The Portrayal of The Protagonist in 'Fasting, Feasting' By Anita Desai and 'Darjeeling' By Bharti Kirchner.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS………………………………………………………i
TABLE OF CONTENTS……………………………….....................................iii
ABSTRACT……………………………………………………………………...iv
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study …………………………………………................1
Statement of the Problem …………………………………………...............3
Purpose of the Study ………………………………………………………..3
Method of Research ………………………………………………...............4
Organization of the Thesis …………………………….................................4
CHAPTER TWO: DISCUSSION OF
THE PROTAGONIST IN FASTING, FEASTING …………………………...5
CHAPTER THREE: DISCUSSION OF
THE PROTAGONIST IN DARJEELING……………………………………15
CHAPTER FOUR: CONCLUSION …………………………….....................25
BIBLIOGRAPHY ……………………………………………………………...30
APPENDICES:
Synopsis of Fasting, Feasting …………………....................................................32
Synopsis of Darjeeling ……………………………………………...…………...32
Biography of the Authors ……………………………..........................................33
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ABSTRACT
Dalam skripsi ini, saya menganalisis tokoh utama wanita dalam novel
Darjeeling karya Bharti Kirchner dan novel Fasting, Feasting karya Anita Desai.
Dua tokoh wanita India ini digambarkan hidup dalam lingkungan keluarga yang
masih memegang erat tradisi India yang mempengaruhi perkembangan
karakteristik mereka.
Novel Fasting, Feasting menggambarkan Uma, seorang wanita India
yang dilahirkan kurang beruntung dalam hal fisik, tidak menarik, bodoh dan
kikuk dalam berperilaku. Karena itulah, pernikahannya selalu gagal, dan pada
akhirnya dia hanya hidup menumpang dengan orang tuanya, tunduk, mematuhi
segala perintah orang tuanya dan mengalami stress karena hidup dalam
kungkungan keluarga.
Novel Daarjeling menggambarkan Sujata, seorang wanita yang
inferior jika dibandingkan dengan kakaknya, Aloka hanya karena dia seorang
wanita yang tidak tertarik pada segala sesuatu yang feminim melainkan lebih
tertarik pada dunia bisnis. Sujata adalah seorang wanita yang tidak menarik dalam
penampilan, tetapi pintar dalam hal bisnis perkebunan teh. Sujata dianggap tidak
sempurna sebagai seorang wanita, pembangkang dan sulit diatur maka dia
menjadi tidak percaya diri. Tetapi setelah dia mendapat kesempatan pindah ke
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Kanada, dia menjadi percaya diri karena keluarganya yang di Kanada mendukung
Sujata dalam hal apapun. Akhirnya Sujata menjadi seorang wanita yang menarik,
percaya diri, dan sukses.
Setelah melakukan analisis, saya menyimpulkan bahwa pembentukan
karakter seorang wanita India ditentukan terutama oleh keluarga. Lebih lanjut
saya berpendapat bahwa wanita India harus diberikan kebebasan yang lebih besar
dan tidak dikungkung dalam tradisi yang malah menyebabkan hal-hal negatif
dalam diri wanita India tersebut.
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Marantha Christian University
APPENDICES
SYNOPSIS OF NOVELS
Fasting, Feasting
It is a novel which tells about the close-knit Indian family. Uma is the
eldest daughter in the family and is treated unwell by her parents. She is trapped at
home as a traditional Indian. She is allowed to get neither the good education in
school nor another activities outside the house. It is contrast with her brother Arun
who has to get the good education in Massachusetts because he is a son of the
family. Uma also has a sister, Aruna who is, smart and beautiful, different with
her. It causes that her sister is the first who get the marriage proposal before Uma
so Mama arrange the marriage for Uma. Unfortunately, the marriage takes place
only for a few months. Uma comes back again to her family who always makes
her oppressed. For several times she tries to leave home but it is always failed
because MamaPapa, her parent, always make her go home. In the end of the story
Uma is still trapped at home but with a better relation with her parent.
Darjeeling
Darjeeling is an Indian novel that tells about two sisters who lives in
Darjeeling, a tea plantation village. Sujata is the younger sister of Aloka and has a
very different characteristic with Aloka who is considered perfect as a woman in
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the family. Pranab, Aloka’s fiancé falls in love with Sujata who is unattractive and
awkward. Then, they have an affair behind Aloka. But as the time goes by, the
affair is known by their father and makes Sujata has to move to Canada. The
relation between Pranab and Aloka is also forbidden which make them also move
to New York. The sister relationship of Aloka and Sujata is also apart because
they are separated and it becomes worse when Pranab declare a divorce to Aloka.
