Analysis of Existential Perspectives in Bapsi Sidhwa’s Water

Abstract

The great philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau asserts, “Man is born free, but he
is everywhere in chains”. It is a fact, since the very beginning, humans have
always been captives in the hands of their cultures, , religions, laws, and norms.
These constraints always confine human freedom. . Consequently, these ever
injustices with humans pushed the philosophers of 20th century to raise their
voices against such injustices which snatch humans’ freedom. As a result,
Existentialist movement came about , and started suggesting humans to get
freedom from all constraints in society. This research aimed to analyze the
dominant perspectives of Existentialism in Bapsi Sidwa’s novel,
The researcher had to analytically study existentialism in the novel, and to study
the contents of the novel under study through the lens of existentialist theory.
The method in this study was qualitative in nature. The researcher has referred
to the instances from the novel to bring forward the underlying theme in the
novel. The text of the novel was taken by the researcher as a sample. The
researcher has found that the novel is about the wretched lives of widows in
the traditional Brahminical societies in India. Following their beliefs and
traditions the traditional Brahminical societies, mal-treat their widows, and
snatch their freedom even in modern times. Moreover, in the novel, the
researcher discerned, that not only widows, women, but also men are doomed
to sufferings, miseries, and traumas in the names of moribund, and obsolete
norms and beliefs in such traditional societies.