CHAPTER II

Woman as a Self-hood in The Thousand Faces of Night

The topic of the self has long been salient in feminist philosophy, for it is pivotal to

questions about personal identity, the body, sociality, and agency that feminism must address.

Simone de Beauvoir’s provocative declaration, “He is the Subject, he is the Absolute—she is

the Other” (Beauvoir 18), signals the central importance of the self for feminism. To be the

Other is to be a non-subject, a non-agent—in short, a mere thing. Women’s selfhood has been

systematically subordinated or even outright denied by law, customary practice, and cultural

stereotypes. Throughout history, women have been identified either as inferior versions of

men or as their direct opposite, characterized through their perceived differences from men;

in both cases, women have been denigrated on the basis of these views. In words of

Shakespeare woman is described: “Frailty, thy name is woman!” (Hamlet, Act I, Scene ii).

According to Nietzsche, “woman is the diversion of the hero’’ (Ibid. 44). But D.H

Lawrence’s woman is neither a diversion nor a prey; “she is not an object confronting a

subject, but a pole necessary for the existence of pole of the opposite sigh’’ (Ibid. 245). We

live in a society and interact with and express ourselves to our fellow men and women

through language which gives way to creating literature. It means that society is the subject of

the literature, i.e., literature is the mirror of the society. It expresses social sympathies and

influences our society too. Novels have also changed the direction of our thought. Thus,

literature is created by the society. It is the reflection of our society. But the role of a writer in

creating literature cannot be underestimated. The quality and nature of literary work depends

on the writer’s attitude of mind. They not only receive from the society but return it back to

the society. The show the real face of society and various aspects of life is also revealed. A

writer also intervenes through his/her work to reform the society we live in. There are two
types of writers: conservative minded writers will emphasise the traditional ways of life.

They will respect and have faith on age old ideas and ways of life. While progressive writers

will not believe on age old practice rather, they will show that these traditional ideas are only

curtailment of natural freedom of man and woman. Githa Hariharan is among such ever–

memorable progressive writer who has firmly expressed the complex relationship of culture

and its art. She is a progressive writer who not only rejects her ties from the society but

through her works simultaneously reveal the suppressed feelings and sufferings of women in

patriarchy and at the same time attempt to celebrate feminine selfhood and freedom.

The Thousand Faces of Night is Githa Hariharan’s maiden novel for which she was

awarded the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize in 1993 and with this award she has marked her

indelible presence in the realm of Indian English Fiction. In this novel, she has depicted the

lives of Indian women, who are still struggling for establishing their identity in society which

is still unfortunately patriarchal by nature. While portraying the lives of three different

generations of Indian women, she dextrously interweaves the stories of these women with the

stories of some of the prominent women of Indian mythology, re-structuring and re-shaping

ancient mythical stories, projecting them in a contemporary perspective. She pours out her

heart for those poor women who are still struggling to come to terms with their own destiny

by demanding a life of equality and liberty in a male dominated society. Commenting upon

the theme of the novel, D. Balapriyadarshini remarks:

The novel portrays women as vulnerable individuals carving for life and

understanding while all the time being victims of their own gender makes the

novel move on to arrive at varying levels of intellectual self-realization that

enable the characters to either attain liberation or reconciliation through self-

knowledge. The novelist traces the battles of woman in her relationship with man
 and society not to urban existential angst but to times immemorial unlike other

writers such as Anita Desai and Shashi Deshpande (204).

Feminist Perspectives on the Self:

The Thousand Faces of Night is confronted at the very outset with a question which

makes the work stand out. It shows couples ‘surviving’ and ‘existing’ with each other, in a

social framework of marriage in Indian society. To them, marriage is a social obligation, a

necessity and therefore desirable and inevitable. However, it has nothing to do with love,

sentiments and emotions. It is all about duties of a wife towards her husband and his family,

who in turn have almost no duty or obligation towards her except for accommodating her in a

family in which she is expected to serve. Githa Hariharan shows that the situation is the same

for an educated modern young woman of today who has lived abroad all alone, and for an

educated or uneducated housewife of earlier generation. The novel has subversive method

adopted in the expression and storytelling mode.

In literature, feminism has a multifaceted approach. It has touched almost all paths of

life revealing its progressive elements in varied forms of literature, fine arts and culture.

Feminism as a phenomenon has wider ramifications, both in short stories and novels. In the

coeval modern literature, both in the west and the east, feminism has affected various

dimensions in an interesting manner. Feminism has reflected upon women’s aspirations, their

rights and responsibilities with a new progressive aspect. Mostly Indian women writers have

aptly described identity crisis in Indian life. The feminist consciousness of modern women

writers in India is a unique phenomenon revealing anger, grief and revolt against the system.

The women writers have tried to reveal dilemma and conflict of the inner mind of Indian

womanhood. The study of emerging images of women is a core reflection of Indian women’s

writings. Gender consciousness of Indian women writer is distinctly different from that of the

western women writers. How Indian women writers respond to feminism could be examined
by conducting case study of Indian women writers. In this work, writings of Githa Hariharan

have been studied with a feminist perspective. In the present chapter Githa Hariharan’s ice

breaking novel The Thousand Faces of Night which is a true revelation of identity crisis of

Indian women has been dealt with. This chapter portrays Githa Hariharan’s attempt in

presenting reality of the women of today’s generation and their composite portrait has their

own reality.

It is more significant to understand Githa Hariharan’s different works under feminist

outlook. A totally new approach has been adopted for understanding feminist reflection in

Githa Hariharan’s works. In the age of globalization, women are suffering more in a country

like India as the process of victimization of women still continues in the traditional society.

Globalization has further aggravated many issues of serious nature in a complex form. In the

post modernism phase, women suffer more. In the traditional social structure, women were

always neglected and now in the post globalized period, her images are further misused for

marketing by the media and entertainment industry. The spectrum of feminism reflected in

Githa Hariharan’s works can be examined as part of this wider viewpoint. Githa Hariharan

mainly focuses on the ceaseless quest for self-realization and liberation from the rigid social

structure in which the Indian woman is a constant and endless sufferer. Earlier there was a

conflict between tradition and modernity. Further, sometimes religious fanatics versus

progressive vision of social justice are also reflected in literature. A study of women’s quest

for feminism has been explored in this chapter with a special reference to The Thousand

Faces of Night. Dr. Padmini and S.K. Sudha have rightly observed that:

In The Thousand Faces of Night Githa Hariharan sensitively portrays the

condition of Indian women caught between tradition and modernity. She

diligently captures their split consciousness as a result of which we find through a

individuality. (126)

Every work of fiction by Githa Hariharan truly manifests seeds of feminism, deeply

rooted in her philosophical base. A cross cultural section of Indian society is depicted in her

novels of female. She is a voice of women. Through her writings, she has portrayed the

protagonists in the society. The Thousand Faces of Night focuses on Devi, the protagonist

who undergoes identity crisis. This identity crisis can be witnessed in the stylistic

representations that Githa Hariharan has ably made. The story of the novel centres around the

character of Devi, who represents predicament in the mind of typical Indian women. Devi,

after her post-tertiary education, from America comes home to Madras with the memory of

her black American lover, Dan.

The character of the protagonist is woven to reveal progressive feminist ideas. Devi,

the central character is neither an ideal woman like her mother, Sita, nor is she spiritually

superior as her mother-in-law. She is an ordinary woman; an educated modern Indian woman

who is prone to desires and ambitions in the society of her own times. She belongs to act, to

take a controlled status of a wife in married life and does not make a compromise with her

biological and emotional needs. Devi represents the modern educated Indian woman whose

beliefs and perceptions of women spring from the consciousness of the past as well as her

intellect and desire for self-satisfaction. The struggle between the values of past and present

truly throws to the world human beings’ dependent nature and narrowly defined social roles

of passive sufferers reflected in this novel.

The success of this novel lies in the social realities mirrored by Githa Hariharan. Devi

is depicted as an independent individual who does not fall prey to passive suffering. She is

ready to reach compromise and adjustment with a sense of loss when she decides to stay with
her mother, Sita. The novel presents Devi as a woman with whom one can identify-

intelligent, questioning women, who are not content with statuesque.

The Intersectional and Multiplicities Self:

The study of Githa Hariharan as a feminist writer is undertaken by understanding her

approach based on her philosophy. Devi’s mental faculty is shaped under the influential

effect of mythological and historical stories narrated to her by her grandmother in her

childhood and her practical exposure to the real living world around her. The novel adopts

psycho analytical approach in its narration.

The Thousand Faces of Night is not an exception to these stories. Feminism is a revolt

against male-dominated society. After marriage, the status of woman changes. With arranged

marriage, she plugs in to a world of disillusionment, and The Thousand Faces of Night is set

largely on her treatment of Indian ‘wife’ in a modern life, the most thorough and accurate in

Indian literature. Her achievement is all the more significant in that so few writers have

presented the traditional package that a woman carries with whom many Indian women can

identify-complex, intelligent, questioning, the women who are not content with their

incurable life and who rebel against the established order. Devi has accepted as a bride her

talent but it is curse for her. Her father-in-law orders her in anger to put away her ‘Veena’

because, according to him, she is neglecting her duty as a wife and as a daughter-in-law.

Sita’s training as an Indian girl prevents her from asserting her individuality. She is like a

volcano, seething with rage inside, but presenting a cool and calm exterior. She gives up her

passion for music. She never picks up the Veena again, which was a part of her dowry. It is

true that, “Philosophizing and thinking … outside and making possible, yet impossible to

assimilate to male reason, matter is what makes women an identity and an experience of their

own, forever apart from male power and male concepts.” (Nawale 229)
 Githa Hariharan has revolted against the male dominated society. She has depicted

social reality in the multi-cultural society. She has been successful because she manages to

bring together the personal and the cultural. Myth criticism also holds promise for scholars

interested in how various ethnic groups, especially minorities, can maintain their own

traditions and at the same time interacts with other mythologies. In this novel, a Mayamma is

the housekeeper who represents a local ethnic group and Devi a woman who knows her voice

and persona.

Devi wants to humiliate Mahesh by condemning him to a life without child and wife.

Thus, she registers her protest by walking out on Mahesh:

Humiliating Mahesh. ... I do something bloody, final, a mark of protest worthy of

the heroines I grew up with. ... You have trampled on your marital vows. I say

like Ganga. For that you will be left alone, without wife or child. I will gather

together the fragments which pass for my life, however laughably empty and

insignificant, and embark on my first real journey...I can learn to be a woman at

last. I will soar high on the crest of Gopal’s wave of ragas. (TFN 75)

This characteristic of Devi shows that individually she is able to take a decision and

cross the bindings of society, which she has learnt from her grandmother through her

childhood. The study of Githa Hariharan’s feminist approach is conducted on these lines as

Shukla Kaushik says that Devi in the novel shows how an Indian woman displays “a multiple

existence” (28).

Feminism has been proclaimed not only as a philosophy but also as a way of life by

Githa Hariharan; in her novels she has selected woman images of three different phases. The

story presents three generations of women-each representing their generation and tradition. It

can be said that while the grandmother represents the traditional woman and Devi the modern

contemporary woman, Devi’s mother is a bridge between these two. Githa Hariharan has a
fusion of tradition and modernity reflected in her novels. The dilemma between the values is

depicted in the fiction. The critic referred to above remarks, that Githa Hariharan shows the

significance of the myths from the Indian epics from where the Indian women draw their role

models which focus on their pride, chastity and self-sacrifice.

Githa Hariharan’s feminist view shows how Indian women can be liberated from the

shackles of outmoded and debilitating tradition of dark ages against which the women are

suppressed to accept crushing and superstitious traditions. The novelist presents Devi’s

psychic impasse and presents a paradigm of her divided self in the present crisis and depicts

Devi’s psychological lock dead through the break-down of her light mental defences. She

recognizes the intent of her vulnerability and weakness as a woman, her relationship with two

men, Dan and Gopal. The Thousand Faces of Night is a narrative story of Indian woman

written in a subtle and tender style to project the subordinate role of women in the male

dominated orthodox society.

The Thousand Faces of Night was widely appreciated by critics for Githa Hariharan’s

feminist approach and the fiction came on the right time in 1992, when feminism was making

way ahead in India. By 1960s feminist criticism had become an emerging trend in the world.

Feminist critics in this age were searching for creative works of high reputation which

were proclaiming women’s rights and their issues. Githa Hariharan penned her works at the

right time. The wide-ranging critics of cultural identities rose to the forefront and they were

trying to understand the essence of women writers in a righteous manner. In this process after

two decades, there was the emergence of a feminist writer in South Asian sub-continent,

known Githa Hariharan The Thousand Faces of Night is a novel that exposes bitter truth in an

authentic manner.

Githa Hariharan has narrated a true picture of Indian womanhood in a pathetic manner

to unveil the truthful realities in it. There was a radical change in the power shift in 1990s and
that led to the rise of feminism. Michel Foucault points out that, “All knowledge is

contextually bound and produce within a field of shifting power relations was a formula of

the rise of feminism proclaimed.” (Leavy 89)

Feminism is the focal point of Githa Hariharan’s creative force omnipresent in all her

novels in general and The Thousand Faces of Night in specific. Githa Hariharan is making a

critical analysis of Indian myths and presenting the reality. For Devi, it is companionship.

She feels “A marriage cannot be forced into suddenly being there, it must grow gradually like

a delicate but promising sapling” (TFN 49). She wonders how the acute businessman’s eyes

with all their shrewd power really be weak sighted that he does not see that it is too early for

quietness and too soon for the “companionship of habits” (49). Devi feels that her education

has not prepared her for “The vast, yawning middle chapters of her womanhood.” (54)

Githa Hariharan has rightly pointed out various myths of Indian womanhood and she

has ably uncovered them in her creative exihibits. Vithu Mohan has rightly “wondered what

would happen to ordinary women, when Sita was exiled for none of her faults and had give

fire proof for her chastity. Droupadi was humiliated with “cheer Haran” and Gargi, Maitreyi

had “Shastrath” with man.” Githa Hariharan has unfailingly answered these questions in a

befitting manner and has portrayed miseries of the common woman in her fiction. Vithu

Mohan has noted that the value of women’s worth mirrors the value of society.

Githa Hariharan has brought in the essence of Indian feminism in the bird’s eye view.

She has displayed Indian myths and turned them down into reality. She has tried to cover

different approaches of Indian womanhood. Indian women are entwined with such fallacious

images and Githa Hariharan has tried to give exposure to these myths in her works. The

concept of feminine worth is an index of the individual and collective role of women in

society. It represents the values of the society in relation to women and their attainments.

Devi’s grandmother recounts several mythical tales about many mythological women, their
attitude, exploits and achievements. So here Devi has her own opinion and aspiration

regarding her life. This attitude towards the life can be observed in her personality. Therefore,

Devi says in the Prelude to the novel, “I must have asked grandmother why? Thousands of

times?” (TFN 75) Githa Hariharan has illustrated this fact in her novel. Githa Hariharan’s

feminist approach has her own philosophical vantage point evolved by a creative writer.

About feminist reflections of Githa Hariharan, it has been pointed that

We find the women depicted in the novel, struggle for their survival and to

endure the trials of their womanhood. The means chosen by the women might be

different but they all are means of survival they could fashion for themselves.

(Nawale 203)

The struggle of existence of women is the quintessence of Githa Hariharan’s novel.

The quest of Githa Hariharan in search of feminism has been largely successful in her first

novel which has brought her to line light of the world of Indian literature.

Patriarchy in The Thousand Faces of Night:

Patriarchy literally means ‘rule of the father in a male-dominated family’. It is

a social and ideological construct which considers men as superior to women. Patriarchy is

based on a system of power relations which are hierarchical and unequal where men control

women’s production, reproduction and sexuality. It imposes masculinity and femininity

character stereotypes in the society which strengthen the iniquitous power relations between

men and women. Patriarchy is not constant and gender relations which are dynamic and

complex have changed over the periods of history. Patriarchy is ‘father is the head of the

family.’

Indian society is traditional and caste based. The system of patriarchy has prevailed in

our society right from ancient Vedic period. The epics, ‘Ramayana’ and ‘Mahabharata’ also

express the feeling of patriarchy through different angles. Githa Hariharan has carefully
showed Indian social system and has depicted the patriarchy system in her novel, The

Thousand Faces of Night. Her depiction of patriarchy is based on her clear social inspection

and realistic social analysis. Githa Hariharan’s The Thousand Faces of Night is a fiction that

advocates feminist ideology. The theory of feminism is based on revolt against patriarchy

prevailing in human society. Patriarchy is an important character of Indian society because

Indian social structure is deeply rooted in customs and traditions. Woman is a mirror of

society and societal expressions to be accepted as women are part and parcel of family

culture.

This space search has been truly demonstrated by Githa Hariharan in her novel.

Subordination of women is due to patriarchal system. The logic of male theory is a base

behind the logic of patriarchy. The male mind is considered as superior to the female body,

therefore in the marriage market it does not get the same status as the male mind.

Male dominated features also appear in literature. Patriarchal power politics prevails

in every traditional society and family system as well. Women’s priorities are neglected by

men in their marital life.

In The Thousand Faces of Night, three women Devi, Mayyamma, Sita are all in the

crunch of patriarchy. Male bias of Hindu men helps women to see their culture through their

own eyes. This is what the novelist evokes in this novel. The study of Githa Hariharan’s

novel also shows how these differences are focused. Cultural structure in life has perpetuated

patriarchy. In India the cultural super sense today is based on patriarchy. The caste system

and patriarchy are related to these cultural standpoints. Women’s progress in society is not

from myth to truth but from myth to myth which has caused awe and terror in society.