She thinks that Pranab still has love to Sujata. Sujata, who is now more confident
and attractive then some years ago, is confused because Pranab tells that he has
already divorced with Aloka and wants to have a relationship again with Sujata.
And it becomes more complicated when Nina, their grandmother invites them
back to Darjeeling to celebrate her birthday. It makes Sujata has to meet Pranab,
who also comes, and Aloka whom she is always envious at. It is not easy for her
to make up the relationship but in the end of the story they make up a good
relationship. Sujata also is given a family tea plantation that she dreams since she
was young and it is also make the relationship with her grandmother better.
BIOGRAPHY OF AUTHORS
Anita Desai
Anita Mazumdar, who is usually called Anita Desai, was born in June 24,
1937 in Mussoorie, India. After graduated at Queen Mary’s Higher Secondary
School in Delhi, she attended in University of Delhi. Then Desai began to write
her first novel, Cry, The Peacock, which is published in 1963. She did not stop on
one novel but she writes another novels, short stories and also children’s book.
Those include Fire on the Mountain (1977), which won the Winifred Holtby
33
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Memorial Prize, and Clear Light of Day (1980), In Custody (1984) and Fasting,
Feasting (1999), each of which was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. Not only was
In Custody shortlisted for Booker Prize, but also made into a film by Merchant
Ivory productions. Her children’s book The Village by The Sea (1982), won the
Guardian Children’s Fiction Award.
Now, Anita Desai lives in the United States, where she is the John E.
Burchard Professor of Writing at Massachusetts Institiute of Technology,
Cambridge, MA. She is also a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, the
American Academy of Arts and Letters, Girton College, Cambridge and Clare
Hall, Cambridge.
Bharti Kirchner
Bharti Kirchner was born June 1, 1940, in Calcutta, India. In 1962, after
receiving B.A. and M.A. degrees in mathematics at Presidency College in Calcutta, Kirchner studied at the University of Washington in Seattle. Her first
professional positions upon leaving the university were in Chicago as a computer
programmer, then as a systems analyst and consultant. She also has ever worked
as a systems programmer in Europe and systems manager at Bank of America,
and then as an advisory systems engineer for IBM.
She began the writing career after she has left IBM in 1989. So far, she has
already writes eight books, four novels and four cookbooks. Her works have been
translated into German, Dutch, Spanish, and other languages. Her first novel,
Shiva Dancing, was chosen by Seattle Weekly be among the top 18 books by
Seattle authors in the last 25 years, then her third novel, Darjeeling, also received
34
Maranatha Christian University
endorsements from top national authors. Her first and second cookbooks also win
some awards. Her two recent books are also cookbooks which are The Bold
Vegetarian and Vegetarian Burgers.
35
Maranatha Christian University
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
In this modern era, many people talk about human right. There are also
many institutions which are founded to protect human rights. But, the fact is that
many people do not have their rights. A part of them are Indian women, who still
have to struggle to obtain their own rights because they live in India, a country
which is still strongly governed by traditional values. They find difficulties to gain
their own liberation from the authority of the older generation.
In the two novels which I want to discuss for my thesis, I find out the
experience of two Indian women who live in India during the mid to the late
twentieth century. These novels portray two women who have unattractive
appearances and lack of social skills. Those two protagonists in the novel also
have to struggle for their life between the oppression from their own family and
seek the opportunities to change their life. The two novels are Fasting, Feasting,
by Anita Desai and Darjeeling, by Bharti Kirchner.
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First, I choose Fasting, Feasting because Anita Desai, as the author, is an Indian
so she can create a reliable portrayal of an Indian character better than any other nonIndian writer because she can “[feel] about India as an Indian” (Prono). Then, she has
received many praises from reviewers because of
“her intellectual rigor and vivid
portrayal of India” (eNotes). She is a distinguished writer and has won Neil Gunn Prize in
1993 and Alberto Moravia Prize for Literature in Italy in 2000.
Fasting, Feasting is shortlisted for the 1999 Booker Prize and considered “a most
beautiful novel, very moving, very funny, terribly illustrative of what happens to women
in different parts of the world” (Randomhouse). The novel clearly shows the
characteristics of the protagonist, who is an Indian woman. Besides, it vividly describes
the protagonist’s appearance, condition of her daily life and the opportunity in struggling
life facing the oppression from the protagonist’s own family.
For the comparison, I choose another Indian novel, Darjeeling which is also
written by an Indian writer, Bharti Kirchner. This novel, like Desai’s Fasting, Feasting
also portrays an Indian protagonist. Kirchner is also an Indian and she “does infuse her
work with a genuine Indian spirit” (Dawson) so she can create a reliable character
authentically. She is also a productive author and has won two Seattle Arts Commission
literature grants, and an Artist Trust GAP grant.
