Unveiling Women Power: A Feminist Study of

Bapsi Sidhwa’s Ice Candy Man

Ume Kulsoom Rind
Dr. Shumaila Memon
Fozia Chandio

Abstract
This paper analyses oppression and subjugation of women in patriarchal society in Bapsi
Sidhwa’s novel Ice Candy Man based on Simon de Beauvoir’s (1988) feminist theoretical
perspective. The novel is analyzed on the following grounds. Firstly, in a patriarchal society
woman is considered as an object and her oppression is veiled in the name of domesticity
and marriage. Secondly, patriarchal society has made dual standards for man and woman to
oppress woman. Thirdly, silence on the part of woman invites more oppression on her and
encourages her exploitation. Lastly, woman’s realization is essentially required to resist her
operation. Following these grounds, the research discusses Sidhwa’s endeavour to unveil
men’s hegemony and the struggle on the part of women to come out of their submissive
position. The technique of close reading is used to analyze and interpret the text in
qualitative approach. Through close reading of the text, the study finds out that Sidhwa
empowers women to come out of their domestic lives to bring change not only in their own
but also in other women’s lives. She defends women’s cause, by upholding the view that until
woman herself does not raise voice against oppression, she will be suppressed throughout
the life.

Keywords: Women, power, feminism, Ice Candy Man, Bapsi Sidhwa.

Introduction
Society is the great programmer of attitudes at every level of human life. It programs,
produces and nourishes the mentality of man and woman (Beauvoir, 1988; Bourdieu, 1977).
It has created a mindset about genders which defines man as dominant, powerful and the
superior being, who is the owner and proprietor of woman; whereas, women as submissive,
inferior, passive, weak and the property of man (Babur, 2007; Verma, 2013). These gender
based social attitudes revolve around the programming of society. This consistent
programming has created a superiority complex and a sense of dominancy in man and put
woman at the subject of multiple oppressions; ranging from domestic violence to the
deprivation of her rights at social, economical and political levels (Dar, 2013; Habib, 2013;
Ehsan, et.al , 2015). Simon de Beauvoir (1988) in her book The Second Sex asserts that
society relates masculinity with superiority, whereas femininity is allied with inferiority.
Women are marginalized and made to abide by the men-constructed moral and ethical codes;
which they impose on women to assert their superiority. She maintains that in a patriarchal
society woman is considered as an object and her oppression is veiled in the name of
domesticity and marriage. The patriarchal society has made dual standards for man and
woman to oppress woman. Moreover, silence on the part of woman invites more oppression
on her and encourages her exploitation. She asserts that woman’s realization is essentially
required to resist her operation. Keeping in view Beauvoir’s ideas this study analyses Bapsi
Sidhwa’s novel Ice Candy Man in a feminist perspective.\

141
Literature Review

Feminism: A Brief History

Revolting against the patriarchal mindset and the programming of society, many writers have
raised voice against it. Among a variety of movements that were started by the oppressed for
their self-assertion in the history of human life in different periods one is the ‘Feminism’ or
‘Womenism’ (Walker, 1990; 1992). Feminism is a social, intellectual and political movement
that recognizes the fact of women’s oppression and raises voice against it. It aims to
emancipate women from oppression, inequality and patriarchal social attitudes (Offen, 1988;
Dar, 2013). As a result, it struggles for establishing equal political, economic and social
rights for women without any gender biasness.
Some feminists and scholars like Chafetz and Dwarkin (1986), Pateman (1989) and
Walker (1992) have divided the feminist movement for the rights of women as occurring in
three waves. First-wave feminism lasted from 1848 to 1920s; it primarily advocated that
women are human beings so they should not be treated as property. Second-wave feminism
lasted from early 1960 to late 1980s focusing on total gender equality in social, political,
economical and legal spheres. Lastly, third wave feminism started in 1990s and is continuing
today attempts to solve the problems and issues faced by a woman in different societies and
in different fields of life, not just the problems faced by white, middle-class women as the
first two waves did.
Different feminists persistently have tried to explicate the origin and the causes of the
women’s oppression. Some of the feminist like Marx (2009), Engels (2008) and Beauvoir
(1988) opine that institution of monogamy and nuclear family system where man possesses a
dominant position are the root cause of the oppression and exploitation of women. They
assert that women’s oppression rose at a particular stage of social development and was
institutionalized through a particular form of the patriarchal family. Moreover, woman’s
oppression is social, not biologically exerted on her.

