Novel Feminism in Bapsi Sidhwa’s Ice Candy Man & Justification of Title
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Feminism in Ice Candy Man
Ice Candy Man – Feminist Text
Partition of Indian sub-continent has always remained a concerning topic for a number of writers of India as well as of Pakistan. But most of the works in both the lands are male-dominated.
One finds bravery, chivalry, heroism etc. associated with the male protagonists only. Female is represented as a subdued and dependent being. Ice Candy Man is distinguished from most of the popular works as it focuses on female rather than on the man.
The story of partition is represented through the eyes of Lenny, who is lame. This disability of her also signifies the problems that a female writer faces while representing her views.
Lenny – the Protagonist
Lenny, an eight-year-old child is the protagonist of the novel. She is innocent and unaware of the bitter differences among different communities. This can be judged on the basis of the fact that she is much attached to Shanta Devi, who is a Hindu.
But as the novel develops, her innocence withers away and the bloody experience of the partition takes its place. She gradually becomes aware of the dark realities of life. She witnesses the city of Lahore burning into the flames.
She also becomes aware of the violence that happens with Rana and his family. Rana is the only survivor of his family. Males of his family are butchered and women raped by Hindu and Sikh marauders.
Such incidents of violence bother Lenny very much in the beginning, but with the development of the novel, she becomes used to it.
Worst Incidents
Burning flames, fights, slogans, rapes, mass killings etc. become the incidents of every day. In most of the novels dealing with partition, leaders like Master Tara Singh, J.L. Nehru, Jinnah and Gandhi are represented as heroes.
But in Ice-candy Man, we find them represented as culprits of this violence in the views of Lenny. This is one of the most distinguished features of this novel. Commonly, in most of the novels, male and the will of the male is dominant in terms of sexuality.
But in Ice Candy Man, female acquires dominance. Lenny and the Cousin, who remains cousin throughout the novel and his name remains unrevealed, are in some kind of relation.
Cousin Seduces Lenny
Cousin often seduces Lenny by squeezing her breasts and playing with her genitals and Lenny on her part also plays with the penis of Cousin.
But at some stage, Lenny becomes aware of her sexual dignity and restrains the lustful movements of Cousin. The Cousin tries his best to seduce her. But she boldly guards herself.
But in other novels, sexuality is represented with the will of the male. The woman is represented as someone who is weak and vulnerable to the lust of male.
Ayah
This shows the belief of Bapsi Sidhwa inequality in terms of gender and her contradiction with popular belief. Ayah is the other important characteristics of the novel.
In addition to being a nanny of Lenny, she is a young woman of charm and beauty and knows well how to attract males. She has many admirers like a masseur, gardener, butcher, Ice-candy Man etc.
She often dominates the situation. e.g. in one scene when an argument arises among her admirers, she threats to leave the group. At this, the argument is resolved for her and even Ice-candy Man vows not to argue again in front of her.
Ayah Goes to Amritsar
In another scene, when Ice-candy Man compels her to spend time with her, she chases him away with a stick. Even in the ending of the novel, after becoming Mumtaz, she leaves Ice-candy Man and goes to Amritsar with the help of Godmother.
This shows how Sidhwa has made the self-interest of a woman more important than that of man. Sidhwa also attaches the quality of heroism to the women of the Parsi Community. Lenny.s mother along with other Parsi women goes out in the night in order to help the victims run away to safe places.
There is a lot of danger in doing so, yet they accomplish the task boldly. Moreover, Godmother helps Shanta to return back to her family in Amritsar on her plea. Thus Ice-candy Man is actually a novel that focuses on woman emancipation and is a feminist novel.
Justification of Title “Ice Candy Man”
Introduction
Title of the novel Ice Candy Man seems to be contradictory as Lenny is the protagonist of the novel and the story revolves around the bloody partition of Indian Sub-continent during the late 1940s.
Moreover, it focuses on feminism. However, the title Ice candy Man holds great significance. This can be interpreted and justified in two ways.
1st Justification
First, Ice Candy Man, in a broader sense refers to every man of the Indian sub-continent. The men are as sweet as candy before the partition. There exists communal harmony among the people belonging to different communities.
The masseur, the gardener, the Ice Candy Man etc. all belong to different faiths yet they sit in one group cracking jokes and talking about the trending issues. In spite of having sensitive discussions, they remain friends and all are the admirers of Shanta Devi who is a Hindu.
Moreover, in the first visit of Lenny to Pir Pindo, we witness that Muslims vow to protect Sikhs from the upcoming danger and vice versa. They talk about their relations, dependencies etc.
But this candy-like situation vanishes with the breaking of violence of partition and the ice portion becomes visible. Ice Candy Man is seen celebrating the vista of Lahore burning in flames and feels excited about the death of masseur. He also betrays Lenny by ensuring to help Ayah but instead helps mob to locate her hiding.
In addition, the scene at Pir Pindo is contrasting to the first one, when Lenny visited this place. The Muslim men and children are butchered and Muslim women raped in the Mosques and then reduced to corpses by Sikh marauders.
Muslims also reply Sikhs and Hindus by killing their people and raping their women in Lahore. All this show how fake is the sweetness of man. It vanishes and the iced-face comes into light when such a situation arises.
2nd Justification
The other perspective of vindicating the significance of the title is to narrate the story of Ice Candy Man. Ice Candy Man is a good person having a humorous nature when we meet him in the beginning.
He has friends from different communities. He is one of the admirers of Shanta Devi who is a Hindu. He possesses the qualities of wit and humour and entertains the readers with his funny actions.
But when the partition takes place, he happens to witness the train which carries the dead bodies of Muslims killed mercilessly by Hindus and Sikhs. He also sees the sack filled with the breasts of Muslim women.
This incident changes him into a villain. He cherishes the murder of Sikhs and Hindus in Lahore. In the final portion of the novel, he shows his extreme of villainy by deceiving Lenny and helping Muslim mob locating the hiding of Ayah who drags her out of the house and take her to Kotha where she is gang-raped and forced to become a prostitute.
But again we find a transformation in his character. He repents his actions and marries Ayah. He also becomes a poet. He tries to convince Ayah about his true love for her but she leaves for Amritsar and he follows her to the border.
This shows the complex nature of a human being that cannot be judged. Hence the title Ice Candy Man of the novel carries great and profound significance both in terms of humanity as well as the individual.
Novel Feminism in Bapsi Sidhwa’s Ice Candy Man & Justification of Title