| Pub. Date | : Dec, 2023 |
|---|---|
| Product Name | : The IUP Journal of English Studies |
| Product Type | : Article |
| Product Code | : IJES041223 |
| Author Name | : Sailaja Eswara and Joseph Ratna Jayakar T |
| Availability | : YES |
| Subject/Domain | : Arts & Humanities |
| Download Format | : PDF Format |
| No. of Pages | : 10 |
Anita Rau Badami's The Hero's Walk is about ordinary characters who turn heroes overcoming the circumstances that challenge them. The story revolves around Sripathi Rao, the head of the family who leads a distressed life, his dutiful wife Nirmala, his son Arun who remains a constant disappointment to him, and his daughter Maya who marries a foreigner. Through diverse characters, Badami sheds light on Brahminical patriarchy, caste disparities, religious consciousness, the cultural conflict between East and West, a shift from traditional beliefs to transformational changes, and the chanciness of hope and loss that always accompanies life. If the novel, The Hero's Walk is to be compared with a battlefield, then the main characters are like the warriors fighting for their own identity and survival, while the minor characters are seemingly bizarre but are instrumental in elevating the principal characters. Though these minor characters do not play a significant role in one's life, their existence cannot be ignored. How the lead characters deal with these minor characters reflects their inherent nature and social behavior. This paper explores the themes in the novel through these minor characters.