Analysis of The Portrayal of The Female Major Characters in Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni's 'Sister of My Heart'.
ABSTRACT
Dalam penulisan tugas akhir untuk memenuhi persyaratan memperoleh
gelar sarjana Sastra Inggris di Fakultas Sastra Inggris Universitas Kristen
Maranatha, saya menganalisis novel karya Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni yang
berjudul Sister of My Heart. Hal yang akan saya analisis dari novel ini adalah
karakter dari dua wanita yang menjadi tokoh utama dan cara karakter mereka
digambarkan serta tujuan dari sang pengarang menggambarkan karakter tersebut.
Novel Sister of My Heart adalah novel yang bercerita tentang dua wanita
India yang memiliki karakter yang berbeda namun memiliki persahabatan yang
tak terpisahkan oleh apapun. Shuda adalah nama salah satu tokoh wanita utama
dari novel ini. Dia adalah wanita penurut, berasal dari golongan kasta rendah.
Sedangkan Anju digambarkan sebagai wanita yang pemberontak, berasal dari
keluarga yang berada, serta golongan kasta atas. Anju digambarkan berbeda
dengan wanita India pada umumnya.
Melalui novel ini, sang pengarang mencoba menceritakan mengenai
keadaan wanita India pada jaman sekarang yang masih dituntut mematuhi semua
peraturan yang sangat mengekang. Juga mengenai perjuangan mereka untuk
mendapatkan kehidupan yang layak.
iii
Maranatha Christian University
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
i
TABLE OF CONTENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
ii
ABSTRACT
.................................................
iii
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Statement of the Problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Purpose of the Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Methods of Research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Organization of the Thesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1
3
3
3
4
CHAPTER TWO: ANALYSIS OF THE PORTRAYAL OF THE FEMALE
MAJOR CHARACTERS IN CHITRA BANERJEE DIVAKARUNI’S
SISTER OF MY HEART
..............................
5
CHAPTER THREE: CONCLUSION
............................
19
............................................
22
APPENDICES:
Synopsis of Sister of My Heart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Biography of Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
...................
23
25
BIBLIOGRAPHY
ii
Maranatha Christian University
APPENDICES
Synopsis of Sister of My Heart
Sister of My Heart is a novel which is concerned with two cousins named
Shuda and Anju. They were born on the same day and grow up together in the
same house in Calcutta India. People in the surroundings consider them twins
because they always get together. They experience everything such as love, joy,
and pain. They have to hold the traditional cultures that exist in their family,
traditions which give them some limitation.
In this novel, the author tries to portray Shuda and Anju as two different
characters and social background. Anjali / Anju loves book, is known for speaking
her mind, stubborn comes from a higher caste. Basudha / Sudha comes from a
lower caste, a storyteller and dreamer, and is known for her beauty.
When Shuda is aware of the secret about the death of their father, their
friendship is tested. Shuda starts blaming herself and tries to stay away from Anju.
Suddenly they have to face the hardest thing in their life when their family goes
through the economic problem. Therefore, they have to be involved into an
arranged marriage that makes Shuda and Anju apart. They get married on the
same day. Shuda will move in with her husband and mother-in-law, who lives in
23
Maranatha Christian University
another part of India. Shuda finds herself to suffer from the bad treatment from
her husband’s family. Anju has to follow her husband, who work in America and
she decides to go to college there. At the end of the story, they get together again
because they realize that they need to rely on each other again for strength and
support.
24
Maranatha Christian University
Biography of the Author
Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni was born in India 1956. She studied in Calcutta
University, B.A until 1976 and after that she decided to go to the United States
and pursued her study in Wright State University for Master of Art in 1985. She
gets her Ph.D from University of California, Berkeley in 1989.
Divakaruni is a famous writer. She writes novels, poems, and short stories.
