions, cultural practices, religious faiths, familial and familiarrelationships. The consistent burden of traditional authority has generated arebellion against the organized forces of oppression and injustice to women.Through her novels, Shashi Deshpande promotes the idea that women musttry to come out of their suppressed roles. Shashi Deshpande has beensuccessful in creating strong women protagonists who refuse to get crushedunder the weight of their personal tragedies, and face life with great courageand strength. My paper analyses the conflict of tradition and modernity withspecial reference to the novels of Deshpande, That Long Silence, The DarkHolds No Terrors, Roots and Shadows and A Matter of Time respectively.Keywords: umaraswamy,R.(2015)Conflict between tradition and modernity in Shashi Deshpande’sNovels.Veda’s Journal of English Language and Literature- JOELL, 2(4), 112-116.Kumaraswamy.R. “Conflict between tradition and modernity in Shashi Deshpande’sNovels.”Veda’s journal of English Language and Literature-JOELL 2.4(2015):112-116. Copyright VEDA PublicationDeshpande’s women are role models of thenew society who thirst for modernity, elevation andupgradation. Her modern women protagonists areassertive with individuality and quest for self identityin the male dominated society. Caught betweentradition and modernity, her protagonists search fortheir individuality within married life. Shashi statesthat she does not “believe in a simple opposition of112bad bad men and good good women. I don’t believethe world is like”, that at all”. (Holmstrom. 22).Deshpande does not regard all traditions asbad and harmful. To her, traditions have the valuesof harmony and co-existence that symbolize theIndian way of life. Modernity to her is the assertionof independent individual identity. Keeping in viewthe long standing traditions of Indian society, sheseeks solution to the problem by changing mind setR. Kumaraswamy
VEDA’SJOURNAL OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE (JOELL)An International Peer Reviewed Journalhttp://www.joell.inof the men folk towards the women. The world ofmen, now is in a process of women thinking. Itcannot be changed without changing Man’s way ofthinking.Siddhartha Sharma comments on thenovels of Shashi Deshpande thus:She has constructed motifs of patriarchy andoppression by employing the method ofnegation and affirmation. Her protagonistsare victims of Indian patriarchy and herinitial submission resists the oppressivesituation, thereby reflecting the author’sview that a woman must assert herselfwithin marriage to preserve her individuality(111).ShashiDeshpande, one of the distinguishedcontemporary women writers of India, was born in1938 in Dharwad, Karnataka. She was the seconddaughter of the renowned Kannada dramatist andSanskrit scholar Adya Ranga Charya (Sri Ranga). Shestudied in Dharwad in Karnataka and at the age offifteen she went to Bombay, where she graduated inEconomics and worked for a couple of months as ajournalist for the magazine on Looker. She publishedher first collection of short stories in 1978, and herfirst novel, The Dark Holds No Terrors in 1980. Shewon the Sahitya Akademi Award for her novel ThatLong Silence in 1990. She won Padma Shri award in2009. Her novels deal with issue of modern,educated, middle class Indian women.Her novelRoots and Shadows won a prize for the best Indiannovel of 1982-83. Her most recent novel ShadowPlay was short listed for the The Hindu Literary Prizein 2014. Some of her other novels are If I Die Today(1982), Come Up and Be Dead (1983), The BindingVine (1992), A Matter of Time (1996) Small Remedies(2000), Moving on (2004), Country of Deceit (2008),Ships That Pass (2012) etc.Shashi Deshpande holds in great worth as anstIndian English woman novelist of the 21 Century.We can see the familial relationships and the burningproblem of women’s identity in Indian societythrough her novels. She is very much aware of thesub-ordinate and secondary status of the Indianwomen who have been caught under the customsand traditions of the ancient Indian Society. Theilliteracy of the women and their weak and submissive nature and their love and affection towards113Vol.2 Issue 42015their husbands and children have thrown them intosub-graded status, as they lack strong willingness andcourage to fight against the age