Existentialism In World Literature - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 20 Words: 5991 Downloads: 6 Date added: 2017/09/26 Category History Essay Type Review Did you like this example? The Indian Review of World Literature in English, Vol. 1, No. I – Jan, 2005 EXISTENTIALISM IN ANITA DESAI’S FIRE ON THE MOUNTAIN NAGAPPAN SETHURAMAN Existentialism as a philosophy is historically and culturally of European origin. Ever since it was recognised as the dominating philosophy of the West in the midtwentieth century, it has left â€Å"its impact on literature [which] has both been substantial and significant† (Chatterji 10). Existentialism does not offer a set of doctrines or a single philosophy system. It has been diversely defined and interpreted by various thinkers over the years. Vol. 1, No. I – Jan, 2005 EXISTENTIALISM IN ANITA DESAI’S FIRE ON THE MOUNTAIN NAGAPPAN SETHURAMAN Existentialism as a philosophy is historically and culturally of European origin. Ever since it was recognised as the dominating philosophy of the West in the midtwentieth century, it has left â€Å"its impact on literature [which] has both been subs tantial and significant† (Chatterji 10). Existentialism does not offer a set of doctrines or a single philosophy system. It has been diversely defined and interpreted by various thinkers over the years. As a result, â€Å"as a philosophy, existentialism by its very nature defies and abhors systematisation† (Ahmad 10). Nevertheless, it is possible to identify certain traits of this school of thought. All the existentialists â€Å"emphasise the importance of the individual as well as his freedom and responsibility for being what he is† (Das 423). In their attempt to describe man’s â€Å"existence and its conflicts, the origin of its conflicts, and the anticipation of overcoming them† (Ahmad 13), existentialists focus their attention on certain aspects of human existence. Srivastava enumerates them as follows: b) it is never safe and ever at the mercy of chance, c) it is full of suffering, of one variety or other, d) it is full of conflict, e) it is rotted in guilt, f) it cannot escape from the final situation of death (185). These tenets of existentialism have been widely reflected in the literature of the world since the advent of Sartre who established an interaction between literature and philosophy in his writings. John Macquarrie sums up the essence of existentialism as, â€Å"On the whole, it has been the tragic sense of life†¦ that has been prevalent among the existentialists† (Macquarrie 164). Almost all great writers of the present generation have handled the doctrines of existentialism in their works. This is the main reason why â€Å"man’s alienation, dread, absurdity, bad faith, responsibility, commitment to freedom, anguish are the very hallmarks of 20th century literature† (Ahmad 5). As a novelist, Anita Desai exhibits a strong inclination towards the existentialist interpretation of the human predicament. In particular, she voices â€Å"the mute miseries and helplessness of marr ied women tormented by existentialist problems and predicaments† (Prasad 139). A woman novelist, Desai has won a niche by exploring the emotional world of women, bringing to light the various deeper forces at work in feminine sensibility as well as psychology. This predilection leads her to examine the psyche of her women protagonists when they are confronted with the absurdity of life. This draws her attention to the darker side of life. She projects a tragic vision in her novels by placing her female protagonists in hostile situations. Desai further examines her women protagonists as individuals who find themselves forced into uncongenial environments, fighting against the odds. This problem of the The Indian Review of World Literature in English, Vol. 1, No. I – Jan, 2005 tragic tension between the individual and their unfavourable environment acquires the dimensions of existential angst. Starting from her first novel Cry the Peacock to the latest Baumgartnerâ €™s Bombay, all her novels highlight the existentialist’s predilection for portraying the predicament of man. Many critics have traced shades of existentialist thought in the novel of Anita Desai. Time and again her themes and characters have been interpreted in the light of existential philosophy. In this regard it has been pointed out: Desai’s chief concern is human relationship. Her central theme is she existential predicament of an individual, which she projects through incompatible couples- very sensitive wives and ill matched husbands. She is a minute observer and perceives everything mutely, minutely and delicately. Whenever she creates a poetical situation, she gives it a perfect poetic treatment to every detail (Singh 12) Anita Desai’s characters are self-conscious of the reality around them and they carry a sense of loneliness, alienation and pessimism. She adds a new dimension turning inward into the realities of life and plunges into the de ep-depths of the human psyche to score out its mysteries and chaos in the minds of characters. Particularly Fire on the Mountain has been identified as â€Å"the lyrical fictionalization of the quintessence of existentialism† (Gupta 185). A close study of the texture and theme of the novel in relation to the tenets of existentialism justifies the above observation. It has been noted that â€Å"Fire on the Mountain displays skillful dramatisation of experiences of certain women embroiled by the cross way of life† (Choudhury 77). This novel deals with the existential angst experienced by the female protagonist Nanda Kaul, an old lady living in isolation. It also projects the inner turmoil of a small girl, Raka, who is haunted by a sense of futility. Thirdly, it presents the plight of a helpless woman, Ila Das who is in conflict with forces that are too powerful to be encountered, resulting in her tragic death. Thus, the existential themes of solitude, alienation, the futility of human existence and struggle for survival form the major themes of the novel. Fire on the Mountain falls into three sections, each further divided into several short chapters of unequal length. The first section titled â€Å"Nand Kaul at Carignano† runs into ten chapters. This section deals with Nanda Kaul, the main protagonist’s lonely life in Kasauli. â€Å"Raka comes to Carignano† forms the second section and it contains twenty one chapters. It portrays Nanda Kaul’s change of attitude towards Raka, her great granddaughter. The final section â€Å"Ila Das leaves Carignano† is divided into thirteen chapters. This section presents the tragic end of Ila Da, Nanda Kaul’s childhood friend. In all, the book runs to 145 pages. The structural unity, as suggested by the section captions is offered by Carignano, Nanda Kaul and