Some of her novels are Shadoland (2009), The Palace of Illusions (2008), The
Mirror of Fire and Dreaming (2005), Neela: Victory Song (2009), Sister of My
heart (1999), The Mistress of Spices (1997),Her short stories are The Unknown
Errors of our Lives(2001), Arranged Marriage (1995), And her poetry are Leaving
Yuba City(1997), Black Candle (1991), The Reason for Nasturtiums(1990).Most
of her works are focused on the same theme, which are about the roles of women
in India and America. In her every work, she tries to show the readers how the
characters of her works adjust to the two different cultures and about the
complexities of love between family members, lovers, and friends. Although she
always focuses on that cliché subject matter of South Asian, she has a great trick
by using an unusual poetic language which attracts the readers to enjoy the story
through the beauty of her writing.
25
Maranatha Christian University
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study
Out of three literary genres, I decide to analyse novel because it is
informative. I can gain a lot of information about the author’s ideas and the issues
presented in a particular novel. Novel is described as “a lengthy fictitious prose
narrative portraying character and presenting an organized series of events and
setting. Every novel is an account of life; every novel involves conflict,
characters, actions, setting, plot and themes” (Shaw 257). Novel is the medium the
author uses to share his/her experiences or things that happen in their society.
One of the authors who deals with the society is Chitra Banerjee
Divakaruni, an Indian author. All of her works focus on the roles of women,
mostly Indian women, living in India or America. She conveys their struggle to
adjust themselves to the new ways of life when they have to confront the culture
and traditions that strongly tie them. Some of her works receive awards such as
from Francisco San Chronicle, The Vine of Desire (Best Books of 2002), Mrs.
Dutta Writes a Letter (Best American Short Stories, 1999), The Master of Spices
(The Best Paperbacks of 1998, Los Angeles Times), Arranged Married (American
1
Maranatha Christian University
Book Award, 1996 and PEN Oakland/Josephine Miles Award, 1996).(Chitra
Banerjee Divakaruni)
I choose to analyse Divakaruni’s Sister of My Heart in this thesis. Sister of
My Heart is an expansion of and variation of one of her stories The Ultrasound. I
choose this novel because this novel focuses on the limitation that the Indian
women have in their life because of their gender and social background. Through
this novel, Divakaruni emphasizes on how Indian women deal with their problems
because of their gender, social background, and the treatment of the society.
Furthermore, through this novel, Divakaruni portrays two different female
major characters. The first one, Shuda is a woman who comes from a lower caste.
She is simply lucky because of her beauty. She is portrayed as someone who
holds the tradition and in the end has to suffer from of it. The second one, Anju, is
portrayed as a rebellious woman. She comes from a higher caste and is known to
be someone who speaks her mind openly although she has to bear the
consequences of her being rebellious. Through the way Divakaruni portrays
them, the reader can see that there are pressures toward Indian women despite
their position.
As Robert has mentioned, a character is a “verbal representation of a
human being as presented to us by authors through the depiction of actions,
conversations, descriptions, reactions, inner thought and reflections, and also
thorough the author’s own interpretative commentary” (66). Therefore, I would
like to analyse the portrayal of female major characters, Shuda and Anju, because
2
Maranatha Christian University
their characteristics are very unique and interesting as they both portray two types
of Indian women, who suffer from the society and the oppression of the tradition.
Statements of the Problem are:
1. How are the female major characters portrayed in the novel?
2. What is the purposes of the author in portraying the female major
characters in the novel?
Purpose of the Study
Based on the statement of the problem above, this study is conducted:
1. To show how the female major characters are portrayed in the novel.
2. To show the purpose of the author in portraying the female major
characters in the novel.
Method of Research
The method of research I use in writing this thesis is library research. I
begin by reading Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni’s Sister of My Heart as the primary
text. Furthermore, I gather some resources and references taken from books and
the internet to support my analysis. Finally, I draw some conclusion of what has
been discussed.
3
Maranatha Christian University
Organization of the Thesis
This
thesis
consists
of
four
chapters
preceded
by
Abstract,
Acknowledgement, and Table of Content. Chapter One is the Introduction, which
consists of 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. Chapter Two is the Analysis of the Portrayal of Female Major Characters
in Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni’s Sister of My Heart. Chapter Three is the
Conclusion, followed by the Bibliography and the Appendices, which consist of
the Synopsis of Sister of My Heart and the Biography of Chitra Banerjee
Divakaruni.
