Postcolonial Feminist Theory: An Overview - Igcollege.org

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Proceedings of National Seminar on Postmodern Literary <strong>Theory</strong> and Literature , Jan. 27-28, 2012, NandedMarianne rejects the absolute,patriarchal discipline of the Professors’rationalism and even the irrational patriarchaloppressiveness of the Barbarians. Above all, sherealizes that, for the apparent contrast betweenreason and unreason, the Professors and theBarbarians could not be divided into twoextreme communities. They actually suggesteach other. The outsider resides within each ofthem. This is clearly indicated in the beginningpart of the novel when Marianne dreams of herbrother, who was killed by Jewel in an attack onthe Professors’ community many years beforethe attack in which Jewel was wounded:She recalled with visionary claritythe face of the murdering boy with hisnecklaces, rings and knife, although thememory of her brothers’ face was totallyblurred. Sometime she dreamed of hisdeath, one day, waking from this dream, sherealized the two faces had super-imposedthemselves entirely on each other and all shesaw was the boy killing himself or hisdouble. [HV–10]Marianne definitely feels that the ‘trueappearance’ of either side is the one that wouldcompletely remove the categorization of theother as ‘other’. In their actual appearance thedivision between them doesn’t exist at all. Forinstance, Marianne, the Professor’s daughterwho also has lived with the Barbarians, findsboth aspects within herself. The novel brings tothe forefront Marianne as an example of thecondition which opposes the Professors’ and theBarbarians’ concept of the binary opposition andantagonism. Lorna Sage observes that Heroesand Villains offers readers the “exhilaratingsensation of recognizing that the binaryoppositions [inside/outside, culture/nature,masculine/feminine] are themselves being calledinto question”.[Sage : 1977, P.19] Further, thequestioning happens in gendered terms. TheBarbarians as well as the Professors insist on theopposition and exclusion, basically due to themasculinism prevailing in their societies.Marianne, being a woman, exemplifies afeminine model that is not oppositional orantagonistic but reconciling and synthesizing.Towards the end of the novel, when Jewel iskilled and Donally also disappears, Marianneultimately declares that she will be “the tigerlady” and “rule” the Barbarians “with a rod ofiron” [HV–150].Further, there is an incident that occursafter marriage when Jewel having sex withMarianne, growls, “conceive, you bitch,conceive”. ‘Shocked into “the most lucidwakefulness”, Marianne asks him “Why?”[HV–90]. Jewel’s response to her is so shocking thathe feels that by perpetrating his savage clonesupon her would give him self-respect. Sheobserves the masculineness of his imagination asat once irrational and grotesque.Towards the final part of the novel, onthe southern coastline, she fantasizes aboutleaving the Barbarian community and livingalone with Jewel. She imagines about bringingup a new set of human beings whose rationalitywould wipe out the male sexism that now moveswomen to the secondary status. She visualizesreason as the foremost aspect in her struggle tooppose the identification of female as a negativeconcept in the binary opposition. In heradamancy on the absolute right of women toclaim autonomy and self-determination, on thepower of women to reclaim, she imagines theymight walk home alone in safety even in thenight. Carter explains that:At best, they might begin a newsubspecies of man… This fearless andrational breed would eschew such mysteriesas the one now forcing her to walk behindthe figure on the shore [the father of thechild], dark as the negative of a photograph,and preventing her from returning homealone. [HV–137]Marianne’s fantasy is not realized, but,her firm belief in reason, an important aspect ofher Professorial side, is never given for all. Shefinds out this truth in the Barbarian world. Herfirmness to absolute reason is again emphasizedsoon after her fantasy about raising a new subspeciesof human being:Upon the cliff, a white towerglistened like a luminous finger pointing toheaven. It was a lighthouse… To Marianne,it looked the twin of the white tower inwhich she had been born… Thus this towerglimpsed in darkness symbolized andclarified her resolution, abhor shipwreck,301 PLTL-2012: ISBN 978-81-920120-0-1