Raka, running counter to one another complemented by that of Ila Das also provide unity of structure. Like the other works of Anita Desai, the present novel contains neither any story value nor events that are interesting by themselves. The entire novel revolves round the existential angst experienced by the women protagonists. In this novel, â€Å"the story element is very thin and there is practically no action except for the tragic end† (Indira 96). The story revolves round the inner lives of the two female protagonists, Nand Kaul and Raka. Nanda Kaul is the wife of Mr. Kaul, the Vice-Chancellor of the Punjab University. When the novel begins, Nanda The Indian Review of World Literature in English, Vol. 1, No. I – Jan, 2005 Kaul is living in Carignano, far from the madding crowd. She is leading a life of isolation and introspection. She shuns all human company. Even the postman’s arrival to deliver the letter is frowned upon by her. But this seeming quietude does not last long. Raka arrives at Carignano to convalesce after her typhoid attack. The old woman and the young girl live in double singleness. But as days pass by, Nanda Kaul finds herself drawn towards Raka, something she had not expected. But the little girl refuses to be befriended and escapes into the hills looking for company in solitude. Ila Das, Nanda Kaul’s childhood friend visits Carignano to meet Raka. A one time lecture in the Punjab University, Ila Das had lost her job subsequent to Mr. Kaul’s retirement. She has come to Kasauli now in her new capacity as an officer in the social welfare department. She fights against child marriage by enlightening the local people about the evils of this practice. This invites the wrath of many of the villagers of whom Preet Singh is one. His attempts to barter his little daughter for a tiny piece of land and a few goats have been successfully thwarted by Ila Das. He is lying in wait to settle his score with her. One evening, when Ila Das returns late from Carignano to her humble house in the valleys, he waylays he r, rapes and murders her. When the news of Ila Das’s death is conveyed to Nand Kaul over the phone, she is rudely shocked and falls dead. Raka unaware of her great grandmother’s death, rushes into the house proclaiming wildly that she has set the forest of fire. Nanda Kaul, Raka and to some extent Ila Das, are embodiments of the existential predicament experienced by the individual in an un-understanding and even hostile universe. A detailed examination of the characters of these protagonists brings to light how Anita Desai has succeeded in giving expression to her existentialist world-view through these characters and by a subtle use of imagery and symbols. When the novel begins, Nand Kaul is presented as a recluse. Living all alone, except for the company of the servants who dare not disturb her privacy, she brooks no human presence. â€Å"She wanted no one and nothing else. Whatever else came, or happened here, would be unwelcome intrusion and distractionâ₠¬ (FM 3). She spends her days in isolation, musing about her past and experiencing the existential ennui. â€Å"From the musings of her agitated mind it appears that as the wife of the vicechancellor for the Punjab University and the mother of several children, she has lived a very busy and tiring life â€Å"(Raizada 44). Anita Desai unfurls her past in the form of long interior monologues punctuated by authorial interruptions, Nanda Kaul had witnessed only betrayals and demands in life before her retirement to Kasauli. She had lived a monotonous life receiving and treating the endless stream of visitors who used to call on her vice-chancellor husband. Her husband had carried on a life-long affair with his mathematics mistress Miss David, whom he would have married, had she not been a Christian. Again, the memories of her children make Nanda Kaul shudder at the very thought of her past. As a mother of several children, all demanding and unaccommodative, she had been given t oo many anxious moments. Now all alone in Carignano, a house associated with many weird stories, Nanda Kaul feels that loneliness is the only essential condition of human life. Whenever she looks at the tall pine trees that stand out from among the underwood, she is reminded of her own alienation. Not exactly conscious of what she is waiting for, nonetheless, she is awaiting the inevitable end to all human existence: death. She is haunted by the existential angst which has led her to conclude that human life is basically a lonely struggle against the odds of life. In her case the odds have manifested themselves in the form of an adulterous husband and cantankerous children. Strongly convinced The Indian Review of World Literature in English, Vol. 1, No. I – Jan, 2005 that life and dealt a raw deal to her, she has resolved to find the meaning, if any, of her existence in isolation. â€Å"She treasures her freedom, her privacy, glad her responsibilities towards her family a re over, glad she needs nobody and nobody now needs her† (Krishnaswamy 260). This has coloured her outlook on life to a large extent. Her reaction to the arrival of the postman and Raka, her invalid great granddaughter, makes it appear that she has become a misanthrope. But the truth seems to be that she is a sensitive person preoccupied with the real nature of her existence as opposed to the illusory life of her past as a vice-chancellor’s wife and mother to children. â€Å"If Nanda Kaul was a recluse out of vengeance for a long life of duty and obligation, her great grand daughter was a recluse by nature, by instinct. She had not arrived at this condition by a long route of rejection and sacrifice [like Nanda Kaul], she was born to it, simply â€Å"(FM 48). Desai’s above observation about Raka’s character at once brings out the similarity and difference with that of Nanda Kaul’s in their mental make up. Raks’s characters has been in troduced by the novelist as a foil to Nanda Kaul’s. If Nanda Kaul symbolises a particular aspect of existentialism, which is examined elsewhere in this chapter, Raka epitomises another aspect of the existential predicament: the influence of her parents on her life. Anita Desai makes Raka both young temperamentally and solitude-loving. When Raka is first introduced, the reader is informed that she is the granddaughter of Asha, the most problematic of Nanda Kaul’s daughters. That she is an unwelcome intruder into Nanda Kaul’s life is suggested by an image. As Nanda Kaul first looks at her greatgrand daughter who is walking towards her, she reminds the old lady of an insect: Raka slowed down, dragged her foot, then came towards her great grandmother with something despairing in her attitude.. She turned a pair of extravagantly large and somewhat bulging eyes about in a