comment on the ending of the novel fire on the mountain
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Fire on the Mountain is a superbly crafted novel, known for its rich symbolic imagery and psychological insights. A winner of two prestigious awards, it tells the story of two older women and a young girl.
The first part of the novel takes the reader inside the mind of Nanda Kaul, the aged protagonist. The widow of a university vice chancellor and once at the hub of a large, demanding family and a hectic social life, she now lives in seclusion at Carignano, a desolate old house on the ridge of a mountain in Kasauli. Aloof, indifferent, and irritable, she wants no intrusion to violate her privacy. Her cloistered life is threatened when she receives a letter announcing an impending visit by her great-granddaughter Raka and when a telephone call comes from her childhood friend Ila Das, who wishes to visit her.
The second part of the novel shows the tense relationship between Nanda Kaul and Raka. A recluse, Raka has the habit of slipping away into her own private world, ignoring her great-grandmother completely. Haunted by nightmarish memories of a drunken, violent father and an unhappy, battered mother, she shuns human company and spends her time roaming the desolate hills and ravines like a bird or a lizard. This offers Desai an opportunity to weave symbolic nature imagery into the text of the novel. Challenged by Raka’s indifference, Nanda Kaul reluctantly comes out of her self-imposed quietude and makes a desperate, though futile,...
The first part of the novel takes the reader inside the mind of Nanda Kaul, the aged protagonist. The widow of a university vice chancellor and once at the hub of a large, demanding family and a hectic social life, she now lives in seclusion at Carignano, a desolate old house on the ridge of a mountain in Kasauli. Aloof, indifferent, and irritable, she wants no intrusion to violate her privacy. Her cloistered life is threatened when she receives a letter announcing an impending visit by her great-granddaughter Raka and when a telephone call comes from her childhood friend Ila Das, who wishes to visit her.
The second part of the novel shows the tense relationship between Nanda Kaul and Raka. A recluse, Raka has the habit of slipping away into her own private world, ignoring her great-grandmother completely. Haunted by nightmarish memories of a drunken, violent father and an unhappy, battered mother, she shuns human company and spends her time roaming the desolate hills and ravines like a bird or a lizard. This offers Desai an opportunity to weave symbolic nature imagery into the text of the novel. Challenged by Raka’s indifference, Nanda Kaul reluctantly comes out of her self-imposed quietude and makes a desperate, though futile,...
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