The document provides a detailed summary of Bapsi Sidhwa's novel "The Ice Candy Man". It discusses the author, plot, characters, themes, and reviews of the novel. The major themes explored are the partition of India, dislocation, disintegration, and feminism. The novel is told from the perspective of the narrator, 8-year old Lenny, and focuses on the impact of communal violence on ordinary lives in Lahore before and after partition.

1. University of Management & Technology Department of Applied linguistics Mphill in Applied Linguistics THE ICE CANDY MANPresented by: Roll no. 100884006

2. The Author Title Plot Characters and characterization Themes: major and minor Literary Review

4. Belongs to the Parsi community, Zoroaserian, a distinctive minority who left Iran for South Asia to avoid the religious persecution.

5. A polio victim at the age of 2, that is why she was educated at home till the age of 15 by an Anglo-Indian lady

6. She was married at the age of 19 with a Bombay businessman but got divorce.

7. Later she got married to a businessman of Lahore.

9. The Author: publications Some of the notable novels of Sidhwa are: The Crow Eaters(1978) story about the life and fortunes of Parsi junglewalla family in British India. The Pakistani Bride (1983) the story of a Pakistani girl adopted by a pathan during partition The Ice Candy Man(1988) story about the change in the lives of the ordinary people before and after the partition. An American Brat (1993) the story about the conflicts of value systems and cultures on personal and social plane

10. Acknowledgements Numerous awards have been conferred upon her, these include: The PatrasBokhari award for the Bride in 1985 The Sitara-e-Imtiaz in 1991 The German Literaturepreisaward for Cracking India A Bunting Fellowship from Harvard Her most famous novel Ice Candy Man has been turned into a film called ‘Earth 1947’

11. The Ice Candy Man This is the first novel by a woman novelist from Pakistan in which she describes about the fate of people in Lahore and entrancing partition of India through the eyes of a precocious 8 years handicapped Parsi girl.

13. Named after a character who is a Muslim street vendor.

14. Character-oriented title ___ metonymic title

16. So the title was changed by Sidhwa’s American publishers Milkweed Editions,1991

18. The news of bloodshed spreads like wild fire. The All India Radio also reports about cases of violence from different parts of India. Soon the entire Punjab province is seen burning in the fire of hatred and communal violence. Dilnawaz, the Ice-Candy-Man waits for his sisters on Lahore railway station. When the trian arrives from Gurdaspur, everyone on the plateform is shocked to see the ghastly sight. The Train is loaded with mutilated bodies of Muslim passengers. This shocks everyone and the friendly Dilnawaz turns into a person possessed with a frenzy and a desire to kill the Hindus. He also abducts his friend Shanta, the Ayah of Lenny and later takes her to low market of Lahore, a locality of bad women. Ice-Candy-Man loved Shanta from the core of his heart but now she is a Hindu for him. Vengeance has transformed him into a killer and a beast. Later with the belp of Lenny's relatives, Shanta is rescued and she reaches the relief camp at Amritsar. The ice candy man also follows her there.

19. Characters Major characters: Lenny, the narrator Shanta, her Hindu Ayah Dilnawaz, the Ice Candy Man, A Muslim Godmother, the grandmother of Lenny Minor characters: Imamdin, the cook Hassan Ali, his cousin brother Lenny’s mother Papoo, the daughter of Mucho, the sweeperes Ranna, the friend of Lenny Admirer’s of Ayah Hari, the high-caste Hindu Moti, the out-caste Gardner Masseur, beloved of ayah Ice candy man

21. Most of the characters are round characters.

23. Lenny as an observer and commenter Lenny sees change and partition as ‘ blood dimmed anarchy’ ‘the whole world is burning. The air on my face is so hot…I start screaming: hysterically sobbing. How long does Lahore burn? Weeks? Months? ‘The moonlight settles like a layer of ashes over Lahore’. “Can the soul be extracted from the body?” commented on Ayah’s vacant eyes. One man’s religion is another man’s poison “India is going to be broken. Can one break a country?”

24. THE ICE CANDY MAN, Dilnawaz The story of the novel revolves around this central character. He belongs to bad market of Lahore,. His mother had been one of them and his early years shaped his personality according to his tastes. He is a jolly and friendly person. He is a gifted poet, rather poetic in his interaction with others. He would recite a couplet from Urdu poetry whenever required. He is an ardent lover of the Hindu Ayah of Lenny. He is a regular visitor of Lenny's house for Ayah's sake. In summers, he sells ice-candy and in winters, he becomes a birds-man who sells sparrows and birds. The first half of the novel presents the Ice-Candy-Man as a jovial and life-loving person. He is known for his warmth and good-nature but one incident transforms the peace-loving ice-candy man into a selfish man and a savage.