Darjeeling is the third novel of Bharti Kirchner and it obviously shows the
characteristics of the protagonist through the problem that she faces, the change of
characteristic of the protagonist and also the protagonist’s relationship with the family.
Compared to her other novels, it is also her only novel that gains much endorsement from
another top national writer, such as Robert Clark, the author of the Edgar Award winning
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Mr. White’s Confession, says that “for her third novel, Bharti Kirchner has brought her
considerable gifts—her radiant prose and understanding of human heart—to a story of
India, ... Darjeeling is an enchantment.” (Bhartikirchner)
Finally, I decide to elaborate the portrayal of the protagonists in the two novels,
Fasting, Feasting and Darjeeling because I want to investigate how far their
characteristics are influenced by their family’s point of view of Indian traditional values.
It would be interesting to study the Indian traditional values that make Indian women trap
and unable to develop themselves in this modern era because they do not have their
liberation.
STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
In order to analyse the novel, I state the problems as follow:
1. How do the authors portray the protagonists in the two novels?
2. What are the authors’ purposes in creating such characters in their novels?
PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
The study is carried out to show:
1.
How the authors portray the protagonists in two novels.
2.
The authors’ purposes in creating such characters in their novels.
METHOD OF RESEARCH
The method I use is library research. I start by reading the two novels, which are
Fasting, Feasting by Anita Desai and Darjeeling by Bharti Kirchner. Afterwards, I
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analyse those two primary texts by using formalism. I also look for some resources from
the Internet and theory books, and then I use them to support the analysis which assist me
to write the thesis.
ORGANIZATION OF THE THESIS
I divide the thesis into four chapters, which which are followed by the
Acknowledgement, Table of Content, and Abstract. In the first chapter, I present the
Introduction, which contains the Background of the Study, the Statement of the Problem,
the Purpose of the Study, the Methods of Research, and the Organization of the Thesis. In
the second and third chapters, I analyse the portrayal of the protagonists of the novels. In
the forth chapter, I state the Conclusion of my analysis. The thesis ends with the
Bibliography and Appendices.
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CHAPTER FOUR
CONCLUSION
After completing the analysis of the protagonists in Fasting, Feasting by
Anita Desai and Darjeeling by Bharti Kirchner, I would like to draw a conclusion.
I conclude that there is unfairness for a woman in India who lives with the family
who still holds traditional values and whose family’s point of view strongly
influences the women’s characteristics. It can be seen through the change of their
characteristics in facing the problems in their life.
First, in Fasting, Feasting by Anita Desai, I analyse Uma as a protagonist
in the novel. Uma lives in the family who still have traditional values; girls are to
be married and boys are to become as educated as possible. And Uma is portrayed
unattractive, unintelligent and clumsy which makes her unlikely to get married.
Although Uma is persistent to get educated and has a job, she is limited by her
parents’ value so she cannot do much in her life. In the end she becomes
submissive, reticent and stressful.
Then, in Darjeeling by Bharti Kirchner, I analyse Sujata as the protagonist
in the novel. Sujata is considered imperfect because she is portrayed
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to be unattractive, introverted, difficult and rebellious. Her intelligence in tea
plantation and business does not make her family appreciate her; in the contrary they
consider it inappropriate. Her family always compares Sujata to her sister, Aloka,
who is considered perfect as a woman because she is attractive, extrovert, and
interested in many feminine activities like cooking, dancing, listening to classical
music, and reading Bengali literature. As a result, Sujata feels inferior and cannot
develop her potential. But her characteristics change when she moves to Canada
because she has a family who supports her and she is also not limited by the family’s
point of view there. She becomes successful, attractive, confident and extroverted.
I can find some similarities of the protagonists in both Fasting, Feasting and
Darjeeling. Both of them are Indian woman whose characteristics are influenced by
their family, who are still holding on to an opinion about girl education from the
medieval era. The family still keeps the tradition although they live in the modern era
now.
Girl Education: The girls of medieval India and especially Hindu society were
not given formal education. They were given education related to household
chores. But a famous Indian philosopher ‘Vatsyayana” wrote that women
were supposed to be perfect in sixty four arts which included cooking,
spinning, grinding, knowledge of medicine, recitation and many more. (Maps
of India)
Not only about education, the families also share the same view about
marriage. A women is perfect if she is married because marriage is very important
according to their belief.