4
Maranatha Christian University
CHAPTER THREE
CONCLUSION
In this chapter, I am going to draw a conclusion from the analysis in the
previous chapter. From the analysis, I can see that both female major characters
are from different social backgrounds. Shuda comes from a lower caste that
cannot do so many things for herself. She only succumbs to her fate. Shuda only
dreams of having a happy family, marrying a good man, having children and
being a good wife. Different from Shuda, Anju is portrayed as a woman who
comes from high caste. She is completely different from her cousin Shuda. It can
be seen from their characteristics and their way of thinking. Shuda is more likely
to succumb to the restrictive traditional Indian culture. Anju is rebellious, which is
probably because of her family wealth and social position that makes her dare to
rebel against the traditional Indian culture.
The other difference is that Anju is an open-minded person. Anju
considers education as an important thing for her life while Shuda considers
education as an unimportant thing because Shuda thinks it is not necessary for to
be educated because she comes from the lower caste.
19
Maranatha Christian University
Out of their differences, it is also clearly shown in the analysis that Shuda
and Anju posses similar characteristics. They are caring persons. I believe that this
is one characteristic that helps their life. Their supportive relationship, despite
their status and social standing, has helped them to overcome the oppression.
Even though they posses some differences on their social background and their
portrayal but they have an inseparable friendship. It makes them treat each other
kindly. They care to show how much they love each other. In my opinion, the way
Divakruni shows their inseparable friendship conveys that, through their
friendship, both of them can support each other and change their life into a better
one. Anju helps Shuda change her characteristic from being dependent into
independent.
Shuda is an interesting character. Her characteristic shows the stereotype
of Indian women in general who always obey the rules of the tradition and culture.
On the other hand, in the end of the story the readers find that she changes from
submissive to rebellious one. She dares to change when problem strikes her. She
rebels by running away from her husband and his family, and decides to be a
single mother. It makes her become an independent woman. It shows that women
also have limitations for their obedience. They also have a chance to have a proper
life and not to live control. From Shuda’s characteristic, Indian women can be
aware that they have chance to change to be someone better.
According to me, Anju is also an interesting character. She is different
from the stereotype of Indian women. She is portrayed as a rebellious woman
from the beginning till the end of this novel. It shows that there are some of Indian
20
Maranatha Christian University
women who can not accept their existence and who have to live under the rules
and traditions. It can be seen from Anju’s characteristic. She is known for
speaking her mind. She is an open minded person. She is more likely to accept a
new culture. Furthermore, Anju’s characteristic can make other women in India
realize that they can be anything they want.
I think Shuda and Anju represent Indian women, who live under tradition
and culture which tied their life strongly. From their story, the readers will realize
that even though they live in a modern life, they are still expected to hold the old
tradition. Moreover, according to me, from Shuda and Anju’s story, the readers
will know that women always be the victim of the society. They are treated
differently because of their gender and social background. They should be inferior
because of their gender.
Through the female protagonists in the novel the readers also find that
women’s obedience also have limitations. In addition, through Anju and Shuda’s
life the readers can find that one’s condition has impact to someone’s life. One
can change one's condition to be better if one wants to change and is supported by
one's surrounding.
In my opinion, Divakaruni is successful to convey her brilliant ideas in
this novel. The way she mixes the ideas between traditional Indian culture, social
background and gender makes this novel sound extraordinary. Besides that the
way she describes the idea by using poetic language, makes the readers not feel
bored reading this novel. She is also successful to convey his idea through the
way she portrays the female major characters Anju and Shuda.
21
Maranatha Christian University
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Primary text:
Divakaruni, ChitraBanerjee. Sister of My Heart. California: Anchor Books, 1999.
References:
“Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni”. Biography. 2009. 12 Aug 2009
Roberts,Edard V. Writing About Literature. 2003. New Jersey: Pearson
Education, Inc.