Origin of Patriarchy
Patriarchy can be explained as male privilege, male dominate, male identified and male
centered attitude. A Patriarchal society is transmitted ideological, social and political system
in which men via force, pressure, or through norms, customs, law, and language, etiquette,
education, and the division of labour, determine what part women shall or shall not play, and
in that case, female is everywhere subsumed under the male (Bennett, p.55).
Tracing the history of patriarchy, Engels (2008) records that in a pronominal society
there was the matriarchal civilization where women cultivated lands to produce food for the
family. As breeders of the family, they had great recognition and esteem in social order. They
were self-sufficient and had relations with men on their own accord. They were the controller
of property and parentage or descent was traced through the female line. With the passage of
time, when men learned the cultivation procedure, the dominance of power in agriculture was
shifted from women to men. Thereafter women lost their harmony; as a result their power
was degraded. Not only this; but their condition became worst when they were enslaved and
considered a mere instrument of breeding children. Men become the controller of the
properties and inheritance passed through the father not the mother. This is how the
matriarchal system came to an end and patriarchal system came into existence. Engels further
notes that this “overthrow of mother right was the world-historic defeat of the female
sex” (Engels, 2008, p. 67). Thus, the society became Patriarchal: where men have absolute
power. Institution of monogamy was formed in the result of which women became “in
reality, merely the mother of his [men’s] legitimate heirs, his chief housekeeper, and the
142
superintendent of the female slaves, whom he may make, and does make, his concubines at
will” (p. 71). Thus, not having any right of their own, slowly and gradually women
internalized the self-destructive values, which patriarchal ideology had constructed for her.

Beauvoir’s Feminist Theoretical Framework

Simon de Beauvoir (1988; see also Schwarzer, 1984) a feminist of second wave condemns
patriarchal ideology in her book The Second Sex, by arguing that women are not “born
inferior” rather they are programmed in such a way that they consider themselves inferior to
the men, she further maintains “one is not born but rather becomes, a woman. No biological,
psychological or economic fate determines the figure that the human female presents in
society it is civilization as a whole that produces this creature” (Beauvoir, 1988 p. 295).
Women have been denied human rights all through the history of humanity. They have
always been confined to house jobs and never have been provided the opportunity to create
something valuable as men can do. She explains the patriarchal attitude that in order to
maintain male dominancy, the priests, legislators, philosophers, and scientists always have
striven to show the subordinate position of women desirable in heaven and earth. She
condemns the institution of marriage, believing that marriage is an enslavement in which
“women is husband’s prey, his possession” (p. 184). It enchains her within the confinements
of the home and stops her to interact with the outer world, hence hinders her intellectual
growth. It makes woman economically dependent on the man and reduces the chances of her
freedom.

Studies on Ice Candy Man

Ice Candy Man has been discussed and analyzed from different perspectives provoking
numerous questions in the field of research paradigms concerning political, social, religious,
psychological, postcolonial and feminist point of view; in fact, almost every side of human
life has been discussed in the proposed novel. Researchers have discussed different
perspectives with the help of various critical theories. Following is an understanding of a few
studies carried on the proposed novel.
Hai (2000) in her study ‘Border work, border trouble: Postcolonial feminism and the
Ayah in Bapsi Sidhwa's Cracking India’ discusses the novel from Post Colonial Feminist
perspective. Drawing upon, Bhaba, Spivak and other theorists’ she analyses women
oppression with special reference to Ayah: a maid in Ice Candy Man. She maintains that
Ayah is the representative figure of female violation that is used as a ‘beautiful object’ by the
men to satisfy their carnal pleasure and sabotage for their racial rivalry (p. 390). Men are
agents of violence, while women are victims, bound within the limits of domesticity.
A more recent feminist study on the novel has been done by Gida (2006) which is a
comparative analysis of Bapsi Sidhwa and Namit A Gokhale. She compares the portrayal of
oppression on female characters by both writers. She discusses Sidhwa’s depiction of
'woman-as-victim' paradigm. In her view all victim women “try to fight the rigid customs but
are restricted by the patriarchal dominance. They don’t have a significant role to play.
Cultural impact is observed to an extent” (p. 64) but the end of the novel is quite optimistic,
which is a trait of Sidhwa which change macabre into a loving situation.
Focusing post colonial feminist perspective, Ahmed (2009) analyses that post
colonial women are doubly marginalized. Ayah, the victim of partition is not one woman but
a representative of thousands of Hindu, Muslim and other minority women who were raped,
killed, and cut to pieces because of the aftermaths of British imperialism. He affirms courage
and determination of such women who survives even after such bitter experiences of life.
143
 A study ‘More than Victim: Versions of Feminine Power in Bapsi Sidhwa’s Cracking
India’ by Kleist (2011) discusses the novel from feminist perspectives, examining women’s
familial and communal connections to affect change and bring healing. The study assesses
that Sidhwa’s women are not solely victims rather they have very distinct power and agency
such as Lenny exhibits narrative agency, though her moments of agency happen largely prior
to Partition; Ayah, similarly, enjoys influence over the male community before Partition—
though her authority is primarily based on her physical appeal—which gives Sidhwa an
opportunity to comment on the temporal and limited nature of sexual power and physical
attraction (p. 69-70).
In the same year Waghmode (2011) in a study ‘Bapsi Sidhwa's Ice-Candy-Man: A
Feminist Artifact’ focuses the human experiences with the special emphasis on the dynamics
of man-woman relationship in the novel. Waghmode believes that there is poetic justice in
the lives of characters, the corrupt and short-sighted person is defeated and the virtuous
woman is triumphant and successful. It is further maintained that Sidhwa has immaculately
painted the powerful world of female characters where men and women are placed side by
side. Waghmode asserts that Sidhwa has set an example that, by no means, women are
inferior to men. And if we give them chance, they, with their potential, can prove themselves
as able as men, and sometimes better than men (p. 03).
Dar (2013) discusses the novel from feminist perspective in his study ‘Bapsi
Sidhwa’s Ice-Candy-Man: A Feminist Perspective’ by highlighting women’s plight and
exploitation in the Patriarchal society calling it a contrast to male discourse. The study
exposes men establishing their masculine power and fulfilling their desires by assaulting
women. While women endure the pain and humiliation enacted upon them. Eulogizing
Sidhwa’s efforts to empower women like Lenny, her mother and godmother, Dar argues that
Sidhwa shows women essentially not only as victims but also as saviors who perform heroic
duties to bring order in this disordered world.
In a more recent study Parmar (2015) analyses the novel under the title ‘Feminine
aspects in Bapsi Sidhwa’s the Ice-Candy- Man’ in socio-political environment of partition,
by depicting the impacts of partition on women, and examining female characters. The study
is an illustration of Sidhwa’s cause for women, and her strong voice to support women
against patriarchy during fights/partition.
Keeping in view women’s plight and Sidhwa’s efforts to unveil women power, the
present research explores the novel from the lenses of Feminist perspective based on
Beauvoir’s (1988) theoretical framework following her four ideals; Firstly, in a patriarchal
society woman is considered as an object and her oppression is veiled in the name of
domesticity and marriage. Secondly, patriarchal society has made dual standards for man and
woman to oppress woman. Thirdly, silence on the part of woman invites more oppression on
her and encourages her exploitation. Lastly, woman’s realization is essentially required to
resist her operation.

