Subject: Pakistani literature

Topic of assignment: Critical Analysis of Ice candy man

Submitted to: Ma'am Abeer

Submitted by: Muzammil khan Afridi

Semester: 5th C

R/no: E-18430

Chapter 27

Note: Mam I was unable to comment on anything in chapter 28 in a dignified manner due to its
unsettling subject matter, therefore I decided to comment on something from chapter 27.

`He´s a good man,... It´s my kismet that´s no good... we are khut-putli , puppets, in the hands of fate´

In this chapter, we learn that Hamida has four children and two of them are in teens. Lenny asks her if
she would want to meet them, but Hamida could not think of taking such a bold step due to the fear of
her Husband´s rage. She also believes that her husband in not in the wrong for abandoning her. This
clearly shows how the customs and norms of the subcontinent affected the life and thoughts of women.
Women still live at the mercy of men in the patriarchal system that prevails in the subcontinent. Though
it is not Hamida´s fault that she was kidnapped, her eventual return is not acceptable for her husband
due to the societal pressure. Hamida, aware of the humiliation she will bring to the family, refrains from
blaming her husband and complacently dumps all the blame on fate. The violation of woman´s chastity
even without her consent was a shame to the family, and the victim was to be despised and thrown out
of the house. This victim blaming and shaming was extremely prevalent in the subcontinent and still it
subsists in many rural and under-developed areas of Pakistan and India. Lack of education and
inculcation of rigid cultural notions and norms, mostly designed against women, caused a paralysis in
men and women in such terrible circumstances. It was not easy to fight off the internal guilt that would
take over after such horrific incidents in which the dignity of women is involved. It is, in one way or
another, fate which ruined Hamida´s future.

`Hamida with placid and omniscient certainty´ says `What does fate care´

Hamida narrates a story to lenny about a prince who gets eaten by a tiger for his father´s wrongdoing in
a previous life. Lenny asks the obvious logical questions at the end of the story. It was hard for lenny to
fathom the fact that the poor prince had to suffer for the wrongdoings of his father. However, keeping
that story aside for a moment, the interesting thing is that many people in the subcontinent believe that
parents are punished by God for their shortcomings through their children. If someone has a crippled or
retarded child, it is thought of as a punishment to the parents which is an extremely insensitive and
ignorant belief.

Chapter 29
`Muslim families who added colour when scattered among the hindus and sikhs, now monopolise the
garden, depriving it of colour.´

Diversity of cultures and beliefs is a beautiful aspect of the human endeavour, but very few people seem
to understand and appreciate it. Through Lenny´s innocent and inquisitive perception, the writer
explains how dull the queen garden has become due to presence of only Muslim families, only one
colour spread on a canvas. Also, due to the concept of chadar and char diwar, women are in few
numbers. That concept is but a severe misguided interpretation of Muslim Holy Scripture. We are also
told in the beginning of the chapter that Hamida feels very shy amongst stranger, and therefre prefers
to refrain from going to the garden. In contrast to Lenny´s former ayah

There's strict distinction---the old families from distinguished houses don't mix with the new girls and
their set-up"

It is remarkable to learn that there was sort of a class distiction between the residents of the red- light
area. We got to know that the girls forced into prostitution are either abducted or brought into the
profession due to their miserable circumstances. Whereas, the descendants of dancing girls who had
intimate relationships with  Mughal emperors, are proud of their lineage. They severely abhor
prostitution and take care of their women. However godmother is full of rage and confronts Ice-
candyman,

"you have trapped her in the poisonous atmosphere of the kotha"

After a great deal of insult from godmother, ice-candy man utters in distress, "I can't exist without her".
Although it was extremely wrong of him to take her to the life of kotha, but there might be a lot that
couldn't be disclosed so easily by ice-candy man. Maybe her life was in danger, and ice-candy man
scheme was designed to somehow save her. But there could be a more unsettling reason for it. Maybe
ice-candy man wanted to have her all for himself and knew that she would not be able to run away from
him. Maybe he calculated it all for his benefit. The desire for ayah led him to undertake such a hideous
endeavour. As the confrontation of godmother and the pretentious poet progresses, we learn from ice-
candy man' reaction to godmother's scolding that he was feeling extreme guilt deep down in his heart.

Lenny realizes "the wisdom of righteous indignation over compassion." She also thinks about "the
unscrupulous nature of desire".

She feels that Godmother's anger is justified because it is arousing guilt in Ice-candyman. Sometimes a
good hard smack to the face of a wrongdoer is crucial. Though ice-candyman deserved to be confronted
with such harsh behaviour, Lenny still feels pity for him due to the craze and madness that is so clearly
visible in his reactions. The very nature of desire is that it overwhelms us and forces us to act in a
unadvisable manner.

Chapter 30

"I dont want her to think she's bad just because she's been kidnapped"
Lenny insists on meeting Ayah. The societal  conditioning of women makes them feel guilty even if they
are forced to commit inappropriate acts. Lenny knows that Ayah must be torturing herself over the
profession she was forced into, and therefore wants to relieve her of her irrarional guilt in some say.
This proves how mature Lenny has become over the whole story.

"Ayah is haunted by her past, Ice-candy man is haunted by his future, and his macabre future already
appears to be stamped on his face. "

We still dont know what happened after ayah was abducted and why ice-candyman took such a bold
step. Nothing that could solve the mystery has been disclosed in this chapter, however we get to learn
that ayah is in a very miserable condition and wants to attain freedom from the life of kotha and ice-
candy man. She is completely disturbed psychologically and begs godmother to make way for her so
that she can go back home to amritsar. On the other hand, ice-candy man is pleading and imploring to
godmother for using some of her influence on ayah so that she could forget the misery of the past and
love happily with him. Both are deserving of pity in the present according to lenny. One is unable to let
go of her past, and the other is terrified of the future.