Ice Candy Man Essay Example
Ice Candy Man Essay Example

Ice Candy Man Essay Example

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  • Pages: 2 (279 words)
  • Published: April 14, 2017
  • Type: Essay
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This text examines the effects of partition in Bapsi Sidhwa's novel Ice Candy Man. Lenny, the protagonist, expresses her concern about the division of India and its impact on her daily life. Bapsi Sidhwa, who was born in Karachi, Pakistan in 1938 to a Parsee family, provides insight into the partition's consequence through her storytelling. In 1947, India was divided, and Lahore, the city where Sidhwa grew up, became part of Pakistan.

Sidhwa’s third novel, Ice Candy Man, solidified her position as the leading English language novelist in Pakistan. The setting of her first three novels is Pakistan, and in each one there is a strong exploration of the post-colonial Pakistani identity through a sense of place and community. The narrator, Lenny, is an eight-year-old Parsee girl who suffers from polio. She is looked after by a beautiful young Ayah. However, Ayah i

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s taken away due to her Hindu faith, which greatly impacts Lenny’s life. Lenny is portrayed as a reliable witness, allowing the reader to experience the mounting unease in Lahore through the eyes of a child. The novel also delves into the immense upheaval caused by the partition of British India into India and Pakistan, with cities being allotted to each country and their terrified inhabitants often forcibly uprooted. This thought-provoking novel covers various themes such as caste and class prejudice, religious discrimination, the experience of being disabled, political violence, the innocence of childhood, and the inability to deceive.

The novel is set during the India-Pakistan partition, with Lenny, an 8-year-old, as the narrator. Lenny's storytelling highlights her amusing recollections of her childhood and the people in her life, adding humor to the narrative

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