Philosophy of life Essay

NAGAPPAN SETHURAMAN Existentialism as a philosophy is historic plainlyy and culturally of European origin. Ever since it was recognised as the dominating philosophy of the watt in the midtwentieth mavenness C, it has left its impact on literature which has both been secure and squ ar (Chatterji 10). Existentialism does not offer a set of doctrines or a single philosophy system. It has been diversely defined and interpreted by various thinkers over the years.As a result, as a philosophy, empiric philosopher philosophy by its very nature defies and abhors systematisation (Ahmad 10). Nevertheless, it is possible to identify trustworthy(prenominal) traits of this school of thought. All the empiricalists try the importance of the exclusive as well as his freedom and responsibility for being what he is ( dassie 423). In their start break through to describe mans founding and its conflicts, the origin of its conflicts, and the anticipation of overcoming them (Ahmad 13), existentialist philosophers localize their attention on certain aspects of kind existence.Srivastava enumerates them as follows b) it is never gumshoe and ever at the mercy of chance, c) it is full of suffering, of one and only(a) variety or other, d) it is full of conflict, e) it is rotted in guilt, f) it cannot escape from the final situation of expiry (185). These tenets of existentialism reserve been widely reflected in the literature of the homo since the orgasm of Sartre who established an interaction between literature and philosophy in his writings. caper Macquarrie spunks up the essence of existentialism as, On the whole, it has been the tragic palpate of vitality that has been prevalent among the existentialists (Macquarrie 164).Al to the highest degree all colossal writers of the symbolise generation have handled the doctrines of existentialism in their works. This is the main reason why mans alienation, dread, absurdity, bad faith, responsibility, commitmen t to freedom, anguish atomic number 18 the very hallmarks of 20th century literature (Ahmad 5). As a youngist, Anita Desai exhibits a strong inclination towards the existentialist interpretation of the man predicament. In particular, she voices the mute miseries and helplessness of married women hurt by existentialist problems and predicaments (Prasad 139).A woman apologueist, Desai has won a recession by exploring the emotional world of women, bringing to argus-eyed the various deeper forces at work in feminine sensibility as well as psychology. This gustatory science leads her to examine the exclusive of her women protagonists when they are confronted with the absurdity of invigoration. This draws her attention to the darker nerve of flavour. She projects a tragic vision in her novels by placing her female protagonists in hostile situations. Desai further examines her women protagonists as psyches who take note themselves forced into uncongenial sur fatingss, flak e against the odds.This problem of the The Indian analyse of World Literature in English, Vol. 1, nary(prenominal) I Jan, 2005 tragic tension between the individual and their unfavourable environment acquires the symmetrys of existential angst. Starting from her first novel Cry the Peacock to the a la mode(p) Baumgartners Bombay, all her novels high abstemious the existentialists predilection for characterization the predicament of man. Many tyros have traced shades of existentialist thought in the novel of Anita Desai. Time and again her prows and characters have been interpreted in the light of existential philosophy.In this regard it has been degreeed out Desais chief engross is human relationship. Her central theme is she existential predicament of an individual, which she projects th unhandy unsuitable couples- very sensitive wives and ill matched keep ups. She is a minute observer and perceives allthing mutely, by chance and delicately. Whenever she works a poet ical situation, she gives it a perfect poetic treatment to every detail (Singh 12) Anita Desais characters are self- advised of the reality around them and they charter a sense of loneliness, alienation and pessimism.She adds a new dimension good turn inward into the realities of support and plunges into the deep-depths of the human psyche to score out its mysteries and snake pit in the minds of characters. Particularly Fire on the chaw has been identified as the lyrical fictionalization of the quintessence of existentialism (Gupta 185). A close work of the texture and theme of the novel in relation to the tenets of existentialism justifies the to a higher(prenominal) place annotation. It has been noted that Fire on the Mountain displays skillful dramatisation of