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The Hindu Tradition: Marriage, perhaps the most important event in one’s life
has many connotations attached to it in Hindu tradition. Marriage are said to
be made in heaven and the sanctity associated with it is unparallel. No doubt,
even in modern age, this is one tradition that has not lost its own glory and
importance. (India Book)
Uma cannot get educated and has a job because she is forced to be married.
And also Sujata cannot develop her potential in business because it is not appropriate
for a woman in India at that time. Both of them were also born in unfortunate
conditions, Uma who is unattractive, clumsy, unintelligent and Sujata who is inferior
and introvert. As a result of the influence of their family’s point of view, they have
bad characteristics. Uma becomes submissive, reticent and stressful,; Sujata becomes
inferior and she is considered difficult and rebellious. But the difference is, Uma does
not get the chance of getting out to get a better life so she ends her life tragically. On
the other hand, luckily Sujata gets the chance to change her life by moving to Canada,
living with her family who supports her and does not limit her with the tradition of
India. Sujata can develop her potential so she becomes successful, extroverted,
confident and attractive.
In my opinion, the author’s purpose in both novels is to encourage all women,
especially who are inconfident and who are stuck in the unfortunate condition to do
something in their life. The author wants them to stop thinking that their perfect life is
depended on their appearance and other characteristics because humans are created
differently and each of them has her unique characteristic and different potential. The
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only thing that they have to be concerned is about how they can get the liberation to
develop their potential.
The authors also probably want to criticize the parents or the older generation
to give the liberation to their children or younger generation so that they can find the
meaning of their life. Parents or older generation cannot dictate and make their
children or younger generation be under their control in their entire of life. They also
cannot judge their children with their points of view. They must give the younger
generation opportunities and support them to lead their own life and develop their
potential although it is different from theirs. The younger generation does not end
their life tragically, but develop their life well.
I think both of the novelists are successful in showing the reader what they
want to state. It can be seen clearly because they include the change of the portrayal
of their character when the character face the conflict in their life. We can see that the
family’s point of view influences the characteristics of the protagonist. In Darjeeling,
Kirchner reveals her message more effectively because she also includes the change
of the characteristics of the protagonist when the protagonist lives in a different
condition, which is in Canada with a different family who is a contrast with her
family in India. The family in Canada supports her and does not have Indian
traditional values that make a woman have to be married. So we can see more clearly
what the author wants to state through the difference.
This concept does not exist only in India and for Indian women because we
can see this case also in other countries in Asia who practice patriarchal system. We
can also see it in China, some parts of Indonesia, and in some other countries in
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which the liberation for women is still limited, they cannot do what they want. For
example, they still have an opinion that a woman does not need to obtain higher
education because in the end she will get married and hold all the housework.
Finally, after reading and analyzing both novels Fasting, Feasting by Anita
Desai and Darjeeling by Bharti Kirchner, I get the same culture of knowledge of
emancipation that a woman also has the right to develop her potential and nobody,
even her family, can entrapped a woman’s life with their traditional point of view.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
Primary Texts
Desai, Anita. Fasting, Feasting. London: Vintage, 2000.
Kirchner, Bharti. Darjeeling. New York: St. Martin’s Griffin, 2003.
Internet Sites
Adams, Chris M..”Women’s Role in Indian Society”.Chadams World Travel
Blog. 2007. 21 Jan. 2009.
Bhartikirchner.com. ”Darjeeling : A Novel”. 27 Jan. 2008. 31 Mar. 2008.
Brownigg, Sylvia. “Fasting, Feasting”. Rev. of Fasting, Feasting, by Anita Desai.
Salon Books. 2000. 31 Mar. 2008.
Dawson, Lisa. Rev. of Darjeeling, by Bharti Kirchner. Cahners Bussiness
Information. 2002. 31 Mar. 2008.
Enotes.com. “Anita Desai 1937-“. 2008. 4 Feb. 2008.
Family.jrank. “India-Status of Single and Divorced Persons in India”. 2009. 21
Jan..
Hai-Jew, Shalin. “Darjeeling: East and West Meet Over Tea”. Rev. of Darjeeling,
by Bharti Kirchner. International Examiner Book Review July 2002. 5
Apr. 2008.
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India Book.”Indian Marriage Customs-Traditional Hindu Wedding”. 2009. 19 May 2009.
Maps of India. “Indian Women”. 2009.
Prono, Luca. “Anita Desai”.Contemporary Writers. 2004. 31 Mar. 2008.
Prose, Francine. “Let Them Eat Curry”. Rev. of Fasting, Feasting, by Anita Desai. New
York Times. 2000. 31 Mar. 2008.
