UNIT 20 CHARACTERIZATION

Structure

Objectives
Introduction
Shashi Deshpande's Art of Characterization
Characters
20.3.1 Urmi
20.3.2 Kishore
20.3.3 Mira
20.3.4 Shakutai
20.3.5 Kalpana
What the Critics Say
Glossary
Let Us Sum Up
Answers to Exercises

20.0 OBJECTIVES

This unit introuuces you to characterization and when you read it carefully,
you will be able to
know Shashi Deshpande's art of characterization
write character sketches on your own.

20.1 INTRODUCTION

In the previous unit we discussed the themes of the novel from various angles.
In doing so we saw the peculiarities of some characters such as Vanaa's
submissiveness, Urmi's self-assertion, Shakutai's helplessness and Kalpana's
self-directed behaviour. We ask, "Are these the main traits of their character?'
"How does their behavior affect them?' 'Why do we rate a particular
character from a particular angle?' These and many such questions can be
:
J answered when we study the characters closely. In this unit we shall give you
some guidelines about how the characters come alive and what makes us
understand them as human beings. The art of a novelist lies in creating living
? characters out of a fictional situation. If we can identify with the character or
feel happy with or sorry for him or her, the novelist can be called successful in

i portraying characters.

20.2 SHASHI DESHPANDE'S ART OF

CHARACTERIZATION

Shashi Deshpande portrays characters from the urban middle class of modem
India. Her focus is on women and the men come alive through her female
characters. The overall effect is like real human beings interacting with us.
The Novel: The Before we study her art let us give some thought to the significance of
Binding Vine characterization in a novel.

No work of fiction is written in a vacuum. It is set in a social

environment and takes shape with the help of characters and situations. We
understand the mind of the characters through their words and actions. The
motives and the inward turns of the mind tell us more about the character than
actions themselves. A successful novelist intimately acquaints us with his or
her characters' movement, speech, thought and actions so that they become
real humans. Virginia Woolf states that all novels deal with characters and that
the aim of the novel is to express a character, not to preach any doctrine
through it. Characters reveal themselves through words. The portrayal also
depends on the period of time and country they are set in. The "temperament"
of the writer also influences the depiction.

Shashi Deshpande creates life-like characters. We cannot claim that she

creates unforgettable, superhuman female heroes. No. Her characters are
ordinary women who face life's vagaries, get irritated, depressed and yet at a
point of time they reconcile with life. The final reconciliation achieved after
understanding life, gives them strength. As R.S. Pathak observes,
"Deshpande's women characters have a strength of their own, and in spite of
challenges and hostilities, remain uncrushed" (Pathak, p. 16). We can see
Urmi's strength when she says, "I am not going to break" (The Binding Vine,
p. 19) and towards the end Urmi appears strong; she is not the wailing,
grieving Urmi whom we meet in the beginning of the novel. Deshpande does
not idealize her protagonist. She presents women from everyday life. In an
interview given to Stanley Carratho, published in The Sunday Observer,
Shashi Deshpande remarked, "My characters are all human beings one sees in
the world around. No supermen" ( 11 Feb. 1990). In another interview she
said, "My characters take their own ways. I have heard people saying we
should have strong women characters. But my writing has to do with women
as they are" (Literature Alive, December 1987).

Shashi Deshpande's art lies in her method of "showing" the characters. Since
she adopts the techniques of flashback and the stream of consciousness, we
see the characters through the consciousness of the protagonist. She leaves her
readers fiee to make their own assessment and to judge the main characters as
per their actions, words and interactions with others. For example, Urmi is
flippant, sharp-tongued and aggressive. How can we say this? First, the
opening conversation with Vanaa provides us the clue. She is so impatient and
abrupt that Vanaa is intimidated. But, won't you agree that Urmi is
sympathetic? Yes, we do! How do we discover this? By her attitude towards
Shakutai. Dr. Bhaskar's remark show us that Urmi is a "dark, sharp-tongued,
married woman" (p. 161). Thus, we are able to sum up Urmi's appearance: her
relationships, her psychology, social status and her optimism through
Deshpande's art of "showing". Other characters also come alive through
Urmi, Shakutai and Vanaa.