Shaw, Harry. Dictionary of Literary Terms. New York: McGraw-Hill Paperback,
1976
“Sister of My heart: A Novel (paperback)” Sister of My Heart (hard cover). 2006.
7 Aug. 2009
“Woman empowerment” Indian women 010. 15 Apr. 2010.
Dalam penulisan tugas akhir untuk memenuhi persyaratan memperoleh
gelar sarjana Sastra Inggris di Fakultas Sastra Inggris Universitas Kristen
Maranatha, saya menganalisis novel karya Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni yang
berjudul Sister of My Heart. Hal yang akan saya analisis dari novel ini adalah
karakter dari dua wanita yang menjadi tokoh utama dan cara karakter mereka
digambarkan serta tujuan dari sang pengarang menggambarkan karakter tersebut.
Novel Sister of My Heart adalah novel yang bercerita tentang dua wanita
India yang memiliki karakter yang berbeda namun memiliki persahabatan yang
tak terpisahkan oleh apapun. Shuda adalah nama salah satu tokoh wanita utama
dari novel ini. Dia adalah wanita penurut, berasal dari golongan kasta rendah.
Sedangkan Anju digambarkan sebagai wanita yang pemberontak, berasal dari
keluarga yang berada, serta golongan kasta atas. Anju digambarkan berbeda
dengan wanita India pada umumnya.
Melalui novel ini, sang pengarang mencoba menceritakan mengenai
keadaan wanita India pada jaman sekarang yang masih dituntut mematuhi semua
peraturan yang sangat mengekang. Juga mengenai perjuangan mereka untuk
mendapatkan kehidupan yang layak.
iii
Maranatha Christian University
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
i
TABLE OF CONTENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
ii
ABSTRACT
.................................................
iii
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Statement of the Problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Purpose of the Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Methods of Research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Organization of the Thesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1
3
3
3
4
CHAPTER TWO: ANALYSIS OF THE PORTRAYAL OF THE FEMALE
MAJOR CHARACTERS IN CHITRA BANERJEE DIVAKARUNI’S
SISTER OF MY HEART
..............................
5
CHAPTER THREE: CONCLUSION
............................
19
............................................
22
APPENDICES:
Synopsis of Sister of My Heart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Biography of Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
...................
23
25
BIBLIOGRAPHY
ii
Maranatha Christian University
APPENDICES
Synopsis of Sister of My Heart
Sister of My Heart is a novel which is concerned with two cousins named
Shuda and Anju. They were born on the same day and grow up together in the
same house in Calcutta India. People in the surroundings consider them twins
because they always get together. They experience everything such as love, joy,
and pain. They have to hold the traditional cultures that exist in their family,
traditions which give them some limitation.
In this novel, the author tries to portray Shuda and Anju as two different
characters and social background. Anjali / Anju loves book, is known for speaking
her mind, stubborn comes from a higher caste. Basudha / Sudha comes from a
lower caste, a storyteller and dreamer, and is known for her beauty.
When Shuda is aware of the secret about the death of their father, their
friendship is tested. Shuda starts blaming herself and tries to stay away from Anju.
Suddenly they have to face the hardest thing in their life when their family goes
through the economic problem. Therefore, they have to be involved into an
arranged marriage that makes Shuda and Anju apart. They get married on the
same day. Shuda will move in with her husband and mother-in-law, who lives in
23
Maranatha Christian University
another part of India. Shuda finds herself to suffer from the bad treatment from
her husband’s family. Anju has to follow her husband, who work in America and
she decides to go to college there. At the end of the story, they get together again
because they realize that they need to rely on each other again for strength and
support.
24
Maranatha Christian University
Biography of the Author
Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni was born in India 1956. She studied in Calcutta
University, B.A until 1976 and after that she decided to go to the United States
and pursued her study in Wright State University for Master of Art in 1985. She
gets her Ph.D from University of California, Berkeley in 1989.
Divakaruni is a famous writer. She writes novels, poems, and short stories.
