3 Review(s)

Anita Desaiâs Fire on the Mountain is a thought-provoking novel. It poses questions as who is the real recluseâone who renounces the world on being fed up with nimiety like Nanda Kaul, or one that is recluse by nature and instinct, like Raka. The next question that arises all unbidden is whether a recluse is to be unconcerned with the world or must have a deeper concern for the world. Nanda Kaul came to Kasauli with the determination that she wouldnât have anything to do with the world anymore and getting Raka to look after was, she felt, like slipping the noose around her neck once again. Lucky she was that Raka, who came out to be a greater recluse, demanded nothing, not even the care that children generally needed. But Ila Das deflected both of them from the customary path of a recluse. Her sufferings and martyrdom agonized them more than anybody else. Nanda Kaul dropped the telephone and her head rolled on one side on getting the news of Ilaâs death while Raka set the forest on fire. Who, then, is a recluse? Therefore the questionsâwhether a recluse should insulate herself from the world, and whether it is nobler to hang oneâs shoes up with the presumption that the innings is over than to take up arms against a sea of troubles as Ila did. This monograph is designed to serve the students in several ways. It will remove cobwebs from the minds of the students on serious issues raised in the novel. At the same time, discussions or characters, theme, etc. have been supported with apt quotations from the text to provide a firm ground to the students to stand on. Explanations of important passages will serve as models and give ideas to the students as to which passages they should specially prepare for examinations. Bibliography has been given to help ambitious ones.