The Theme of Hunger and Degradation in Kamala Markandaya’s Nectar in a Sieve

Abstract

Nectar in a Sieve reflects the stark poverty in Indian villages and its dehumanising effects on the people.Nectar in a Sievedeals with the theme of hunger.The story  portrays the lives of the peasant couple Nathan and Rukmani who have to suffer a lot due to the vagaries of Nature and failure of crops.The paper presents the inevitable changes in the social and economic aspects in the wake of industrialization.Nature victimizes the peasants, through flood one year, or drought the next, the net result is poor yield, famine, starvation and sometimes death. The paper clearly exposes that fear; hunger and despair are the unchanging companions of the peasants.Kamala Markandaya bring out the fact that it is hunger which leads ultimately to degradation.