Sivarama In Dey's The Chessmaster

Both stand as outsiders in the soil of a modern country, France, which has taken that very living speech of all her inhabitants, regardless of class or gender, to a height of the greatest achievement. Both are residues of archaic modes which ignored even the living communication of human existence.

Further in the course of the discussion, Dey blames Rao for his diminishing treatment of the female characters in the novel. Sivarama, the protagonist, stands as the mouthpiece of the author; and at times behaves as a misogynist:

The basic inability to sustain any relationship with someone who is different reveals the Narcissist core of all Siva’s encounters with women, which may tempt one to suspect profound though incipient misogyny seeking an elaborate disguise in the whole

It is an ambiguous book I which neither zero nor infinity wins. It accommodates not just the Brahmin and the Rabbi, but the Jain and the revolutionary – though the violent ways of the latter are viewed unfavourably through Gandhian eyes. (Paranjape: xviii)

Then Paranjape hints at the repetitive aspect of the novel, but he takes it positively. He believes that a good way to approach this novel is through The Serpent and the Rope, almost as a rewriting of it. He clearly says:

But what is important to realize is that the philosophical positions in The Chessmaster are more clearly defined and more neatly expressed. Thus, not only are the thematic preoccupations similar, they are carried out by similar characters in both novels. Not just the central characters, but incidents, events, discussions and locations, and even the quotations are common to both books. Hence, those who have read and enjoyed The Serpent and the Rope will find easier access to The Chessmaster; they will also have an added dimension of recognition as they read the latter text. (Paranjape: