Psychoanalytic Reading of Mother-Daughter Relationships in Anita Desai’s Fire on the Mountain

Abstract

    This article offers a psychoanalytic reading of mother-daughter relationships in Anita Desai’s Fire on the Mountain (1977), exploring the complex interplay of alienation, repression, and identity within a postcolonial Indian context. The novel centers on Nanda Kaul, an elderly matriarch seeking solitude, and her strained interactions with her daughter and great-granddaughter, Raka. Through a psychoanalytic framework, this study examines how these relationships reflect unconscious conflicts, shaped by maternal ambivalence, generational trauma, and societal expectations. Drawing on Sigmund Freud’s theories of repression and Melanie Klein’s object relations, the analysis investigates Desai’s use of narrative techniques, symbolism, and character dynamics to depict the psychological tensions between mothers and daughters. The findings reveal Nanda’s retreat into isolation as a defense against maternal failure, contrasted with Raka’s detachment as a rebellion against inherited trauma, highlighting Desai’s nuanced portrayal of fractured familial bonds and the quest for selfhood.