The women, today, are facing many complex problems in our society. The Thousand

Faces of Night is full of such complex problems. Devi’s attempt to change old ideas into

modern concepts miserably fails. Devi’s character stands for victim of cunning patriarchy.
The relationship between patriarchy and culture is also shown by Githa Hariharan. Sita

suppresses the artist in her in order to achieve her aim in sending her unmarried daughter to

America. Thus, The Thousand Faces of Night is a novel example of women’s sufferings in

the patriarchal cultural matrix of Indian traditional society. In the novel, the author gives a

patriarchal example like Devi’s grandmother pretending to listen to the other heralds. It looks

like Devi, the princess would not be losing sight of her prince, finally she would get him

only, though others divert and tempt her for them on her way to achieve her goal.

The patriarchy in Indian society has exploited Indian woman and kept her in the

corner of Indian society and has kept her in an exploited situation. The patriarchy is a rigid

social system which is very much complex and makes women suffer to a great deal. The

cogitations made by Githa Hariharan are true, realistic and very much fearless. Her major

works wake up against this patriarchal system and demand social justice for women. Thus,

the patriarchy described by Githa Hariharan is an outcome of her serious investigation made

in to a systematic mode.

Self-hood of a Woman:

The novel begins with the arrival of its protagonist, Devi in India, who after

completing her higher education in the United States of America, returns home for the sake of

her widowed mother, Sita. In America, she, as a student, has lived a life, free from

responsibilities and worries, sharing her joys and sorrows with her friend, Dan, a black. Dan

is the classmate of Devi and loves her because of Devi`s genuine and simple nature.

Somewhere, at his heart, he also feels sympathy for Devi, as both belong to those

communities whose members had been the victims of racial discrimination in the past. Dan

insists on Devi`s not leaving America, as he wants to get married to Devi and for this, he

introduces Devi to his family.

every member of his family; she has some pre-conceived reservations against being accepted

as a daughter-in-law of a family which is completely different from her own, in respect of

traditional and cultural values. At her heart, she develops a suspicion against the family of

Dan, as she finds herself reluctant to accept a completely different culture and milieu from

her own.

Therefore, on being called by her mother, Sita, Devi returns to India and wants to

settle herself first by making a career of her own choice and establishing her own identity.

But here, in India, Sita has her own plans for her daughter`s future and keeps herself busy in

searching for a good husband for Devi, as she is now having a marriageable age and should

live a family life too. Devi, at this stage, is completely perplexed because after being

educated in the USA and having a friend of her own choice whom she could have got married

easily, here in India, while seeing her mother arranging a suitable match for her, she

questions the appropriateness and suitability of the arranged marriage. She gets confused

regarding the prospect of the arranged marriage, as how can she live her life with a person

who has been hitherto completely unfamiliar with Devi. She puts a question mark on the

enduring nature of the arranged marriage where both partners who have been unfamiliar with

each other up till then, start a familial relationship with each other.

Although Devi does not like the idea of the arranged marriage, for the sake of her

mother, she accepts the proposal of the arranged mother willingly. Devi`s mother, with her

own efforts, brings some good and reputed matches for her, as Devi`s father had expired

some years back and the onus of arranging a suitable match for Devi falls on her mother, who

advises her to choose one of the best life partners for her life.

In the course of time, Devi meets some prospective bridegrooms and finally, decides

to select Mahesh, a manager in a toothpaste company, as her life partner. In Mahesh`s family,
there are only his old father, who has been a professor of great repute of Sanskrit and his

sister Lalitha, now settled in the USA as well as, a servant cum caretaker of the house

Mayamma, who is an old lady, serving in the house, since she left her own house. Mahesh`s

mother Parvatiamma has abandoned her house forever and reason behind leaving her house

and family is still unknown to Mayamma and Mahesh but it is only his father who knows the

reasons of her abandoning the house. Before Devi gets married to Mahesh, Mahesh, in a

formal meeting, arranged by Devi`s mother, tells Devi about his own hectic life and the

nature of his job that keeps him busy enough, leaving nothing else to do. Before their

marriage, he tells Devi about her condition of sometimes being alone in the house, as he

frequently takes tours in respect of his business meetings. Devi accepts Mahesh`s proposal of

being his wife; finally, they get married and with a thrilling experience of newly wedded life,

Devi steps in Mahesh`s house as a young tender wife. At Mahesh`s home, she is greeted by

Mayamma and Baba, Devi`s father-in-law.

After the passage of some weeks at her new home, Devi, by degrees, starts realizing

that in this house, she does not have any serious kind of work to keep her engaged.

Mayamma, the maid, does all kinds of household work with perfect skill and leaves no work

for Devi, Devi, being the mistress of the house, needs only to guide Mayamma through her

work from time to time. Devi gradually, develops boredom and ennui, as she is highly

educated and trained abroad and here, in Mahesh`s house, she starts feeling lonely, when she

has nothing worthwhile to engage in. Mahesh keeps himself busy in his business tours and

drinking parties, leaving no space for newly wedded Devi. Mahesh, being a terribly busy

man, is unable to spend time with Devi, who being his wife, expects love and care from

Mahesh, as she finds it difficult to adjust to her newly married life. She, gradually,

experiences emptiness in her life and undergoes terrible disappointment and frustration

because of her lonesomeness in married life.

who keeps himself busy in reading ancient Sanskrit texts and listening to classical music.

Devi, generating interest in Sanskrit and Karnatic music, feels affection for her father-in-law

and regards him as her own father. Baba tells stories of saints and spiritual men to Devi from

Sanskrit texts, based on the role and characteristics of an ideal Indian wife instrumental in her

husband`s spiritual progress. With these stories Devi tries to seek some relief from her

frustrating loneliness and aspires to be an ideal wife, by imitating the inspiring stories,

narrated by her father-in-law. While listening to these stories from her father-in-law, Devi

compares these stories to those of her grandmother`s, which she listened to in her childhood.

