Mythology in Githahariharan’s the Thousand Faces of Night

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Mythology in GithaHariharan’s The Thousand Faces of Night Githa Hariharan’s debut novel, The Thousand Faces of Night articulates the problems of women with the help of Indian Mythology. She links the plight of her women characters with the Indian myths as Mahabaratha, Sanskrit stories etc.; to the Gods, Goddesses, legendary heroines in the epics of India. These stories were instrumental in supporting the insidious patriarchal concepts. The lives of the three women in TheThousand Faces of Night—Devi, Sita and Mayamma exposes the different dimensions of women’s oppression. The reworking, revisioning and retelling of the myths as allusions of the character’s story is the highlight of the novel. The story of the three women tells about the society’s patriarchal pattern. The society‘s expectations and the taboos laid by men of the world are vividly portrayed. ‘Story within a story’ is the narrative technique which Hariharan employs in the novel. To substantiate her stories, she uses mythological allusions from the great epics of India. For any Indian women, institution of marriage ensures protection, love , compatibility and happiness. Marriage makes a woman expect a lot of happy events, compassion, empathy, mutual understanding and a protective atmosphere to live life in peace and harmony. Marital life in India, on the contrary lays a lot of restrictions and constraints which constrict them from a life of freedom . They suffer disappointment and disillusionment in the face of reality. The Thousand Faces of Night is the portrayal of different facets of women suffering different kinds of suffering and depicts the status of women in Indian society. It articulates the problems of women with the help of Indian Mythology. It yokes together the various vicissitudes faced by women of the puranas. Devi , a young educated
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