Story Line of the Novel

The story of the novel is presented through the eyes of an eight years old Parsee girl named
Lenny from Lahore, Pakistan. The protagonist; Lenny, gives a considerable and in-depth
picture of women in the wake of partition. She is attached and cared by her Hindu Ayah
(Shanta). Ayah is the center of attraction for men belonging to different occupations and
religions. Of these, Ice Candy Man (Dilnawaz) and Masseur (Hassan) are her serious suitors.
During partition, heinous and terrible violence starts. Pir Pindo; a village of Muslim majority
is attacked by Sikhs and their women are dragged, rapped and brutally killed. A train from
Gurdaspur came to Lahore filled with mutilated bodies of Muslim men, there were no
144
women in the train but two sacks full of breasts. This ghastly sight created frenzy among
Muslims especially Ice Candy Man, because his sister was also traveling in the same train.
He wants to avenge his sisters’ defilement from Ayah. Out of revenge, he smothers his love
for Ayah and abducts her from Lenny’s house and brings her in a brothel. She is dragged,
defiled, gang rapped and forced into prostitution. Though, later on, Ice Candy Man marries
her but she lost her spirit and trust in her close relations. She is, then rescued with the help of
Lenny’s mother Mrs. Sethi and her Godmother; Rudabai. After Ayah’s abduction, Mr.Sethi
brings another ayah named Hamida, for Lenny’s care. Hamida, is yet another victim of
partition, lives in Rehabilitation Camp, because she is dishonored during partition riots, and
now unacceptable for her husband. Mrs.Sethi and Godmother play pivotal role in rescuing
and helping partition- victim women to send them at their home or to settle them at
rehabilitation camps.

Research Methodology
The present study is qualitative, following close reading method to analyse the proposed
novel. Close reading is an appropriate method to obtain textual understanding (Cuddon,
1999). In the light of this method, meaning of a text can be understood by focusing its
specific tone, words, characters, symbols and point of view of the novelist. The text of the
novel is analysed to identify, measure, describe, and make inferences about specified
characteristics within or reflected by written text (Lenz, 2010, p. 279). This technique
explores “the question of the relationship between how we represent texts, how we see
them” (Rockwell, 2003, p. 209). After the close reading of text of the novel, the data of the
present study is put into main and sub-headings to fit the material to be analyzed. The study
uses Beauvoir’s (1988) feminist theoretical framework to analyze novel.

Data Analysis
Setting in the pre and post Partition scenario, the novel presents woman’s oppression and
victimization through different ways. Woman is victimized at and outside home. Whenever
there is any fight woman becomes its most immediate victim. The partition of the
subcontinent brings a series of miseries and brutalities on woman. The woman is defiled,
abducted, raped and molested, as Ayah, Hamida, women in Pir Pindo Villange, the fallen
women in Rehabilitation camp and the victims of the Gurdaspur train. Sidhwa depicts an
assortment of woman oppression based on customs and rites of patriarchal society.