Devi had grown up by listening to the stories of Gandhari, Amba, Kunti, told by her

grandmother.

Devi`s grandmother was a widow who owned large property and during her summer

vacation, every year Devi used to visit her grandmother along with her parents. Regarding her

grandmother`s stories, Devi remarks:

My grandmother`s stories were no ordinary bedtime stories. She chose each for a

particular occasion, a story in reply to each of my childish questions. She had an

answer for every question. But her answers were not simple: they had to be

decoded. A comparison had to be made, an illusion discovered, and a moral

drawn out. . . . Ideal moulds, impossibly ambitious, that challenged the puny to

stretch her frame and fit into the vast spaces, live up to her illustrious ancestor.

(TFN 27)

In her spare time Devi`s grandmother used to tell her stories of ancient mythical

women, hoping Devi to cherish her life on the basis of these ideal women. Stories relating to

Damayanti, Ganga and Amba were narrated by grandmother with great interest. The only

purpose of these stories, narrated by her grandmother, was to make Devi aware of lives of
these ideal women who enriched the glorious Indian tradition by their high ideals and moral

values so that Devi herself could get some inspiration for her future life as a wife and mother.

Devi, while comparing her grandmother`s stories to those of her father-in-law`s, remarks:

Baba`s stories remind me of my grandmother`s, but they are also different. They

are less spectacular, they ramble less. Her stories were a prelude to my

womanhood, an initiation into its subterranean possibilities. His define the limits.

His stories are for a woman who has already reached the goal that will determine

the guise her virtue will wear. They make one point in concise terms: that the

saint lived according to the laws of time-tested tradition. (TFN 51)

Devi`s father-in-law was an ideal son to his parents. Baba`s father “was a wealthy

man who owned acres and acres of fields” (TFN 51). Baba, her father-in-law, took no interest

in managing his ancestral wealth and earned fame in the field of Sanskrit literature, by being

a professor, an erudite man of literature. During his life, he received lots of awards and

medals for his stupendous performance in Sanskrit. When his mother insisted him on getting

married to a girl, he selected Parvati as his wife from among Hema, Mohana and other two

girls, because the name Parvati sounded synonymous with well- mannered cultured girl itself.

He never sees the girl before his marriage, as he believes in his mother’s wise choice. He

never questions the wisdom of his parents. His wife Parvati was an ideal wife and she

dedicatedly served Baba’s parents along with Baba. When her children had gone to a

boarding school, she devoted her all time to worship God. One day, when Baba was out of

home, for some work, she abandoned her home in search of God without giving prior

information, handing over the keys of the house to Mayamma and advising her to take care of

the house as well as her husband. When Baba returned, he was informed by Mayamma, of

Parvatiamma’s departure and he got shocked and remained speechless.

entitled to and, to her relief; there are only her father-in-law and an old maid Mayamma in the

house. Mahesh is extremely busy with his tours and meetings and has almost no time for

Devi. Gradually, Devi develops frustration in her mind and falls prey to loneliness, as her

husband has been unable to support her mentally. To rid herself of boredom, Devi tries to get

a job, seeing a post of research assistant in a newspaper.

But Mahesh does not like the idea of her working out of home. He says to Devi that

he himself is earning enough, so there is no need for Devi to go out of the house for work. He

diplomatically convinces Devi that he is earning handsome amount of money for her so she

only needs to manage her house well. Devi`s hope for getting a job dies very soon as her

husband refuses to accept her proposal of getting a job. Githa Hariharan has dexterously

delineated the conversation between Mahesh and Devi regarding Devi`s willingness for

accepting a job:

I must look for a job, I have so little to do, I said. My hands spread before me on

the table, palms upward and empty.

What can you do? Mahesh asked, like a ruthless interviewer stripping away the

inessential. When he says the words, they become true. What could I do?

I saw a post for research assistant advertised in the paper, I said.

You need at least one more degree for that, he said. And what will you do when

the baby comes. (TFN 64-65)

Devi`s proposal for getting a job is scornfully rejected by her husband and, like a

typical male of a patriarchal society, he thinks Devi`s boredom can be easily removed by a

child of her own; it is high time Devi got pregnant. Mahesh realises, instead of searching for

a job and going out of home, Devi should plan for a baby in order to make her life complete.

Mahesh`s this attitude unmasks a typical male-dominated thinking in our Indian society,
where a woman, after her marriage, is regarded as a child-bearing machine, having no

identity of her own, as an individual and if she fails to produce child, her whole womanhood

becomes questionable and a tag of 'barren’ is stuck to her permanently.

In Indian society, where patriarchal values are still prevailing, a woman has no

independent existence of her own and she, since her birth, is assigned to various roles such as

a daughter, a sister and a mother. Her individual existence as a human being is not acceptable

to society. Commenting upon the reasons of women`s such oppressed condition, Suma

Chitins opines:

The situation in India is altogether different. Indian society has always been

highly hierarchical. The several hierarchies within the family (of age, sex, ordinal

position, affinal and consanguinal kinship relationships) or within the community

(patriarchal caste, but also lineage, learning, wealth, occupation and relationship

with the ruling power) … a series of behavioural codes which bend superiors to

fulfil their obligation to their inferiors, and, above all, by a philosophy of self-

denial, and the cultural emphasis on sublimating the ego. (11)

Devi, unable to get Mahesh`s consent for a job, starts feeling frustrated and finds a

helping hand by her father-in-law, who tries to remove Devi`s loneliness by telling her the

stories from ancient classical tales of Sanskrit literature. Inspired by Baba`s tales Devi learns

to decide Sanskrit language. Meanwhile, Mahesh demands a child from her.