old traditions andtaboos. How to come out of tradition bound societyto become a new woman is the challenge of theeducated married woman. Prasanna Sree commentson Indian women thus:The Indian woman – She is the one who istorn between tradition and modernity, she isone who is in search of self-identity, she isthe one who tries to give shape and contentto individual existence in a sexist society(“Conflict and Identity in Shashi Deshpandenovels”, 12-19).Traditions, that teach women to behave likeideal mythical women like Sita, Sakuntala, and Savitri,tempt them to be called ideal, and prohibit them tocome out of the traditional circle. Almost all novelsof Deshpande narrate the story of Indian women whohave been facing mental trauma and turmoil forages. Now I choose four of her novels (as mentionedin the title) to find the conflicts of tradition andmodernity in her protagonists.“In our civilization of enduring patriarchaltraditions, marital infidelity is still more serious forthe woman” (Beauvior: 610). Shashi’s women at thebeginning of the plot remain docile, obedient andcomplying with all the requests of their husbands.But gradually drift away from their spouses due tonatural quarrels and conflicts. Deshpande seems tobelieve the sentiments of de Beauvoir who sheadmits has influenced her and according to whom itis women who have to define, measured and exploretheir special domain.As there are estrangements between wifeand husband, Deshpande’s protagonists go out oftheir house for peace and freedom. But after carefulobservation and proper perception, they realize thattheir tyrannical husbands are better than thedisgusting outside world. At the end, theyunderstand the ways of the world, reconcilethemselves to the harsh realities of life and ��the common theme in all the novels.Deshpande has a proper understanding of passionatewomen and the social realities.R. Kumaraswamy
VEDA’SJOURNAL OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE (JOELL)An International Peer Reviewed Journalhttp://www.joell.inThe work of Shashi Deshpande is a verbalrepresentation of the past and the present, East andWest, tradition and modernity. She seldom writes inisolation because she endeavours to create newspaces beyond those well established conventions.While representing traditions she has tried to breakthe barriers of tradition which make women’s livesmiserable. Deshpande presents the conflict oftradition and modernity in the context of femaleissues of domestic nature where they are subjectedto drudgery, torture and harassment.Deshpande’s Sahitya Academy awardwinning novel That Long Silence presents Jaya, theprotagonist who cannot find happiness and freedomin her married life as an educated modern woman.She was invariably caught in the struggle betweenthe traditional and the modern mode of thinking andthe living. ‘Jaya’ the heroine in That Long Silence getstroubles in marriage with her husband ‘Mohan’. As awriter the protagonist Jaya, got a prize for her story.But Mohan felt insulted by the story as he has to facepublic humiliation for revealing their personal life.Mohan behaved in such a way Jaya had to stopwriting. She says, “And looking at his stricken face, Ihad been convinced. I had done him wrong. And Ihad stopped writing after that” (144). In fact Jayanever tried to make Mohan understand thedifference between a fictional story and the reality.Jaya has the feeling to be independent, butshe lacks the courage to revolt against her husband,when her husband caught in the trouble due to thecharge of corruption, he wants Jaya’s companionshipin hiding which she refuses. After a self-analysis, andexamining of her own thoughts and feelings, Jayarealizes her mistakes. Finally she understands that toassert her identity saying, “But it is no longer possiblefor me. If I have to plug ‘hole in the heart’ I will haveto speak, to listen, I will have to erase the silencebetween us” (192). Thus Jaya comes forward and‘carve out a new identity’ for herself. Her traditionalrole of a wife, in her conflict between tradition andmodernity and her disasters that ruin her married lifewith Mohan and her silent suffering in the longseventeen years of married life is beautifullyportrayed by the novelist.The Dark Holds No Terrors,ShashiDeshpande’s first novel, is about Saru,the protagonist114Vol.2 Issue 42015an educated, economically