Woman: an Object
Patriarchal society has formed such customs, traditions, rites and norms which help men in
marginalizing and subduing woman as an object of their use (Beauvoir, 1988; Shree, 2002;
Babur, 2007; Noor, 2013; Habib, 2013, Ehsan, et.al , 2015). It is flamboyantly narrated in the
novel that woman is constrained to the domesticity; to be used as an object; even she is not
considered as a human being. Mr. Sethi; Lenny’s father considers his wife as an object who
works for him like a machine and behaves according to his dictates. She performs the role of
an honest and obedient wife who rubs his feet when he returns home, comforts him and
fulfills his every need. While Mr. Sethi does not bother to talk her directly, once when he
addresses Mrs. Sethi, it surprised Lenny to see for the first time that father has directly
addressed and talked to her mother “instead of the walls, furniture, ceiling” (Sidhwa, 2005,
p.237).
Woman is regarded as a machine of conceiving and delivering new generation
irrespective of her health and choice. When Ice Candy Man (Dilnawaz) becomes ‘Allah’s
telephone man’ a woman comes with her four daughters. She looks very frail and weak in
145
health, she requested Ice Candy Man to ask Allah to give her a son (p. 98-99). Realizing her
dismal position in patriarchy, even after four daughters she is inquisitive to produce a more
child in hope of a son. In this societal order, woman has not even got a definition without
reference to a man. She is an object related to man who is always defined in comparison with
a man, as the one who is not rational, strong, protective and decisive like a man, is a woman.

Chastity and honour as ornaments of woman

Chastity and honour are related with woman as her ornaments and painstakingly woman has
to protect them even at the cost of her life. When there is fear of attack by Sikhs in Pir Pindo
village, the village men ordered their women and girls to gather at Chaudry’s house and pour
kerosene around and burn themselves, instead of being exploited by Sikhs (p. 208). Thus,
woman’s life and chastity as is an object for men; they use it the way they want. In the eyes
of patriarchy, woman without her chastity is nothing. She is programmed in such a way that
if she willingly or unwillingly is touched by someone, she does not have right to live in the
society, that’s why women in Pir Pindo village were ordered to sacrifice their lives in order
to save the honour.

Woman Oppression Veiled in Domesticity and Marriage

The narrative depicts the trend of training girls for domestic life. The very young girls like
Khatija and Parveen who are only two or three years older than Lenny, have heavy domestic
responsibilities much older ones than their ages “they reflect the mannerisms and tone of
their mothers and aunts, busy with chores, baskets of grain stuck to their tiny hips, they
scuttle about importantly” (Sidhwa, 2005, p. 53). Girls are trained for these manners from the
very childhood so that they may be easily molded into emblematic women desired in
patriarchal society. They assume the role inherited from their elder women, to become a
chaste woman. This confirms Beauvoir’s (1988) view who asserts that one is not born but
rather becomes a woman.
In Beauvoir’s (1988) view marriage is a decorated form of oppression and slavery of
woman, man oppresses and deprives woman of her individuality and makes her his
subordinate. The calamities of woman take place due to marriage (Friedan, 1963). Men take
the privilege to rule over woman because they are considered as their property in the name of
marriage. Similar to Beauvoir and Friedan’s view, Sidhwa points woman’s plight in the name
of marriage. She raises the issue of woman’s oppression in the name of marriage by pointing
men psyche as the proprietor of his wife. Men, like Mr. Sethi, Ice Candy Man and Hamida’s
husband treat their wives as subservient and their inferior beings. Lenny illustrates the way
her father beats her mother “at night I listen caged voices of parents fighting in their
bedroom. Mother crying, wheedling. Father’s terse, harsh indecipherable
sentences” (Sidhwa, 2005, p.222). Hamida, a victim of the partition was abducted by Shikh
is unacceptable to her husband, because he “can’t stand woman being touched by other
men” (p. 225), while, Ayah is “emptied of life and despairing” (p. 276) because her husband;
Ice Candy Man, has defiled and made her prostitute. Papoo, a very young girl, who still plays
with dolls, is married at the age of nine to a middle-aged man. It confirms Beauvoir’s view
that marriage is an enslavement in which “women is husband’s prey, his possession” (1988,
p.184). It enslaves woman within the confinements of the home and makes her dependent on
the man and reduces the chances of her freedom.
Representing the patriarchal thinking, confirming with Beauvoir’s (1988) view,
Sidhwa asserts that even educated men strive to show the subordinate position of women; a
doctor Col. Brucha tells Lenny’s parents that she will be able enough to marry and produce
children after treatment of polio-affected foot. Thus, he advises Lenny’s parents not to bother
146
about her. He justifies his claim by arguing that she would be able to walk well to marry. She
would produce children “she’ll marry – have children – lead a care free, happy life (Sidhwa,
2005, p.15).
Moreover, in a Patriarchal society, an ideal wife is the one who internalizes the
oppression of her husband, and relates her identity with that of her husband. Lenny once
inquires Hamida, “why she is not going to see her family?” she replies because “her husband
would not like her to go to her family” (p. 232). As she is abducted and raped, her husband
neither wants to see her, nor allows seeing her children; therefore she did not dare to go to
her family.

