Plight of Women as reflected in Bapsi Sidhwa’s Novels Ice Candy Man and The Bride

Abstract

Bapsi Sidhwa who is born in the Parsi community has changed into a Pakistani citizen after the partition of India in 1947. But she establishes herself as an American now. Her novels analyse the social, emotional, political and spiritual implications of the partition of India in 1947. Bapsi tries to bring the effects of human civilization especially the teeming violence which is being repeated in the human history. The aim of this study is to depict the plight of women who are caught up in the historical event surrounding the geographical and social division in Bapsi Sidhwa‘s novels Ice-Candy Man and The Bride. In Ice Candy Man, it is through the eyes of an eight year old Parsi child Lenny, Sidhwa shows the culmination of violence, especially the exploitation of women. During the course of these events, Lenny‘s beautiful young Hindu nanny Ayah is kidnapped and raped by a group of men. The Bride portrays the events of the partition through the story of Qasim, whose family was killed in the massacre. Sidhwa skillfully links gender to community, nationality, religion and class. The Bride reflects the place of women in Indian and Pakistan society and how they are corrupted during the complex history of the growing divisions among Hindu, Muslim and Sikh communities of India. These two novels try to show the animosity and brutality of male chauvinism during violence which is horrific. Hence, Sidhwa has been highly regarded as a feminist postcolonial author. The qualitative methodology of this research will be carried out through texts, journals, articles and informal interviews. The arguments will be developed based on the host of criticisms collected from various sources.