independent, middle-classwife who is made conscious of her gender as a childand whose loveless relationship with her parents andstrained relations with her husband lead to heragonizing search for herself. She uses doublenarratives to give a realistic portrayal of Saru’s innerself.The protagonist Saru, who attempts to freeherself deals with the traumatic experience. Shebecomes the victim of exploitation by her ownhusband only because he is not ready to tolerate heras a popular doctor. But Saru tolerates her husband’storture, trouble and turmoil with herself with a senseof confidence but feels bad and disgusting inside.Manu, being a lecturer at the third grade college,creates great discomfort for her. His male ego is hurtby lower employment than his wife.Saru cannot enjoy even mother-daughterrelationship as her mother inserts genderdiscrimination. At the death of her brother Dhruva,mother condemns her by saying “If you are a woman,I don’t want to be one” (62). Saru’s marriage withMonohar is also just like Indu in Roots and Shadows away to show her rebel against patriarchal traditions.As mother figures are passive and stereotypes, thedaughters cannot enjoy womanhood. Same voice wecan hear in Arundhati Roys The God of Small Thingswhere Mammachi The mother treats the protagonistAmmu and her brother Chako differently.The novel Roots and Shadows published byOrient Longmans in 1983 has won the ThirumathiRangammal Prize as the best Indian novel of 1983.“Roots” Stands for tradition and “Shadows” signifiesthe marginal culture. In this novel Deshpande’sprotagonist Indu recalls how women are subjected toill-treatment. She feels unhappy, repressed andrestless and seeks liberation emotionally. She alsobitterly recollected how crudely the idea of herwomanhood was thrust upon her – her husbandNaren’s question as to why she always fought for herwomanhood makes her think in retrospections aboutthe day when she was first made aware of it:My womanhood --- I had never thought of ituntil the knowledge had been thrust brutally,gracelessly on me the day, I had grown up.‘You’re a woman now Kaki had told me. Youcan have babies yourself --- And I, who hadall the child’s unconsciousness about myown body had for the first time felt animmense hatred for it. And don’t forget, sheR. Kumaraswamy
VEDA’SJOURNAL OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE (JOELL)An International Peer Reviewed Journalhttp://www.joell.inhad ended ‘for four days now you areunclean.You can’t touch anyone oranything’. And that had been myintroduction to the beautiful world of beinga woman. I was unclean – (Roots andShadows 86-87).Simone De Beauvoir holds, “One is not bornbut rather becomes a woman”(293) shows womenare not born or made up by norms and conditions ofsociety. They have to keep their individual identity.But in patriarchal society woman is expected toremain obedient, unquestioning and supposed toremain meek and submissive.Mother daughter relationship has alsooccupied an important place in Deshpande’s fiction.She does not give much credence to mother who istreated as goddess in Indian culture. She presentsdifferent facets of Mother-daughter relationship. Thefemale protagonists of Deshpande are notrepresentations of traditional ‘Sita’ images. Theybreak out of the family mould to choose their ownway of living life. All her novels deal with thewomen’s psyche and feminine consciousness. Sheseems interested in highlighting secondary positionoccupied by women. Shashi Deshpande is very aptlyputs forth her idea of the ‘new woman’, a womanwith a refreshed identity. She struggles to transcendher restrictive traditional role to make her newwoman who decides to face her husband and notrunaway.A Matter of Time is one of ShashiDeshpande’s many novels to be published in NewYork in 1996. In this novel she depicts the theme ofquest for identity. The novel portrays the story ofSumi, the protagonist. One morning, without warningGopal, a respected Professor, walks out on his familyfor reasons even he cannot articulate. Sumi isshocked that she laps into complete silence. Gopal’sabrupt desertion is a great cause of humiliation andmental trauma for her as it is not only a matter ofgreat shame and disgrace but also a better realizationof being unwanted. Sumi returns with her threedaughters to the shelter of the Big House where