Dual Standards of the Patriarchal Society

Society has made different rules and tags for men and different for women. A woman is
always expected to exercise the virtues of loyalty, chastity and virginity; she is the icon of
honour. While, man free from such constrains; expects woman to be loyal. When godmother
questions the loyalty of Ice Candy Man with his wife Ayah, he says, “I am a man! Only dogs
are faithful! If you want faith, let her marry a dog” (Sidhwa, 2006, p.260). Nevertheless, he
expects his wife to be obedient and follows the commands whatever he asks her.
A husband cannot bear his wife being touched by other men. Indeed, man is the
defiler of woman and again it is he who rejects the defiled woman. Society lays the burden of
both honour and dishonor on woman, without condemning the ones who violate her honour.
Hamida is obnoxious for her husband because she is defiled by Sikh men. She is not allowed
to meet her children; even her shadow is considered ill-omen (p.225). Consequently, she
spends her life miserably in rehabilitation camp, just reminding and recalling the good days
with her children.
It is not just the matter of honour, but in every walk of life there are dualities in
society, different rules for men and different for women. Boys are happily sent to schools and
they are expected to gain a high position after getting education. But for girls, there is no
obligation of education, they don’t have to do anything with education just get marry and
bear children as Lenny’s doctor suggest her parents not to bother about her education, she
won’t have to do something extraordinary, what she needs is only to be good enough to get
marry and produce children (p.15).

The Silence of Women

Women’s oppression and victimization begins with their silence to it. Women silently
tolerate the exasperation of patriarchy and serve the callous men related to them. “Silence
condones injustice, breeds subservience and foresters a malignant hypocrisy” (Durrani,
1995, p. 374). Jaidhka (2004) is also of the same view that the silence on the part of women
is a hindrance in getting their true identity as human beings. In order to break the silence,
Sidhwa writes to give voice to women to unveil their power. She criticizes the silence of
women and proposes breaking the silence to come out of the shackles of the andocentric
society. Confirming Jaidhka’s (2004) ideas, Sidhwa suggests three ways to face this
situation, either women victims in the novel find an escape route, or bow to dominant
powers, or else suffer. Sidhwa affirms that the root cause of women’s victimization is their
silence to the oppression. Women have internalized self-destructive values of societal order.
The silence of women prevails not only in domestic life but in social and matrimonial life as
well. Women remain voiceless throughout their life. In early age, they are taught to remain
silent in front of men, consequently, they internalize the silence as a part of their life and
deem it as their fate. Such as the fallen women in the novel remain silent because they accept
their dishonor as the decree of fate. They do not challenge the imposition. Hamida labels
147
these women as “poor fate smitten” (Sidhwa, 2005, p.213). They endure the atrocities of the
patriarchy silently and patiently as a commandment. They do not resist or challenge the
norm. They remain silent lest they should fall short of social standards. They seek their
salvation in serving and obeying the men.
Sidhwa assert that woman has to abort the cruelties and stand by herself. Believing in
woman’s emancipation, she asserts that emancipation will not be granted to women, but they
have to snatch it. And it will not be possible, until women realize their value in the society
and raise voice against victimization. Women have to raise their voice against the restrictions
imposed on them. Unless they do not do it themselves, they would remain subservient to
patriarchy. Thus realization on the part of women is first step to unveil their power and
restrain the oppression.

Realization on the part of woman

Sidhwa denies the patriarchal and traditional definition of woman through portraying
unconventional female characters who do not accept the roles assigned by men. She portrays
two types of women to indicate the importance of realization on the part of women; those
who realize their value in the society and those who don’t. The women who recognize their
value and importance in the society, they resist and stand against the settled anti-women
attitudes of patriarchy and liberate themselves from the chains of womanliness. And those
who do not realize remain under oppression and subjugation throughout their life.
Emphasizing on women’s realization and their assertive power, Sidhwa gives a broad view of
feminine roles. Her women realize their position and stand against victimization. Such
women are discussed as follows.
Lenny Sethi: a feminine agent
Among the bold women in the novel who changed their lives one is the protagonist of the
novel Lenny Sethi, who moves beyond traditional roles of female having critical observation
and perceiving power towards women’s exploitation in patriarchal system. She deviates from
traditional female roles. She is a feminine agent to perceive the victimization and observe the
miseries of women and present a womanly aspect of understanding of social institution. From
her childhood, she recognizes an unequal conduct of men. When, doctor suggests her father
not to worry about her schooling, she instinctively, realizes that her freedom is suppressed
and the doctor sealed her fate (Sidhwa, 2005, p. 15). She would never allow anybody to seal
her freedom. Sidhwa presents her as a recovering woman who defies oppression and
questions every unjust attitude. Kleist (2011) maintains that Lenny exhibits increasing
agency by deliberately distinguishing herself from social norms. As she finds out the
constructed systems which delineate her freedom, she makes a careful choice between
conforming with or digressing from those systems. For example, she freely accepts her
“manipulative power of limp” (Sidhwa, 2005, p. 56) and does not feel shame in her physical
problem of limping.
In contrast to the patriarchal demand for women to be silent, Lenny inquires about
different attitudes of men, once she was queering different things, her mother stops her from
asking questions by saying “when little girls ask too many questions their tongues drop
off” (p.119). Ayah also instructs her same, “stop asking too many questions, men don’t like
so much talk” (p. 132). Nevertheless Lenny continues questioning and challenging the
meanings and attitudes. She, by no means internalizes the traditionally imposed norms. She is
assertive and never lets anybody to take charge of her life. Through Lenny, Sidhwa
underlines the assertive role of women and encourages woman to recognize her position and
stand against autocracy of men. Sidhwa asserts that the women who stand on their behalf can
never be defeated and their resistance towards patriarchal imposed norms will lead them
148
towards emancipation and their “self” will be recognized. Through the inquisitive nature of
Lenny, Sidhwa emphasizes woman’s awareness of how her use of discourse and realization
of her potential enables her to challenge women’s oppression.
Sidhwa conveys the fact that realization on the part of women is obligatory to come
out of oppression and victimization; women have to raise voice against social order and this
is what she made Lenny does. Lenny challenges the dominancy, centrality and exclusivity of
man. In interactions with her cousin, she is not performing traditional and expected feminine
behaviour of compliance and observance. Rather she proves herself self-confident and
upholding unusual degree of control (Kleist, 2011). She does not capitulate and surrender to
her cousin’s wishes. She candidly adopts forthright and direct expression to deny her
cousin’s superiority and dislikes his authority over her. She demonstrates her will ‘pushing
him back and holding him at arm’s length’ (Sidhwa, 2005, p.243). She is rendered as a bold,
courageous and strong girl, who never yields, rather remains curious, lively, daring and
demanding with the passage of time.

