The Dark Holds No Terror Analysis
The Dark Holds No Terrors is a tragic story. The protagonist Sarita was a victim of circumstances and conventions of an orthodox and reactionary society. Her family consisted of only four persons – her parents, younger brother named Dhruva and herself. In Indian middle class families as they are, son is always given a preferential treatment while the daughter is subjected to a strict discipline and treated as a burden at times.
Sarita was no exception to this general rule.
“Birthdays were not then n tremendous occasions; they are made out to be now: but the excitement of having one, of being the center of attraction never palled. It was always a fascinating thought – ‘I was born’. But my birth, my mother had said to me once…………..’It rained …show more content…
One evening, a woman knocked at her door and asked Manu whether the doctor was at home. The woman wanted to consult Sarita about her child who was suffering from diarrhoea. One or the other man visited her almost every day but none ever asked about Manohar. “The rift between Saru and her husband gradually grows wider, and one unfortunate incident blows the lid of simmering pot. It changes Manu into a wild animal at night when he begins to physically abuse her in the privacy of their room”. When they went out of the chaval for a walk, people greeted her. There were nods and smiles, murmured, greetings and namastes. But they were all for her. There was nothing for …show more content…
Deshpande observes regretfully that women irrespective of her class and character, has to play a second fiddle to man, has no room of her own. A woman is put under several restraints right from the day a girl becomes a woman due to mensuration. Sarita was told by her mother
“You are growing up, you should be carefull now about how you behave. Don’t come out in your petticoat like that. Not even when it is only your father who is around. She was aghast to hear that she was to be ashamed of herself, even in the presence of her own father”.(62)
It became torturous when she was prohibited to enter the kitchen or pooja room during those three days. She had virtually became a pariah in her own home as she was to sleep on a straw mat covered with a thin sheet, eat out of cup and plate placed by her side and served from a distance as if her touch would cause pollution. A kind of shame engulfed her when she was told at sixteen that she was a woman and classed with her
Sarita was no exception to this general rule.
“Birthdays were not then n tremendous occasions; they are made out to be now: but the excitement of having one, of being the center of attraction never palled. It was always a fascinating thought – ‘I was born’. But my birth, my mother had said to me once…………..’It rained …show more content…
One evening, a woman knocked at her door and asked Manu whether the doctor was at home. The woman wanted to consult Sarita about her child who was suffering from diarrhoea. One or the other man visited her almost every day but none ever asked about Manohar. “The rift between Saru and her husband gradually grows wider, and one unfortunate incident blows the lid of simmering pot. It changes Manu into a wild animal at night when he begins to physically abuse her in the privacy of their room”. When they went out of the chaval for a walk, people greeted her. There were nods and smiles, murmured, greetings and namastes. But they were all for her. There was nothing for …show more content…
Deshpande observes regretfully that women irrespective of her class and character, has to play a second fiddle to man, has no room of her own. A woman is put under several restraints right from the day a girl becomes a woman due to mensuration. Sarita was told by her mother
“You are growing up, you should be carefull now about how you behave. Don’t come out in your petticoat like that. Not even when it is only your father who is around. She was aghast to hear that she was to be ashamed of herself, even in the presence of her own father”.(62)
It became torturous when she was prohibited to enter the kitchen or pooja room during those three days. She had virtually became a pariah in her own home as she was to sleep on a straw mat covered with a thin sheet, eat out of cup and plate placed by her side and served from a distance as if her touch would cause pollution. A kind of shame engulfed her when she was told at sixteen that she was a woman and classed with her