Some of her novels are Shadoland (2009), The Palace of Illusions (2008), The
Mirror of Fire and Dreaming (2005), Neela: Victory Song (2009), Sister of My
heart (1999), The Mistress of Spices (1997),Her short stories are The Unknown
Errors of our Lives(2001), Arranged Marriage (1995), And her poetry are Leaving
Yuba City(1997), Black Candle (1991), The Reason for Nasturtiums(1990).Most
of her works are focused on the same theme, which are about the roles of women
in India and America. In her every work, she tries to show the readers how the
characters of her works adjust to the two different cultures and about the
complexities of love between family members, lovers, and friends. Although she
always focuses on that cliché subject matter of South Asian, she has a great trick
by using an unusual poetic language which attracts the readers to enjoy the story
through the beauty of her writing.
25
Maranatha Christian University
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study
Out of three literary genres, I decide to analyse novel because it is
informative. I can gain a lot of information about the author’s ideas and the issues
presented in a particular novel. Novel is described as “a lengthy fictitious prose
narrative portraying character and presenting an organized series of events and
setting. Every novel is an account of life; every novel involves conflict,
characters, actions, setting, plot and themes” (Shaw 257). Novel is the medium the
author uses to share his/her experiences or things that happen in their society.
One of the authors who deals with the society is Chitra Banerjee
Divakaruni, an Indian author. All of her works focus on the roles of women,
mostly Indian women, living in India or America. She conveys their struggle to
adjust themselves to the new ways of life when they have to confront the culture
and traditions that strongly tie them. Some of her works receive awards such as
from Francisco San Chronicle, The Vine of Desire (Best Books of 2002), Mrs.
Dutta Writes a Letter (Best American Short Stories, 1999), The Master of Spices
(The Best Paperbacks of 1998, Los Angeles Times), Arranged Married (American
1
Maranatha Christian University
Book Award, 1996 and PEN Oakland/Josephine Miles Award, 1996).(Chitra
Banerjee Divakaruni)
I choose to analyse Divakaruni’s Sister of My Heart in this thesis. Sister of
My Heart is an expansion of and variation of one of her stories The Ultrasound. I
choose this novel because this novel focuses on the limitation that the Indian
women have in their life because of their gender and social background. Through
this novel, Divakaruni emphasizes on how Indian women deal with their problems
because of their gender, social background, and the treatment of the society.
Furthermore, through this novel, Divakaruni portrays two different female
major characters. The first one, Shuda is a woman who comes from a lower caste.
She is simply lucky because of her beauty. She is portrayed as someone who
holds the tradition and in the end has to suffer from of it. The second one, Anju, is
portrayed as a rebellious woman. She comes from a higher caste and is known to
be someone who speaks her mind openly although she has to bear the
consequences of her being rebellious. Through the way Divakaruni portrays
them, the reader can see that there are pressures toward Indian women despite
their position.
As Robert has mentioned, a character is a “verbal representation of a
human being as presented to us by authors through the depiction of actions,
conversations, descriptions, reactions, inner thought and reflections, and also
thorough the author’s own interpretative commentary” (66). Therefore, I would
like to analyse the portrayal of female major characters, Shuda and Anju, because
2
Maranatha Christian University
their characteristics are very unique and interesting as they both portray two types
of Indian women, who suffer from the society and the oppression of the tradition.
Statements of the Problem are:
1. How are the female major characters portrayed in the novel?
2. What is the purposes of the author in portraying the female major
characters in the novel?
Purpose of the Study
Based on the statement of the problem above, this study is conducted:
1. To show how the female major characters are portrayed in the novel.
2. To show the purpose of the author in portraying the female major
characters in the novel.
Method of Research
The method of research I use in writing this thesis is library research. I
begin by reading Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni’s Sister of My Heart as the primary
text. Furthermore, I gather some resources and references taken from books and
the internet to support my analysis. Finally, I draw some conclusion of what has
been discussed.
3
Maranatha Christian University
Organization of the Thesis
This
thesis
consists
of
four
chapters
preceded
by
Abstract,
Acknowledgement, and Table of Content. Chapter One is the Introduction, which
consists of 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. Chapter Two is the Analysis of the Portrayal of Female Major Characters
in Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni’s Sister of My Heart. Chapter Three is the
Conclusion, followed by the Bibliography and the Appendices, which consist of
the Synopsis of Sister of My Heart and the Biography of Chitra Banerjee
Divakaruni.