experiences of certain women embroiled by the cross way of look (Choudhury 77).This novel deals with the existential angst experienced by the female protagonist Nanda Kaul, an old gentlewoman documentation in clo sing off. It standardizedwise projects the midland turmoil of a small lady friend, Raka, who is preoccupied by a sense of futility. Thirdly, it vexs the wage of a helpless woman, Ila pika who is in conflict with forces that are as well as powerful to be encountered, resulting in her tragic death. Thus, the existential themes of solitude, alienation, the futility of human existence and struggle for survival family the major themes of the novel.Fire on the Mountain falls into threesome partings, distri furtherively further divided into several short chapters of unequal length. The first subsection deed of conveyanced Nand Kaul at Carignano runs into ten chapters. This section deals with Nanda Kaul, the main protagonists solitary life in Kasauli. Raka comes to Carignano forms the second section and it contains twenty one chapters. It portrays Nanda Kauls change of attitude towards Raka, her great(p) granddaughter. The final section Ila hyrax leaves Carignano is divided into thirteen chapters. This section presents the tragic end of Ila Da, Nanda Kauls puerility friend.In all, the book runs to 145 pages. The structural unity, as suggested by the section captions is offered by Carignano, Nanda Kaul and Raka, running counter to one roughly other complemented by that of Ila rock rabbit withal provide unity of structure. Like the other works of Anita Desai, the present novel contains neither any story value nor events that are interest by themselves. The entire novel revolves round the existential angst experienced by the women protagonists. In this novel, the story element is very thin and in that location is very much no action except for the tragic end (Indira 96).The story revolves round the inner functions of the two female protagonists, Nand Kaul and Raka. Nanda Kaul is the wife of Mr. Kaul, the Vice-Chancellor of the Punjab University. When the novel begins, Nanda The Indian followup of World Literature in English, Vol. 1, no I Jan, 20 05 Kaul is living in Carignano, far from the madding crowd. She is leading a life of isolation and introspection. She shuns all human connection. Even the postmans arrival to deliver the letter is frowned upon by her. scarce this seeming quietude does not last yen.Raka arrives at Carignano to recover after her typhoid attack. The old woman and the young girl live in double singleness. however as days pass by, Nanda Kaul finds herself raddled towards Raka, more or lessthing she had not expected. But the petty(a) girl ref white plagues to be befriended and escapes into the hills looking for company in solitude. Ila Das, Nanda Kauls childhood friend visits Carignano to meet Raka. A one time lecture in the Punjab University, Ila Das had lost her job concomitant to Mr. Kauls retirement. She has come to Kasauli presently in her new capacity as an officer in the social social welfare department.She fights against child coupling by enlightening the local people virtually the ev ils of this dedicate. This invites the wrath of many of the villagers of whom Preet Singh is one. His attempts to avocation his little daughter for a tiny piece of land and a few goats have been successfully thwarted by Ila Das. He is manufacturing in wait to settle his score with her. cardinal evening, when Ila Das returns modern from Carignano to her humble menage in the valleys, he waylays her, rapes and murders her. When the news of Ila Dass death is conveyed to Nand Kaul over the phone, she is rudely take aback and falls dead.Raka un conscious(predicate) of her great grand flummoxs death, rushes into the rear proclaiming wonderfully that she has set the forest of fervidness. Nanda Kaul, Raka and to some extent Ila Das, are embodiments of the existential predicament experienced by the individual in an un-under patronageing and even hostile universe. A detailed examination of the characters of these protagonists brings to light how Anita Desai has succeeded in giving exp ression to her existentialist world-view through these characters and by a subtle use of public figurery and symbols. When the novel begins, Nand Kaul is presented as a recluse. life history all exclusively, except for the company of the servants who dare not disturb her privacy, she suffer no human presence. She wanted no one and nothing else. any(prenominal) else came, or happened here, would be unwelcome intrusion and distraction(FM 3). She spends her days in isolation, musing about her past and experiencing the existential ennui. From the musings of her agitated