Mrs. Sethi: Recovering from Domestic Role

After Lenny, Mrs. Sethi is Sidhwa’s one of the strongest woman, who realizes her worth and
comes out of domestic role to subvert the patriarchal social order. She affects the change in
the lives of the victim women. Representing Sidhwa’s recovering woman, she steps out of
the chains of domesticity and societal order. Initially, she was an enfeeble serving wife; who
seems to be capable of only humoring her husband and rearing children, but then she comes
out of her domestic role, and becomes a social activist. She undertakes the task of rescuing
the Fallen Women and attempts to reinstate the women to their relatives or to find work or
housing for those who due to defilement cannot go to their families. She plays sterling
humanitarian and heroic role by “smuggling gasoline to her friends to cross the border
safely” (Sidhwa, 2005, p. 254). In rescuing the fallen women, she has obviously moved
beyond the traditional role of housewife (Kleist, 2011). Lenny notices a considerable change
in her mother, she is no longer content to remain at home all the day, rather she “develops a
busy air of secrecy and preoccupation…shoots off in the Morris, after father drudges off on
his bicycle and returns in the afternoon and scoots out again” (Sidhwa, 2005, p.182). This
conveys the comparative energy, efficiency and recovering efforts of Mrs. Sethi who
represents the heroic role of a woman leading the revolution against inequality, abuse and
social injustice, both for herself and other exploited groups in society (Sethi, 1999). Through
Mrs. Sethi’s active role, Sidhwa asserts that besides domesticity, there should be a purpose of
woman’s life for which she should utilize her abilities utmost.

Godmother: A Powerful Woman

Godmother is a very powerful and an influential woman in the novel, who has a strong sense
of realization of women’s victimization. She exerts the most notable feminine influence on
women. By portraying the character of godmother, Sidhwa highlights the influential and
determining characteristics of a woman who traverses social boundaries and explicitly
challenges the patriarchal pre-fix social norms and attitudes and plays pivotal role in rescuing
and helping the victim women. The women who come out of the chains of patriarchal
society and utilize their abilities, become assertive, influential and dignified like godmother,
who single-handedly deal with man’s malicious desires. She helps people to reduce their
woes. That’s why people bring their “joys and woes and show her their sores and swollen
joints… she secures wishes, smoothes grief and prevents mistakes” (Sidhwa, 2005, p. 223).
She is an activist and great helper of her friends, Lenny claims her power “she can move
mountains from paths of those she befriends and erect mountain barriers where she deems it
149
necessary” (p. 223). She has the most notable feminine influence in the narrative. By
opposing the traditional idea of passiveness of women, she proves that a woman can change
the circumstances of individuals and can save them from the miseries of life.

Fate Smitten Women

To confirm the value of realization on the part of women, Sidhwa, in contrast to influential
and empowered women, portrays the women who do not recognize their worth and remain
silent and suffer. Among these women Ayah, Hamida, Papoo, Khadija, Parveen and the
woman who has four daughters, are its prominent examples. Hamida never recovers from her
victimization because she considers that her disgrace was part of her fate which she cannot
change. She believes women are Poor fate smitten…There is nothing they can do. What can
a sorrowing woman do but wail? She blames her fate for her sufferings ‘it is my fate that is
no good… we are puppets in the hands of fate’ (Sidhwa , 2005, p. 224). Another character
Papoo is married at an early age to an elderly man. She accepts this unequal marriage as the
will of her father. The woman with four daughters remains under oppression of her husband
because she gave birth to four daughters and does not have a son. She has internalized the
anti-woman norms and never resists. By portraying these characters, Sidhwa advocates that
those who do not realize their place in society and do not raise voice against the subjugation,
they not only remain permanently under subjugation but they also replicate it. In order to
break shackles of patriarchal dominancy and oppression, it is necessary on the part of women
to recognize their “self” and raise voice against oppression which will empower them.

