Mahasweta Devi’s Mother of 1084 as a Journey of an Apolitical Mother

Abstract

Mahasweta Devi is one of the most important writers writing in India today. she stands with few equals among today's Asian writers in the dedication and directness with which she has turned writing into a form of service to the people. Her writing is disturbing because it shows the reader her or his own true face. Her Mother of 1084 analyzes the occurrences of failed Naxalite insurgency in Bengal in the 1970s. It shows the larger problem of the nation’s suppression of any authentic form of subaltern insurgency. It’s a saga of the Naxalite resistance in Bengal through the characters of Sujata and Nandini, her powerful exploration of subjectivity voiced through the female character. It’s a tragedy of an apolitical mother. This paper explores how the Naxalite movement brings two subaltern mothers together instead of their class barriers which in turn lead to the awakening of Sujata.