Love and Death in Kamala Markandeya's Some Inner Fury
A.Phaniraja Kumar
2012
IOSR Journal of Humanities and Social Science
Markandeya"s SOME INNER FURY depicted the kind of love as it existed in the westernized upper class Indian families of the 1940s though some uncommonness characterizes the relationship of Mira and Richard. Probably one can find it some traces of Kamala Markandeya herself when she had married Taylor and had finally settled in England. The two themes which are closely intertwined in Some Inner Fury are of love and death. The personal relationships operate on many levels, between Mira, and an
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... n girl, and Richard, an Englishman and between Kitsamy, a westernized husband, and Premala, a typical Indian wife. The entire novel is colored and also with freedom seeking colonized Indians and colonizing Britishers. The themes of love and death interact with and intensify each other, Richard"s death tests Mira"s love in the same way as Premala"s death tests Kitsamy. The entire novel revolves round by the cautious love between Mira and Richard, and the cold relationship between Premala"s and Kitsamy. As its title shows the novel deals with some inner fury of passion, love and anger between Mira and Richard and Premala and Kitsamy. As the gale of freedom movements lashes the subcontinent, the personal relations between Indian and Englishmen are swept away, leaving nothing intact. The theme of the novel is "the tragic participation of disunity and catastrophe in personal relationship." The novel begins with Mira going over the scene of Richard"s death in the mob fury, ruminating over a little silver box containing the remarks of her world of love. From the very beginning of the novel, Mira"s actions show an unconscious liking for "Richard which can be taken as the first stage of love and which is gradually transformed into deep love. In the second stage, love is no longer an occasional spark originating from Mira"s act of clumsiness and innocence and it turns into a visible flame. In the third stage Mira meets Richard in his second visit though Govind disapproves of it. They are in deep love, not yet in the form of visible conflagration. He thinks of marrying her, Mira cannot put his image away. When both of them go to Kanyakumari that everything about him becomes great. Mira and Richard act as unmarried husband and wife, Richard talks of fever and ache and persuades her on uninhabited coast for a sexual act which is the lamination of love. Mira feels "Slowly my senses awoke and responded, the buds of feeling scrolled and opened one by one. In the trembling silence I heard the blood begin its clamour, felt its frantic irregular beat-then the world fell away, forgotten in this wild abandoned rhythm, lost in the sweep and surge of love". She becomes warm and contented implying the completion of sexual act and talks of tenderness that comes to a man afterwards. In the fourth stage, violence and disruptions are introduced in their love. When the lovers blissfully happy and their love at its peak seems secure against all dangers of the world, political violence threatens its very existence. Mira tells that an Englishman and an Indian girl have no business to be in love and that East and the West should never meet. In the fifth stage, Mira parts company with Richard, sacrificing her personal love for the larger love of the nation, and identifying herself with the Indian mob. "We had known love together whatever happened the sweetness of that Knowledge would always remain. We had drunk deeply of the choice Of happiness, which is not given to many even to hold? Now it was time to set it down and go." Taken on symbolical level, the parting of Mira and Richard is the parting of India and England. In contrast to Mira -Richard relationship which is based on love without marriage the relationship of Premala and Kitsamy reduces to marry a girl without first knowing her. His love for a silk haired English girl called Sylvia could not have been turned into a marriage. His opposition to marry Premala arose in the absence of his acquaintance with her. In the first stage Premala begins to live with Richard"s mother and Kitsamy comes in contact with her. In the second stage begins with marriage of Premala and Kitsamy and then the latter"s efforts to modernize her. Kitsamy likes playing tennis, Premala does not. He asks her to put on shorts for which she has no liking. She prizes honesty which for kit signifies nothing. Her desire of playing on Veena is in contrast with kits absence of liking for classical music. She knows Gita which Kit has forgotten their natures are opposed to each other. Premala tries for adjustment with her husband but they continue to remain poles apart. In the third stage, Premala"s love for Kit is extinguished. Premala"s love has been one sided, it was because of her love that she tried so hard to please him. In the fourth stage, the absence her husband"s love breeds frustration in Premala.
doi:10.9790/0837-0544647
fatcat:fjjok7daebfafkdrbabnfrflqy