Disquieting reminiscence of Hannah in the Holder of the World by Bharati Mukherjee

Abstract

Bharati Mukherjee is a prominent author of the Indian Writings in English who has evoked the study of feminism in her writings. This paper scrutinizes disquieting reminiscence of Hannah in the Holder of the World. Hannah Easton, in this novel, travels from Puritan Salem to England to colonial India before turning back to settle in America for the remainder of her life. Mukherjee interlaces into the version both high, classical texts like the story of Sita from the Hindu Ramayana. Beigh states that Hannah compared herself to Sita in that they were both waifs and strays and faced the choice between staying in an antagonistic environment and trying out new surroundings. Jadav Singh qualms Hannah’s loyalties as his Bibi in ways analogous to Ram after she beseeches him to impede fighting