Annalise Hassan

Nectar in a Sieve Essay

HSA English 10 4B

Markandayas book, Nectar in a Sieve, shows a compelling understanding of

suffering throughout the plot. The suffering of the main character, Rukmani, was one

very moving as she was raised into a decent lifestyle and was downgraded into a life

after marrying a poor farmer. Her struggles in the book really proved that even though

suffering is hard, there is always light at the end of the tunnel. There are factors that

play into the theme as well, including; setting, characters and plot.

Moreover, the book was set in rural India. Rukmani lived with her husband in a

hut that he built especially for her near their farm. This was established in the reading,

A mud hut, thatched, small, set near a paddy field, with two or three similar huts near

by (6). Their living means were paid by their crop harvest every year. Therefore, they

heavily relied on the weather in India. There main struggle was maintaining their crop

growth during the harsh weather swings, thus causing their crop harvest to fail. This

resulted in them being left with little to no money and scraps of food. They struggled to

pay rent and maintain living in their hut. Famine and poverty broke her family apart,

physically and mentally. Her children died of hunger leaving her uncontrollably mentally

unstable. Her financial struggle came to be her and her familys downfall, but ultimately

she gets taken care of by her son in the end.

The layout of the plot also absorbed much of the play on theme in the story.

There were many ups and downs in the story line, much of which were extremely
depressing. Her initial hardship was her fathers inability to pay for his last daughters

dowry, therefore she was married to a poor farmer. Another hardship she found was her

inability to have a son. Another hardship was watching her children die; for example, her

son was hit and died because of his fragileness and watching her children await for food

every day as they died of starvation. It had really become a burden when her daughter,

Ira, became a prostitute to feed her ill-fated brother after she was handed back to her

family when she failed to bear a child for her husband. Her neighbor Kunthi, was also

blackmailing both her and her husband. Soon after she came to find out her husband

was cheating on her. Soon it is just her and her husband venturing around India to find

their son, in order to take care of them. In the end, as stated The days went by, Nathan

no longer beside me; no more. Ashes and dust, scattered to the winds, moistened by

the rain, unrecognizable. I pick up the fragments of my life and put them together (186)

she lost her husband but she finally realizes she has to move on,

Characters in the story had a strong influence on the story as well. Rukmani had

an arranged marriage to a man Nathan. He was cool-headed, supportive and was

extremely sympathetic in their marriage. There bond was merely inseparable. He

always held her down even when she was erratic, as mentioned when she attacked her

daughter for the wrong reason. Kenny had a heavy influence on the theme throughout

the book; him and Rukmani would always challenge the fate of struggles in life. We are

taught to bear our sorrows in silence, and all this is so that the soul may be cleansed

(112) the author creates a contradicting yet attracting relation between the two. Both

these men in her life shared many valves as stated Nathan had said much the same

thing: he and Kenny, so different in other ways, were yet united in their views (108).
 The life that Markandaya has portrayed in this novel has a very motivating aspect

and is aspiring to so many females situations like Rukmanis. These elements in this

story have created a moving novel of ongoing conflict. It showcases her persistent battle

against life would all simmer down eventually, stimulating a heart-warming touch.