Randomhouse.co.uk ”Fasting, Feasting”.Rev. of Fasting, Feasting, by Anita Desai. Books
at Random. 2000. 5 Apr. 2008.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS………………………………………………………i
TABLE OF CONTENTS……………………………….....................................iii
ABSTRACT……………………………………………………………………...iv
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study …………………………………………................1
Statement of the Problem …………………………………………...............3
Purpose of the Study ………………………………………………………..3
Method of Research ………………………………………………...............4
Organization of the Thesis …………………………….................................4
CHAPTER TWO: DISCUSSION OF
THE PROTAGONIST IN FASTING, FEASTING …………………………...5
CHAPTER THREE: DISCUSSION OF
THE PROTAGONIST IN DARJEELING……………………………………15
CHAPTER FOUR: CONCLUSION …………………………….....................25
BIBLIOGRAPHY ……………………………………………………………...30
APPENDICES:
Synopsis of Fasting, Feasting …………………....................................................32
Synopsis of Darjeeling ……………………………………………...…………...32
Biography of the Authors ……………………………..........................................33
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ABSTRACT
Dalam skripsi ini, saya menganalisis tokoh utama wanita dalam novel
Darjeeling karya Bharti Kirchner dan novel Fasting, Feasting karya Anita Desai.
Dua tokoh wanita India ini digambarkan hidup dalam lingkungan keluarga yang
masih memegang erat tradisi India yang mempengaruhi perkembangan
karakteristik mereka.
Novel Fasting, Feasting menggambarkan Uma, seorang wanita India
yang dilahirkan kurang beruntung dalam hal fisik, tidak menarik, bodoh dan
kikuk dalam berperilaku. Karena itulah, pernikahannya selalu gagal, dan pada
akhirnya dia hanya hidup menumpang dengan orang tuanya, tunduk, mematuhi
segala perintah orang tuanya dan mengalami stress karena hidup dalam
kungkungan keluarga.
Novel Daarjeling menggambarkan Sujata, seorang wanita yang
inferior jika dibandingkan dengan kakaknya, Aloka hanya karena dia seorang
wanita yang tidak tertarik pada segala sesuatu yang feminim melainkan lebih
tertarik pada dunia bisnis. Sujata adalah seorang wanita yang tidak menarik dalam
penampilan, tetapi pintar dalam hal bisnis perkebunan teh. Sujata dianggap tidak
sempurna sebagai seorang wanita, pembangkang dan sulit diatur maka dia
menjadi tidak percaya diri. Tetapi setelah dia mendapat kesempatan pindah ke
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Maranatha Christian University
Kanada, dia menjadi percaya diri karena keluarganya yang di Kanada mendukung
Sujata dalam hal apapun. Akhirnya Sujata menjadi seorang wanita yang menarik,
percaya diri, dan sukses.
Setelah melakukan analisis, saya menyimpulkan bahwa pembentukan
karakter seorang wanita India ditentukan terutama oleh keluarga. Lebih lanjut
saya berpendapat bahwa wanita India harus diberikan kebebasan yang lebih besar
dan tidak dikungkung dalam tradisi yang malah menyebabkan hal-hal negatif
dalam diri wanita India tersebut.
-v-
Marantha Christian University
APPENDICES
SYNOPSIS OF NOVELS
Fasting, Feasting
It is a novel which tells about the close-knit Indian family. Uma is the
eldest daughter in the family and is treated unwell by her parents. She is trapped at
home as a traditional Indian. She is allowed to get neither the good education in
school nor another activities outside the house. It is contrast with her brother Arun
who has to get the good education in Massachusetts because he is a son of the
family. Uma also has a sister, Aruna who is, smart and beautiful, different with
her. It causes that her sister is the first who get the marriage proposal before Uma
so Mama arrange the marriage for Uma. Unfortunately, the marriage takes place
only for a few months. Uma comes back again to her family who always makes
her oppressed. For several times she tries to leave home but it is always failed
because MamaPapa, her parent, always make her go home. In the end of the story
Uma is still trapped at home but with a better relation with her parent.
Darjeeling
Darjeeling is an Indian novel that tells about two sisters who lives in
Darjeeling, a tea plantation village. Sujata is the younger sister of Aloka and has a
very different characteristic with Aloka who is considered perfect as a woman in
32
Maranatha Christian University
the family. Pranab, Aloka’s fiancé falls in love with Sujata who is unattractive and
awkward. Then, they have an affair behind Aloka. But as the time goes by, the
affair is known by their father and makes Sujata has to move to Canada. The
relation between Pranab and Aloka is also forbidden which make them also move
to New York. The sister relationship of Aloka and Sujata is also apart because
they are separated and it becomes worse when Pranab declare a divorce to Aloka.
