Nectar in a Sieve

364 Words2 Pages
Rukmani left her better life as a child to get married to an unwealthy man with a big heart. Rukami is the main character in the novel, The Nectar in a Sieve written by Kamala Markandaya. Rukami does not know what could happen next in her life. She is always shooting for hope, but fear gets in the way. Markandaya argues that fear is overpowering on Rukmani’s family. “But in us there was nothing left –no joy, no call for joy. It had come too late.”(pg.77) In this quote, there is a drought that ruined the land therefore there will be no food to feed the family. Fear is overpowering in this statement because Rukami fears her family is going to starve without the land. Her family is livings life where they cannot control what could happen to them because they don’t have money to fix these problems nor do they have the power to stop them. “The strife has lasted too young and had been too painful for me to call him back to continue it.” (pg. 100) This quote is fulfilled with grief and sorrow because Nathan and Rukmani’s last child, Kuti dies. At this point in the story, death is being caused because they don’t have enough money to support their children or feed them. Markandaya is showing fear by Rukmani not being able to support her children therefore they will die off if nothing is done. “We have had our troubles.” (pg. 105) In this quote, Rukmani is explaining her troubles with the land and starvation. This is showing fear because she does not know what may happen later on. “He was nearing fifty and no longer as healthy as he had been.” (pg. 127) Rukmani is fearing of her husbands health in this quote. Without him, she will not have any money to feed her children or for anywhere to live. The challenges Rukmani faced through the novel represent fear in various amount of ways. The family struggle through losing their land to family members dying off due to
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