Post-Colonial Perspectives on the Novel Ice Candy Man

 A Conceptual Research Paper

Author Name: Inkisar Ali (English Language and Literature)

laureatefolks@gmail.com

Post-Colonial Perspectives on the Novel Ice Candy Man

 

Introduction

The scourge of colonialism has had enormous impacts not only on economic, political, historical life but on cultural and social as well. The phenomenon of colonialism reached to almost more than half of the world and since then it has been shaping lives of the people all around in those erstwhile colonies. Bill Ashcroft in his famous book The Empire Writes Back (1989) explains the term post-colonial in these words that post-colonial covers all those who are affected by the imperial process from the moment of colonization to the present day. (p.2). In the same manner the literature written in those erstwhile colonies from the moment of colonization till present day can be regarded as post-colonial literature. It does create some sort of confusion in the post-colonial time frame and there exits some dispute among scholars on post-colonial time frame. However, there is one more point to remember that post-colonial is often presented as a theory or perspective on the basis of which different literary works are interpreted and evaluated. Those literary works might not be produced in the former colonies.

 The influence or impacts of colonialism are best expressed by those writers, artists and intellectuals who are the inhabitant of those former colonies. Post-colonialism has become a dominant subject for most of the writers in those colonized lands such as Chinua Achebe, Kiran Desai, Salman Rushdie and for others writers. In the simplest definition of post colonialism is the resistance from the once colonized people. Bapsi Sidhwa is also one among these writers who has shown the resistance in her work of art toward colonialism and in the meantime has unfolded the cruel effects of colonialism on the inhabitants of those colonized lands. However, the novel Ice Candy Man presents a picture of partition from the perspective of a child named Lenny. This is one of the distinguishing character of the Sidhwa’s novel because the employment of the child narrative makes the novel unbiased and impartial to some degree.

Bapsi Sidhwa has published other famous novels in which some of them are The Bride, The Crow Eater, An American Brat and Water. The setting of these novels are set in the continent in which she has lived and brought up and she is a very keen observer of the circumstance either political or social in her novels and that one the factors that makes one of greatest writer in post-colonial times. The settings of the novel and its particular historical time and locale and the familiarity of the situations for the continent readers create a unique appeal and charm in reading her.

Research Questions

 Following are the research question which are going to be addressed.

1.      How colonialism and partition are interconnected with one another and what impacts does this relationship produce in the post-colonial world? 

2.      How post-colonial society is shaped as the result of colonialism?

3.      Why it is important to look at the situation in the Ice Candy Man from post-colonial perspective?

 

Objectives of the Study

 The objective of the research is to analyze the novel Ice Candy Man from a post-colonial perspective in order to point out that how difficult it is for minorities especially Parsi minority to live in post-colonial world. This research is conducted to carry out that how the colonizer’s concept of ‘divide and rule’ has affected the inhabitants after Britishers left Sub-continent in chaotic position.one of the aims of this research to show that how closely the imperial process of colonialism and the process of partition are interconnected with one another and also to point out that what sort of conditions were created as the result of colonialism. It also means to show that how the process of nationalism and communal thinking brought havoc and inhalation in the region.

Significance of the Study

This research reveals the repercussions of the process of colonialism to the people in general and to scholars in particular. This novel provides a historical point of view with the aid of fiction to showcase the pains and suffering which came along with the process of partition in post-colonial world. It is also to reveal the political agenda of the colonialism that how they propagated the communal hatred among people and made them adversaries of one another. This research is also significant because that people need learn about their past mistakes and ensure not to repeat the past mistakes over and over again, and to set up a new way that would lead to progress and prosperity of the people of the region. Even Sidhwa felt motivated to write IceCandyMan because she wanted her novel “to function as a recording of a particular history, hoping that one might learn a lesson from that history”. (Sidhwa Int. by Rajan 13) This research spreads awareness among people that how colonizers manipulated the people for their own selfish interests and turned them against one another. It also unfolds the scourge of nationalism and communal hatred which has been instilled in colonized people. In pre-partition time these people belonging to different sects and religions were living together in harmony.