The narrator is Urmi and she tells the story using the first person narration "I".
She is the protagonist and Shashi Deshpande gives her the freedom to speak
out her nlind and to grow. The grief-stricken and distraught Urmi whom we
meet in the opening pages of the novel, gains strength towards the end and
achieves an optimistic vision of life. This is her mental growth. The other
 characters suffer and have no chance to grow, though they are not wooden. Characterization
They advance the thematic structure of the novel.

The Binding Vine has a large number of characters who come, make their
presence felt and go away. Since the novel is told through Urrni's
consciousness, we shall see who they are in relation to her.

URMI

Husband Mira
(Kishore) (dead, Mother-in-law)
(Inni) (Y amini) Akka
(Step Mother-in-law)
Dr.Bhaskar Brother (Arnrut) Son (Kartik) Vanaa
(friend ) Grandmother(Baiajji) Daughter (Sister-in-law

1 Grandfather (Aju)
Balkaka
(Anu, dead) friend)

Priti ( friend )

KALPANA'S FAMILY

Mother (Shakutai) Siblings Father (Absent)

Aunt (Sulu) Kalpana, Sandhya

Uncle (Prabhakar) (Sisters)
Prakash (Brother)

Men are absent in Shashi Deshpande's novels. Where they are present, they
have a negligible role to play. But, the men are not ineffective. They influence
the thematic structure through the patriarchal system. They come alive when
the women in their lives brood over their power. For example, in The Binding
Vine, Kishore's father becomes a palpable presence through Mira's diaries and
, poems as well as through Vanaa's occasional remarks. We do not know his
name but we know that he had a compulsiye personality, he loved his first
wife, Mira, obsessively; neglected his second wife, Akka; he was reserved
I towards his daughter Vanaa; but lived for his son Kishore. Another male
character, Kishore is in the Merchant Navy, and on board a ship. He appears
remote, though loving and understanding. Deshpande's deft touches create the
men characters as real human beings, but she admits her inability to bring
forth "rounded" male characters.

Check Your Progress 1

1. Write a brief note on Shashi Deshpande's art of characterization.
The Novel: The 2. Discuss in brief "showing" and "telling" methods of characterization.
Binding Vine Which method does Shashi Deshpande follow'?

3. How do men seem to exert their influence,in this novel?

....................................................................................
.....................................................................................
4. Fill in the blanks:

(i) Shashi Deshpande portrays characters from the urban Indian

--------- (working class/middle class).
(ii) The art of a novelist lies in creating --------- characters out of
fictional situations (woodenlliving).
(iii) When a character reveals himself/herself it is called ----------
(tellinglshowing).
(iv) Virginia Woolf says that the aim of a novel should be to --------
a character not to preach any doctrine through it.
(expresslcreate)
(v) ------ ---- 's remarks show Urmi's physical characteristics
(AmrutDr. Bhaskar).

20.3 CHARACTERS IN THE NOVEL

We shall now discuss the main characters in the novel. As we have already
seen, there are more than a dozen characters who contribute to the plot. They
all are important in one way or the other, but only a few are the real
motivating factors. So, we shall discuss these: Urmi, Kishore, Mira, Akka,
Shakutai and Kalpana.

20.3.1 Urmi

Urmi holds a pivotal position in the novel. The plot takes shape and comes
alive through her consciousness and the reader has no choice but to judge
others as Urmi wants them to be judged. From her interaction with others and
from her thoughts we get a fairly accurate picture.