25. The Ice Candy Man a keen popsicle vendor a pretentious Sufi, with copper wiring wound around his neck and chest, who claims he is Allah’s telephone the fanatic leader of a mob, who deceivingly betrays his love a poet, reciting Urdu verses to woo the Ayah A bird-seller

26. The Godmother A social worker having al latest news and info about everyone Influential lady who helps everyone Accounts for Bapsi’s own social persona as a social worker. Helps Ayah in the same way as Bapsi once helped a girl in real Symbolizes the feministic supremacy and strong influential status of women in British Indian society. Sidhwa presented her as a fascinating personality with a one-and-a-half-room adobe, covered from head to toe in khaddar attire, a shelter for Lenny and many others Possess a penchant for Sharp wit

27. Narrative Technique/device Precocious Parsi girl__ Lenny 8 years old with a handicapped foot Purpose was to provide a scope for objectivity, un-biasness and to avoid an air of propaganda Bapsi wanted to show the narration free of ethnic and religious bias. So she adopts a child’s truth-infected tongue which also creates space for idyllic romances. She takes in account her own limp in leg caused by polio and uses it as an armor against the pretentious world through the voice of Lenny.

30. Theme of Partition The novel looks at Partition as a means of spreading disharmony which resulted in frenzy and chaos. The psychological effects of the Partition on the lives of people is also shown in great detail in this novel. e.g. Lenny tears her doll in two halves after actually witnessing a similar event, the wails of the fallen women Sidhwa shows human loss in Partition: “ wave upon wave of Muslim refugees flood Lahore– and the Punjab west of Lahore. Within 3 months 7 million Muslims & 5 million Hindus & Sikhs are uprooted in the most terrible exchange of population known to history. Punjab has been divided’.

31. Dislocation Dislocation and disruption are very important themes of this novel We see people weighing the options of staying or migrating. The question of migration loomed large in almost everyone’s head. We see the people of PirPindo negating the idea of going by saying: “Where can the Muslim villagers go?... How can they abandon their ancestor’s graves, every inch of land they own, their other kin? How will they ever hold up their heads again? Where will they go? No, he says, they cannot throw the Mussulmans out”

32. Disintegration In the novel the disintegration of Ayah’s circle symbolizes the disintegration and degeneration of society and the disintegration of society signifies the deterioration of the characters/ people themselves. Members of the Ayah’s circle represent the different religions of the Subcontinent. As the novel progressed, the people who thronged Queen’s park became aware of their religious identity and only sat with people of their own religion. It is only Ayah’s circle that remains intact even when the political rumblings reached Lahore. However, even Ayah’s allure and sensuousness cannot keep the circle intact. In fact, the friends she trusted become her assaulters in the end. This also shows the deterioration of the characters.

33. Feminism The novel has a feminine perspective. The female protagonists are the moral centers, while most of the male characters either remain apathetic or indulge in destructive violence. Women are shown as being oppressed and used as a commodity. They are the ones who have to bear the burden of the wrong doings done by the men. Revenge is taken by violating the rights of women. (element of Universality) The Ayah is a flame of sensuousness and female vitality. The relationship of Lenny with the cousin upholds the principle of equality. Godmother towers as a vibrant figure. She is a source of strength and comfort for the needy e.g. after Lenny’s operation, & her role in saving Ayah Lenny’s mother starts the healing process by shrugging off her passivity The fallen women are the victims and Lenny’s female relatives are saviors. We see women as sacrificing their lives for the honor of their families.

34. Symbolic incidents The fight of police commissioner at dinner table on trivial foreshadows the communal riots between the Hindus and Muslims. Queen Victoria's statue in the park impose the English Raj in the park. The leaving of The Ice Candy Man to Amritsar, is not only an example of self-sacrifice but also symbolic of a future rapprochement between the two warring communities—the Muslims and Hindus.

36. Throughout, the novel sustains the vitality of Lenny's world with a series of wonderfully comic scenes. Highly recommended for all libraries.“ J. Sudrann in Library Journal

37. Sidhwa's triumph lies in creating characters so rich in hilarious and accurate detail, so alive and active, that long after one has closed the book, they continue to perform their extraordinary and wonderful feats before our eyes." Anita Desai in Dawn