way that made the old lady feel more than ever her resemblance to an insect. (FM 39). Howev er, the old lady is shocked to see the pale and gaunt little girl and is moved to pity. But â€Å"to Nanda Kaul she was still an intruder, an outsider, a mosquito flown up from the plains to tease and worry† (FM 40). Raka herself does not bother much about the â€Å"blatant lack of warmth†(FM 40) exhibited by her great grandmother. She prefers to stay away from company. Like a wild animal newly caged, she keeps prowling barefoot in her room, looking at the stone heaps. She is not interested in flowers or playing as children of her age normally tend to do. By using two reptile images successively in a span of two pages, and by a suggestive hint about Raka’s lack of interest in play and flowers, Desai impliedly establishes that there is something weird about her. Soon through several interior monologues enacted in Raka’s subconscious mind, the reason for the abnormality in her is unfolded. The daughter of an ill-matched couple, Raka has been witness to t he brutality and futility of human existence. She is haunted by the recollections of the nightmarish nights that have made her almost a child-stoic. Somewhere behind them, behind it all was her father, home from a party, stumbling and crashing through the curtains of the night, his mouth opening to let out a flood of rotten stench, beating at her mother with hammers and fists of abuse-harsh, filthy abuse that made Raka cower under her bedclothes and wet her mattress in fright, feeling the stream of urine warm and weakening between her legs like a stream of blood, and her mother lay down on the floor and shut her eyes and wept. Under her The Indian Review of World Literature in English, Vol. 1, No. I – Jan, 2005 feet, in the dark, Raka felt that flat, wet jelly of her mother’s being squelching and quivering, so that she didn’t know where to put her feet and wept as she tried to get free of it. Ahead of her,no longer on the ground but at some distance now, h er mother was crying. Then it was a jackal crying. (FM 72) The sudden shift from the interior monologue about her bitter past to the present observation of the jackal crying, the latter superimposed on the former brings out Raka’s predicament. By doing this, the novelist likens the haunting memories to the crying jackals. So Raka’s life is a close encounter with things that are wild and frightful- be it the memories of her mother beaten to pulp by a drunkard father or the chilling cry of the jackals. Instead of trying to escape from this harsh and unnerving experiences and memories, Raka goes farther and deeper into them as if to fathom the bottom of such wild realities. After some initial hesitation, she ventures deep down the ravine to the Monkey Point- a place not frequented by others and from where the cries of the jackals are heard: No one ever came here but Raka and the cuckoos that sand invisibly. These [the cuckoos]were not the dutiful domestic birds that called Nanda Kaul to attention at Carignano. They were the demented birds that raved and beckoned Raka on to a land where there was no sound, only silence, no light, only shade, and skeletons kept in beds of ash on which the footprints of jackals flowered in gray. FM 90) This passage effectively coveys Raka’s plight and significance. She is at once a little girl with a splintered psyche and an unmistakable symbol of the individual’s quest for meaning. The jackals are symbols of the mystery of life and Raka’s walk to the Monkey Point is symbolic of her search for something unknown, yet inevitable and indispensable. Not all children would dare to brave the rough terrains of the ravines and impending menace of the jackals. Similarly, not all human beings are conscious of the futility of human existence nor are they in search of newer values. The existential theme of quest for meaning undertaken by those who refuse to remain merely as members of the multitude is well brought out in the lonely and mystified wanderings of Raka. In this respect it has been pointed out by Shantha Krishnaswamy: Her [Raka’s] childhood has hardened her into a little core of solitary self-sufficiency and now, a young girl up here in the mountains.. her spirit is defiant enough to go chanting ‘I don’t care, I don’t care, I can’t care of anything’ (FM 73). The conventional sweet smells and sounds of girlhood are ignored, she feels drawn by scenes of devastation and failure. The forest fires tingle her and she bursts from the shell of Carignano like a sharp, keen edged explosive to set fire to the mountainside. (Krishnaswamy 261, 262) The concluding part of the foregoing observation concerning Raka’s predilection for the forest fires needs elaborate analysis for it has symbolic overtones. Ever since her arrival at Carignano, Raka evinces a keen interest in wild fire. This obsession with the forest fire provides yet a nother dimension with the forest fire provides to her existentialist preoccupations. Immediately after her arrival at Carignano, on witnessing a fire in the forest she becomes obsessed with forest fires for they seem to her the empirical manifestation of her inner conflict: whether to continue with her mediocre and painful and aimless existence imposed upon her by heredity and environment or to revolt against their dictates and attempt to create her own values. The Indian Review of World Literature in English, Vol. 1, No. I – Jan, 2005 By an elaborate expression of her free will and demonstration of her ability to choose and act, she sets the forest on fire towards the end of the novel. The fire created by her is the result and manifestation of her existential angst to destroy the old and meaningless to make room for the new and significant. It is an affirmation of her search for values in an otherwise futile existence. Ila Das is the third female protagonist of the nov el. Unlike Nanda Kaul and Raka who are central to the story, her role is only marginal. Nonetheless, Anita Desai has projected yet another aspect of the existentialist philosophy through her character. â€Å"Her life suggests another dimension of misery and meaningless existence† (Jena 30). She is first introduced to the readers, when she calls Nanda Kaul on the phone and informs her of her intended visit to Kasauli to meet Raka. She speaks in a â€Å"hideous voice† (FM 21) and is rather plain in her looks. Through a long interior monologue in Nanda Kaul’s mind, the readers are informed of her past. She was Nanda Kaul’s childhood friend. She had also served in the university as a lecturer, thanks to Nanda Kaul’s good offices. But soon after the death of Mr. Kaul she had been ousted and had struggled a lot before finding the present employment as a social welfare officer. A poverty stricken loner of aristocratic