mind it appears that as the wife of the vicechancellor for the Punjab University and the mother of several children, she has lived a very busy and wearing life (Raizada 44).Anita Desai unfurls her past in the form of long interior monologues punctuated by authorial interruptions, Nanda Kaul had witnessed only betrayals and demands in life before her retirement to Kasauli. She had lived a monotonous life receiving a nd treating the endless sprout of visitors who used to call on her vice-chancellor husband. Her husband had carried on a life-long affair with his mathematics mistress look across David, whom he would have married, had she not been a Christian. Again, the memories of her children make Nanda Kaul shudder at the very thought of her past.As a mother of several children, all demanding and unaccommodative, she had been given too many anxious moments. no(prenominal) all alone in Carignano, a house associated with many supernatural stories, Nanda Kaul feels that loneliness is the only prerequisite condition of human life. Whenever she looks at the tall pine trees that stand out from among the underwood, she is reminded of her own alienation. Not exactly conscious of what she is waiting for, nonetheless, she is awaiting the necessary end to all human existence death.She is haunted by the existential angst which has led her to conclude that human life is basically a lonely struggle agai nst the odds of life. In her case the odds have manifested themselves in the form of an adulterous husband and cantankerous children. Strongly convinced The Indian Review of World Literature in English, Vol. 1, No. I Jan, 2005 that life and dealt a raw deal to her, she has resolved to find the meaning, if any, of her existence in isolation. She treasures her freedom, her privacy, glad her responsibilities towards her family are over, glad she needs nobody and nobody now needs her (Krishnaswamy 260).This has coloured her outlook on life to a super extent. Her reaction to the arrival of the postman and Raka, her invalid great granddaughter, makes it appear that she has let a misanthrope. But the truth seems to be that she is a sensitive mortal preoccupied with the real nature of her existence as opposed to the illusive life of her past as a vice-chancellors wife and mother to children. If Nanda Kaul was a recluse out of vengeance for a long life of duty and obligation, her great grand daughter was a recluse by nature, by instinct.She had not arrived at this condition by a long route of rejection and sacrifice equivalent Nanda Kaul, she was born to it, simply (FM 48). Desais preceding(prenominal) observation about Rakas character at once brings out the affinity and difference with that of Nanda Kauls in their mental make up. Rakss characters has been introduced by the novelist as a foil to Nanda Kauls. If Nanda Kaul symbolises a particular aspect of existentialism, which is examined elsewhere in this chapter, Raka epitomises another aspect of the existential predicament the influence of her parents on her life.Anita Desai makes Raka both young temperamentally and solitude-loving. When Raka is first introduced, the reader is informed that she is the granddaughter of Asha, the most problematic of Nanda Kauls daughters. That she is an unwelcome intruder into Nanda Kauls life is suggested by an image. As Nanda Kaul first looks at her greatgrand daughter who is walking towards her, she reminds the old chick of an insect Raka slowed down, dragged her foot, then came towards her great grandmother with something despairing in her attitude..She off a pair of extravagantly large and somewhat bulging eye about in a way that do the old lady feel more than ever her resemblance to an insect. (FM 39). However, the old lady is shocked to see the pale and gaunt little girl and is moved to pity. But to Nanda Kaul she was sboulder clay an intruder, an outsider, a mosquito flown up from the plains to tease and worry (FM 40). Raka herself does not irritate much about the blatant lack of warmth(FM 40) exhibited by her great grandmother. She prefers to stay away(predicate) from company. Like a wild wight newly caged, she keeps prowling barefoot in her room, looking at the stone heaps.She is not concerned in flowers or playing as children of her age normally unravel to do. By using two reptile images successively in a span of two pages, and by a su ggestive hint about Rakas lack of interest in play and flowers, Desai impliedly establishes that at that place is something weird about her. Soon through several interior monologues enacted in Rakas subconscious mind, the reason for the abnormality in her is unfolded. The daughter of an ill-matched couple, Raka has been witness to the