Urmi is an urban, educated middle class woman of modern India. She is a

lecturer. She appears to be active and smart. In physical appearance, she is
dark, as Dr. Bhaskar points out. She is plain looking, wears glasses and
blouses that don't match with her sarees, which shows that she is not very
particular about her appearance. As a mother, Urmi is tender and has an all-
engulfing love for her children. She looks after Kartik well and the boy seems
to have no complaints as Vanaa's daughter Mandira has. Urmi is completely
shattered by her daughter's death. When the novel opens we meet an angry,
brooding and impatient Urmi. She is sensitive and keeps on thinking of her
daughter. In fact, she does not want to forget the pain. "This pain is all that's
left to me of Anu, without it, there will be nothing left to me of her; I will lose Characterization
her entirely" (p. 9). Urmi knows that with time her grief and the associated
pain will go, it will be a thing of the past. At present, her wound is too raw to
be forgotten and her daughter's memory haunts her all the time. The memory
that "haunts me most often is that of her angry face when I tried to wean her"
(p. 21). Urmi is so shaken by her daughter's death that even simple, everyday
questions irritate her. For example, when Shakutai asks "how many children
do you have?" or when Dr. Bhaskar makes a normal query, she feels
suffocated.

Urmi is sensitive from another angle also. Though she is grief-stricken, she
does not want sympathy. It hurts her when Vanaa tries to make light
conversation to take her out of her grief. Urmi understands Vanaa's motives
but instead of appreciating them she blurts out, "Well, what are you trying to
say? . .. Why don't you say it straight off, Vanaa? I know what you're trying
to tell me" (p. 25). This is because Urrni is independent by nature. She is
strong-willed and she does not like people's sympathy. She would rather face
her grief alone, stoically, than to present the "poor Urmi" image.

This does not mean that Urmi is insensitive and unsympathetic. She
emphathises with Shakutai. She is the only one to stand by Shakutai and her
family when others keep away from them. She spends a lot of time with
Shakutai, listens to her problems, helps her and visits her so often that her
mother objects to her getting involved in this case. Urmi does not care for
public opinion. As long as she is fighting for a just cause, it does not matter
what people say. Contrary to her outward hardness, Urmi is tender and
emotional. She has sympathy for the suffering women-Mira, Kalpana,
Shakutai and Sulu. She even identifies with them. Shakutai's wailing reminds
her of Mira's cry of despair: "How clear it comes to me across the years, her
cry of rage and anguish, 'why does this have to happen to me?' Shakutai
asked me. Why? My own cluestion comes back to me-why?'(p. 67). This
shows her vulnerability. Urmi's nervous tension becomes clear to us when she
recounts her nightmares:

I am running along the sea. There's someone else with me.. .. I can
hear the footsteps, I can hear the heavy breathing, but I cannot see
whoever it is .. .. I have to keep running . ... Now it is becoming
difficult; the sand, soft and squishy under my feet, keeps dragging me
down .. I can't go on .. . I can't go on ... (p16).

There are four more nightmares that express her trauma and reveal her
shattered state of mind. But Urmi keeps tl~esenightmares to herself and does
not share them with others. She would rather show her image as a strong
woman than show her scars to others to get their sympathy.

Urmi is free, frank and without inhibitions. She has firm ideas about giving
independence to others and she wants her own independence preserved. On
the night of their marriage, when Kishore sings the line from a popular Hindi
movie, which translates into, "we are trapped," she walks out of their bed-
room. She means to tell him that their love would never be a trap. Urmi values
love, not lust; she likes equality, not women's submissiveness and men's
dominati~n.~It pains her to find that such claims are not honoured by society.
At a personal level, however, she does what she wants. She is friendly with
Dr. Bhaskar Jain. Vanaa, Inni and others object to her growing interest in him
but she considers him iust a friend. an eaual and asserts that there could be
The Novel: The nothing objectionable in their friendship. Bhaskar enables her to talk about her
Binding Vine innermost feelings about the loss of Anu, about her Baiajji and her girlhood in
Ranidurg, She looks at him as an ideal "companion". Society, however, is
evaluative. Urmi knows this, her mother's "uneasiness is palpable", she says,
"She doesn't like my going out with Bhaskar, nor does Vanaa. 'Do you expect
me to live like a cloistered nun just because I'm married?' I asked Vanaa
irritably" (p. 115). This shows Urmi's self-confidence and speaks of her deep
love for Kishore, which remains unshaken despite her momentary
disillusianment.