Analysis

Post-colonialism is the literature which specifically is concerned with writings which are written against the colonial process and the aftermath of it. The field and theory of post colonialism has been dominating the social sciences for more than a decade or two. The destructive and drastic impacts of imperialism has attained the attention of critical writers and intellectuals around the world and especially in former colonies. These writers are incessantly writing against the process of colonialism and how did it destroyed cultural and social life of the people living there. Among the well-known writers Chinua Achebe, Joseph Conrad, Homi. K.Bhaba, Salman Rushdie, Kiran Desai and so many other are critical writers of the age in regard to colonialism. These writers have not only written fiction but also developed different theories and methods which guide the people to a somewhat better world.

Bapsi Sidhwa is one of the well-known writer of the age and being aware of the impacts of colonialism she has shown her critical approach in her novels and one of the well-known novel is Ice Candy Man and its plot is based on the horrific outcome of partition. The novel has reached to the peak of popularity not only due to the presentation of partition but along with the repercussions of colonialism as well. Owing to the process of partition home, villages, communities, families and relationship were destroyed, men were butchered and killed, and women got raped and mutilated.

There is a particular kind of voice which speaks for a special group of people at some moments in the novel. Sidhwa belongs a Parsi Zoroastrain sect, which is a minority in Pakistan living in Lahore, who came from Iran to South Asia in order to avoid religious violence and persecution in Iran. But the irony is that they are facing similar kind of situations in this part of the world as well and this has made the voice more frustrating and critical of such things. In her novels, there is a clear picture of Parsi mindset, their cultural and social myths, a vivid image of their values, behavior and customs, which gives a dominant place to their narratives in her works, even though she is aware of his ethnicity. In Ice Candy Man, Sidhwa gives a brief and comprehensive historical account of the Parsi people that they arrived in South Asia or in Sub-Continent in 7 century A.D. The particular aim of this to provide a presentation of Parsi people and their conditions during the horrific process of partition, and how it has been a horrible experience for them. This experience is shown to the world in a subtle and mysterious way.

The novel Ice Candy Man can be termed in as a post-colonial bildungsroman novel because the plot of the novel possesses some characteristics which fulfill the criteria of bildungsroman novels. Ice Candy Man deals first of all with the spiritual, moral and psychological growth in the main character of the novel, which is the first indication of bildungsroman novels. The protagonist and the narrator of the novel, Lenny undergoes many changes during this time frame of the novel form childhood to adulthood. Lenny carries within her the deep ethnical sensitivities and she looks at other communities with the same prism which affects her numerous narratives and political stances in the novel. But ironically her narration produces the element of authenticity in the whole scenario. The novel Ice Candy Man is condensed with meanings and could be interpreted in multiple perspectives but the most obvious and significant feature of the novel is the presentation of horrific cruelty, dislocation, human loss, murder, rape and mutilation, which deals with human behavior and how difficult it is to predict human behavior. This is the point where the novel depicts the inscrutability of human behavior which means one cannot predict or trust the behavior of human being and it can change at any moment and become dangerous. Before partition, there was friendship among the people of different communities and the slogan of partition changed everything in the sub-continent and they turned to arch rivals. This is the place where many intellectual come up with the theory that Britisher played a significant role in dividing people into sects, communities and different social groups and as a result those people who were once good friends, became adversaries of one another. The installation of nationalism and the subsequent process of division lead to the tragic and horrible event of the partition and this is a metaphorical partition of thousands of people who are murdered, raped, mutilated and what has not been done to them.

Another post- colonial perspective which is presiding the course of post-colonialism is feminist perspective. This perspective is very much dominant in novels that Bapsi Sidhwa has written so far. She is very much critical of the situations of women in Sub-Continent and it irritates her that women are facing such unbearable circumstance all their life. The concept of double colonization is quite dominant and true in this perspective of feminism. The concept of double colonization means that women are oppressed by two male dominant system; one is patriarchy and another one is colonialism. The process of double colonization, to some critics is still going on in post-colonial societies even though most of the countries have achieved independence. This is often described the politics of cruelty in feminist sense.