savageness and futility of human existence.She is haunted by the recollections of the nightmarish nights that have made her approximately a child-stoic. Somewhere behind them, behind it all was her generate, home from a party, stumbling and cr ashing through the curtains of the night, his mouth opening to let out a gourmandize of rotten stench, beating at her mother with hammers and fists of abuse- acerb, filthy abuse that made Raka cower under her bedclothes and wet her mattress in fright, feeling the germinate of urine warm and weakening between her legs equivalent a stream of blood, and her mother lay down on the floor and shut her eye and we pt.Under her The Indian Review of World Literature in English, Vol. 1, No. I Jan, 2005 feet, in the dark, Raka felt that flat, wet jelly of her mothers being squelching and quivering, so that she didnt know where to put her feet and wept as she act to get free of it. Ahead of her,no longer on the ground but at some distance now, her mother was crying. Then it was a jackal crying. (FM 72) The sudden shift from the interior monologue about her bitter past to the present observation of the jackal crying, the latter super oblige on the reason brings out Rakas predicament.By doing this, the novelist likens the haunting memories to the crying jackals. So Rakas life is a close encounter with things that are wild and frightful- be it the memories of her mother beaten to pulp by a drunkard father or the demoralize cry of the jackals. Instead of nerve-racking to escape from this harsh and unnerving experiences and memories, Raka goes farther and deeper into them as if to fathom the botto m of such wild realities.After some initial hesitation, she ventures deep down the ravine to the Monkey Point- a place not frequented by others and from where the cries of the jackals are heard No one ever came here but Raka and the cuckoos that sand invisibly. These the cuckooswere not the dutiful internal birds that called Nanda Kaul to attention at Carignano. They were the demented birds that raved and beckoned Raka on to a land where there was no sound, only silence, no light, only shade, and skeletons kept in beds of ash on which the footprints of jackals flowered in gray.(FM 90) This passage strongly coveys Rakas plight and significance. She is at once a little girl with a splintered psyche and an unmistakable symbol of the individuals quest for meaning. The jackals are symbols of the mystery story of life and Rakas walk to the Monkey Point is exemplary of her chase for something unknown, yet inevitable and indispensable. Not all children would dare to brave the rough ter rains of the ravines and impending menace of the jackals. Similarly, not all human beings are conscious of the futility of human existence nor are they in try of newer values.The existential theme of quest for meaning undertaken by those who refuse to remain merely as members of the multitude is well brought out in the lonely and mystified wanderings of Raka. In this respect it has been pointed out by Shantha Krishnaswamy Her Rakas childhood has hardened her into a little core of solitary self-sufficiency and now, a young girl up here in the mountains.. her spirit is defiant enough to go sing I dont care, I dont care, I cant care of anything (FM 73). The conventional sweet smells and sounds of girlhood are ignored, she feels drawn by scenes of devastation and failure.The forest fervencys tingle her and she bursts from the shell of Carignano like a sharp, keen edged explosive to set attempt to the mountainside. (Krishnaswamy 261, 262) The utmost part of the foregoing observation concerning Rakas predilection for the forest good times needs elaborate analysis for it has symbolic overtones. Ever since her arrival at Carignano, Raka evinces a keen interest in wild fire. This obsession with the forest fire provides yet another dimension with the forest fire provides to her existentialist preoccupations. today after her arrival at Carignano, on witnessing a fire in the forest she travels obsessed with forest fires for they seem to her the empirical manifestation of her inner conflict whether to continue with her mediocre and painful and aimless existence imposed upon her by heredity and environment or to revolt against their dictates and attempt to create her own values. The Indian Review of World Literature in English, Vol. 1, No. I Jan, 2005 By an elaborate expression of her free will and inference of her ability to choose and act, she sets the forest on fire towards the end of the novel.The fire created by her is the result and manifestation of her exist ential angst to destroy the old and nonsensical to make room for the new and significant. It is an