International Journal of Literary Studies

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Alienation and Renunciation in Anita Desai's Clear Light of Day


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1 Independent Scholar, Gurugram, Haryana, India
     

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Clear Light of Day begins with Tara's triennial visit to her home in old Delhi. To her sister Bim, living in a shabby, dusty house in old Delhi, Tara's visit turns out to be catalysis in her confrontation with her own life. That "the novel is carefully constructed, beautifully written, sensitive, funny, atmospheric was the verdict of the Times Literary SupplementZ'l About thethemeoftbisnovel,AnitaDesai says:

My novel is set in Old Delhi and records the tremendous changes that a Hindu family goes through since 1947. Basically, my preoccupation ivas xoith recording the passage of time. I was trying to write a four dimensional piece on hoio a family's life moves backzvards andforwards in a period of time. My novel is about time as a destroyer, as a preserver, and about what the bondage of time does to people. I have tried to tunnel under the mundane surface ofdomesticity. 2


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  • Gabriel Annan, "Dreams in Old Delhi/' Times Literary Supplement, September 5,1980,p.948.

  • An interview with Sunil Sethi, India Today, December 1-15,1980, p. 142.

  • Brij Raj Singh, "Desai's Clear Light of Day: A Study" in Perspectives onAnitaDesai. Ed. RameshK. Srivastava, (Ghaziabad: Vimal PrakashanPublishers, 1984), p. 192.

  • Anita Desai's Clear Light of Day, (New Delhi: Allied Publishers Private Limited. 1980),p.4.

  • Ramesh K. Srivastava, "Anita Desai at work: An Interview," Perspectives on Anita Desai. Ed. Ramesh K. Srivastava, (Ghaziabad: Vimal Prakashan Publishers, 1984). p.xvi.

  • R.A. Singh, "Clear Light of Day: AFour Dimensional Novel," in The Fiction of Anita Desai. Ed. Suman Bala and D.K. Pabby, (New Delhi: Khosla Publishing House. 2002), p.9.

  • Madhusudhan Prasad, "Imagery in the Novels of Anita Desai: A Critical Study," in World Literature Today, 58,No.3, Summer, 1984, pp.363-69.

  • Jasbir Jain, "The Use of Fantasy in the Novels of Anita Desai," in Exploration in Modem Indo-English Fiction. Ed. R.K. Dhawan, (New Delhi: Bahri Publications. 1982),p.236.


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  • Alienation and Renunciation in Anita Desai's Clear Light of Day

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Authors

Neelam Rani
Independent Scholar, Gurugram, Haryana, India

Abstract


Clear Light of Day begins with Tara's triennial visit to her home in old Delhi. To her sister Bim, living in a shabby, dusty house in old Delhi, Tara's visit turns out to be catalysis in her confrontation with her own life. That "the novel is carefully constructed, beautifully written, sensitive, funny, atmospheric was the verdict of the Times Literary SupplementZ'l About thethemeoftbisnovel,AnitaDesai says:

My novel is set in Old Delhi and records the tremendous changes that a Hindu family goes through since 1947. Basically, my preoccupation ivas xoith recording the passage of time. I was trying to write a four dimensional piece on hoio a family's life moves backzvards andforwards in a period of time. My novel is about time as a destroyer, as a preserver, and about what the bondage of time does to people. I have tried to tunnel under the mundane surface ofdomesticity. 2


References