T 1290.pdf - Pondicherry University DSpace Portal

oublnls marriage with Kitty, a widow, is one of conveniencenecessitated by mutual need.Both Dubln and Kxtty live Inthelr own worlds away from the present- Dubln In his lives ofthe dead, and Kitty in her rernlniscences of her former husbandand sewrated children.At the age of fifty six, Dubin isattracted by Fanny, a P ~O~~SCUOUS girl, less than half his age.He 1s In a fix, caught between hls obligation to his wife andpasslon for Fanny; this results in hls transgression-havlng anllllclt affair with Fanny.However, latter torn by a sense ofgullt towards hls wlfe, Dubin goes back to hls wife with love.Flnally the obllgatlon to wife trlumphs over the passion formistress.Malamud lndlcts modern clvlllzatlon for destroyingprlmrtlve values In god's Grace.The entlre effort of CalvlnCohn, the lcne survlvor is to reallze man's errors and not torepeat them.Prlmltlve condlt~ons are recreated by contrrvlngthe escape of C0h.n from the nuclear war and the Flood.Malamud trles to stress the dreadful lsolatlon of man throughCohn to underline the value of companionship.Driftingaimlessly on the lone oceanographlc vessel Rebekah-Q Cohnreallzes that "right words" and "Ylght life" acquire meaningOnly In relation to other human beings.Cohn almost becomes aspokesman of Malamud In hls concern for compassionate co-eXlst4nce.AS the tribe of chimpanzees on the Island