Orientalizing the Orient: A Postcolonial Study of Rohinton Mistry’s A Fine Balance

Abstract

This research concentrates on Rohinton Mistry’s A Fine Balance in order to stand the writer on the position of an Orientalist who follows the very Western notion of calm and stoic east. The story explores the painful experiences of the characters where they are exploited socially as well as politically. Inspite of their pain end suffering, adoption and accommodation, rather than any social protest is their reaction to it. In the beginning the characters are hopeful for their better future and they struggle hard and this hope is still with them until the very end of the story even after their failure in every field. One member of the foursome, best equipped to succeed economically, kills himself whereas the less fortunates survive with their ability to accept even the great misfortunes as a fine balance between hope and despair. So, a Western understanding of East as an antithesis of tragedy seeps into Mistry’s work and this concept gets exposed her