Hermeneutics Of Intercultural Struggles In Anita Desai’s Cry, The Peacock

Abstract

This paper explores the circumstances, events, and cultural, social, and political developments that give rise to intercultural conflicts in both Indian and Western contexts in Anita Desai’s Cry, The Peacock. In the novel, she addresses issues such as the misery and inability to adapt of a few Europeans living in India and the Indians in Western countries who have nostalgic feelings. Most of the characters are rootless and unable to establish a strong presence in any one culture. The study has discovered a cultural conflict between the younger and older generations, whose lifestyles are very different from one another. It discusses the conflict between Gautama’s reason and reality and Maya’s delusion and illusions. Additionally, the researcher has discovered that the novel can be interpreted as a fight between modernity and tradition, between human relationships based on trust and mistrust, and between marital disharmony, worry, and unconcern. The study has found that these conflicts are a result of conflict between the younger and older generations as well as between the new and older cultures within the same society. This is sufficient evidence of the intercultural existence and lifestyle