Nectar In A Sieve Change Analysis

Rukmani and the Concept of Change Everyone has experienced change and each person has reacted differently, either adapting and accepting change or trying to fend it off. In the novel, Nectar in a Sieve (Kamala Markandaya) the protagonist Rukmani has her run-ins with change and more often than not she braces change. This constant force is always present throughout Rukmani’s life whether it is massive or not. Rukmani has grown and adapted with change for she knows from Nathan’s phrase, “bend like the grass that you do not break” (pg. 28) since it is futile to resist. At the start of the flashback, change makes its presence known in that Rukmani’s father loses his authority and this change is drastic for young Rukmani for she recounts, “It …show more content…
The tannery has been a nuisance to Rukmani from the start of its construction up until its final straw in which it causes Nathan and his wife to leave their village because the tannery officials are buying the land. She had always known the tannery would be their undoing, but she acknowledges that it cannot be responsible for every misfortune such as her sons’ departure to Ceylon for better wages or Raja’s death by the hands of the watchmen. It is a bitter acceptance as she replies to Nathan, “At least we shall not have much to carry. The granary is almost empty” (pg. 131). Ultimately, Rukmani adapts and grows with the tannery’s fallouts whether those were benefits or losses. Rukmani is a shining example of a character that accepts change from a young age and matures with it. Her father’s diminished prestige, her daughter’s prostitution, and the tannery that affected Rukmani’s life greatly are all examples of her adapting to change. Has there ever been someone or something this accepting and adaptable? Perhaps just the grass Nathan wisely tells her to emulate. Even so, Rukmani learned to accept change throughout her life since it is