Possession by Kamala Markandaya | Characters, Summary, Analysis

Possession was the third novel by Kalpana Markandaya that was published in 1963. One can say that the basic story of Possession could be the inspiration behind the recent successful movie RRR. The novel depicts the intermingling of Indian ethos and British culture and presents a contrast between materialism and spirituality. Unlike her first novel Nectar in a Sieve, Kamala didn’t write Possession in an autobiographical manner, rather she wrote this novel as a narrative narrated by a character of the novel. Possession is another example of Diasporic literature in which Kamala Markandara, despite being an expatriate British depicts the clash of British culture and Indian spirituality realistically and appears to side with her roots in India. The story is set in 1949, that is, Independent India.
Valmiki is the protagonist of the novel. He is a simple young man from an Indian village belonging to the goatherd community. Though Valmiki is illiterate, he is a naturally gifted artist who loves to draw paintings on the walls of the rocky caves near his village. He is attached to a spiritual guru Swami who lives at the hilltop near the village. Swami is a well-known person who is a globetrotter with no fixed home. Valmiki has immense faith in Swami and he spends most of his time in or around the Ashram of Swami while remaining detached from his parents and other relatives. Caroline Bell is a British young woman belonging to a rich aristocratic family. She is a typical capitalist who believes in exploiting the poor physically as well as mentally. Caroline discovers the talent of Valmiki and tries to possess him as his talented pet artist to satisfy her ego and lust while pretending to provide a greater better platform and society to Valmiki whom she buys from his parents and rechristens as Val. Ellie is a young British woman battered in body and soul by the Germans during the Second world war. She is physically maimed and is emotionally so bruised that despite the daily raping that she had been subjected to as a war prisoner, she has lost her fertility. Val sympathizes with her and loves her. His warmth brings a lot of improvement in Ellie who becomes pregnant with his child. Annabel is another British teen girl who becomes her friend of Val. Anasuya is an Indian woman, a journalist, and a reporter. She is a friend of Caroline who tries to dissuade her from buying Valmiki but Caroline remains adamant. Anasuya is the narrator who tells the story from an Indian point of view.
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[@gulshanara5472]

Wonder ful explanation

[@VidyaIlal-ty6rr]

Nice explain sir

[@madhurivarma2299]

Sir please explain 'A silence of Desire'

[@khushikhandelwal4193]

Kamla not kalpana

[@TheDiscourse]

Lol