4
Maranatha Christian University
CHAPTER THREE
CONCLUSION
In this chapter, I am going to draw a conclusion from the analysis in the
previous chapter. From the analysis, I can see that both female major characters
are from different social backgrounds. Shuda comes from a lower caste that
cannot do so many things for herself. She only succumbs to her fate. Shuda only
dreams of having a happy family, marrying a good man, having children and
being a good wife. Different from Shuda, Anju is portrayed as a woman who
comes from high caste. She is completely different from her cousin Shuda. It can
be seen from their characteristics and their way of thinking. Shuda is more likely
to succumb to the restrictive traditional Indian culture. Anju is rebellious, which is
probably because of her family wealth and social position that makes her dare to
rebel against the traditional Indian culture.
The other difference is that Anju is an open-minded person. Anju
considers education as an important thing for her life while Shuda considers
education as an unimportant thing because Shuda thinks it is not necessary for to
be educated because she comes from the lower caste.
19
Maranatha Christian University
Out of their differences, it is also clearly shown in the analysis that Shuda
and Anju posses similar characteristics. They are caring persons. I believe that this
is one characteristic that helps their life. Their supportive relationship, despite
their status and social standing, has helped them to overcome the oppression.
Even though they posses some differences on their social background and their
portrayal but they have an inseparable friendship. It makes them treat each other
kindly. They care to show how much they love each other. In my opinion, the way
Divakruni shows their inseparable friendship conveys that, through their
friendship, both of them can support each other and change their life into a better
one. Anju helps Shuda change her characteristic from being dependent into
independent.
Shuda is an interesting character. Her characteristic shows the stereotype
of Indian women in general who always obey the rules of the tradition and culture.
On the other hand, in the end of the story the readers find that she changes from
submissive to rebellious one. She dares to change when problem strikes her. She
rebels by running away from her husband and his family, and decides to be a
single mother. It makes her become an independent woman. It shows that women
also have limitations for their obedience. They also have a chance to have a proper
life and not to live control. From Shuda’s characteristic, Indian women can be
aware that they have chance to change to be someone better.
According to me, Anju is also an interesting character. She is different
from the stereotype of Indian women. She is portrayed as a rebellious woman
from the beginning till the end of this novel. It shows that there are some of Indian
20
Maranatha Christian University
women who can not accept their existence and who have to live under the rules
and traditions. It can be seen from Anju’s characteristic. She is known for
speaking her mind. She is an open minded person. She is more likely to accept a
new culture. Furthermore, Anju’s characteristic can make other women in India
realize that they can be anything they want.
I think Shuda and Anju represent Indian women, who live under tradition
and culture which tied their life strongly. From their story, the readers will realize
that even though they live in a modern life, they are still expected to hold the old
tradition. Moreover, according to me, from Shuda and Anju’s story, the readers
will know that women always be the victim of the society. They are treated
differently because of their gender and social background. They should be inferior
because of their gender.
Through the female protagonists in the novel the readers also find that
women’s obedience also have limitations. In addition, through Anju and Shuda’s
life the readers can find that one’s condition has impact to someone’s life. One
can change one's condition to be better if one wants to change and is supported by
one's surrounding.
In my opinion, Divakaruni is successful to convey her brilliant ideas in
this novel. The way she mixes the ideas between traditional Indian culture, social
background and gender makes this novel sound extraordinary. Besides that the
way she describes the idea by using poetic language, makes the readers not feel
bored reading this novel. She is also successful to convey his idea through the
way she portrays the female major characters Anju and Shuda.
21
Maranatha Christian University
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Primary text:
Divakaruni, ChitraBanerjee. Sister of My Heart. California: Anchor Books, 1999.
References:
“Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni”. Biography. 2009. 12 Aug 2009
Roberts,Edard V. Writing About Literature. 2003. New Jersey: Pearson
Education, Inc.
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