affirmation of her search for values in an otherwise futile existence. Ila Das is the third female protagonist of the novel. remote Nanda Kaul and Raka who are central to the story, her mathematical function is only marginal. Nonetheless, Anita Desai has projected yet another aspect of the existentialist philosophy through her character. Her life suggests another dimension of misery and meaningless existence (Jena 30).She is first introduced to the readers, when she calls Nanda Kaul on the phone and informs her of her intend visit to Kasauli to meet Raka. She speaks in a hideous voice (FM 21) and is sooner plain in her looks. Through a long interior monologue in Nanda Kauls mind, the readers are informed of her past. She was Nanda Kauls childhood friend. She had also served in the university as a lecturer, thanks to Nanda Kauls good offices. But soon after the death of Mr. Kaul she had been ousted and had struggled a lot before purpose the present employment as a social welfare officer.A poverty stricken loner of aristocratic of child marriage, a practice rampant among the tribals. This lands her in an unenviable situation. She finds herself fighting a lonely bout against a mindless multitude. But she is not cowed down by adversity. She rest steadfast in her conviction and refuses to make any compromises. Though she is aware of the dire consequences that she might be forced to encounter, she remains faithful to her cause. She succeeds in stooping several such child-marriage, the prominent one being the marriage of Preet Singhs seven year old daughter.Sustaining herself on a miserable pay and putting up with the inevitable condition of loneliness, she wages a valiant battle against the dictates of the gild. Finally, she pays a dear price for her convictions and refusal to compromise. She is raped and off by Preet Singh who has been dying for revenge. Thou gh Ila Das plays a minor role in the novel, she is also an allegorical figure. She not only lives in isolation but also braves the brute majority with conviction and commitment as her tools.True, she meets with a tragic end but has made her existence significant in exhibiting courage and determination in the face of stiff defense and threat to life. Her real involvement in peoples welfare assumes tremendous symbolic significance (Jena 30). She epitomises the existentialist concept of struggle against the odds of life. For the existentialist, man is never just part of the cosmos but perpetually stands to it in a relationship of tension with possibilities of tragic conflict (Macquarrie 17).She stands for the mentation individual who dares to exercise her free will and act according to her pickaxe rather than submit meekly to the odds of life. The mindless tribal society in general, and Preet Singh in particular, represent the malevolent aspect to human existence-forces that are be nt upon thwarting the individuals purpose and undoing her. One of the many ways of defining tragedy sees it as a jolt between the aspiration of human freedom and creativity with a cosmic order that is stronger and defeats man (Macquarrie 189).Though Ila Das loses her chastity and life in the process of her struggle with such brute forces, her life has nonetheless become meaningful by virtue of the fact that she chooses a cause, fights for it and sacrifices herself in trying to accomplish her task. An examination of the use of symbolism and resource in the novel proves beyond doubt the novelists existential concern. She portrays a tragic world where no compromises are made, no epiphanies are exploded, to be totally destroyed, as the The Indian Review of World Literature in English, Vol. 1, No.I Jan, 2005 sensitive, the visionary suffer nothing but suffocation and oppression. So, the content of the novel is sheer violence. The lives of the principal characters are unloved and unliv ed. (Indira 95,96). In keeping with this concept, Anita Desai resorts to the numberive employment of imagery and symbolism in Fire on the Mountain. Her predilection for prey-predator imagery abounds in this novel also. Images of ugliness, loneliness, destruction and annihilation are consistently used in order to reflect the existential tone of the novel.An cash dispenser of solitary introspection is created with the help of several images. For example, when she receives a call from Ila Das, Nanda Kual off her head this way and that in an escape. She watched the white hen drag out a worm inch by resisting inch from the ground till it snapped in two. She felt like the worm herself, she winced at its mutilation (FM 21). The same is proceed in the next page also Still starting at the hen which was greedily gulping down bits of worm, she thought of