Question

Identify two situations where Rukmani refers to the gods and goddesses throughout the novel. What do these situations reveal about the way themes are developed in the novel? Responses should be at least 150 words.

Answer 1

One of the first hints we can find about gods in Nectar in a Sieve is found in Chapter 3, when Rukmani talks about the difficulties her and her partner, Nathan, have to conceive a child. In her visit to her mother, who is a very spiritual person, Rukmani criticizes the god's willingness to help human beings:

"My mother, whenever I paid her a visit, would make me accompany her to a temple, and together we would pray and pray before the deity, imploring for help until we were giddy. But the Gods have other things to do; they cannot attend to the pleas of every suppliant who dares to raise his cares to heaven. And so the years rolled by and still we had only one child, and that a daughter."

Another example of Rukmani's reference to gods, is found in her description of her youngest son's health condition, as well as her struggling to help him. This can be found in Chapter 16:

"I gazed at the small tired face, soothed by sleep as it had not been for many nights, and even as I puzzled about the change, profound gratitude flooded through me, and it seemed to me that the Gods were not remote, not unheedful, since they had heard his cries and stilled them as if by a miracle."

Step-by-step explanation:

Answer 2

The central theme of Kamala Markandaya's Nectar in Sieve is the religion. Religion is presented from secular point of view amidst in all the tragic consequences family faces and in all the moral and physical pains they suffer from. Therefore, it is rather paradoxical to find that the religion has been used from positive aspect. The use of theme amidst the tragic events shows author's cynic approach towards religion. For example, when Rukmani visits her mother, the author narrates her thoughts as:

"...and together we would pray and pray before deity, imploring for help until we were giddy. But the Gods have other things to do; they cannot attend to the pleas of every suppliant who dares to raise his cares to heaven..."

Later in the novel, Rukmani describes Gods as not remote, not unheedful because they heard her son Kuti's cries and made her calm. However, it is not the praise of Gods because she later learns that Kuti's improvement was due to Ira's earning from prostitution.