Patriarchy is the first one which possess colonial tendencies and as a result this system oppresses women which famously termed as victimization of women. Feminist critics exposes the patriarchal biases exist the current social scheme. The main character in Ice Candy Man Lenny attempts to expose or recognize these patriarchal tendencies in our social system and is committed to transcend them or if not transcend them immediately but she at least questions them. She speaks in the novel about the problems and various traumas faced during the process of partition which have been devastating for them. The whole narration of the novel is from the feminist point of view. It is vividly presented in the novel that women have been ‘twice oppressed’, firstly they are frustrated by the violence and brutality and secondly with pre-fixed gender roles or imposition of patriarchal patterns. During the process of partition, due to the threats and insecurities from Muslim community in Lahore make them to opt for neutrality.

The plot of the novel is inspired from real life event in Sidhwa’s life. She has said that this novel carries some the autobiographical elements which she has experienced or observed during the partition.  In an interview, she also said that the account of Lenny is very personal in the novel Ice Candy Man and she found it difficult to separate herself from Lenny. She called those experiences nightmarish and traumatic in nature. This is what she said in interview.

When I was a child living in Lahore at the time of Partition, my maiden name was Bhandara, which sounded like a Hindu name. After most of the riots were over, a gang of looters came in carts into our house thinking it’s an abandoned house. They were quite shocked to see us and my mother and everybody there. At that time our Muslim cook came out and said, ‘what do you damn people think you’re doing? This is a Parsi household,’ and they said, ‘we thought it was a Hindu household,’ and they went away. I decided to write a story about Partition because this scene was vivid in my mind.(Cited in Singh 37)

 

Ice Candy Man as a novel, does possess certain great qualities which renders it to be one the authentic and best novels of the time of partition. Sidhwa possesses a great deal of skill to combine individual pains and troubles with collective ferocity and outrage in excellent manner. Another post-colonial perspective is of minorities who are marginalized and stereotyped. The novel’s narrative is from a minority perspective, from the leading character Lenny, who sees herself and her family segregated from the society and in many ways they are marginalized and restrained. They have been running away from religious persecution but ironically they stuck in it Lahore. The novel highlights the deteriorating social sphere in pre-partition days.  Lenny and her family is not directly affected by the process of partition but they did go through a trouble timing in their lives when they felt psychological traumas. She knew things could turn around in seconds. They also uneasy and troubled because of the surroundings, where riots, killing, mutilating, burning become ordinary and everyday happenings. The real issue was the presence of Ayah, a Hindu girl in their home. This could have become a problem for Ayah as well as for Lenny’s family. And who can forget the famous line of Nietzsche’s famous quote “In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule”.

 

Conclusion

In post-colonial society, the relations between different communities drastically changed, from friendship to rivalry, from respect to disgrace and killings. A colossal sift occurred in the communities’ attitude and behavior after the slogan of partition. This cruel process of partition took hundreds of thousands of lives. It has been one the worst time periods in the history of Sub-continent. Communal riots, murder, rape, burning of houses, mutilation, and what not every kind of violence became every day happenings. The enmity between Hindus and Muslim grew to a dangerous extent. The development of mistrust was growing day in and day out and resulted in havoc and annihilation all around.   Meanwhile, women have been the victims of these riots and killings. They were the weakest link and always have been targeted. Mostly women have been the victim of this brutal division. Being neutral, Parsi community had to bear many unwanted and unpleasant effects of the partition. Communal discord and unstable surrounding both puzzled and psychologically traumatized them. The partition was a difficult time for all the communities.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

References

Interview by Julie Rajan. “Cracking Sidhwa.” Monsoon Magazine 3, 2000. 16 Mar. 2008. http://www.monsoonmag.com.

Ashcroft, Bill, et al. The Empire Writes Back. 2nd ed., Routledge, 2002.

Sidhwa, Bapsi. Ice-Candy-Man. New Delhi: Penguin, 1989. Print.

Singh, Randhir Pratap. “Partition Revisited.” Bapsi Sidhwa. Ed. Randhir Pratap

Singh. New Delhi: IVY Publishing House, 2005. 37-58. Print.