Analysis Of The Dark Holds No Terror

EMERGENCE OF THE NEW INDIAN WOMEN: SHASHI DESPHANDE’S NOVELS The writings of women writers are marked by concern for love, problems of the middle class, the unsavory treatment meted out to women by the society and the need for sensitivity in human relationships. The first generation of writers in Indo Anglican literature, like Kamala Markandaya, Anita Desai, Ruth Prawar Jhabvala, Bharathi Mukerjee and Nayantara Sehgal provided the necessary impetus, which is followed by an opulence of literary talent. Of the second generation writers, Shashi Desphande displays her artistry and craftsmanship by dealing with the sensitive issues of the middle class educated Indian Women. The protagonists of all the three novels The Dark Holds no Terrors,

All the three of them were mentally conditioned from childhood to accept their status in society as secondary to that of man’s. In The Dark Holds no Terrors, protagonist Saru was unhappy as a child due to her mother’s discrimination in favor of her younger brother Dhruva. Dhruva was given importance, as he was a male child. In the Indian middle class family a male child is considered as an asset, as one who will look after his parents in their old age, propagate the family lineage and light the funeral pyre of his parents, whereas a girl child is considered as a liability and a burden which should be disposed off as quickly as possible through

The narration of Jaya’s life reveals how Jaya had vegetated for a period of seventeen years before understanding herself and mustering up the courage to speak out her thoughts. That Long Silence is the story of a woman whose personality is trammeled by the constraints imposed on her by the male dominated Indian society. It gives us an insight into the feelings of women, their aspirations and their perceptions of love, marriage and life in general. Unlike Saru and Indu who defy their respective families and marry for love, Jaya opts for an arranged marriage. But her marriage with Mohan turns her into a mindless automation whose only goal in life seems to project a veneer of a happy family, like the advertisements that are shown while watching a movie. She tries to conform to the role of a ‘soft, smiling, motherly woman’, whose ‘leit motif’ of life is “What, shall I make for breakfast, lunch, tea and dinner?” She even stifles her creativity in order to protect this perfect family picture she strives to