The Serpent and The Rope is a metaphysical novel written by Raja Rao that was published in 1960 and won the Sahitya Academy Award in 1964. The serpent in the title refers to illusions and desires while the rope refers to reality. The major themes of the novel are concepts of existence, reality, and fulfillment of one's desires and capabilities. The novel depicts a clash between the non-dualistic Vedantic philosophy of Adi Shankaracharya and the western dualist ideas of Cathars. Another important theme of the novel is the problems of immigrants and immigration. The novel has been written in an autobiographical style and it is a semi-autobiographical story of Raja Rao.
Rama Swami is the protagonist of the novel. Rama is a young Brahmin boy from India who lost his mother during his childhood and his father married a widow, a much younger girl whom Rama Swami calls Little Mother or Choti Maa. He is a student of philosophy who goes to France to do his research work on the subject of Albigensian heresy. His topic of research is the Jainist or Buddhist background of the Cathars. His Saroja is Rama’s half-sister. She is the daughter of Little Mother from her first marriage. Rama likes Saroja and he has more than a fraternal interest in her. Saroja too respects Rama and listens to him. Madeline is a French girl also involved in research on Catharis and Buddhism. She is very interested in Indian philosophies, especially in Buddhism. Rama and Madeline become friends and then they marry. Initially, their married life is very satisfying and blissful but gradually, they start feeling differences. Despite all the respect for Indology, Madeline doesn’t respect various Indian deities the way Rama does. Rama is more interested in the Vedantic philosophy of non-dualism while Madeline believes in the Dualism of Cathars. Gradually, these philosophical, cultural, and psychological differences become the reason for the rift between the two. Krishna is the son of Rama and Madeline who dies at an early age. Catherine is Madeline’s cousin, the daughter of Uncle Charles who married Georges, a young Russian refugee. Both Catherine and Georges like Rama and respect him as a close friend and relative. Subramanyam Sastri is a young suitor for Saroja whom Saroja doesn’t like much. Professor Venkatraman is a friend of Rama whom he visits in Benaras during his tour. Pratap Singh is a student of Professor Venkatraman who is married to Savithri. Savithri is a young girl interested in communism and since Pratap Singh belongs to a landlord family, she doesn’t like him and doesn’t consider him her husband.
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11 мар 2023
