Page 11 - THE CHANGING WORLD OF RAY

pur, rural Bengal, in order to illness, and death. However,

highlight the issues regard- the death of an ill child on

ing the social reforms of the her lap exposes Doya as a

time the novel was written: symbol of womanhood rath-

‘Uma’s pride in his English er than a ‘Goddess’. In the

education, which he calls end of the film, Doya tries to

“new learning” as opposed escape from the masculine
to his father’s “old learning,” world that imprisoned her,

based on studies of Tantra disappearing in a field of

and Shakti’ (Basu 2004). wheat that leads to a lake.

Doya is the young wife of At first, her act looks as ir-

the open-minded Uma (Sou- rational, as she ignores her

mitra Chatterjee). The film husband’s efforts to move
begins with Uma’s departure together to the big city; nei-

to Calcutta to study, leaving ther has she adopted her

Doya alone in the house with uncle’s abusive point of view

her father-in-law, and her at any point of the film. She

brother-in-law (Purnendu might submit to his vision,

Mukherjee), his wife (Karu- as she is conventionally
na Banerjee) meant to, but

and their young she never

boy Koka. Fol- fully identi-

lowing Kalik- fies with it.

inkar’s vision Doya’s final

of Doya as Ma, disappearance

the possessive forms the cen-
zamindar lord tral paradox

displaces her of the film: it

in the village’s is an act of

temple as his denial, as well

holy Mother, as, an act of

who will per- acceptance,

form miracles and protect that echoes several myths
his village from destitute, regarding the Mother God-