Cases of Penance in Hariharan’s The Thousand Faces of Night

Abstract

This paper studies Githa Hariharan’s picture of contemporary Indian women at social and physical level for their quest of familial stability and certainty of reconciliation in the novel The Thousand Faces of Night. The analysis establishes submission and surrender of fictional characters—Devi, Sita, Mayamama, outlining the areas of penance in the novel as it results in a multiple response ranging from self-inflicted suffering to protest, revenge and violence. Having passed through mythical and historical positions of women of The Ramayana, The Mahabharata, The Purana, as a historical survey, penance is studied in Hariharan’s novel. Finally, this work shows difference between contemporary and mythical world of women in Indian setting.