Devi is not mentally prepared to conceive a child, as she yearns for a companion for

her life with whom she can share sorrows and joys of her life, a friend who can spend some

time with her, who can take care of her. But Mahesh, due to his extreme business, is unable to

spend considerable time with Devi. Drinking parties, Golf and playing cards parties leaves no

space for Devi. Devi shows her reluctance to get pregnant and once again she wants to do

something worthwhile, which may keep her busy enough.

earning enough to fulfil their all needs and comforts and he needs someone who can manage

his house well. Devi in her own house feels suffocated and frustrated. Mahesh suggests Devi

to learn knitting and some more domestic skills from his colleague`s wife Tara, who is the

neighbour of Mahesh. Devi accepts Mahesh`s proposal and goes to Tara`s house to learn the

handicraft. But Devi in Tara`s house finds herself uncomfortable and alienated, a fish out of

water, among traditional housewives as she has been unable to maintain a proper

communication with others. She has been misconstrued as a woman of extreme pride by

other housewives. Devi, unable to strike a balance between herself and her married life,

thinks:

Am I a neurotic because I am a lazy woman who does not polish her floors every

day? An aimless fool because I swallowed my hard-earned education bitter and in

digestible when he tied the thali round my neck? A teasing bitch because I refuse

him my body when his hand reaches out; and dream instead in the spare room of

bodies tearing away their shadows and melting like liquid wax burnt by

moonlight? (TFN 74)

Devi feels helpless and powerless before the harrowing circumstances of her life and tries to

find out a solution to her problems. Meanwhile, Devi tries to keep herself busy by extending

a helping hand to Mayamma in household work.

Mayamma was a child when her father married her off with a man of his nearby

village. Mayamma is an illiterate woman, immature for her married life, when she comes to

her in-law`s house, she is still a child wrapped in her bridal attire. Her mother-in-law is a

typical traditional Indian woman who always dominates her, never allowed her to take any

decision of her own. When after the marriage for some years, Mayamma has been unable to

conceive, her mother- in-law becomes ruthless to her. Her mother-in-law, before her
marriage with her son, get it confirmed by many astrologers that her would-be daughter-in-

law, definitely bear strong and healthy children. But after passing of some years of her

marriage, when Mayamma shows no sign of motherhood, her mother-in-law loses her temper

with Mayamma and thrust upon her various hard rules and regulations, which make

Mayamma`s life even worse.

Mayamma, being a poor woman, is unable to show any protest and silently bears all

the tortures of her mother-in-law. Mayamma suffers doubly, first as a woman and second

having belonged to lower stratum of society. She has been a sufferer of atrocities of her cruel,

mother-in-law. Remembering the cruelty of her mother-in-law, she says:

You have been admiring your fine new sari, have you, continued the mocking

voice. What has your beauty done for you, you barren witch? She pulled up my

sari roughly, just as her son did every night, and smeared the burning red, freshly-

ground spices into my bareness. I burned; my thighs clamped together as I felt the

devouring fire cling to my entrails.

The next time it was my breast. Cut the right one open, here, take this blade. Take

the silver cup with the blood from your breast and bathe the lingam. (TFN 113)

Mayamma, during her young age, performs great penances and leads a life of

abstinence, only for the sake of just becoming a mother in order to carry the family`s name

ahead. Her mother-in-law is an orthodox, illiterate woman who thinks that only a son can

bring happiness to her family and it is her would-be grandson who would bring fame and

prosperity to her family. But when she sees her hope for getting a grandson diminishing, she

takes her irritation out on Mayamma. While advising Mayamma, her mother-in-law remarks:

“No, no, Maya. No rice for you today. It`s Friday. No rice today, no vegetables tomorrow, no

tamarind the day after. Stop thinking of food, daughter-in-law, think of your womb. Think of

your empty, rotting womb and pray” (TFN 114).

this every night, she has been forced by her husband to satiate his lust. Her husband is a

village lout, who in spite of having his wife, used to have extra marital relationship with other

women of his village as well. Every night, it has been an extremely traumatic experience for

Mayamma to undergo a sexual exploitation of this kind. About her husband, Mayamma

remarks: “He snorted like an angry bull. He pushed my sari aside even before my head

touched the pillow. I was silly little girl then, his grunting frightened me. If I turned away to

sleep, he held my hair tightly with one hand and hit me with the other.” (TFN 118)

Mayamma is brutally tortured by her husband and at the same time by her mother-in-

law for not producing a son also. After lots of sacrifices and penances, she gives birth to a son

and tries to take care of her son well. Her mother-in-law for some times becomes content, as

she finds a great solace and happiness in her grandson, whose father has been living a

lecherous life, having no concern for Mayamma.

As the time passes, squabbles between Mahesh and Devi become quite frequent, and

Devi starts realising that she has been entrapped into the web of arranged marriage. In spite

of Devi`s effort to be a good wife, Mahesh always finds fault with Devi and compares her

with her mother Sita, who in the eyes of Mahesh, has been an ideal wife and mother all her

life. On one occasion, he remarks: “Devi . . . did your mother need books to tell her how to be

a wife? I have never met a woman more efficient than your mother” (TFN 70).

