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Chitra Banerjee’s Independence (2022) tells the story of the three sisters Deepa, Jamini and Priya Ganguly and their lives and decisions at the beginning of India’s independence. At the beginning of the story, the author explains how different the three women are in their perception of the world, their ambitions and their place in society. The girls’ lives take a dramatic turn when their family lands in Calcutta Direct action day in August 1946. Her father, Nabakumar Ganguly, is killed during the riots in Calcutta, leaving behind his widowed wife and three daughters who have to navigate life without a male presence in a patriarchal society.
As Chitra Banerjee explores the lives of the three sisters as they cope with grief, dreams and ambitions, she ensures that the reader gets the perspectives of all three girls throughout the book. She does not select a central character among the three sisters through whose eyes the reader views the story. Each chapter changes perspective, giving the audience the opportunity to appreciate each character’s experiences and decisions individually.
Deepa eventually falls in love with a Muslim man who belongs to the Muslim League. She meets him during her time in Calcutta and ends up running away with him after her mother disowns her because she wants to marry a Muslim man. Especially given the circumstances that led to her father’s death. Priya, who wanted to study medicine at the University of Calcutta and was engaged to her childhood friend at the same time, was not admitted to the university, but was admitted abroad. Her fiancé asks her to choose between him and her desire to study medicine. With financial support and the blessing of her fiancé’s father, Priya decides to end her relationship and move to America to study. Eventually, Jamini starts running a business with her mother, selling Katha blankets to help the family achieve financial stability. She also ends up marrying her younger sister’s fiancé after he saves her from sexual assault.
In books with multiple female characters, authors often choose to portray one character as the torchbearer of feminism. The rebellious girl who makes the most “unconventional” decisions is the obvious choice for this archetype; in this case it would have been Priya. However, Chitra Banerjee tells each sister’s story with equal intent and attention. At no point in her narrative does she suggest that one of the sisters is “better” or “braver” than the other. Each of the girls’ stories is treated with equal importance. More importantly, the three sisters have a relationship in which they support each other as much as possible, even if they don’t always agree.
Literary Tools Used in Independence
In order to tell the story that Chitra Banerjee writes, the primary literary technique that Banerjee uses is change of perspective. Throughout the timeline established for Independence, the chapter develops the overall narrative from each sister’s perspective. None of their emotions, reactions or decisions are weighed against the others. She also focuses on capturing the nuances of each sister’s perspective. This ensures that readers are equally engaged with the life and development of one character as they are with the others.
In her interview With Vogue India, Chitra Banerjee mentions that she wanted to write about how the era (of independence) turned “ordinary women into heroes”. She expressed this idea very clearly in the book. As each sister makes different decisions and faces different circumstances, Chitra Banerjee shows how women navigating everyday life can demonstrate resilience and resilience. Each sister has her own experiences with intersectionalities and the associated challenges. While for Priya it’s about navigating the experience of pursuing higher education as a woman and continuing as a woman of color in America, for Jamini it’s about dealing with her disability and her unrequited love for her sister’s fiancé while also running a business with her mother. Finally, it was a difficult and interfaith marriage for Deepa, especially after Partition, while at the same time she lost her mother’s support. Each sister asserts herself and develops into a better version of herself as the story progresses. A reader would find excitement in each sister’s success.
Chitra Banerjee also mentioned in her interview the importance of writing about flawed women: “…I think it’s harmful when society only portrays perfect, idealistic women, because what does it tell all of us?” Even in stories with “well-written” female characters, women are often portrayed as one-dimensional and “perfect.” A single female character becomes the epitome of the “better” woman, and to prove that she is that “better woman,” she is contrasted with the flaws that other women in these stories have. However, Chitra Banerjee creates women who are human. They reflect a range of emotions and often make poor decisions. What Banerjee also does is give the characters enough space to make these mistakes and grow into mature versions of themselves.
Why are these stories important?
Often literature that focuses on creating “strong” female characters follows an archetype. Unfortunately, the archetype inevitably builds on the narrative of being “not like other girls,” even when this is not the intention. The idea that only one particular decision made by a woman makes her resistance worth mentioning is deeply flawed. It presents the idea of a “perfect” feminist, which doesn’t exist.
Independence emphasizes a narrative in which women can resist and rebel in different ways, none of which are “lesser” than the others. It acknowledges the myriad circumstances and intersectionalities that enable and constrain women’s rebellion, thereby making their rebellion unique. Most importantly, the narrative of pitting women against each other in order to be the “better” feminist is no longer promoted.
To draw parallels to this narrative, two mediums come to mind: Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen and the Netflix TV show The Lincoln Lawyer (based on books by Michael Connelly). While in Pride and Prejudice Jane’s character is intended to be a foil to Elizabeth’s character, Austen ensures that the bond between the two sisters is clearly expressed. This is important because even though Jane and Elizabeth are two very different people with different hopes in life, they never look down on each other’s decisions. Similarly, in The Lincoln Lawyer, Lorna and Maggie, both ex-wives of Mickey, are shown to be very different people, both still deeply involved in Mickey’s life in different capacities. They are both portrayed as independent, powerful women who even band together to protect Mickey from wrongful conviction.
It’s crucial to tell stories with multiple female characters who approach life differently, and not better or worse than each other. Adhering to an idea of a “strong” woman does not result in breaking patriarchal narratives. It simply replaces an existing hierarchy of women with a new one. To tell feminist stories, we must first acknowledge that there is more than one type of story to tell.
