Post-Colonial Analysis of 'a Fine Balance' - Rohinton Mistry

441 Words2 Pages
Much has been written about the state of emergency that had been declared by India from 1975 - 1977. It was used as a means of keeping the Prime Minister in charge (after being found guilty of electoral fraud), and to punish the accusers by putting them in jail. This declaration of Emergency is the cause of many of the events in the novel. One of resultant projects was called a “beautification”, which aimed to destroy many of the slums in India, including the ones that Ishvar and Om lived in. Now homeless, they are forced into the city where they require government sterilizations. Unfortunately the conditions are far less than sanitary, and cause an infection to Ishvar’s legs: “From the groin to the knee the flesh had become black” (Mistry 530). Against doctor’s orders, political leader Thakur Dharamsi orders an amputation, along with operations on Om, and a later deadly vasectomy on Ashraf Chacha, showing how the power of In addition to the sterilization scheme, Dina, also loses a part of her to the power of the government. She loses her business and her appartment, forcing her into the home of her successful businessman brother, Nusswan. Dina struggles to keep up with Nusswan’s dominance, and is symbolically defeated in a card game agains him (Mistry 565), and in turn she is eventually made into a servant for her brother. Mistry provides this plot to remind the reader that the ideals and plans of one class will always be less than those of the ones in the class above. When Maneck, the fourth protagonist, returns to India in 1984, he reads an old newspaper, outlining the death of his friend, Avinash, in a “railway accident” (Mistry 584), where in reality, “the injuries were consistent with other confirmed incidents of torture” (Mistry 584). He decided that Avinash’s death was a result of police custody for ani-governernment actions. Unfortunately, during this time,
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