of child marriage, a practice r ampant among the tribals. This lands her in an unenviable situation. She finds herself fighting a lonely battle against a mindless multitude. But she is not cowed down by adversity. She remains steadfast in her conviction and refuses to make any compromises. Though she is aware of the dire consequences that she might be forced to encounter, she remains faithful to her cause. She succeeds in stooping several such child-marriage, the prominent one being the marriage of Preet Singh’s seven year old daughter. Sustaining herself on a meagre pay and putting up with the inevitable condition of loneliness, she wages a valiant battle against the dictates of the society. Finally, she pays a dear price for her convictions and refusal to compromise. She is raped and murdered by Preet Singh who has been dying for revenge. Though Ila Das plays a minor role in the novel, she is also an allegorical figure. She not only lives in isolation but also braves the brute majority with conviction and commitment as her tools. True, she meets with a tragic end but has made her existence significant in exhibiting courage and determination in the face of stiff resistance and threat to life. †Her real involvement in people’s welfare assumes tremendous symbolic significance â€Å"(Jena 30). She epitomises the existentialist concept of struggle against the odds of life. â€Å"For the existentialist, man is never just part of the cosmos but always stands to it in a relationship of tension with possibilities of tragic conflict† (Macquarrie 17). She stands for the thinking individual who dares to exercise her free will and act according to her choice rather than submit meekly to the odds of life. The mindless tribal society in general, and Preet Singh in particular, represent the malevolent aspect to human existence-forces that are bent upon thwarting the individual’s purpose and undoing her. â€Å"One of the many ways of defining tragedy sees it as a clash between the aspiration of human freedom and creativity with a cosmic order that is stronger and defeats man â€Å"(Macquarrie 189). Though Ila Das loses her chastity and life in the process of her struggle with such brute forces, her life has nonetheless become meaningful by virtue of the fact that she chooses a cause, fights for it and sacrifices herself in trying to accomplish her task. An examination of the use of symbolism and imagery in the novel proves beyond doubt the novelist’s existential concern. She portrays a tragic world where no compromises are made, no epiphanies are exploded, to be totally destroyed, as the The Indian Review of World Literature in English, Vol. 1, No. I – Jan, 2005 sensitive, the visionary suffer nothing but suffocation and oppression. So, the content of the novel is sheer violence. The lives of the principal characters are ‘unloved’ and ‘unlived’. (Indira 95,96). In keeping with this concept, An ita Desai resorts to the effective employment of imagery and symbolism in Fire on the Mountain. Her predilection for prey-predator imagery abounds in this novel also. Images of ugliness, loneliness, destruction and annihilation are consistently used in order to reflect the existential tone of the novel. An atmosphere of solitary introspection is created with the help of several images. For example, when she receives a call from Ila Das, Nanda Kual â€Å"turned her head this way and that in an escape. She watched the white hen drag out a worm inch by resisting inch from the ground till it snapped in two. She felt like the worm herself, she winced at its mutilation â€Å"(FM 21). The same is continued in the next page also: â€Å"Still starting at the hen which was greedily gulping down bits of worm, she thought of her husband’s face and the way he would plait his fingers across his stomach†¦ â€Å"(FM 22). This prey-predator image of hen pecking at a worm is sug gestive of Nanda Kaul’s present inner turmoil. Her past suffering at the hands of the adulterous husband and her present awareness about the harsh realities of life are both successfully established by this image. Another important image employed recurrently is that of the pine tree that stands burnt and alone, which is often an object of attraction for Nanda Kaul: â€Å"She was grey, tall and thin †¦ she fancied she could merge with the pine tree and be mistaken for one. To be a tree, no more and no less, was prepared to undertake†(FM 4). Again, this image also contributes to the existentialist theme of the novel. â€Å"Nanda’s sense of identification with the pine trees suggests her desire for absolute stillness and withdrawal from life†(Indra 97). The image of the charred pine tree is repeatedly employed in the novel. Raka is reminded of the futility of existence while she looks at the lonely hills and charred pine trees: â€Å"This hill, with its one destroyed house and one unbuilt one, on the ridge under the fire-singed pines, appealed to Raka†¦ There was something about it- illegitimate, uncompromising and lawless†¦. The sense of devastation and failure drew her, inspired her â€Å" (FM 90). Images of insects like lizards, birds like eagles and parrots, and â€Å"the thematic image of the ‘fire’ with its connotations of violence and urgency occur at regular intervals, warning the reader of the impending tragedy† (Indira 96). The critic S. Indira sums up the significance of imagery in Fire on the Mountain quoting D. H. Lawrence and the novelist herself:It is the charming mosaic of imagery woven so skillfully by the novelist that makes the Novel a work of art. Quoting D. H. Lawrence who said ‘If I eat an apple, I like to eat it with my senses,’ Anita Desai herself stated that the novel in which she attempted this closeness of man and beast, earth and vegetable was Fire o n the Mountain. Imagery alone makes it possible and, in the process, the novel gains a richer texture and greater depth. As a critic says, â€Å"this novel deprived of its imagery, would be an ugly skeleton, chilling the reader† †¦ The significant house imagery, the images of plants, colour, atmosphere and moon- all contribute to the textual density and symbolic centrality of the novel. Indira 96) Another important aspect of this novel’s narrative technique is its symbolism. There are several symbols that deepen the philosophic implications of The Indian Review of World Literature in English, Vol. 1, No. I – Jan, 2005 the novel. To start with, Carignano, Nanda Kaul’s present abode, is symbolic of the loneliness and barrenness of human life in general and Nanda Kual in particular: What pleased and satisfied her so, here at Carignano, was its barrenness. This was the chief virtue of Kasauli, of course- its starkness†¦Occasionally an eagle swam thr ough this clear undoubted mass of light and air . FM 4) The lonely