She thinks that Pranab still has love to Sujata. Sujata, who is now more confident
and attractive then some years ago, is confused because Pranab tells that he has
already divorced with Aloka and wants to have a relationship again with Sujata.
And it becomes more complicated when Nina, their grandmother invites them
back to Darjeeling to celebrate her birthday. It makes Sujata has to meet Pranab,
who also comes, and Aloka whom she is always envious at. It is not easy for her
to make up the relationship but in the end of the story they make up a good
relationship. Sujata also is given a family tea plantation that she dreams since she
was young and it is also make the relationship with her grandmother better.
BIOGRAPHY OF AUTHORS
Anita Desai
Anita Mazumdar, who is usually called Anita Desai, was born in June 24,
1937 in Mussoorie, India. After graduated at Queen Mary’s Higher Secondary
School in Delhi, she attended in University of Delhi. Then Desai began to write
her first novel, Cry, The Peacock, which is published in 1963. She did not stop on
one novel but she writes another novels, short stories and also children’s book.
Those include Fire on the Mountain (1977), which won the Winifred Holtby
33
Maranatha Christian University
Memorial Prize, and Clear Light of Day (1980), In Custody (1984) and Fasting,
Feasting (1999), each of which was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. Not only was
In Custody shortlisted for Booker Prize, but also made into a film by Merchant
Ivory productions. Her children’s book The Village by The Sea (1982), won the
Guardian Children’s Fiction Award.
Now, Anita Desai lives in the United States, where she is the John E.
Burchard Professor of Writing at Massachusetts Institiute of Technology,
Cambridge, MA. She is also a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, the
American Academy of Arts and Letters, Girton College, Cambridge and Clare
Hall, Cambridge.
Bharti Kirchner
Bharti Kirchner was born June 1, 1940, in Calcutta, India. In 1962, after
receiving B.A. and M.A. degrees in mathematics at Presidency College in Calcutta, Kirchner studied at the University of Washington in Seattle. Her first
professional positions upon leaving the university were in Chicago as a computer
programmer, then as a systems analyst and consultant. She also has ever worked
as a systems programmer in Europe and systems manager at Bank of America,
and then as an advisory systems engineer for IBM.
She began the writing career after she has left IBM in 1989. So far, she has
already writes eight books, four novels and four cookbooks. Her works have been
translated into German, Dutch, Spanish, and other languages. Her first novel,
Shiva Dancing, was chosen by Seattle Weekly be among the top 18 books by
Seattle authors in the last 25 years, then her third novel, Darjeeling, also received
34
Maranatha Christian University
endorsements from top national authors. Her first and second cookbooks also win
some awards. Her two recent books are also cookbooks which are The Bold
Vegetarian and Vegetarian Burgers.
35
Maranatha Christian University
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
In this modern era, many people talk about human right. There are also
many institutions which are founded to protect human rights. But, the fact is that
many people do not have their rights. A part of them are Indian women, who still
have to struggle to obtain their own rights because they live in India, a country
which is still strongly governed by traditional values. They find difficulties to gain
their own liberation from the authority of the older generation.
In the two novels which I want to discuss for my thesis, I find out the
experience of two Indian women who live in India during the mid to the late
twentieth century. These novels portray two women who have unattractive
appearances and lack of social skills. Those two protagonists in the novel also
have to struggle for their life between the oppression from their own family and
seek the opportunities to change their life. The two novels are Fasting, Feasting,
by Anita Desai and Darjeeling, by Bharti Kirchner.
1
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First, I choose Fasting, Feasting because Anita Desai, as the author, is an Indian
so she can create a reliable portrayal of an Indian character better than any other nonIndian writer because she can “[feel] about India as an Indian” (Prono). Then, she has
received many praises from reviewers because of
“her intellectual rigor and vivid
portrayal of India” (eNotes). She is a distinguished writer and has won Neil Gunn Prize in
1993 and Alberto Moravia Prize for Literature in Italy in 2000.
Fasting, Feasting is shortlisted for the 1999 Booker Prize and considered “a most
beautiful novel, very moving, very funny, terribly illustrative of what happens to women
in different parts of the world” (Randomhouse). The novel clearly shows the
characteristics of the protagonist, who is an Indian woman. Besides, it vividly describes
the protagonist’s appearance, condition of her daily life and the opportunity in struggling
life facing the oppression from the protagonist’s own family.
For the comparison, I choose another Indian novel, Darjeeling which is also
written by an Indian writer, Bharti Kirchner. This novel, like Desai’s Fasting, Feasting
also portrays an Indian protagonist. Kirchner is also an Indian and she “does infuse her
work with a genuine Indian spirit” (Dawson) so she can create a reliable character
authentically. She is also a productive author and has won two Seattle Arts Commission
literature grants, and an Artist Trust GAP grant.
