Nectar in a Sieve
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| Author | Kamala Markandaya |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | Andrea Booher |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Semi-autobiographical |
| Publisher | Signet Classic |
Publication date | 1954 |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type | paperback |
| Pages | 190 pages paperback edition |
| ISBN | ISBN 0-451-52823-9 paperback edition Parameter error in {{ISBNT}}: invalid character |
Nectar in a Sieve is a novel by Kamala Markandaya.
Plot introduction
Nectar in a Sieve follows the life experiences of a woman named Rukmani who lived in India during a period of intense urban development. It begins with a brief description of her childhood and tells the story of a life filled with hardships. As the story continues through their life of struggles, Rukmani and Nathan must raise their children, sustain the farm that gives them life, and continue to hope for a better future. Rukmani battles poverty, hunger, her neighbors, industrialization, natural disasters, betrayal, and the harsh reality of death.
Explanation of the novel's title
The title of the novel Nectar in a Sieve is an allusion to the poem “Work Without Hope” by Samuel Coleridge. “Work without hope draws nectar in a sieve, and hope without an object cannot live.” (lines 13-14, "Work Without Hope"). There are no direct references in the book to nectar or sieves, but hope is a very important quality of the lives of the characters. Rukmani and her family are very poor, and they have almost nothing except each other. Sometimes the only thing that keeps Rukmani going is her dream of a better future. This dream is the object she is hoping for. Because she has a goal and the hope that it will be attainable, she is able to find a reason to keep toiling away in the field and raising her family. “In that field, in the grain which had not yet begun to form, lay our future and our hope.” (pg 78, 2002 paperback edition). Hope gives Rukmani motivation to work as hard as she can, even when the benefits are not immediately apparent. “Hope and fear. Twin forces that tugged us first in one direction and then in another, and which was stronger no one could say.” (pg 78, 2002 paperback edition). If Rukmani does not have hope, she will be overcome with fear because the future is uncertain. Whenever fear is in control, it is like nectar in a sieve. To Rukmani, it seems as if her hard work is for nothing because the results of this hard work, the nectar, always seem to disappear, as if through a sieve. Eventually, however, she always finds a glimmer of hope. At the end of the novel, although Rukmani has lost everything that is important to her, she manages to find hope in her expectations of what will happen after she dies.
Plot summary
Married to a poor farmer, Nathan, because it is convenient for her family, Rukmani must leave everything she has ever known and learn how to run a household by herself at the age of twelve. In a society where raising sons is her purpose in life, Rukmani finds that she can bear only a single daughter, Irawaddy. She seeks out the help of a local European doctor, Kenny, who is able to revive her fertility and allow her to have six sons. Meanwhile, a tannery is built in the village and begins to take over the land, the system of trading, and the way of life for the people who live there. Rukmani seems to be the only one who recognizes this as a danger, and stands alone in her protest against modernization. Her three oldest sons leave her to find a better life somewhere far away from their family. Then the next son is killed in a labor dispute at the tannery, serving only to magnify her hatred of everything associated with it. They enter a time of drought and famine, and Rukmani's youngest son Kuti comes close to starving. Irawaddy is forced to turn to prostitution to earn a little money so he can survive. One night Rukmani mistakes Irwaddy for Kunthi, a woman she hates in the village, and attacks her. Soon after, Kuti dies. Eventually, the tannery officials take over the land that Nathan and Rukmani have been living on for decades. With nowhere else to go, the couple travel by oxcart and on foot to a city, and after confusion learn that their son no longer lives there. Their money stolen, they work at a stone quarry. There Nathan dies and Rukmani returns to their other son in the village with nothing except a young boy they met in the city. After losing everything, she still grasps a thread of hope that there is something waiting for her even after death.
Major themes
Throughout the entire novel, Rukmani is faced with struggle after struggle with no indication that her circumstances will improve. Each time her situation worsens, Rukmani endures quietly, holding on to the hope that things will soon be better. She believes that a person’s spirit is the most important factor in overcoming the harsh realities of life. “Well, and what if we gave in to our troubles at every step! We would be pitiable creatures indeed to be so weak, for is not a man’s spirit given to him to rise above his misfortunes?” (pg 111, 2002 paperback edition). Rukmani has a spirit filled with hope and longing for something more than what she has. This theme runs throughout the entire novel along with optimism. "Hope and fear. Twin forces that tugged at us first in one direction and then in another, and which was the stronger no one could say. Of the latter we never spoke, but was always with us." (pg. 78, 2002 paperback) Fear comes along as a theme with hope, and it is always present it seems with Rukmani.
Allusions/references to actual history, geography and current science
Nectar in a Sieve portrays the conditions of India during the 1930’s and 1940’s.