house is symbolic of the lonely life of Nanda Kual and Raka. The barrenness and starkness associated with its symbolise an essential human condition –alienation which is the key note of all existential philosophy. The eagle symbol, like the house symbol, is repeatedly used in the course of the novel to highlight another aspect of existential philosophy, namely quest. The sight of the eagle flying high, makes Nanda long to be able to soar like the bird: â€Å"An eagle swept over†¦. its wings outspread, gliding on currents of air without once moving its great muscular wings which remained in repose, in control, She [Nanda Kaul] ad wished, it occurred to her, to imitate the eagle-gliding, with eyes closed† (FM 19). This longing for soaring above the reach of deterministic confines is the hall mark of Raks’s characters. To emphasise this aspect, the novelist employs the eagle symbol while descri bing Raka’s walk to the Monkey Point. â€Å"She was higher than the eagles, higher than Kasauli and Sanwar and all the other hills†¦Ã¢â‚¬ (FM 61). Thus Nanda Kaul’s wish and Raka’s attempt merge in the eagle-symbol, which denoted their existential angst and quest for values. The forest fire scene has symbolic overtones. Like the â€Å"The Fire Sermon† in T. S. Eliot’s The Waste Land, the fire in Fire on the Mountain â€Å" †¦ is a destroyer. It is also a purifier† (Brown 557). By making use of the universal fire symbol. Anita Desai endows Raka’s character with allegorical implications. Raka, the invalid restless little girl who is the product of a broken home, becomes the symbol of the existentialist’s perception of the individual who finds herself in this hostile and futile world. Yet out of compulsion, she strives to find or create values and significance for her existence. In this regard it has been observe d that the symbolic implication of the forest fire is reinforced by the title of the novel, Fire on the Mountain is highly significant from the thematic point of view. The mountain symbolises Nanda Kaul and the fire is symbolic of Raka’s wild nature. â€Å"Nanda is the ‘rocky belt’, dry, hardened by time and age. Raka is silent, swift and threatening like forest fire†¦ The novel, thus [sic] may be noted as a story of inabilities of human beings to ignore the world, to place oneself in another’s position†(Choudhury 79). Another factor that adds to the philosophical implications of the novel is the frequent allusions to books and poems. As in other novels in Fire on the Mountain too Anita Desai uses poetry, and this time it is a poem by Hopkins: I have desired to go Where springs not fail To fields where files no sharp and sided hail And a few lilies below And I have asked to be The Indian Review of World Literature in English, Vol. 1, No. I à ¢â‚¬â€œ Jan, 2005 Where no storms come, Where the green swell is in the havens dumb, And out of the swing to the sea. (FM 87). This poem has some connection with he character of Nanda Kaul who quotes it and the poem signifies her desire to be away from the humdrum of life, to a heaven of nature far from the madding crowd. By introducing this poignant stanza from Hopkin’s poem, Anita Desai highlights the theme of alienation which is the central theme of the novel. The same effect is achieved by introducing an allusion to a passage from The Pillow Book of Sei Shonagon which begins with a title ‘When a Woman lives Alone’ and through the image of a dilapidated house â€Å"with a poignantly desolate look â€Å"(FM 27). This image has symbolic overtones as it suggests the lonely and desolate life of Nanda Kaul herself. Again, when Nanda Kaul is in the company of Raka, there is an allusion to The Travels of Macro Polo (FM 87). The reference to this book reminds the ‘Cape of Good Hope’. This also adds to the symbolism of the novel. This is miniature adventure like the one Marco Polo undertook in search of something new and promising. Thus, the characters of Nanda Kaul, Raka and Ila Das are studies of women in isolation. Essentially a writer of existential inclinations, Anita Desai examines three important aspects of this school of thought through her protagonists. The predominant traits of existentialism are alienation, quest and conflict. These three aspects are epitomised in the lives of three female protagonists. Nanda Kaul is a study in alienation and existential angst. Raka symbolises the individual’s quest for meaning in an otherwise futile life. Ila Das stands for the eternal conflict enacted in the human drama between the individual and the forces of determinism. One common ground for these three characters is that they are women who live in isolation both out if choice and compulsion. Desai has examined th e predicament of women in wilderness by placing these three characters Kasauli, a place surrounded by hills and valleys, for removed from civilisation. She has consciously done it to examine the predicament and psyche of women in isolation. By placing her female protagonists with nature herself as the backdrop, Anita Desai has endowed a symbolic and universal significance to the plight of her protagonists. In this regard it has been pointed out: Essentially, Desai is a novelist of existentialist concerns, chiefly considering what F. H. Heinaman described as ‘the enduring human condition. ’ In her novels, she has ably dwelt upon such existentialist themes as maladjustment, alienation, absurdity of human existence, quest for the ultimate meaning in life, decision, detachment, isolation and time as the fourth dimension, focussing on how women in the contemporary urban milieu are bravely struggling against or helplessly submitting to the elentless forces of absurd life ( Prasad 140) To sum up, Fire on the Mountain invites comparison with Shakespeare’s King Lear. In this great tragedy, when he dramatises the agony of betrayed father, Shakespeare removes Lear from the palace and places him in the wild heath- a hostile place- to suggest that the plight of Lear is identical with the suffering of every wronged father. Shakespeare employs animal imagery to indicate the rotten and corrupt world of the dramatis personae of King Lear. Images of ugly and evil animals like jackals and wolves are recurrently used creating an animal imagery that reinforces the thematic concern of the play, namely the tragedy of human life, The Indian Review of World Literature in English, Vol. 1, No. I – Jan, 2005 personified in the life of Lear, a victim of indifference in old age. Anita Desai’s use of imagery of King Lear. By making use of the images of insects and animals like mosquitoes, lizard and jackals, Desai hints at how her female protagonists d espise the absurdity of their existence. They either withdraw into a shell like Nanda Kaul or like Raka, long for something new or is made miserable by the environment as in the case of Ila Das. Similarly, by making Kasauli the location of her novel, Desai has endowed it with a wider appeal where the boundaries of region, religion and time cease to exist. This novel contains the core of the novelist’s existential world-view in that all the three characters are nothing but the manifestations of her alter ego that gives expression to her outlook on life. It may not be an exaggeration to her outlook on life. It may not be an exaggeration to say that Fire on the Mountain merits a place in the galaxy of existential masterpieces like Kafka Trial, Camus’ The Plague and Sartre’s Nausea. WORKS CITED PRIMARAY SOURECS 1. Fire on the Mountain. London : Penguin Book 1977. SECONDARY SOURCES 2. Ahmed, sheikh musthaq, Existential Aesthetics. New Delhi: Atlantic Publishers , 1991. 