Urmi has clear ideas about women's rights. She does not flaunt her feminism
but she asserts that Kalpana's case should be made public; she gives the
details to the press; and she also wants to publish Mira's poems so that women
get heard. Though theoretically she is right, socially such a resolution is not
viable.

She believes that women suffer because they do not express themselves.
Expressing one's resentment can be oral, through the media, or through
writing. Urmi is determined to publish Mira's poems but the author does not
reveal whether Urmi is successful in her attempt or not. When one lives in a
society and a family, one has to be considerate and Urmi cannot be
inconsiderate to Kishore and Vanaa. This shows her social and familial
relation$hips.

With her brother, Amrut, she has a tender relationship. They exchange
pleasantries, argue, reminiscence over their past and enjoy each other's
company. Of the two, Urmi is dominating, being the elder sister and Amrut
good-naturedly accepts her attitude. Urmi's relations with her mother Inni are
strained and she is often disrespectful to her. There is no malice, only anger in
Urmi's heart, that her mother had deliberately sent her to Ranidurg so as to be
free from the responsibility of a girl-child. This misunderstanding clears
towards the end when Urmi learns the actual facts. She ,feels sorry for Inni
who cauld never utter a word against Papa's decision. Urmi's relations with
Vanaa are tender and the two understand each other despite Urmi's high-
handedness in dealing with Vanaa. Urmi and Akka (daughter-in-law and
mother-in-law) have no problems; rather, Urmi is tender towards her. Thus
Urmi, though sharp-tongued, is successful in maintaining relationships.

By the end of the novel, Urmi emerges as a strong character. She has come out
of her grief, she can face life, and looking at the brighter side of life she
resolves to get on with the daily business of living because despite the threat
of death, life has to be lived.

20.3.2 Kishore

Kishore is Unni's husband. He is Mira's son and Vanaa's half-brother. He is a

remote: figure, very reticent, taciturn and not given to expressing much. But he
is senhimental at the core of his heart. Urmi sees him shedding tears silently at
night after Anu's death. As a husband he is supportive. Somehow, his
presence is strength-giving and Urmi feels secure when he is around. But
being in the Merchant Navy, Kishore is absent from the novel, and cannot
provide much companionship to his wife who often craves for him.
 From Urmi's account of him, we learn that Kishore is open-minded. He is Characterization
earning a lot but he does not mind his wife working. Urmi does not need
money but she is fiercely independent and spends only what she earns, and not
what Kishore sends her. Kishore is aware of this trait but he does not interfere
in her way of life, nor does he try to influence any of her decisions. This is the
reason why Urmi considers herself "fortunate" - having choices and the
R
freedom to exercise those choices.

Kishore is of a quiet nature. He had been Urmi's neighbour at Ranidurg. Even

as a young man, his approach to Urmi was respectful and considerate. The two
families were close, i.e. Kishore's family comprising Vanaa (his sister), Akka
(her mother) and their father; and Urmi's grandparents (Baiajji and Aju). Urmi
being Vanaa's friend was often in their home but Kishore never became
I unduly friendly to her. Urmi remembers two incidents from their childhood:
one, when Kishore was in Ranidurg during his vacation and he drove Vanaa
and Urmi in Aju's car; and second, during Aju's demise. Kishore's presence
of mind and helpfulness impressed Urmi so much that she fell in love with
? him, inspite of his taciturn nature. Kishore proves to be an ideal husband and
Urmi is happy with him except that sometimes she resents his unapproachable
I
!
attitude. She regrets, "Kishore will never remove his armour, there is
something in him I will never reach" (p. 141). She craves for
"companionship", which Kishore cannot give her. But Kishore is a loving and
understanding husband and a doting father. Thus, despite his absence through
out the novel, Kishore emerges with a life-like presence.