Proceedings of National Seminar on Postmodern Literary <strong>Theory</strong> and Literature , Jan. 27-28, 2012, Nandedsaid the lighthouse, go in fear of unreason.[HV–139]Marianne ultimately has established arelationship with her ‘own desire’ [Jordan: 1994:198] through her relationship with Jewel, but,her commitment to reason at last overcomes thepure infatuation that the savage had towards her.Thus, finally Marianne doesn’t sternly followthe extremes of either the Professors or theBarbarians. Her adherence to reason is alsocompletely different from the Professors’repressive and sterile rationalism. She goes allout and freely expresses her desire, without inanyway entering into the Barbarian unreason.She is the representative of the model wheredesire and reason are not at loggerheads witheach other. The synthetic model epitomized byMarianne can be identified as a feminine one, inopposition to the masculine insistence on selfrealizationthrough opposition through an other.The feminine part of the model is dramatizedtowards the end of the novel. Here, we observethe collapse of the anti-rational, absolute,patriarch Donally. When there is a clashbetween Jewel and Donally, the lattermomentarily appears as a representative of Godthe Father establishing over Jewel and Marianneas Adam and Eve:‘I do believe we’ve come to theparting of the ways, at last’.‘Do you?’ said Donally. He stoodup and stretched. He appeared to reach tothe top of the sky and the young man andwoman cowered at his feet but hisimpression lasted only for a moment. [HV–126-7]Soon after that, Donally is toppled. Eventhis section is loaded with biblical overtones:While Mrs Green was examining Marianne,Jewel went down to the stream and threw theboy’s chain into the water. When he returnedthe camp, the Doctor sought him out andattempted to shoot him with a pearl-handledrevolver but he missed. Jewel knocked himdown. When Mrs Green and Marianne came outof the barn, they found Donally lying on hisback in the grass beside the apple tree… Jewelstood beside him, running his thumb down theedge of his knife and the entire tribe hadgathered in a wide, wonder-struck andapprehensive circle round the fallen figure of theshaman. ‘I’ve not killed him yet’, said Jewel toMarianne. [HV–129]Immediately after Donally’s fall, Jeweldeclares that he will completely destroyDonally’s snake, emblem of the phallic authoritythat Donally had tried to impose on theBarbarians. Now, there are chances of Jeweland Marianne pursuing her fantasy of building anew ‘fearless and rational’ breed of humanbeings. But, sadly enough Donally is notmurdered, but just thrown out of the tribe.Traces of his patriarchal authority still remain inJewel. Unable to shed it off completely, Jewelagain returns to Donally to rescue him from thehands of the Professors’ soldiers who had madehim a captive. Jewel, thus backslides into the reidentificationwith the masculine cult thatDonally had given him.The last ‘No more’, uttered by Jewel, inthe last line of the novel, literally describesJewel’s departing and, at the same time, signifiessymbolically the culmination of the dominatingmasculinism for which he, in the end, likeDonaly, had stood.Now, with the death of Jewel, Mariannecan anoint herself as the ruler of the Barbarians,whom she is free to direct as per her model notof antagonism and opposition but ofcombination and synthesis. Jewel once tellsMarianne: “Pretend you’re Eve at the end of theworld” [HV–124]. Towards the end of Heroesand Villains Marianne is an Eve not at the fagend of the world as such, but definitely at theend of the patriarchal world. The originalpatriarchal myth of Eden, alluded to all throughthe novel, is revisioned at its close. Marianne,the new Eve is free to build a new Eden, the onethat is relieved of baleful father figures and theold male sexist mythology.Marianne, is in the course of her liberty,by assuming the role of ‘Tiger Lady’. But,inspite of her social and educational advantagesover Jewel, all through the novel, it is observedthat she is dominated by Jewel just because ofher gender. Further, her relationship with Jewel,in terms of power, is ambivalent from thebeginning. Isolated like Rapunzel in her whitetower in the Professor’s settlement, Marianneregards the Barbarians as “Hobgoblins ofnightmare” [HV–5]. Warned by father that,302 PLTL-2012: ISBN 978-81-920120-0-1
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