“In Custody” is a novel set in Delhi, India by Indian American writer Anita Desai.

This
novel is woven around the yearnings and calamities of a small town scholar in the north
of India. It follows around an impoverished college lecturer,Deven who, sees a way to
escape from the meanness of his daily life when he is asked to interview India’s
greatest Urdu poet, Nur – a project that can only end in disaster. The author has
skillfully used symbolism, imagery and irony as forms of language to make this novel
memorable and riveting.

Desai has used symbolism in this novel to make it captivating. The “flight of wooden
stairs” represents his ascent above his mundane life to the world of poetry and
idolization. Moreover, the fact that Deven is going somewhere up perhaps illustrates his
climb to heaven and to his God “Nur” who is an embodiment of Urdu. God connotes for
happiness and serenity perhaps implying how Nur might be the only way to solve
Deven’s adversities and downs. The symbol of “poetry” is used to present an idealized
view of life. From the viewpoint of Deven, poetry is an escape as a Hindi professor from
his mundane life. He expects Nur to live an ideal and great life, but his idealism is
shattered when he learns that Nur lives in squalor. Furthermore, this also depicts how
Deeven thought poetry and Urdu would be the solution to all his problems as he
expected it to be grand and ideal, however, this idealism once again is broken when
poetry and Nur leads to more problems. Furthemore, “Nur’s house” accentuates
Deven’s disappointment and dangers of idolization as he anticipated Deven’s house to
be grand and elegant but instead it was dirty and squalid. Additionally, the phrase
"made his way down the passage to his classroom and arrived at the desk beside the
blackboard as if at a refuge.”, portrays how Deven is an outsider in his own workplace
and how his life is not meant but for Hindi but rather Urdu. It perhaps also depicts how
Deven feels like a prisoner in his own hometown, highlighting his despair and
disappointment in life. In the novel, parallelism is seen when readers would initially
believe Nur's life and Deven's would be entirely different because Nur is considered a
highly respectable poet, while Deven is rarely treated with respect. The readers,
however, can see signs throughout the novel that the lives of Nur and Deven are
metaphorically similar. As well as Nur, Deven feels controlled, and trapped. These
metaphors and symbols make this novel engrossing.

In addition, the use of imagery can be seen throughout the novel which not only makes
it picturesque but also makes the novel gripping. To paint an image of the school that
Deven works at, Desai uses imagery. This entails the chaos of the classes, the
"scraping of chairs and shouting across desks." Desai's impressions give us an
understanding of the everyday life of Deven and also indicates that as a professor he is
exhausted of his boring life, teaching about a genre of poetry that he is not interested in.
The phrase "Murad had been the spoiled rich boy with money in his pocket for cinema
shows and cigarettes and Deven the poor widow's son who could be bribed and bought
to do anything for him." demonstrates the differences between Deven and Murad's
economic background which is highlighted repeatedly in the text, as Deven struggles to
make ends meet. This also illustrates how Deven is repeatedly manipulated by Murad
which not only leads to more problems but also complications with the people in
Deven’s life. The timidity and fear of Deven foreshadowed his later problems, as his
manipulating friend influenced him. As in chapter one, "seeing Murad was one of
joy.....but this rapidly turned to anxiety" shows how uncomfortable Deven is and learns
that he would be exploited later in the book.

Furthermore, the author has utilized irony to make the novel enthralling. The first irony is
seen when Murad and Deven are portrayed as life-long friends but Murad is shown to
be pompous and manipulative. He becomes flustered and embarrassed when Deven
sees Murad when he is teaching, almost as if he doesn't want to see Murad. This irony
demonstrates how Murad always creates hurdles in Deven’s life in the form of help.
Moreover, at the beginning of the text, Urdu poet Nur is Deven's idol. When Deven gets
the chance to interview the great writer, he is thrilled but disappointed when he gets
there. Through this, the irony of idolising people is illustrated in this novel. These ironic
elements make this novel fascinating.

In conclusion, Desai has used symbols, images and irony to make this novel riveting
and memorable. Through implicitly portraying the themes of decline of Urdo and
existentialism, Desai has left the readers to contemplate the consequences of Deven’s
decisions and how his outlook has changed during the rollercoaster of his life.