Woman As a Symbol of Strength: A Reading of Anita Desai’s Clear Light of Day

Anita Desai's Clear Light of Day depicts partition violence from a womanize perspective. She has covered themes such as women's oppression and quest for a fulfilling identity and family relationship. Her novel is not populated with heroic characters whether they are males or female characters. Her protagonists are marked by certain passivity, yet they have certain heroic qualities in them. Her characters stand out because their flaws are so believable. They really seem like real people. Clear Light of Day is a narrative about familial love and loyalty, coping and forgiveness. It tells the story of contemporary India and the impact of political turmoil and civil war on a family, a plummet into mental illness and how a family copes to protect and takes care of its own.