The Eccentric Desires For Delight And The Negligence Of Social Conformity In Kiran Desai’s Novel, Hullaballoo In The Guava Orchard

Abstract

Kiran Desai’s Hullabaloo in the Guava Orchard portrays an individual’s eccentric desires and escape from social conformity.  The theme of desire for delectation plays a vital role in the changes that happened in the life of Sampath and his mother Kulfi.  They are affected psychologically and their disappointed feelings are clearly depicted by Kiran Desai through various incidents.  The protagonist of the novel, Sampath does not like to live a customary life. He alienates himself from his family and his alienation made him decide pessimistically. He feels that the shift of place is the only solution to elude from the problem. He used to make his mind wrongly till the end of the novel.  Like him, his mother Kulfi expresses a sense of vague longing for exotic foods.  Her house is small for her big desires.  She represents the embodied desire for meaning in life beyond the drudgery of going to work and returning home. The prime focus of this paper is to examine the eccentric desires of the protagonist, Sampath and his mother for happiness by freeing oneself from social conformity.