Darjeeling is the third novel of Bharti Kirchner and it obviously shows the
characteristics of the protagonist through the problem that she faces, the change of
characteristic of the protagonist and also the protagonist’s relationship with the family.
Compared to her other novels, it is also her only novel that gains much endorsement from
another top national writer, such as Robert Clark, the author of the Edgar Award winning
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Mr. White’s Confession, says that “for her third novel, Bharti Kirchner has brought her
considerable gifts—her radiant prose and understanding of human heart—to a story of
India, ... Darjeeling is an enchantment.” (Bhartikirchner)
Finally, I decide to elaborate the portrayal of the protagonists in the two novels,
Fasting, Feasting and Darjeeling because I want to investigate how far their
characteristics are influenced by their family’s point of view of Indian traditional values.
It would be interesting to study the Indian traditional values that make Indian women trap
and unable to develop themselves in this modern era because they do not have their
liberation.
STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
In order to analyse the novel, I state the problems as follow:
1. How do the authors portray the protagonists in the two novels?
2. What are the authors’ purposes in creating such characters in their novels?
PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
The study is carried out to show:
1.
How the authors portray the protagonists in two novels.
2.
The authors’ purposes in creating such characters in their novels.
METHOD OF RESEARCH
The method I use is library research. I start by reading the two novels, which are
Fasting, Feasting by Anita Desai and Darjeeling by Bharti Kirchner. Afterwards, I
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analyse those two primary texts by using formalism. I also look for some resources from
the Internet and theory books, and then I use them to support the analysis which assist me
to write the thesis.
ORGANIZATION OF THE THESIS
I divide the thesis into four chapters, which which are followed by the
Acknowledgement, Table of Content, and Abstract. In the first chapter, I present the
Introduction, which contains the Background of the Study, the Statement of the Problem,
the Purpose of the Study, the Methods of Research, and the Organization of the Thesis. In
the second and third chapters, I analyse the portrayal of the protagonists of the novels. In
the forth chapter, I state the Conclusion of my analysis. The thesis ends with the
Bibliography and Appendices.
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CHAPTER FOUR
CONCLUSION
After completing the analysis of the protagonists in Fasting, Feasting by
Anita Desai and Darjeeling by Bharti Kirchner, I would like to draw a conclusion.
I conclude that there is unfairness for a woman in India who lives with the family
who still holds traditional values and whose family’s point of view strongly
influences the women’s characteristics. It can be seen through the change of their
characteristics in facing the problems in their life.
First, in Fasting, Feasting by Anita Desai, I analyse Uma as a protagonist
in the novel. Uma lives in the family who still have traditional values; girls are to
be married and boys are to become as educated as possible. And Uma is portrayed
unattractive, unintelligent and clumsy which makes her unlikely to get married.
Although Uma is persistent to get educated and has a job, she is limited by her
parents’ value so she cannot do much in her life. In the end she becomes
submissive, reticent and stressful.
Then, in Darjeeling by Bharti Kirchner, I analyse Sujata as the protagonist
in the novel. Sujata is considered imperfect because she is portrayed
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to be unattractive, introverted, difficult and rebellious. Her intelligence in tea
plantation and business does not make her family appreciate her; in the contrary they
consider it inappropriate. Her family always compares Sujata to her sister, Aloka,
who is considered perfect as a woman because she is attractive, extrovert, and
interested in many feminine activities like cooking, dancing, listening to classical
music, and reading Bengali literature. As a result, Sujata feels inferior and cannot
develop her potential. But her characteristics change when she moves to Canada
because she has a family who supports her and she is also not limited by the family’s
point of view there. She becomes successful, attractive, confident and extroverted.
I can find some similarities of the protagonists in both Fasting, Feasting and
Darjeeling. Both of them are Indian woman whose characteristics are influenced by
their family, who are still holding on to an opinion about girl education from the
medieval era. The family still keeps the tradition although they live in the modern era
now.
Girl Education: The girls of medieval India and especially Hindu society were
not given formal education. They were given education related to household
chores. But a famous Indian philosopher ‘Vatsyayana” wrote that women
were supposed to be perfect in sixty four arts which included cooking,
spinning, grinding, knowledge of medicine, recitation and many more. (Maps
of India)
Not only about education, the families also share the same view about
marriage. A women is perfect if she is married because marriage is very important
according to their belief.
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The Hindu Tradition: Marriage, perhaps the most important event in one’s life
has many connotations attached to it in Hindu tradition. Marriage are said to
be made in heaven and the sanctity associated with it is unparallel. No doubt,
even in modern age, this is one tradition that has not lost its own glory and
importance. (India Book)
Uma cannot get educated and has a job because she is forced to be married.