3. Brown, calwin s. The Reader’s Companion to World Literature , New York : Penguin , 1984 4. Chatterjee, Margaret. â€Å"Introducing Existentialism† Ed. Chatterjee. New Delhi: Arnold – Heimannn, 1983. 17-30. 5. Choudary, Bidulata. Women and society in the novels of Anita Desai. New Delhi: Creative Books , 1995 6. Das, Ras vihar. â€Å" Existentialism† History of Philosophy Eastern and Western. Vol. II . Ed. Dr. Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan. London: George Allen Co unwin Ltd, 1953 7. Gupta, Balarama G. S. â€Å"Fire on the Mountain: A fictional metaphor of Existentialist Philosophy. † Perspectives on Anita Desai. Ed. Ramesh K. Srivatsava Ghaziabad: Vimal Prabhashan, 1984 The Indian Review of World Literature in English, Vol. 1, No. I – Jan, 2005 8. Indira ,s. Anita Desai as an artist. New Delhi: Creative Book, 1994. 9. Jena Seema, Voice and vision of Anita Desai. New Delhi: Ashish publishing House, 1989. 0. Krishnaswamy, Shantha, The woman in Indian Fiction in English. New Delhi; Ashish publishing House, 1983 11. Macquarrie, John Existentialism. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 1972. 12. Prasad, Madhusudan, Anita Desai : The Novelist. Allahabad: 13. Raizada, Harish â€Å" The Haunted protagonists of Anita Desai† perspectives of Anita Desai. Ed. Kamesh k. Srivastava, Ghaziabhad: vimal prabhakaran, 1984. 31 – 53. 14. Singh, R. A. Existential characters of Arun Joshi and Anita Desai. Bareilly: Prakash Book Depot, 1991. Prof. N. Sethurman, Ph. D. , PG Research Dept. of English, Pachiyappa’s College, Chennai-30, Tamilnadu, India. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Existentialism In World Literature" essay for you Create order

Abortion Is It Ever Justified Essay - 1298 Words

Abortion: Is it ever justified? According to the medilexicon dictionary, abortion is defined as: â€Å"expulsion from the uterus of an embryo or fetus before viability (20 weeks gestation [18 weeks after fertilization] or fetal weight less than 500 g). A distinction made between abortion and premature birth is that premature infants are those born after the stage of viability but before 37 weeks gestation. Abortion may be either spontaneous (occurring from natural causes) or induced (artificially or therapeutically)† (medilexicon, 2016). Abortion is as ancient a topic as it is controversial. There are recorded mentions of abortions in biblical, ancient and medieval times. In the medieval times, several methods -most unsafe- and herbal mixes such as De Viribus Herbarum were used to induce abortions. The ancient Greeks and Romans did not believe in limiting a woman’s right to getting one as long as there was no â€Å"quickening† which refers to fetal movement. (Fox, P, 2016). Several centuries after, there still are opposing views on the topic. While a group of people strongly believe in the sanctity of life and state that abortion is not right, regardless of the situation, others believe that a woman has the right to choose what happens with her body, and as such, can choose to have an abortion. In the United States of America, thanks to the famous 1973 supreme court case, Roe v. Wade, abortion in the first trimester is legal. However, each state applies the laws concerningShow MoreRelatedCan Abortion Ev er Be Justified?4820 Words   |  20 PagesReligion fuels much of the intensity of the abortion debate. Modern government is purposefully separated from religion. In the Western world, the teachings of any one religion shouldn ¡Ã‚ ¦t and don ¡Ã‚ ¦t dominate the laws of a nation. However the morals and beliefs of the people are what establishes the morals and beliefs of a government. 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Nursing Practice Children An Young People †Myassignmenthelp.Com

Question: Discuss About The Nursing Practice Children An Young People? Answer: Introducation The child who was engaged for the present analysis was a 4-year-old girl. Her name is not mentioned due to confidentiality issues. She extended cooperation for the activity to be carried out with success. The child was brought into the ED a number of times and therefore was acquainted with the environment of the hospital. Though she had not been hospitalised in the setting, her frequent visits to the hospital were adequate for her to express her visualisations of a hospital drawing. The drawing was a valuable one as it focused on the reflection of the child pertaining to a hospital environment. Though the drawing is not exact to what a norma hospital setting would actually look like, the drawing mentions some key aspects involved with such a setting. As per the child, she had drawn the picture in which she mentions to make a bed with many wheels that carry a patient. The patient, in this case, has a fractured leg. The physician is seen to be coming into the room from the door. Hospitalization, or frequent visits to the hospital has been indicated to be a stressful experience for children of all age groups. The degree of anxiety that child bears have been well studied in the literature. Advanced nursing practice outlines a wide range of strategies based on recreational activities to enhance the quality of patient stay at the hospital (Fraser et al. 2017). According to Hockenberry, Wilson and Rodgers (2016) play can be an integral part of the care provided by a nurse to the child. One significant recreation activity is drawing that has been proved to be helpful for children to come out of their anxiety or negative feelings. In the present case, the child can be helped in overcoming her fears and anxiety related to stay at hospital through drawing. Drawing can enable the child to be not restricted to the physical barriers of the hospital. Encouraging her to draw her perceptions about the hospital and motivating her to explain what her feelings her can help in resolving any misunderstandings she might have pertaining to the hospital. Therapeutic play, in the from of drawing might enable her