A Study of Home in the Early Novels of Shashi Deshpande

Abstract

Roots and Shadows, The Dark Holds No Terrors and That Long Silence are the three early novels of Shashi Deshpande in which she explores the inner and the private world of her characters and the changes in the public sphere that influence and transform their private world. In all Deshpande’s novels, house is an integral part of the protagonist’s identity. In these novels of the early phase of middle class educated women occupy the central position; who have to struggle hard to reconcile to the traditions and customs, as well as to seek their independent identity in their family and society. Indu in Roots and Shadows, Sarita in The Dark Holds No Terrors and Jaya in That Long Silence, are middle class women who go in self-quest and in the process, free themselves from the inhibitions of the family, society and culture and also from their own psychological conflicts. Home plays a crucial role in this odyssey of the protagonists in recording their experiences and in shaping their personalities.