Literary appreciation of the roots by seethaLakshmi

 ROOTS

Indians can never forget the bloodshed and violence that happened in 1947. Even if we remember about the past glory of the hard earned Independence, the pages of 1947 also includes stories of bitterness, pain and killings. The country was in the midst of partition and violence. And communal frenzy swept the nation in the wake of partition. The story Roots by Ismat Chugtai deals with those harrowing experiences .

It is a first person narrative story. And the author has used the essence of various figures of speech and literary devices to create an aesthetic pleasure in the mind of the readers. These are the few examples:-

Had inflicted such a deadly wound that it would fester for years to come.

The partition of India is being compared to a deadly wound. Deadly wound symbolises how painful the partition was. 

But there was no oil in the lamp that day,and the wicked had burnt out.

 These symbolises the attitude of the mother. She was  scared about what will be the condition in the new land.

Then the two pearls of warm tears trickled.

 Here the tears are compared to pearls and it can be considered as an example of metaphor.

She had nursed the crop with her heart's blood through fifty years,and that day it had been exiled from it's own land to find a new land.

Here the crops symbolises the children and the lines shows up the picture of the pain she experienced for the past fifty years and the sacrifice she has made for her children.

But even a lamp whose oil has run out shudders before it's final gasp.

Here's the lamp symbolises Amma who is drained of all her strength. She feels so weak as she was in the midst of pain and loneliness.

Through these lines the writer has depicted the Physical,mental and psychological effects of partition.