And also Sujata cannot develop her potential in business because it is not appropriate
for a woman in India at that time. Both of them were also born in unfortunate
conditions, Uma who is unattractive, clumsy, unintelligent and Sujata who is inferior
and introvert. As a result of the influence of their family’s point of view, they have
bad characteristics. Uma becomes submissive, reticent and stressful,; Sujata becomes
inferior and she is considered difficult and rebellious. But the difference is, Uma does
not get the chance of getting out to get a better life so she ends her life tragically. On
the other hand, luckily Sujata gets the chance to change her life by moving to Canada,
living with her family who supports her and does not limit her with the tradition of
India. Sujata can develop her potential so she becomes successful, extroverted,
confident and attractive.
In my opinion, the author’s purpose in both novels is to encourage all women,
especially who are inconfident and who are stuck in the unfortunate condition to do
something in their life. The author wants them to stop thinking that their perfect life is
depended on their appearance and other characteristics because humans are created
differently and each of them has her unique characteristic and different potential. The
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only thing that they have to be concerned is about how they can get the liberation to
develop their potential.
The authors also probably want to criticize the parents or the older generation
to give the liberation to their children or younger generation so that they can find the
meaning of their life. Parents or older generation cannot dictate and make their
children or younger generation be under their control in their entire of life. They also
cannot judge their children with their points of view. They must give the younger
generation opportunities and support them to lead their own life and develop their
potential although it is different from theirs. The younger generation does not end
their life tragically, but develop their life well.
I think both of the novelists are successful in showing the reader what they
want to state. It can be seen clearly because they include the change of the portrayal
of their character when the character face the conflict in their life. We can see that the
family’s point of view influences the characteristics of the protagonist. In Darjeeling,
Kirchner reveals her message more effectively because she also includes the change
of the characteristics of the protagonist when the protagonist lives in a different
condition, which is in Canada with a different family who is a contrast with her
family in India. The family in Canada supports her and does not have Indian
traditional values that make a woman have to be married. So we can see more clearly
what the author wants to state through the difference.
This concept does not exist only in India and for Indian women because we
can see this case also in other countries in Asia who practice patriarchal system. We
can also see it in China, some parts of Indonesia, and in some other countries in
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which the liberation for women is still limited, they cannot do what they want. For
example, they still have an opinion that a woman does not need to obtain higher
education because in the end she will get married and hold all the housework.
Finally, after reading and analyzing both novels Fasting, Feasting by Anita
Desai and Darjeeling by Bharti Kirchner, I get the same culture of knowledge of
emancipation that a woman also has the right to develop her potential and nobody,
even her family, can entrapped a woman’s life with their traditional point of view.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
Primary Texts
Desai, Anita. Fasting, Feasting. London: Vintage, 2000.
Kirchner, Bharti. Darjeeling. New York: St. Martin’s Griffin, 2003.
Internet Sites
Adams, Chris M..”Women’s Role in Indian Society”.Chadams World Travel
Blog. 2007. 21 Jan. 2009.
Bhartikirchner.com. ”Darjeeling : A Novel”. 27 Jan. 2008. 31 Mar. 2008.
Brownigg, Sylvia. “Fasting, Feasting”. Rev. of Fasting, Feasting, by Anita Desai.
Salon Books. 2000. 31 Mar. 2008.
Dawson, Lisa. Rev. of Darjeeling, by Bharti Kirchner. Cahners Bussiness
Information. 2002. 31 Mar. 2008.
Enotes.com. “Anita Desai 1937-“. 2008. 4 Feb. 2008.
Family.jrank. “India-Status of Single and Divorced Persons in India”. 2009. 21
Jan..
Hai-Jew, Shalin. “Darjeeling: East and West Meet Over Tea”. Rev. of Darjeeling,
by Bharti Kirchner. International Examiner Book Review July 2002. 5
Apr. 2008.
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India Book.”Indian Marriage Customs-Traditional Hindu Wedding”. 2009. 19 May 2009.
Maps of India. “Indian Women”. 2009.
Prono, Luca. “Anita Desai”.Contemporary Writers. 2004. 31 Mar. 2008.
Prose, Francine. “Let Them Eat Curry”. Rev. of Fasting, Feasting, by Anita Desai. New
York Times. 2000. 31 Mar. 2008.
Randomhouse.co.uk ”Fasting, Feasting”.Rev. of Fasting, Feasting, by Anita Desai. Books
at Random. 2000. 5 Apr. 2008.
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