Annalise Hassan

Nectar in a Sieve Essay

HSA English 10 4B

Markandayas book, Nectar in a Sieve, shows a compelling understanding of

suffering throughout the plot. The suffering of the main character, Rukmani, is one very

moving role as she was raised into a decent lifestyle and was downgraded into a life

after marrying a poor farmer. Her struggles in the book really proved that even though

suffering is hard, there is always light at the end of the tunnel. There are factors that

play into the theme as well, including; setting, characters and plot.

Furthermore, the book is set in rural India. Rukmani lived with her husband in a

hut that he built especially for her near their farm. This was established in the reading,

A mud hut, thatched, small, set near a paddy field, with two or three similar huts near

by (6). Their living means were paid by their crop harvest every year. Therefore, they

heavily relied on the weather in India. Their main struggle was maintaining their crop

growth during the harsh weather swings, thus causing their crop harvest to fail. This

resulted in them being left with little to no money and scraps of food. They struggled to

pay rent and maintain living in their hut. Famine and poverty broke her family apart,

physically and mentally. Her children died of hunger leaving her uncontrollably mentally

unstable as she would blow things out of proportion like her problems. This caused

herself to detriment suffering among her own self. Her financial struggle came to be her

and her familys downfall, but ultimately she gets taken care of by her son in the end.
 The layout of the plot also absorbed much of the play on theme in the story.

There were many ups and downs in the story line, much of which were extremely

depressing. Rukmanis initial hardship was her fathers inability to pay for his last

daughters dowry, therefore she was married to a poor farmer. In addition, she found

was her inability to have a son. Another hardship was watching her children die; for

example, her son was hit and suffered a painful death because of his fragileness as well

as watching her children await for food every day as they died of starvation. It had really

become a burden when her daughter, Ira, became a prostitute to feed her ill-fated

brother after she was handed back to her family when she failed to bear a child for her

husband. Her neighbor Kunthi, was also blackmailing both her and her husband. Soon

after she came to find out her husband was cheating on her. Soon it is just her and her

husband venturing around India to find their son, in order to take care of them. In the

end, as stated The days went by, Nathan no longer beside me; no more. Ashes and

dust, scattered to the winds, moistened by the rain, unrecognizable. I pick up the

fragments of my life and put them together (186) she lost her husband but she finally

realizes she has to move on. As Rukmani opens her eyes to this clairvoyant view of

independence, she grows toward her happiness in a shade of grieving time.

Characters in the story had a strong influence on the story as well. Rukmani had

an arranged marriage to a man Nathan. He was cool-headed, supportive and was

extremely sympathetic in their marriage. Their bond was merely inseparable. He always

held her down even when she was erratic, as mentioned when she attacked her

daughter for the wrong person she despised. Kenny, a local western doctor, had a

heavy influence on the theme throughout the book; him and Rukmani would always
challenge the fate of struggles in life. We are taught to bear our sorrows in silence, and

all this is so that the soul may be cleansed (112) the author creates a contradicting yet

attracting relation between the two. Both these men in her life shared many values as

stated Nathan had said much the same thing: he and Kenny, so different in other

ways, were yet united in their views (108). She winded up losing both of them, however

she wasnt phased by it because she knew that now she could live as freely as a bird.

The life that Markandaya has portrayed in this novel has a very motivating aspect

and is aspiring to so many females situations like Rukmanis. These elements in this

story have created a moving novel of ongoing conflict. It showcases her persistent battle

against life would all simmer down eventually, stimulating a heart-warming touch.