20.3.3 Mira

Mira is Kishore's mother and Urmi's mother-in-law, who died in childbirth

leaving her one-day old child. Her character comes out wholly through her
diaries, poems and other writings and Urmi's comments on them. Mira comes
alive through this technique as an educated young woman who was much
advanced for her times. From her photographs Urmi imagines her to be
"dreamy-eyed, plain but attractive.

We cannot ascertain the exact time when Mira was growing up but from the
various clues provided at random we can make out that it must have been
when women's education was accepted but not their freedom of expression.
And according to Shashi Deshpande's casual remark in an interview, Mira
seems to have been married in the 1950s. She was an attractive and vivacious
young girl, married to a young man who got so infatuated with her that he
managed to propose to her family and marry her. The marriage could have
been a happy one, had Mira accepted it on male terms which she did not. She
had her own ideas about life and she felt miserable with her husband's
obsessive love.

Mira was eighteen and talented. She probably did not have any aspirations to
becoming a working woman but she did aspire to write poetry and be accepted
as a poet. This we can establish through the incident when she met the poet
Venu. An entry in her diary reads thus: "Written on my thirteenth birthday"
and it recorded her meeting with Venu, the poet, and her secret desire to write
like him. Reading this entry Urmi surmises that Mira was already a writer,
"aspiring for eternity" (p. 65). Mira wrote but she was afraid of showing her
poems to anybody lest they laugh at her. Mira's diary entry clearly shows her
urge to write, her fear of ridicule and her questioning conscience. bbWillI ever
be able to write like this? Today, after hearing him, I know this is what I
The Novel: The want-to be able to write like this. But I can't believe I ever can. And, thank
Binding Vine God, I never say this aloud. They will laugh at me" (pp. 65-66).

Mira was fascinated by Venu's poetry. She aspired to write like him and
wanted to show him her poems. She, therefore, met him again. At this second
meeting she showed her poems to him. The poet's reaction was not I
encouraging. It was the stock male response saying that women do not need to
write. Their poetry is to give "birth to children" (p. 127). Mira resents this
male view of women as breeders. She even resents her mother's self-effacing
attitude, and she has a clear vision that she would not like to be like her
mother.

Her diary entries show her relationship with her parents. She was closer to her
father than to her mother. She did not want to be like her mother-self-
obliterating, mute and helpless. "Nothing. That was all she could do in her
entire life-nothing. 'Don't ask me', she used to say to us. 'Nothing is in my
hand"' (p. 126). Mira hated such self-effacement and she rejected her mother.
She wrote: "To make myself in your imagelwas never the goal I sought" (p.
124).

What was her goal? It was probably to be innovative, to be a part of a new

order. One of her earlier verses shows this:

Come my brothers, come, my sisters,

let us join our hands;
a new road, a new way
a new age to begin (p. 44)

Mira was rebellious, in a way. Of course in the patriarchal system she did not
have any chance to speak out but she said 'no' whenever she could. She was
also possessive of her identity and resented when they changed her first name
after her marriage. They called her Nirmala but Mira would not respond to this
name. She wondered how a stroke of a pen could change her identity.

Despite all her anger, despair and fears, Mira was not an unwomanly woman.
She loved life and wanted to live it with zest. The constant fear lurking in her
writing was that she may cease to be. It seems to be a kind of premonition.
Mira loved life after she became pregnant. The "spring of !ifen stirring within
her made her happy. It was the joy of approaching motherhood. Mira was
never happy as a wife, but she could be a happy mother. The author, however,
does not give us the chance to know this because Mira dies in childbirth,
leaving her space for Akka.

