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Feminist Criticism In Bapsi Sidhwa's Ice Candy-Man

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Massive difference in the midst of a male discourse and a feminist text is that in the male discourse it is men who are allocated the qualities of action, prowess, justice, fairness and sacrifice, while the feminine characters in it are usually the donator of male security, chivalry, and bounty. In a feminist text, on the contrary, it is the women who rule and command the action by their keen involvement and concern and in the process, achieve the attributes of heroism and become the moral center. ‘Ice Candy- Man’ doubtless a feminist novel: Judged by this criterion, Bapsi Sidhwa’s ‘Ice CandyMan’ can be undeniably be termed as a feminist novel because it has not only a girl- narrator from whose prospect the whole story is told but also women characters who effectively try to undermine the ingrained elements of patriarchy and to privilege feminine will, decision, and vigor without sacrificing the feminine qualities of sympathy and motherhood. At the same time, this novel not only sketches and reviews the dehumanizing patriarchal norms and a societal temperature hostile to women but also portrays women’s struggle against selfhood. ‘Ice Candy- Man’ is undeniably a significant testament of a gynocentric view of real world in which feminine psyche and experiences are presented with a freshness not found in separation …show more content…

Lenny is always shown kind of baffled by her mom’s intractability in spite of her apparent womanhood. Lenny wonders why her father acts indifferent or superior to her mom and the mom pampers him still. What are fallen, women? What are the things men do to women in Hira Mandi? Lenny’s narrative poses these fundamental questions; hence it operates as a feminist fable. Through the character of Lenny, Sidhwa explores a feminine universe hemmed in by the restricting and reducing forces of patriarchship and

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