365betÓéÀÖ

MARITAL DISSONANCE IN R. P. JHABVALA’S THE HOUSEHOLDER
AND IN ANITA DESAI’S IN CUSTODY: A COMPARATIVE STUDY

In Jhabvala’s The Householder and in Desai’s In Custody, there is a marked similar­ity with regard to the central theme of marital dissonance caused by socio-economic prob­lems in general and temperamental differences in particular. The protagonists in these two novels in terms of their profession, financial and social crises and marital dissatisfaction is identical. Prem in The Householder and Deven in In Custody run away from the domestic turmoil but return to their houses realising their responsibilities. Prem’s wife Indu in The Householder and Deven’s wife Sarla in In Custody express their dissatisfaction in married life but the novels ultimately end up in domestic harmony.

In Jhabvala’s The Householder, Prem is a Lecturer who gets a very low salary and faces financial crisis in terms of adjusting money for the payment of house rent, and heed­ing the demands of his wife Indu, who is pregnant. In the classroom Prem is an unsuccess­ful teacher. The students and management are unhappy with his academic performance. Thus he fails both at financial and professional fronts. The arrival of Prem’s mother complicates the situation further. The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law are at logger­-heads. As a householder, Prem fails to fulfil the demands of his wife. Indu is a modernist while Prem is a traditionalist. Indu treats Prem as a failure, often goes to her parents in his absence and cares the least for his formal approval. Subsequently, he seeks spiritual help in order to run away from all these complications, but the Swamy turns down his request stating that he must be a successful person first in the domestic affairs. This opens Prem’s mind to seek some solution to avoid such serious marital dissonance. Luckily, Indu comes home. He cleverly manages to send his mother to his sister to Bangalore. His mother’s departure adds new enthusiasm to his spirit and Indu also feels that she is the queen of the house. Thus Indu gains her freedom and equality and Prem also tries hard to make their married life a success with the faith that their first duty is to love and to be loved by each other. Now, in spite of his failure as a Lecturer, and his failure to meet the rent problem he has at last proved himself as a successful “householder�. Thus the novel ends with domestic harmony.

In Desai’s, In Custody, the problem between Deven and Sarla is the lack of togeth­erness, his low salary as a lecturer, his frustration in the domestic front, his attempt to escape from a terrible sense of isolation and his plan to seek refuge in the fantasy world of Urdu Poetry where he hopes to fulfil himself. He is a noble self in society but a victim at home because Sarla as a dreamer develops many aspirations which Deven fails to fulfil. He grows schizophrenic. The harsh reality of existence produces in him a tense sensation of hostility, but he does not revolt. He realises his commitment to Nur’s poetry by becom­ing its custodian and at the same time he realises the need for materialistic values to be extended towards his wife and son. Thus, they begin their matrimonial life with dissonance but the reconciliation in terms of earthily needs makes Deven realise the need to coexist with the family.

Deven is a mentally disturbed person like Prem and incidentally the causes are also the same. Depression is a serious mental ailment which has been depicted with great skill by both the novelists. The stages of disenchantment and marital dissonance with their situations in life, frustration, socio-economic and domestic problems ending in reconciliation and coexistence are common in both the novels.

Like Prem, Deven, the protagonist in In Custody, is also a Lecturer in Hindi in a private college called Lala Ram Lal College, Mirpore near Delhi. He lives in Mirpore with his wife Sarla and son Manu. Indu in The Householder is pregnant but Sarla is already the mother of a child. Prem is worried about the maintenance of domestic expenditure after the child is born and Deven is already in a tight financial position. Both Indu and Sarla dream of many things but their dreams have been rudely swept away by the fact of their life with academics living in small houses. Both Prem and Deven are considered to be failures by their students as well as the management. Both of them are romantics and escapists. They are incapable of facing crises. Unable to change the circumstances, they seek relief in different ways. Sohan Lal helps Prem to go to the Swamy, and Murad, the editor of Aawaz magazine, encourages Deven to meet Nur. Prem wants to take up spiritual life and Deven wants to seek relief in his love of Urdu poetry. The Swamy does not admit Prem into spiritual line just as Deven fails to derive pleasure from Nur’s poetry due to the force of circumstances.

Both Indu and Sarla go through mental trauma which allows them no peace. The scene of Indu leaving Prem’s house without the permission or knowledge of her husband in The Householder is a typical example of women of aggressive and emotional tempera­ments who suffer from marital dissonance. She comes on her own accord as she needs the support of her husband as the would be mother of a child. In contrast to this situation, Deven’s wife, Sarla, is quite normal, submissive, plain, penny-pinching and congenitally pessimistic. She desires that her husband should take care of them with contin­ued responsibility.

Indu is a victim partly due to the undue intervention of her mother-in-law while there is no such problem for Sarla. Prem cleverly resolves this problem by sending his mother to his sister in Bangalore while Deven reconciles with his family life with the realisation that art is not separate from life. Deven’s transformation is symbolically suggested by the image of the thorn. While rushing homewards, Deven stops only to “pull a branch of thorns from under his foot� (I. C. P. 204). He faces the thorny path to self-realisation.

The theme of marital dissonance in The Householder and In Custody has socio­-economic implications and seriously affects the psyche of the characters. Both Prem and Deven face these conflicts but they realise their responsibility towards their families and the value of permanent coexistence. Jhabvala and Desai have explored the problem of marital disintegration quite efficiently. They indirectly suggest the need for marital harmony, in the disturbed social setup and family life.