20.3.4 Shakutai

The most unfortunate woman in The Binding Vine is Shakutai, Kalpana's

mother. She has no social status, no monetary standing, no family life and
very few choices. She is the representative of the vast lower class population
of our cities who just pull on. Life is a drudgery for them and without social
backing and financial strength it is crippling.

Shakutai lives in a chaw! in Bombay with her three children-Kalpana,

Sandhya and Prakash. She is working in a school, probably as a peon, and
hence is economically independent. Her husband has deserted her for another Characterization
woman, leaving her insecure and that is why she turns to Sulu's husband
Prabhakar for male support. However, this desperate need for support makes
her vulnerable. It also makes her falter in her assessment of Prabhakar's
motives. Usually, women are sensitive to male moves; they judge male
advances quickly. Unfortunately, Shakutai makes a mistake in judging
Prabhakar, because of her love for Sulu and her dependence on Prabhakar. She
has faith in him and she cannot understand that Kalpana's earlier refusal to
stay with her Sulu Mavshi could have a deeper meaning. She thinks Kalpana
is being whimsical. When Kalpana comes back stubbornly refusing to go to
Sulu, Shakutai's reaction is predictable. "Die then", she cursed Kalpana,
"What do I care? What can I give you but dry chappaties and one set of
clothes?" (p. 1 11).

Shakutai's anger is understandable. She loves her children, is concerned for

their safety and wants them to have a comfortable life. She understands the
handicap of being uneducated and without support; she is put to hardships in
the callous big city and she does not want her history repeated in the case of
her children. She wants them to be educated. The eldest being Kalpana,
Shakutai sends her to Sulu. "I wanted her to have all that I never had-
education, a good life, a good marriage, respect from others. Look at me-
what am I? I don't want my children to be like me" (p.112)' Shakutai tells
Urmi. This is normal-the dream of a mother for her children.

As a woman, Shakutai knows her limits and she is content to live within that
boundary. There are pitfalls outside and she would rather be safe within. This
is not acceptable to Kalpana. She is not mature enough to understand fear. She
likes to dress up well, flaunts her youth and subsequently gets raped. This is
how Shakutai looks at the entire episode. She repudiates Kalpana's love for
good things. According to her, the best option for Kalpana is to marry
Prabhakar, be a co-wife with Sulu and be happy. She cannot see beyond this.

Unfortunately, Kalpana can never toe the line set for her by her mother. The
mother-daughter relations are thus strained. Shakutai is unhappy with Kalpana
because of her obstinacy and Kalpana is unhappy with her mother's do's and
don'ts. Shakutai, calls her "self-willed though she admires her secretly for
her smartness. "She is very smart, that's how she got that job in the shop" (p.
92). Shakutai feels proud when she recounts this to Urmi. Shakutai, as a
deprived and dispossessed mother herself, fails to understand her daughter's
dreams.

Dreams are not alien to Shakutai though. As a woman, Shakutai has had her
dreams. Dreams of a happy married life, of a good, understanding husband,
and of owning things. She tells Urmi that one of her dreams has been to get a
cooking gas connection and the second one is to have a "mangalsutra made in
gold" (p. 110). The dreams wither in the face of life's problems. Her life with
her husband is pathetic and she is filled with anger when she talks about
him.The man is worthless and she decides not to have a mangalsutra.

The full pathos of Shakutai's life bursts upon us after Sulu's death. She is
inconsolable. We shudder to think of her condition with Sulu gone, Kalpana
struggling between life and death, her son going wayward and the entire fabric
of life shattered.
The Novel: The 20.3.5 Kalpana
Binding Vine
Shashi Deshpande has modelled Kalpana on a nurse about whom she tells us
in one of her interviews. The nurse was "a very pretty, attractive woman, a
radiant kind of person" (Pathak, p. 250), and so is Kalpana. The readers meet
Kalpana only after her mutilated body has been brought to the hospital. There
is no chance of meeting her in person. The author gives this responsibility to
her mother Shakutai to portray her daughter. Kalpana's character takes shape
slowly through Shakutai's outbursts. She is the only source through whom we
learn that Kalpana was self-willed, obstinate, fond of dressing up and smart.
People like the police officer and the doctors paint her as a tainted young
woman. Urmi's comments are however, positive. It gives the picture of
Kalpana as a young, vivacious girl who loved life. Thus, Kalpana becomes a
palpable reality.

