Comparing Sita And Parvati Amma In The Thousand Faces Of Night

The recollections of Mayamma’s past life provided an insight into her battered, violence-filled existence. While her husband called her “a shameless hussy” (111), and kicked her “after a night of whoring in the rain” (111), her mother-in-law fed her yesterday’s rice because “What is the use of feeding a barren woman” (112) and “smeared the burning red, freshly ground spices into my barrenness” (113) because she was found admiring her new saree. Later, her mother in law asked her to cut her breast open and “take the silver cup with the blood from your breast and bathe the lingam” (113) inorder to propitiate the gods so as to begot a son. Yet Mayamma never questioned these atrocities, never raised a voice or a finger or tried to run away from

But some characters like Sita and Parvati Amma though they were steeped in the Hindu value system, manage to find space and scope for rebellion within the institution they conform to. , In The Thousand Faces of Night, the concept of womanhood was explained mainly through the characters of Sita, Devi and Mayamma. Among the three, Sita was projected as an embodiment of fortitude, sacrificing all her wishes and tastes for the well-being of her husband and daughter. Through the character of Mayamma, Hariharan had depicted the sufferings and predicaments experienced by women in a patriarchal society. But Devi was different from these two characters. She was forced to accept the traditional norms of society. At first she was abide by the rules but later on she had succeeded in breaking down the fetters that tied up her. They used their state of oppression as a weapon against the very structure that hold them back. This subtle but powerful act of subversion and control made them felt they had their space and power to direct their destiny and even that of others. But in effect they had internalized marginalization and they contributed considerably to the reinforcement of patriarchal