Lost Trajectories of Identities: A Post Colonial reading of the Inheritance of Loss

Abstract

In her novel Inheritence of Loss, Kiran Desai writes about the cultural hybridity of the postcolonial migrants and the deplorable condition of the individuals. The novel deals with her own situation of migrancy, expatriation and alienation from the mother country. Through the characters, she gives how her own dual Indian- American upbringing which results in despair. Living between East and West and the introduction of western elements in a country creates a cultural clash. The diasporic Indian writers have generally dealt with characters from their own displaced community but some of them have also taken a liking for Western characters and they have convinced in dealing with them. The acceptance of cultural hierarchy leads to some enduring personal dilemmas resulting into identity crisis. Desai’s Inheritance of Loss depicts a cross section of Indian society which leads so many cultural and political upheavals among characters. Despite political freedom, cultural differences are directly manifested through the characters. They fail to assimilate new culture and give up original culture in totality. There remains the identity crisis which many of the Indians face despite multicultural reactions which endeavors to revitalize indigenous culture and its values. The novel exhibits the sufferings and disorder of an Indian families that are entangled into a conflicts between multiple identities and cultures and cultural conflicts simultaneously. The protagonist and other major and minor characters also confront a struggle to achieve a stable identity but at the same time face so many cultural conflicts