The Death of an Author!

It reminds me of Roland Barthes when I happened to read the note, “Perumal Murugan, the writer is dead,” In fact, it is not at all about Barthes’ theories on post-structuralism and post-modernism, but an entirely different death has happened to Perumal Murugan, the Tamil writer after publishing his novel, Ardha Nareeswaran, One Part Woman. It was immediately after the publication of this novel, Ardhanareeswaran, that the writer himself declared on his Facebook page that he was concluding his writing career. How pathetic it would be for a writer to declare that he will not write anymore….. He has witnessed his creative death….. or his creativity is being killed all of a sudden…..It is only because of the agenda of the Majority….. all the protests and the hidden communal oppositions may cause the death of an author…..

The words of Karl Marx on religion, "the soul of soulless conditions" or the "opium of the people" are very relevant today. Religion is the most sensitive element and anything religious will catch fire easily. In this novel, Ardhanareeswaran, One Part Woman, Perumal Murugan portrays a ritual that existed in Tamil Nadu among a particular community, while telling the story of Kali and Ponna, the childless couple. People considered it as a stigma that being childless. They were excluded from mainstream society, especially from all the religious chores either explicitly or implicitly. The plight of Ponna, Kali’s wife was immense, as she was constantly reminded of her fate. She was always living under the threat that Kali might marry another woman at any time. All including her own relatives advised Kali for a second marriage. That mere thought of her husband’s second marriage made Ponna hysterical. She quarreled with those who told her about the second marriage of her husband. 

The condition of Kali was not at all different. He was also excluded from his own friend's circle. They teased him for his inefficiency. Fortunately, here, it bound the couple stronger. Still, they were always reminded of their fate by their surroundings. They performed all the religious chores prescribed by the villagers and their relatives but remained childless. At one point of time, Ponna thought about committing suicide too. Kali was a little bit stronger in this aspect. He always consoled his wife with his abundant love and care for her. But for Ponna, the word, Machi, the barren, was unbearable. 

Then came the most grotesque idea, the most ironic thing that it was suggested by her own mother to her mother-in-law and both those ladies took it for granted. Her mother once visited her in-law and both those old ladies conspired something regarding the future of Kali and Ponna. After the departure of Ponna’s mother, Kali’s mother informed him that Ponna’s mother visited them to invite the couple to the Chariot festival, which was celebrated and observed by the villagers with great reverence. It lasted for 18 days. On the 18th day, according to their belief, all the men assembled at the festival would be turned into Gods. Women without children could approach them for children. In short, free sex was happening, and by chance, sometimes, women might get pregnant, if the problem was with their husbands’. Such children were considered as the children of the God. 

Here both these mothers compelled Ponna to commit adultery for a child during the chariot festival. Ponna was not at all ready to have a baby from some other man, rather than her husband and Kali could not even think about this. The most interesting thing about Kali was that he had experienced this before marriage. On the contrary, he did not want his wife to have sex with other men. A kind of possessiveness is there in his thoughts. The most tragic thing happened to Kali when he asked his wife regarding this, to his dismay, she replied that she was ready to do anything for a child if he permitted it.  

These kinds of religious exposure through literature are not allowed by the religious fascists. They can practice anything in the name of God and ritual, but no one should comment on it. It is highly ironic that these same people who are supporting such shameful actions in the name of religion oppose the observance of Valentine's Day or some other modern love practices. Apart from this, this exposes several superstitious elements of the ancient Tamil community. Out of unbearable protests and objections, Perumal Murugan has to declare himself that the author in him, who wrote all those ‘vicious’ things is dead and he will be no more there to write such things. 

Here he is actually openly waging a war with the people who are binding the hands of the writers. The Majority agenda determines what to think, what to write, and what to act… not the individual… The freedom of expression is no more…. Fatwas and threats are ruling over a world, where the writers and the intellectuals are openly dying…. 

Work Cited:

Murugan, Perumal. Ardhanareeswaran, Translated by Dr. Appu Jacob John. Kottayam, DC Books, 2015.

Marxism and Religion. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 26 September 2023, en. m.wikipedia. org.

Perumal Murugan.  Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 9 August 2023, en. m.wikipedia. org.

The Death of an Author. .  Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 14 September 2023, en. m.wikipedia. org. 

Radhika. A, Assistant Professor of English, Al Shifa College of Arts and Science, Keezhattur.