Findings
The analysis of the novel in Beauvoir’s feminist perspective shows that Sidhwa empowers
her women to rise from their subservient position as suggested by Beauvoir (1988). The
society, where women live is made up for men, by men, in which women must have to
struggle hard, in order to survive they have to prove themselves strong enough. Thus, Sidhwa
suggests women to refuse to internalize the patriarchal gender role assigned to them (as
Beauvoir pointed) and demonstrates that women are not objects, neither born inferior, weak
and submissive, but they are made so (Confirms with Beauvoir, 1988). She empowers her
women, like Lenny, Mrs. Sethi and godmother to advocate the assertive and influential role
of woman and asserts that unless woman herself will not raise voice, she will be suppressed
and victimized throughout the life.
This paper reveals Sidhw’s endeavour to unveil the nuisances of women of the
subcontinent especially at the time of partition. She candidly depicts the fact that women
during the turmoil were inhumanly crushed, raped and killed under the name of being a
‘women’ who are known only with reference to their men. Thus, she emphasizes on woman’s
liberation from constrains of womanliness, denying the idea that masculinity is a yardstick to
define a woman.
Following the close reading of the text, the analysis of the novel shows that women’s
continuous silence on men’s hegemony and their oppression replicates it (as that of Hamida).
Whereas, the women who raise voice against it and those, who are capable of decision
making (as Lenny, her mother and godmother); are assertive and powerful no less than men.
They are not merely objects rather potential beings who assert their capabilities to reinforce
women’s cause.
Emphasizing the need of realization on the part of women, Sidhwa attempts to give
voice to voiceless women and breaks the silences of women to come out of the shackles of
the andocentric society. She believes that the silence on the part of women is a hindrance in
getting their true identity as human beings. Therefore, women have to raise their voice
150
against the restrictions imposed on them. Unless they do not raise voice, they would remain
subservient to patriarchy. They prove that women’s victimization is not because of their fate
as Hamida, women in Pir Pindo village and the women in Rehabilitation camp deem it, but
it’s due to unequal treatment in patriarchal society. It is maintained that even if it is because
of fate ‘we can change our fate, if we want to’ (Sidhwa, 2005, p. 232).

Conclusion
The present research examined the novel Ice Candy Man from feminist perspective of
Beauvoir (1988), who holds that in a patriarchal society woman is regarded just an object and
her oppression is veiled in different tags like, domesticity and marriage. Patriarchal society
practices dual standards for man and woman to subjugate woman. This subjugation is further
reinforced when woman keeps silence on it, which invites more oppression on her and
encourages her exploitation. Thus, woman’s realization is essentially required to resist her
operation.
Based on these Beauvoir’s ideals, this study analysed Sidhwa’s portrayal of women’s
realization of their rights and their value in society. She encouraged them to raise voice
against victimization and stop internalizing patriarchal norms and traditions imposed on
them. She further puts forward the idea that the women who internalize patriarchal norms not
recognizing their value and remain silent on their oppression and victimization, will always
remain under such oppression.
From close reading of text of the novel, it can be concluded that through this novel
Sidhwa attempts to unveil the issues of women of the subcontinent. She depicts the reality
that women in the societal set up of the subcontinent, especially at the time of wars are
oppressed and marginalized. They have no value of their own. They remain silent, at the back
and are identified with reference to their male members. Thus, highlighting different grounds
of women’s oppression; Sidhwa shows that women are oppressed in the name of marriage
and domesticity, where women are treated not more than objects.
By portraying unconventional women as the protagonist Lenny, her mother and
godmother, Sidhwa denies the patriarchal definition imposed by the society on a woman. Her
protagonist is an assertive woman who never lets anyone to take charge of her life and till the
end fights for her rights and questions against unjust conduct. The author by portraying the
recovering and the struggling women manifests the importance of struggle in the life of a
woman to acquire freedom. Because freedom will never be granted easily to women, they
will have to win it. Sidhwa points out the tags and labels on women, and unveils women’s
oppression and the double standards of the society where woman is oppressed in the name of
different relations. She maintains that until woman herself does not raise voice against her
oppression, she will be suppressed. The women, who do not internalize the patriarchal
norms, remain independent and empowered.

