Roots / Natasha

 NATASHA MARIA DAVIS 

2ND DC BA SOCIOLOGY 

A literary appreciation of the short story Roots. 

Roots by Ismat Chugtai provokes the reader to look into the eyes of Amma to see the ocean of pain she holds amidst the roar of partition that takes place in India during the freedom struggle. The story is a strong depiction on how the concept of partition affects people in terms of their person relationships and also the memories they hold back in India. 

Myriad number of figures of speech can be touched across while reading the work of Chugtai. 

1)To begin with, India was operated upon by such clumsy hands and blunt knives that thousands of arteries were left open. So here the author personifies India as a human being, which is the prime reason he has said that through the exploitative actions of the British, the arteries of India was left open. 

2)Rivers of blood flowed, and no one had the strength left to stitch the wounds. The above line is an example of personification and therefore what the author is trying to convey is that once British left, they have inflicted a deadly wound upon India which will be there for years, here India is considered as a human being. 

3)I who lie here today like an enshrouded corpse. Here the human body which has life is being compared to a fatal thing. Comparison is used here. 

4)One may not care for one's life, but even a lamp whose oil has run out shudders before its final gasp. The urge to sustain one's life can be felt through this line.

5)But there was no oil in the lamp that day,and the wick had burnt out - symbolises Amma.