Our first encounter with Kalpana is not a happy one. The girl is lying in the
hospital, in a state of coma. The doctors feel that she must have been with a
boy friend and when she was coming home after being with him, she must
have been knocked down by some vehicle. These are negative ideas. Kalpana
in this case does not get our sympathy. But the author wants to create a true
picture of society and the real Kalpana emerges through Shakutai's laments.

First of all, the fact is that Kalpana is not a girl of easy morals. We have to
read between the lines to arrive at this conclusion. Kalpana refuses to stay
with Sulu and her husband and nothing can induce her to go back. Shakutai
gets irritated at her stubbornness. Her plan was to keep Kalpana with Sulu for
her education. Shakutai fails to see anything fishy, as Kalpana does not tell her
the real reason. It is only after the incident that we get a faint idea about
Prabhakar's amorous advances and Kalpana's resentment. And if Kalpana
had a boy friend, it can be understood as normal. After all, having a boyfriend
and dreaming of marrying him is not a crime. And we exonerate Kalpana from
any charge of being a flirt.

From Shakutai's remarks we see that Kalpana is smart. She got a job in a shop
because she could speak English. Shakutai is proud of her daughter's
persistence and carefree attitude. "People in our chaw1 used to laugh at her,
but she didn't care. When she wants something, she goes after it, nothing can
stop her" (p. 92). This assessment gives us one side of the picture. The other
side is that she is stubborn and secretive, as she did not share anything with
her mother.

Shakutai blames Kalpana for having brought disaster on herself and on the
family. According to her, Kalpana dressed gaudily, used nail-polish and
lipstick and therefore attracted the male-gaze. Whatever the mother may say,
Urmi understands that Kalpana loved life. It is not a crime to enjoy life's joys
and small pleasures.

Kalpana had'her own plans for life, her own dreams. She had the courage to
repel the advances of Prabhakar, to reject his offer of marriage and to make
known her decision to marry a boy of her choice. She is punished for crossing
the limits of a woman's existence, and for exercising her free will and
harbouring dreams. Kalpana may not wake up from her coma, but she presents
two contradictory pictures: she may be a role model for some and a warning to Characterization
other young girls.

20.4 WHAT THE CRITICS SAY

1. Deshpande presents the conflicts of her protagonists without

presenting simple solutions .... She believes that women have so
deeply internalized the dominant mores that sometimes, despite being
better endowed than most other Indian women, her protagonists cannot
visualize an independent identity for themselves and so they become
submissive (Mukta Atrey and Viney Kirpal, p. 38).
2. Through the female characters of her novels Shashi Deshpande gets to
the root of existence itself. Male or female, there is a divide within
ourselves that leads us to love and hate, to be gentle and good and at
the same time become an agent of cruelty. ("Women in The Binding
Vine" Shanthi Sivaraman in R.S. Pathak ed. The Fiction of Shashi
Deshpande, p. 137).
3. The novelist has skillfully portrayed her characters, though her pictures
of women are more lively. Even Kishore, Harish, Amrut and Bhaskar
are adequately individualized and live through theb characteristic
behaviour, action and words. Aju, grandfather, father, Akka and Inni
represent the old generation, more loving, kind, patient, self-
abnegating and of wide sympathies. ("The Binding Vine and Indian
Ethos" by J.P. Tripathi in R.S. Pathak ed. The Fiction of Shashi
Deshpande, p. 152) 9
4. Most of the female protagonists of Deshpande reject their mothers as
role models, because they represent a patriarchal outlook on life.
("Gender, Feminism and Post-coloniality: A Reading of Shashi
Deshpande's Novels" by Shalmalee Palekar in Chanchala Naik ed.
Writing DifSerence, p. 60.)
5. The Binding Vine occupies a special place in the oeuvre of Shashi
Deshpande in the sense that it presents predominantly the women's
world. ("The Binding Vine: Multi-Storied Misunderstanding" by A.G.
Khan in Chanchala Naik, p. 163)
6. ' Deshpande's novels are all about growing up--not through an
adolescent period, but growing up into selfhood.... (Jasbir Jain in
Gendered Realities, Human Spaces, p. 264).