Devi`s mother, Sitahas been an ideal wife and mother who dedicated all her life to the

betterment of her family, never expecting anything in return. Devi`s remark about her mother

is quite relevant to understand Sita`s genuine nature:

She has always been a strong self-willed woman; in my moments of anger, I

thought her selfish. But the image of her alone by the sea teased me like a

magnet. I saw, over and over again, her small frail figure, so eloquently upright,
 the smooth dark once-beautiful face, now devoid of that circle of red on her

forehead that the vision of wife, mother. I heard the low, modulated voice, at once

commanding and coaxing. I never dreamt of her as I did my father, craving for a

means to get closer to him. But she was always our anchor-rock, never wrong,

never to be questioned, a self-evident fact of our existence. (TFN 16)

Like traditional women of our society, she moulds herself according to the various traditional

roles imposed on her by her family. Her husband, a professor in a college, hardly had any

time for Sita, as he keeps himself busy in his studies and lectures, neglecting his duties

towards his wife and his family. Mahadevan symbolises patriarchy in our society, in which a

man is considered to be superior to a woman and in order to prove his dominance over her, he

exercises tremendous control over her. Mahadevan belongs to that category of men who

never try to know about the needs and wishes of their wives, always occupying to their own

aims of life. While describing Sita`s life, Githa Hariharan has presented a true vignette of

Indian women:

A few months after they were married, he found Sita in the kitchen at midnight,

ravenously eating the chapattis left over from dinner. He realised with shock that

she missed rice: all her life, she had eaten three square meals of rice. Marriage

had meant that Sita would have to learn to eat dry chapatis, which refused to go

down the throat like sticky, wet balls of mashed rice. This was the sort of detail

which overwhelmed Mahadevan. A woman did not complain, a woman who

knew how to make sacrifices without fanfare: Sita was such a woman, he thought,

and she had earned his unswerving loyalty. (TFN 103)

In the above-mentioned lines, the true picture of our most of the Indian households has been

represented with veracity. Most of the women in our society do not eat their dinner till all the

members of the family have taken their dinner and Sita is no exception to this. After the birth
of Devi, responsibilities towards her family increase and she devotes all her time to Devi to

inculcate good manners and behaviour into her, so that her daughter can be a well-mannered

educated girl. She takes proper care of Devi`s education and leaves no stone unturned for her

higher education.

Once her husband, Mahadevan passed away in Africa, Sita has come back to India for

the sake of her daughter, Devi. Sita has been a fine balance between tradition and modernity

who in spite of her adverse circumstances of life, never loses her self-control and symbolises

a woman of immense fortitude and determination at the time of crisis.

As the time passes, Mahesh`s demand for a child brings frustration and

disappointment in Devi`s conflicting life. On the insistence of Mahesh, she goes to a

gynaecologist who treats her for infertility. But Devi still feels stifled and subdued under the

pressure of her marriage and considers marriage a bondage, in which a woman becomes

confined to the four walls of the house, only to dance to the tunes of her husband. Meanwhile,

for removing her boredom, she attends a musical concert in her neighbour`s party, where she

meets Gopal Sharma, a renowned classical singer, and immediately, likes his singing and his

caring nature for her. She falls for Gopal. Devi finds a great relief in his soulful singing.

Commenting upon the internal condition of Devi`s mind, Githa Hariharan writes:

She felt heavy now, weighed down with the knowledge she had earlier craved so

ardently, so youthfully. She had been touched, and drawn out, in between ragas, a

willing and utterly uninhibited Gopal. … She felt like an ignorant child

imprisoned in a woman`s body, displaying like a badge, her rebellious,

independent spirit. … Like a sweet-tongued messenger, a wily peacemaker, the

music drowned all effort at resistance. Devi drifted in its mothering arm, with the

blank mind of newborn passion, the dream of fresh beginning rekindled. … (TFN

127-128).
Thus, troubled by the bruises of an unsuccessful marriage, Devi decides to take a bold step

and makes herself free from the shackles of Mahesh`s obligations which has been a

burdensome incurable problem for her. She decides to leave Mahesh`s house forever. One

day, when Mahesh is out for some work, like her mother-in-law, leaving everything to

Mayamma, she abandons her house and starts living with Gopal.

Devi, having realized Gopal`s true nature, once again begins to feel suffocated. She

feels Gopal has no interest in her; he only appeases his physical needs. So realising this bitter

truth, Devi during one night, when Gopal was in deep sleep, leaves Gopal`s house forever.

“Devi knew the time was right; if she did not act on, she would be forever condemned to drift

between worlds, a floating island detached from the solidity of the mainland.” (TFN 138)

Finally, Devi comes back to her mother in Madras and leaving her past life behind; she starts

a new life and looks forward to a future free from bondage and servitude of any kind.

Illusion of Womanhood:

Devi’s life is full of disillusionment and she has all along thrived on illusions of

womanhood. When she was in America, she was disturbed by Dan’s marriage proposal. She

attaches herself to men for security. In that case she exoticizes Dan’s interest and affection as

a shield to survive in the American campus. She knows very well that because of her inability

to conceive a life with him she is highly insensitive in treating him as a fantasy object and a

play thing. Her relationship with Dan and her half-hearted enjoyment like smoking reflects

her impermanence experience in America and her rejection of Dan’s marriage proposal

shows that she is having the consciousness that she should not go beyond the traditional

values of a Brahmin family. She returned to India and her expectation on marriage should be

like a gradual growth from a good sapling. She was much impressed by the open talk of

Mahesh and she married him. When she got married Mahesh she realizes that he is too Indian

and as well as he sees everything in a business motto including family and wife. Devi
discovered that for Mahesh marriage is simply a necessary one in his life and he fulfilled his

age factor. He does not want to share anything to his wife except the needs of his body. But

for Devi marriage is like a good sapling and it should grow gradually and flourish with sweet

moments in her marital life. She didn’t expect such a harassment kind of treatment by her

husband. She thought of her mother’s care for her by fulfilling her needs and given her good

education at America and as a mother she arranged marriage with Mahesh. Devi at the age of

adolescence she was a pet, as well as like Sri Devi for her grandmother, when she was in

abroad, she was escorted by her boyfriend Don, but after marriage she feels that she has lost

everything in her life and her subconscious mind direct her to go to her mother for emotional

sustenance which will guide her in future. When Devi’s father-in-law went abroad, she was

left alone and alienation forced her to search for new companionship and she got the

friendship of Gopal the musician. She was much impressed by his care towards Devi, his

music talents and affectionate words spoken by him. Devi thought of fulfilling her emptiness

and to liberate her imprisoned soul as a result she eloped with Gopal. In Devi’s life Gopal is

yet another character of exoticism she felt superficial feeling of freedom and she confronts

her loneliness and alienation. Mahesh destroys the spirit of Devi, but in Dan and Gopal she

merely looks for instant adventure and fulfillment. She fails to connect her views and

thoughts with her male partners mentally or emotionally. Devi’s inquisitive spirit prods her

from the lethargic material comforts of the life and puts her on the quest for the self-

discovery.

