Browsing by Author "Paudyal, Yub Raj"
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Item Reflection of Violent World Order in Shalimar the Clown(Department of English, 2006) Paudyal, Yub RajSalman Rushdie's latest novelShalimar the Clown(2005) is about the world badly shaken by terrorism and violence born of personal and communal animosity. The novel includes references ranging from the Second World War and the Nazi atrocity upon the French Jews to the rise of American military power and political interest in the world, to the destruction of the Himalayan state of Kashmir after the Indian independence of 1947 which gave birth to two nation states of India and Pakistan. At the personal level, the novel is about love, vows and broken vows, revenge, hope and despair. The novelistic characters are portrayed in their nobility as well as meanness: Maximilian Ophuls, the flying Jew and French resistance hero, himself turns a predator and seduces Boonyi the dancer thereby devastating her life; Shalimar Noman the clown becomes a calculating and cold blooded murderer. At the societal level, the peaceful and harmonious state of predominantly Muslim Kashmir is beset by religious violence. Many Kashmiris lose their life as the Pakistan-supported Muslim fanatics infiltrate Kashmir and wreck havoc upon the Hindu villagers, and the counter terrorist action of the Indian army in return do the same. Kashmir, the heaven of earth is finally devastated forever. This parable is applicable to the plight of themodern world which is very similar to war torn Kashmir.Shalimar the Clownin this light can be read and interpreted as a precautionary tale about the predicament of humanity in this planet.Item RememberingTrauma of the Holocaustin Gunter Grass’s Novel the Tin Drum(Central Department of English, 2013) Paudyal, Yub RajGunter Grass’s novelThe Tin Drum(1959) is about a representation of the trauma caused by the Holocaust. The novel includes references ranging from the Second World War and the Nazi atrocityupon the German Jews and other minorities to the supernatural power gained by the narrator, blasphemies to Church and Christ, parody, fairy tales, folklore, carnival, philosophy and intertextuality. At the personal level, the novel is about revolt againstparent generation. The demigod character Oskar stops growing at the age of three, can smash glasses with high pitch sound, can grow humpwillfullyand starts drumming. He is an autobiographical character which portrays himaparadoxical character causedby mental and physical dilemma. At the societal level, Oskar carries the burden of Germany in his hump. He uses blasphemy to take revenge against church which secretly supports Nazis and their activities. His revolt against Nazi run education system and smashing doctors glass equipments in his lab indirectly represents his disobey of ideology and cry against euthanasia. The Tin Drum,in this light, can be read and interpreted as a remembrance of the reality of trauma in both personal and societal levelwhich iscaused by Naziideology but inspired by GermanChristiancultureand support of German to Hitler and Nazis.