Check Your Progress. 2

I. Write three sentences to describe Urmi's physical appearance.

....................................................................................
.....................................................................................
.....................................................................................

2. Describe briefly Mira's aspiration to be a poet. Who thwarts it?

 The Novel: The 3. Write a note on the two incidents at Ranidurg that drew Urrni to
Binding Vine Kishore.

I
4. One word answer:

(i) Urrni called her grandmother ----------------

(ii) Shashi Deshpande uses the technique of ------------------ to
reveal her characters.
(iii) Anu's full name is ------------------
(iv) Urmi has --------------- nightmares.
(v) Amt stayed in .....................

20.5 GLOSSARY

protagonist: main character in a literary work. These days

instead of hero or heroine the word protagonist
is used.
showing and telling: these are two broad methods authors use to
delineate their characters. In "showing" the
author merely presents hislher characters, acting
and interacting. The novelist leaves it to the
reader to infer the motives and dispositions that
lie behind their words or actions. In the "telling"
method, the author intervenes and tells the
reader about his character. Helshe often
describes and evaluates hislher characters and
their qualities.
flashback: the method in a dramatic or fictional work to
show an event that happened at an earlier time.
It is, in simple words, the act of looking back in
time. A memory, or a reverie, or a confession
may be used to represent the past.

round and flat characters: these terms are given to us by E.M. Forster.
Round characters are complex, life-like and
have the capacity to learn from experience and
change accordingly. Flat characters are types
and are not developed. They do not change in
the course of the story or play. They are
presented in outline and have just one
predominant quality.

20.6 LET US SUM UP

In this unit we discussed Shashi Deshpande's art of characterization and drew

a few character sketches from The Binding Vine. We also spoke about the
importance of characters in a work of fiction and learnt to appreciate Shashi Characterization
Deshpande's art of characterization. We were also able to understand the main
characters in the novel as human beings with their peculiar motives, strengths
and weaknesses.

20.7 ANSWERS TO EXERCISES

Check Your Progress 1

1. This can be found in the relevant section.

2. These are the methods a writer adopts to portray his characters. In
"showing", the author lets the character reveal himselfherself through
hisher actions and words. The author does not comment. In "telling"
method, the author is involved in describing a character's actions,
words, and motives. Helshe also evaluates those actions. Shashi
Deshpande uses the "showing" method.
3. They exert their influence through the patriarchal power structure.
4. (i) middle class
(ii) living
(iii) showing
(iv) express
(v) Bhaskar's d

Check Your Progress 2

1. She is dark complexioned. She wears glasses. She is casual in dressing

UP.
2. Mira, as a college student, aspired to be a poet. She was much
impressed by the poet Venu and she wanted to write like him. She
wrote charming verses that were inspirational in the beginning but she
hid them for fear of ridicule. Later in life, after her marriage her poems
became grim, exuding fear and despair. When Mira met the poet Venu
and she showed him her poems, he just thwarted her dreams, advising
her to leave poetry to men.
3. These have been discussed briefly in the section dealing with
Kishore's character. You could elaborate these.
4. (i) Baiajji (ii) showing (iii) Anusha (iv) four (v) Delhi.