151
References
• Ahmed, Z. (2009). Pakistani feminist fiction and Empowerment of women. Pakistaniaat: A
journal of Pakistan Studies, 1(2), 90-102.
• Babur, Z. U. (2007). Violence Against Women in Pakistan :Current realities and strategies for
change. Austria: European University Center for Peace Studies.
• Bardwick, J. M., & Douvan, E. (1872). Ambivalence: The Socialization of Women. Women in
Sexist Society (Studies in power and powerlessness). (V. G. Moran., Ed.) New York: Times
Mirror. Print.
• Beauvoir, S. D. (1988). The Second Sex. (H. M. Parshley, Trans.) London: Pan Book Ltd, Print.
• Bourdieu, P. (1977). Outline of a Theory of Practice. Cambridge: CUP.
• Bourdieu, P. (1989). Social Space and Symbolic Power. Sociological Theory, 7(1), 14-25.
• Bourdieu, P. (1990). In other words:Esays toward a reflexive sociology. Stanford: C:A Stanford
University press.
• Bourdieu.P, & Wacquant, L. J. (1992). An Invitition to Reflexive Sociology. Cambridge: Polity
Press.
• Chafetz, S. J., & Dwarkin, A. G. (1986). The female revolt. London: Routledge.
• Cuddon, J. A. (1999). Dictionary of literary terms and literary theory (Vol. 4 ). London: The
Penguin Publishers.
• Dar, S. H. (2013, May). Bapsi Sidhwa's Ice Candy Man: A Feminist Perspective.
Galaxy:International Multi Disciplanary Research Journal, 2(3), 1-6.
• Durrani, T. (1995). My Feudal Lord. karachi: oxford.
• Ehsan, M., Tabassum, R., & shah, S. K. (2015). A Study of and Violence against Women in
Feudal Society with Special Reference to “My Feudal Lord’’ by “Tehmina Durrani”. Journal of
Literature, Languages and Linguistics, 54-58.
• Engels, F. (2008). The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State. Australia: Resistance
Books.
• Ernst, H. (2006). Ernst.H. pierre Bourdieu on structure Agency structuralism. Radbound
University of Nijmegen, 3-10.
• Friedan, B. (1963). The Feminine Mystique. New York: W. W. Norton & Company.
• Gidda, S. R. (2006). “Women in the Novels of Bapsi Sidhwa and Namit A Gokhale: A Critical
Study” Ph.D thesis. Retrieved March 04, 2015, from Saurashtra University: http://
etheses.saurashtrauniversity.edu/id/830
• Habib, B., Alvi, S. D., & Baseer, A. (2013, september). Women in Tehmina Durrani’s My Feudal
Lord: A Feminist Study. Interdisciplinary Journal of Contemporary Research in Business, 5(5),
91-100.
• Hai, A. (2000). Border work, border trouble: Postcolonial feminism and the ayah in Bapsi
Sidhwa's Cracking India. MFS Modern Fiction Studies, 46(2), 379-426.
• Jaidhka, M. (2004). Hyphenated Perspectives on the Cracking of India: Bapsi Sidhwa’s Ice-
Candy- Man. South Asian Review, 25(2), 43-50.
• Kleist, M. J. (2011). MoreThan Victims:Version of Feminine Power In Bapsi Sidhwa's Cracking
India. Pakistaniaat: A Journal of Pakistan Studies, 3(2), 69-80.
• Lenz, E. R. (2010). Measurement in Nursing And Health Research (4 ed.). New York: Springer
Company, LLC. .
• Manderson, L., & Bennett, L. R. (2003). Violence against women in Asian societies. London:
Routledge.
• Marx, K., & Frederick, E. (2009). Manifesto of the Communist Party. New York: Cosimo,Inc.

152
• Noor, M. (2014, June). Gender Hegemony in Tehmina Durrani’s Novel My Feudal Lord. The
International Journal of Humanities & Social Studies, 2(6), 219-222.
• Offen, K. (1988). Defining Feminism:A comparative Historical Approach. Chicago Journals, 14
(1).
• Parmar, A. M. (2015, Aug-Sept). Feminine aspects in Bapsi Sidhwa’s the Ice-Candy- Man.
Scholarly research journal for Huminity Sciences & English language, 2(11), 2910-2915.
• Pateman, C. (1989). Colonialism and postcolonialism. Stanford Encyclopedia of philosophy.
• Rockwell, G. (2003). What is text analysis, really? Literary and linguistic computing. Oxford
journals, 18(2).
• Schwarzer, A. (1984). Simone De Beauvoir Today Conversation 1972-1982. (H. Marianne,
Chatto, & Windus, Trans.) London: The Hogarth Press. Print.
• Sethi, R. (1999). Myths of the Nation-National Identity and Literary Representation . Oxford:
Clarendon. Print.
• Shilling, C. (1993). The body and the social theory. Sage.
• Shree, S. (2002). Alien among Us: Reflections of Women Writer On Women. New Dehli: Sarup
and Sons.
• Sidhwa, B. (2005). Ice candy Man. Lahore: Sama publisher.
• Swartz, D. (2002). "The Sociology of Habit: The Perspective of Pierre Bourdieu. The
Occupational Therapy Journal of Research, 22, 61-69.
• Verma, D. R. (2013, August). Sexual and Emotional Repression of Women: A Portrayal. The
Criterion, 4(4), 1-9.
• Wacquant, L. (1989). Towards a reflexive sociology: A workshop with Pierre Bourdieu.
Sociological Theory, 7, 26-63.
• Waghmode, S. (2011, october). Bapsi Sidhwa's Ice-Candy-Man: A Feminist Artefact. Golden
Research Thoughts, 1(4).
• Walker, A. (1990). “Definition of womenism” Making face making soul. (H. F. & Caras, Ed.) San
Francisco: Aunt Lute Books.
• Walker, R. (1992, Jan- feb). Becoming the third wave. In Ms., 39-41.

153
154