to learn more about how hospitals function in a precise and certain manner. This would eventually help her in combating challenges she is facing on the emotional front (Hughe and Lyte 2015). As opined by Rindstedt (2013) unstructured play, such as drawing, as undertaken by a child admitted to the healthcare unit, or visiting the care unit, can enable her to control ideas, relationships nd events. Drawing is a means of expressing ones self and own ideas through which communication can be done with the outer world. In addition, drawing can also be perceived as a distraction method. One can be made to be distracted from illness and pain through such process. Research indicates that distraction is a significant tool within a clinical setting whereby patients get relief from pain. Normalisation of hospital experience can be achieved from the perspective of the patient if she is engaged in drawing. For increasing the range of motion in a child who is of school-going age and is visiting the hospital due to fracture, drawing can serve as a means of eliminating chances of boredom. The impact of hospitalisation on children has been well studied in literature as this has wide implications for nursing practice within a clinical setting. According to Hockenberry, Wilson and Rodgers (2016), a child being admitted to the hospital undergoes a series of emotional changes that directly and indirectly influence the outcomes of medical and nonmedical interventions. Firstly, a child is deeply concerned about being separated from his parents. Separation from parents is perceived as fear, thinking it to b a rejection from the parents side. Anxiety and apprehension are extreme since the child has very less knowledge of the consequences of being admitted to the hospital. Wilson and Hockenberry (2014) in this regard state that a constant comparison is made by the child with other children of own age wherein differences are drawn out in favour of other. This implies that a child starts thinking himself to be different from others as with fewer capabilities and sound physical he alth. Emotional outbursts are common for children who are admitted to hospitals. Crying and nagging, with the onset of anger and misbehaviour are common for children of all ages. These outbreaks are due to distress and feelings of loneliness, as a child is not able to cope up with the absence of his family members (Hopia et al. 2005). Children show variation in capacities regarding coping up with the stress of being admitted to the hospital. A major section of this population suffers from emotional disturbances whose degree varies from person to person. Repeated or prolonged hospitalisation enhances the risks of the same. The separation from parents causes the child to be emotionally upset. For children between six months and four years, the vulnerability is more. Human development is starting from birth till death is a long process divided into different stages each with a set of salient features. At every stage, a person needs to be in a certain state of personal evolution. As physical changes drive the main process of development, the cognitive abilities help in the advancement of the brains development with increasing age. Psychosocial development is related to how a person adjusts to the society and shape the self-identity and relationships with others (Ball, Bindler and Cowen 2013). In the present case, the child is of four years age and an analysis of the cognitive and psychological theory of this age group would be beneficial in this regard. According to Jean Piagets Stage Theory of Cognitive Development, there are four distinct stages of development in children; sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete, and formal. A child of age four years belongs to the preoperational stage (age 2-4 years). At this stage, the child has not yet developed the capability to conceptualise is an subtract manner and therefore in need of tangible physical situations. A child at this stage can classify objects in a simple manner, especially by pointing out significant features (Barrouillet 2015). In the present case, the child has been able to classify the objects she had witnessed at the hospital such as the bed, its wheels, the door and the subject of a physician. According to the authors, preoperational stage enables a child to engage in play and use preoperatory thoughts. A chid is better able to represent the objects through drawings and scribbles. The mental reasoning is highly developed in this stage though performing operations is still a challenge. According to Erik Eriksons Theory of Psychosocial Development, there are eight stages through which an individual passes starting from birth till death. At each stage, the individual is expected to demonstrate a set of skills that are to be mastered at before moving on the next stage. as per the theory, child of age four years is at the second stage of lifespan, marked as Will. At this stage, the child is in a dilemma to show his autonomy or to remain in doubt and shame. As the child is now able to gain control over the motor abilities, he is no wanting to explore the surrounding. Children explore the world with much interest and show talent in constantly learning about what is there in the environment (Frye 2014). In the present case, the chid is seen to explore the world around her, observe the surrounding and make a note of everything learnt. The child had developed the ability to note down details of what is there in the surrounding as he had mentioned that the bed on which the p atient was lying had many wheels and that the patient had suffered a fractured leg. Hospitalisation due to illness or other complications is stressful for both the child her family alike (van der Geest et al. 2014). Having own child admitted at the healthcare setting is quite stressful for the parent who is prone to suffer depression, stress and anxiety while the child is at the hospital. Stress in this regard is defined as the non-specific response provided by the body towards an environmental factor that is negative. The reaction coming up against the stress is at times a non-specific response that is mediated through an emotional response on an individual basis. Evidence suggests that stress experienced by parents have a profound impact on the health of the child along with the behavioural outcomes. If a parent is strong enough to combat the challenges coming in with the admission of the child, the child is better able to cope up with the illness he is suffering from. Different psychosocial mediators act as valuable determinants of stress across populations. Pare nts might start doubting the efficiency of the healthcare organisation if there is poor satisfaction related to service delivery, unfriendly staff