Devi’s mother Sita is shown as a middle-aged woman who makes her presence felt in

the present narrative through her unique qualities. Though a dark-complexioned lady, she

spreads the brightness of her character to enlighten her household. She emerges as a symbol

of sacrifice, dogged silence and mute acceptance of the realities of life and after her marriage

brought a veena with her and used to play whenever she finds leisure time. One day while she
was playing veena she was scolded by her father-in-law for not responding to the duty

assigned by him. Sita’s father-in-law emphasized her, the position of bride is to do the things

as a daughter-in-law not as a wife. She should not have any refreshment of her own. The in-

laws expect that bride should adopt herself with the new environment. He roared like a lion

towards Sita for playing veena without completing her household works. He said, “Put that

veena away. Are you a wife, a daughter-in-law?” (TFN 30) Sita hung her body over the

veena for some time and then she pulled out the strings from the wooden base of the veena.

She replied her father-in-law as, “Yes. I am a wife. A daughter-in-law” (TFN 30). She never

touched the veena again in her life. Sita’s sacrificial life here is compared with Gandhari, the

mythical character of the Mahabharatha. Gandhari got married to Dhritarashtra, the prince of

Hastinapur. She was much pleased by the warm welcome given by the people of Hastinapur,

later she came to know that she was married to a blind man. Because of pride and anger

without uttering a single word she tore off a piece of her cloth and tied her eyes tightly. Like

Gandhari who tied the eyes to suppress her anger in this novel, Sita too never touched her

veena from the very day her husband scolded her. Gandhari’s anger was revealed by her as

she wrapped a black cloth round her head with the intention not to see the world again as her

husband and Sita’s anger was revealed by pulling out the strings with the intention of never

using that veena in her life again. As a young daughter-in-law of a conservative family, she

takes the scolding of her father-in-law to heart and pulls apart the strings of her love for

veena. But she channelizes all her strength to become a good wife and mother. She allows her

husband to go to Africa and daughter to America for honing their talent and securing a better

future. She bears her husband’s death most bravely and arranged marriage for her daughter

with an educated and well-settled business executive. She cleans and dusts her long-deserted

veena to symbolize her possible decision to lead a life as per her own wish and to realize the

unfulfilled desires. At last, Sita tries to find solace for her troubled heart in music, after
getting disillusioned with human beings. She is very conscious of the main current of Indian

tradition. She perceives her past with its relevance to the present. She explores various

prospects of women in South Indian Brahminical society. Sita’s experience in her in-law’s

house can be compared with the poet Kamala Das’s childhood experience expressed in one of

her poems as

A blue frocked women caused , throwing

Words at me like pots and pans, to drain

That honey-colored day of peace.

‘Why don’t you join the others,

what A peculiar child you are!’”

As the above lines of Kamaladas’s poem “Punishment in Kinder Garten” goes, Sita too

suffered the wounds of the words thrown upon her by father-in-law and husband. (Dhawan,

42)

Mayamma the third female figure among the feminine trio is married at twelve to a

useless gambler and she gained nothing but torture and tears. She was left behind a son who

proves to be a complete brute. She does not feel any pain on the death of her son, on the other

hand she realizes the deep sense of release. She becomes a trusted servant of Mahesh’s

mother Parvatiamma and she shows her ability as a housekeeper, as a cook and as a

governess. She sacrifices her life wholeheartedly to the well-being of this family. Afterwards

she becomes the good friend of Devi and she consoles her during the period of estrangement

with Mahesh. Sita feels the touch of her Grandmother while she speaks with Mayamma and

she happens to hear some ethics and moral values of life from her as she has heard the stories

of epic characters from her Grandmother.

Thus, the three female characters Devi, Sita and Mayamma try to find out their own

identity in their own ways. Their expectation is very high about the married life but they
receive unexpected disappointment. Devi, the protagonist of this story with modest ambition

struggles because of her father’s sudden death, unexpected rejection of her love with her

American friend Dan, the vast emptiness in her in-law’s house, and long spells of absence of

her husband whose job demands long tours, the death of her father-in-law who was supposed

to be a good friend of her and her inability to issue children moves her to elope with Gopal.

She destroys the thread of marriage bond that she found Gopal as an ideal companionship to

revenge Mahesh. Sita’s married life ends abruptly with the unexpected death of her husband

Mahadevan. She bravely faced the society and gave good education to her daughter and she

fixes her with a well settled business executive. At last, Sita tries to find solace for her

troubled heart in music. Sita reacts in her own way to the situation and she performs her role

perfectly and shows the strength of her character in the moments of crisis. As Devi travels

back to her mother’s home the melodious notes of veena played by her mother after a long-

term welcome her into the house. It shows her mother’s acceptance of Devi’s final decision

of life. Both Sita and Devi break the tradition and enter the world which they believe in.

Mayamma’s married life with the useless drunkard man ends in disaster. Thus, the three

characters suffer and struggle a lot with tears and insecurity out of their marriage. The works

of Githa Hariharan carry their special significance in the present scenario. Through her

works, she attempts to tear apart the veil of sophistication and social equality by presenting

the status of women even in the present age. She tries to portray the custom-ridden Indian

society, especially in southern part of India. In The Thousand Faces of Night she presents a

chain of events related to men and women, love and death, and emotions as well as painful

loneliness. She intersperses it with myth and folklore with the social status of women within

the boundaries of time, space and region. This novel exposes the underworld faces of Indian

women’s lives and throws light on the emerging womanhood of Githa Hariharan. This also

reveals the unending fight for their rights and their quest for self-identity in the present world.