Analysis Of Anita Desai's Novel Cry The Peacock

Anita Desai's fiction has invited much critical attention. Feminist critics have assessed the psychological development of Desai's female characters in terms of the patriarchal Indian family structure. Desai in all her novels and short stories focuses on the personal struggles of middle-class women as they attempt to overcome the societal limitations imposed by a tradition-bound patriarchal culture. Her debut novel, Cry the Peacock presents Maya, the protagonist as a hypersensitive women. The novel is opened with the theme of mysterious death of Mayas dog Toto in the first part while conflict, violence and inner frustration are dealt with complete skill in the second part. The third part deals with Maya's loneliness and isolation. R.S. Sharma …show more content…
She has developed a father-fixation and she is not happy with her unromantic husband. Maya was born in an old orthodox family, enjoyed life in her parents' house. After her marriage she finds that her feelings are not cared for and that she is being neglected, isolated and alienated in her own home. This disturbs her terribly and feels herself lonely. The death of Toto, the dog makes her alienated. She is badly disturbed by the indifference of her husband, Gautama to the death of dog and it shows his carelessness towards his …show more content…
It is the study of the experiences of a disturbed and alienated mind. Maya compares Gautama to her father at every step and thus ruins her marital life completely. Maya's hypersensitivity is her tragic flaw which coupled with her circumstances, becomes the root cause of dissonance in her relationship with Gautama. Anita Desai has used symbols in the novel. The sky is the symbol of her total mind. They daylight is her conscious mind, while the night represents her unconscious mind. The dust- storm has been used by Anita Desai as the end of life. J.P. Tripathi rightly observes, "Maya's joy at the sight of Gautama is also expressionistically rendered. Maya is not prepared for death because her dreams of enjoying life are yet unfulfilled. Maya's love of life, besides being an important theme, is partly responsible for tragedy."2 The tragic end of the novel is due to different type of violence's and at last the deaths of the husband and the wife. M. Adhikari rightly observes, ''I feel here Desai has attempted to project a woman's fight individuality and liberation.... an archetype situation is caused by her sensitive nature and her refusal to make compromise with her dumb existence. She had never desired to resolve her personal problems through