her husbands face and the way he would plait his fingers across his stomach (FM 22).This prey-predator image of hen pecking at a worm is s uggestive of Nanda Kauls present inner turmoil. Her past suffering at the hands of the adulterous husband and her present awareness about the harsh realities of life are both successfully established by this image. Another important image diligent recurrently is that of the pine tree that stands burnt and alone, which is often an object of attractive force for Nanda Kaul She was grey, tall and thin she fancied she could merge with the pine tree and be mistaken for one. To be a tree, no more and no less, was vigilant to undertake(FM 4).Again, this image also contributes to the existentialist theme of the novel. Nandas sense of identification with the pine trees suggests her desire for absolute stillness and withdrawal from life(Indra 97). The image of the charred pine tree is repeatedly employed in the novel. Raka is reminded of the futility of existence while she looks at the lonely hills and charred pine trees This hill, with its one destroyed house and one unbuilt one, on the ridge under the fire-singed pines, appealed to Raka There was something about it- illegitimate, stalwart and lawless.The sense of devastation and failure drew her, inspired her (FM 90). Images of insects like lizards, birds like shoots and parrots, and the thematic image of the fire with its connotations of violence and urgency find at regular intervals, warning the reader of the impending tragedy (Indira 96). The critic S. Indira sums up the significance of imagery in Fire on the Mountain quoting D. H. Lawrence and the novelist herselfIt is the charming mosaic of imagery woven so skillfully by the novelist that makes the Novel a work of art. Quoting D. H.Lawrence who said If I eat an apple, I like to eat it with my senses, Anita Desai herself stated that the novel in which she attempted this niggardness of man and beast, earth and vegetable was Fire on the Mountain. Imagery alone makes it possible and, in the process, the novel gains a richer texture and greater depth. As a cr itic says, this novel deprived of its imagery, would be an ill-favoured skeleton, chilling the reader The significant house imagery, the images of plants, colour, atmosphere and moon- all contribute to the textual density and symbolic centrality of the novel.(Indira 96) Another important aspect of this novels narrative technique is its symbolism. There are several symbols that deepen the philosophical implications of The Indian Review of World Literature in English, Vol. 1, No. I Jan, 2005 the novel. To start with, Carignano, Nanda Kauls present abode, is symbolic of the loneliness and barrenness of human life in general and Nanda Kual in particular What pleased and at ease her so, here at Carignano, was its barrenness. This was the chief virtue of Kasauli, of shape- its starknessOccasionally an eagle swam through this clear undoubted mass of light and air .(FM 4) The lonely house is symbolic of the lonely life of Nanda Kual and Raka. The barrenness and starkness associated wit h its symbolise an essential human condition alienation which is the key note of all existential philosophy. The eagle symbol, like the house symbol, is repeatedly used in the course of the novel to highlight another aspect of existential philosophy, namely quest. The push-down stack of the eagle flying high, makes Nanda long to be able to soar like the bird An eagle swept over. its wings outspread, gliding on currents of air without once moving its great muscular wings which remained in repose, in control, She Nanda Kaul.had wished, it occurred to her, to imitate the eagle-gliding, with eyes closed (FM 19). This longing for soaring above the reach of deterministic confines is the hall mark of Rakss characters. To emphasise this aspect, the novelist employs the eagle symbol while describing Rakas walk to the Monkey Point. She was higher than the eagles, higher than Kasauli and Sanwar and all the other hills(FM 61). Thus Nanda Kauls wish and Rakas attempt merge in the eagle-symbol, which denoted their existential angst and quest for values. The forest fire scene has symbolic overtones.Like the The Fire Sermon in T. S. Eliots The Waste Land, the fire in Fire on the Mountain is a destroyer. It is also a purifier (Brown 557). By making use of the ordinary fire symbol. Anita Desai endows Rakas character with allegorical implications. Raka, the invalid restless little girl who is the product of a broken home, becomes the symbol of the existentialists perception of the individual who finds herself in this hostile and futile world. Yet out of compulsion, she strives to find or create values