T 1290.pdf - Pondicherry University DSpace Portal

ya&. , Pictures Q€ ridelmarl, Us Tenants, DubinfsEI9EI: deal with the transgression of the humanconscience. Similarly most of the stories of Mukherjee can begrouped as those dealing with 'moralistic' violations,especially The Tiaer's Dauuhter, and Jasminr and thestories in Darkness LC? Middleman U Storieq.There is a vast difference between Malamud and Mukherjeetrapping their heroeslheroines into the net of transgression.For Instance, we are not unaware of the difference between theStature of a Levln and OfCJasmlne, though the dlfference can beexplaired. Malamud's heroes seem to be more aware of thecri~lnai potentiai in them than Mukherlee's heroines, becausethe latter seem tcb be caught unawares In crlminal situations,but thls dlfference is only of degree and not of kind becausebotn are shrouded in a mist-the former by the extreme awarenessand the latter by their extreme unawareness, so that they couldnot avoid the criminal situation. Their actlons turn out to becrlminal because of the human context in which they findthemselves. They come to do bad or good only when impelled bythe instincts of self-preservation in an extremity. Theirheroeslheroines find themselves between two kinds of freedom:The freedom to transgress and the freeedom to get away from thetransgression; the former refers to hls/her momentary contactwith the demonical self and the latter to the prompting ofand