and unfamiliarity with the policies and regulations of the setting. Research points out the different variables that exert a deep influence on the children and eventually on the families. These encompass the previous medical experience of the family, the development status of the child, the child-parent interaction, the illness severity and the coping style considered by the child. Individual factors, like the intellectual ability and temperament, contribute to the style of addressing the stress and demonstrating coping style (Ball and Bindler 2008). Nurses are to pay an important role in caring for the child and supporting the family while the child is at the hospital. Paediatric care integrates within itself elements of love, affection, support, motivation, respect, encouragement and empathy. Nurses are to apply strategies for supporting the encouraging the child as well as the family at the time of hospitalisation (Wilson and Hockenberry 2014). For addressing the needs of the child, the first measure that the nurse must take is to help in maintaining calmness. It is the duty of the nurse to provide a safe and comfortable environment to the child within which the patient is calm and is not stressed out or tense. The child is to be talked through the stay at the hospital so that there is no feeling of loneliness and rejection. The rationale behind this action is that if a child is stressed or tensed, recovery is slow (Ball and Bindler 2008). The nurse might engage the child in a creative activity as this acts as an anti-anxiety agent. Research indicates that activities such as the playing of music elicit different emotional and physical responses. Employing distractions help in taking the mind of the child off certain concerns by instilling a sense of keenness to know the unknown(Khin Hla et al. 2014). The nurse might encourage the child to share personal stories, mostly related to school or favourite shows. A nurse needs to have the physical comfort of the child as the top priority. The main reason why a child is afraid to visit the hospital is physical pain. If a nurse is successful in making the child physically comfortable, there are no issues in treating her(Merz et al. 2016). When a child is being treated at a hospital, no particular solution might suffice. Depending on the experience of the patient at hospitals and the age of the child, strategies are to be laid out. As stated earlier, the level of stress and anxiety of the parents and family members have a profound impact on the anxiety level of the child. The family members are therefore to be helped out through their feelings (Ullrich et al. 2017). The four dimensions of family support include the provision of information about the treatment plan for the child and supportive communication; parental support that is based on enhancing parental role; support on the emotional front that enables successful coping with emotional responses; caregiving support that improves quality of care provided (Ball et al. 2016). Since the family is the continuing provider of child care, they are to be encouraged to actively participate in the care planning process. Family participation reliefs them from stress and anxiety. Viewing them as vital members ensure that patin recovery is fast. In addition, the family is to be educated about the developmental stage in which the child is at present. This information wou ld be crucial for them to provide input regarding how care can be of optimal quality(Hughes and Lyte 2015). In conclusion it can be stated that for a nurse to care for a child within a clinical setting it is imperitive that the perceptions of the child regarding the care unit is well understood. This facilitates the care delivery process as a comprehensive care approach is put foward in this case. The impact of hospitalisation is far reaching for both the child and the family members.It is crucial that a nurse addresses the concerns of the child as well as those of the family members as both are equally important for achieveing best outcomes. References Ball, J. and Bindler, R.M., 2008.Pediatric nursing: Caring for children. Prentice Hall. pp. 341-368. Ball, J.W., Bindler, R.C. and Cowen, K.J., 2013.Child health nursing. Prentice Hall. pp. 175-205. Ball, J.W., Bindler, R.C., Cowen, K. and Shaw, M.R., 2016.Principles of pediatric nursing: Caring for children. Pearson. pp. 349-372. Barrouillet, P., 2015. Theories of cognitive development: From Piaget to today. pp. 223-256. Fraser, J., Waters, D., Forster, E. and Brown, N., 2017.Paediatric Nursing in Australia: Principles for Practice. Cambridge University Press.pp. 436-489. Frye, D., 2014.Children's theories of mind: Mental states and social understanding. Psychology Press. p. 215-256. Hockenberry, M.J., Wilson, D. and Rodgers, C.C., 2016.Wong's Essentials of Pediatric Nursing-E-Book. Elsevier Health Sciences. pp. 676-677. Hopia, H., Tomlinson, P.S., Paavilainen, E. and stedt?Kurki, P., 2005. Child in hospital: family experiences and expectations of how nurses can promote family health.Journal of clinical nursing,14(2), pp.212-222. John Wiley Sons. United States. Hughes, J. and Lyte, G. eds., 2015. Developing nursing practice with children and young people. John Wiley Sons. p. 56-59. Khin Hla, T., Hegarty, M., Russell, P., Drake?Brockman, T.F., Ramgolam, A. and Ungern?Sternberg, B.S., 2014. Perception of pediatric pain: a comparison of postoperative pain assessments between child, parent, nurse, and independent observer.Pediatric Anesthesia,John Wiley Sons. United States. 24(11), pp.1127-1131. Merz, E.C., Landry, S.H., Johnson, U.Y., Williams, J.M. and Jung, K., 2016. Effects of a responsivenessfocused intervention in family child care homes on childrens executive function.Early childhood research quarterly,Elsevier. United States. 34, pp.128-139. Rindstedt, C., 2013. Pain and nurses' emotion work in a paediatric clinic: Treatment procedures and nurse-child alignments.Communication medicine, Equinox.Denmark. 10(1), p.51. Ullrich, C.K., Rodday, A.M., Bingen, K.M., Kupst, M.J., Patel, S.K., Syrjala, K.L., Harris, L.L., Recklitis, C.J., Chang, G., Guinan, E.C. and Terrin, N., 2017. Three sides to a story: Child, parent, and nurse perspectives on the child's experience during hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.Cancer. John Wiley Sons. United States pp. 31593166. van der Geest, I.M., Darlington, A.S.E., Streng, I.C., Michiels, E.M., Pieters, R. and van den Heuvel-Eibrink, M.M., 2014. Parents' experiences of pediatric palliative care and the impact on long-term parental grief.Journal of pain and symptom management,Elsevier. United States. 47(6), pp.1043-1053. Wilson, D. and Hockenberry, M.J., 2014.Wong's Clinical Manual of Pediatric Nursing-E-Book. Elsevier Health Sciences. p.78-109.