herparents Kalyani and Sripati live in oppressive silence.They have not spoken to each other for thirty fiveyears. Prasanna Sree opines:115Vol.2 Issue 42015Modern and liberal in outlook, Sumi defiesthe outdated social opinion and orthodoxtreatment of women subjected to desertionby her husband. She has the courage to fightagainst the problems and difficulties,humiliations and frustrations. She has thegenerosity to gracefully free her husbandfrom marital bonds without venting illfeeling (118).Sumi, as a modern woman has ablymanaged the home affairs and looks after children’swelfare. She is a little detached, but manages herselfadmirably and almost becomes self-dependent. Sheproves herself as a new woman of mettle and merits.In this novel Deshpande’s portrayal of differentgenerations present the world of women divided intothe traditional and modern.In the above mentioned four of ShashiDeshpande’s novels the protagonists love-haterelationship symbolizes the conflict betweentradition and modernity. Looking at the man-womanrelationship objectively, the novelist does not blameentirely men for the subjugation of women.Deshpande, as a writer of realism, likes tocreate the new atmosphere and widen the scopewhere the wife and husband live together happilyand satisfactorily. She also likes to maintain abalance between old values of life and modernfashions coupled with individual and economicfreedom. Sudden jump to modernity, according toDeshpande, may be harmful to the Indian womenbecause of the deep-rooted culture and civilizationwhich basically differs from that of the Westernpeople.Deshpande focuses on the issues regardingwomen struggles, rights and victories. Her ‘newwomen’ dare to question and challenge the age-oldtraditions. Her sole aim is to harmonize the manwoman relationship as equal partners. Her heroinesare often bolder, self-reliant and rebellious. At thatend they realize that ‘walking out’ does not solvetheir problems.Deshpande women characters are uniquebecause other women novelists like Anita Desai,Nayantara Sahgal, Ruth Pravar Jabvala have potrayedthis aspect of women’s life without having firsthandexperience of it. Unlike them, Deshpande had herR. Kumaraswamy
VEDA’SJOURNAL OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE (JOELL)An International Peer Reviewed Journalhttp://www.joell.ineducation in India and wrote about Indian womenissues and real experiences. Therefore the projectionof her women in her novels is authentic and credible.Shashi Deshpande has emerged as one of the mainstream women writers in India today.REFERENCES:[1]. DeshPande Shashi: The Dark Holds No Terrors NewDelhi Penguin – 1980.[2]. ------That Long Silence: New Delhi Penguin – 1989.[3]. ------Roots and Shadows: New Delhi Orient Longman1983.[4]. ------A Matter of Time – The Feminist Press at CUNY1996.[5]. ------Interview: “Shashi Deshpande Talks to LakshmiHolmstrom,”Wasafiri, No.17 Spring, 1993.[6]. Beauvoir Simonde. The second sex. Tran. ConstanceBoarde and Sheila Malovany Chevallier, Vintage,London, 2011.[7]. Hunter College Women Studies Collective, “Women’sRealities, Women’s Choice, Introduction of Women’sStudies”, New Delhi, Oxford University Press, 1983.[8]. Sree Prasanna S., “Conflict and Identity in ShashiDeshpande Novels” Indian women novelists (ed) R.K.Dhawan, set III, Vol.4, New Delhi Prestige Books, 1991.[9]. Sree Prasanna.S. “In Conversation with ShashiDeshpande.Woman in the Novels of ShashiDeshpande”: A Study. S. Prasanna Sree (ed.) New Delhi:Sarup &Sons, 2003.[10]. Swain S.P., “Feminism in Shashi Deshpande Novels”:Contemporary Indian Writingin English CriticalPerception, NDR Chandra (ed),New Delhi, Sarup & Sons,2005.[11]. Sharma Siddhartha. “Shashi Deshpande’s Novels: AFeminist Study”: Atlantic publishers, New Delhi 2005,2011.[12]. The Criterion: An International Journal in English, Vol.2,Issue 3, Sept, 2011.116R. KumaraswamyVol.2 Issue 42015
CONFLICT BETWEEN TRADITION AND MODERNITY IN SHASHI DESHPANDE’S NOVELS (That Long Silence, The Dark Holds No Terrors, Roots and Shadows & A Matter of Time) R. Kumaraswamy (Research Scholar, Acharya Nagarjuna University,Guntur.) Article Info: Article and strength. Received 04/10/2015 Revised on: 15/11/2015 Accepted on: 24/11/2015 ABSTRACT The term tradition is a comprehensive one and it .
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