and significance for her existence.In this regard it has been detect that the symbolic implication of the forest fire is reinforced by the backup of the novel, Fire on the Mountain is highly significant from the thematic point of view. The mountain symbolises Nanda Kaul and the fire is symbolic of Rakas wild nature. Nanda is the rocky fringe, dry, hardened by time and age. R aka is silent, swift and threatening like forest fire The novel, thus sic may be noted as a story of inabilities of human beings to ignore the world, to place oneself in anothers position(Choudhury 79).Another factor that adds to the philosophical implications of the novel is the frequent allusions to books and poems. As in other novels in Fire on the Mountain too Anita Desai uses poetry, and this time it is a poem by Hopkins I have sought after to go Where springs not fail To fields where files no sharp and sided court And a few lilies below And I have asked to be The Indian Review of World Literature in English, Vol. 1, No. I Jan, 2005 Where no storms come, Where the green swell is in the havens dumb, And out of the swing to the sea. (FM 87).This poem has some connection with he character of Nanda Kaul who quotes it and the poem signifies her desire to be away from the humdrum of life, to a heaven of nature far from the madding crowd. By introducing this affecting stanza from Hopkins poem, Anita Desai highlights the theme of alienation which is the central theme of the novel. The same effect is achieved by introducing an allusion to a passage from The Pillow Book of Sei Shonagon which begins with a title When a Woman lives Alone and through the image of a creaky house with a poignantly desolate look (FM 27).This image has symbolic overtones as it suggests the lonely and desolate life of Nanda Kaul herself. Again, when Nanda Kaul is in the company of Raka, there is an allusion to The Travels of Macro Polo (FM 87). The reference to this book reminds the Cape of Good Hope. This also adds to the symbolism of the novel. This is miniature adventure like the one Marco Polo undertook in search of something new and promising. Thus, the characters of Nanda Kaul, Raka and Ila Das are studies of women in isolation.Essentially a writer of existential inclinations, Anita Desai examines three important aspects of this school of thought through her protagonists. The f requent traits of existentialism are alienation, quest and conflict. These three aspects are epitomised in the lives of three female protagonists. Nanda Kaul is a study in alienation and existential angst. Raka symbolises the individuals quest for meaning in an otherwise futile life. Ila Das stands for the eternal conflict enacted in the human drama between the individual and the forces of determinism.One common ground for these three characters is that they are women who live in isolation both out if choice and compulsion. Desai has examined the predicament of women in wilderness by placing these three characters Kasauli, a place surrounded by hills and valleys, for withdraw from civilisation. She has consciously done it to examine the predicament and psyche of women in isolation. By placing her female protagonists with nature herself as the backdrop, Anita Desai has endowed a symbolic and universal significance to the plight of her protagonists.In this regard it has been pointed out Essentially, Desai is a novelist of existentialist concerns, chiefly considering what F. H. Heinaman described as the enduring human condition. In her novels, she has aptly dwelt upon such existentialist themes as maladjustment, alienation, absurdity of human existence, quest for the last meaning in life, decision, detachment, isolation and time as the fourth dimension, stress on how women in the contemporary urban milieu are bravely struggling against or helplessly submitting to the relentless forces of absurd life (Prasad 140).To sum up, Fire on the Mountain invites comparison with Shakespeares King Lear. In this great tragedy, when he dramatises the agony of betrayed father, Shakespeare removes Lear from the palace and places him in the wild heath- a hostile place- to suggest that the plight of Lear is identical with the suffering of every wronged father.Shakespeare employs animal imagery to indicate the rotten and corrupt world of the dramatis personae of King Lear. Ima ges of ugly and evil animals like jackals and wolves are recurrently used creating an animal imagery that reinforces the thematic concern of the play, namely the tragedy of human life, The Indian Review of World Literature in English, Vol. 1, No. I Jan, 2005 personified in the life of Lear, a victim of indifference in old age. Anita Desais use of imagery of King Lea.