The well is located in the family's garden and serves as a symbol for darkness and
death for the children from childhood through adulthood. When the siblings were
children, their family purchased a cow that was a source of great pride and attention
for all of them.
One day, however, as the nights grew warmer and it was no longer
necessary to keep the cow tied up in the shed overnight, she was let loose in the
garden and, during the night, fell into the well and drowned. She left her young calf
behind and it died soon after. It proved impossible to pull the body of the cow out of the well and so there it remained, forever. The fact that the cow's body remained in the well, decaying, was something that terrified the children. The entire ordeal proved traumatic to them, and the well became a source of fear for the children. They never dared go near the well, and dared each other to throw things into it. The fear they felt toward the well stayed with them even into adulthood. They never dared go near it,and, even as adults, the reluctance remained.
When they were children, the well was regarded as a dark and scary place, a place that symbolized death and other unpleasant, horrible things. The extent to which it stayed in their memories became evident when Aunt Mira passed away. Bim, who had nursed her from the start of her sickness, was deeply affected by the death of her aunt. After she passed away, Bim had recurring dreams and visions of her aunts, and many of those dreams centered around the well. One vision she had in a dream was of Aunt Mira's mangled face floating in the black water of the well. This only goes to show how deeply the association of death and the well had been ingrained in Bim from her childhood experience.
Posted by Mrs. N. Buffonge
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I also agree with this, but i feel that if the body of the cow could've been removed the story would've taken a different turn. So it is symbolic and the Author left the body there in a sense to give effect to what would happen in the story. For example when Aunt Misra kept on appearing in Bim's dreams and always happened to be by that same well...
ReplyDeleteAgreed...
ReplyDeleteBut the one thing I still find hard to understand is Aunt Misra's obsession with dying in the well...
Care to share?
The well is a symbol of death. We are aware the Misra was dying. You don't think that the well would have been fitting for a place to die. It is through Bim's dream that we are able to foreshadow the death of Aunt Misra.
ReplyDeleteYes, it is after the accidental death of the cow in the well that dramatically made the well a symbol of death and darkness in the novel. Had there been a wall built around the well [as seen in movies] to prevent such accidents from happening this water reservoir would not have served as any symbol. However, it was the purpose of the author to make this well one of the important factors in the book.
ReplyDeleteAs was stated by the other students the well served as a symbol of death. It aid in bringing out the importance of death in the novel and the toll it had on the characters.This toll had its effect on the children although they were grown the well was still seen as a "scary" place. However Bim was the one who may have been affected more by the well since she was still living in the house (and the well was located in the yard). Also she had visions of Aunt Mira trying to drown herself in the well just as the cow had drown that summer night, and Biim loved her Aunt who she cared for until death. This had a toll on her because for her to imagine her aunt in the well with the dead cow which she had feared as a child even as an adult was not a sight that had pleased her. This aids to bring out the novels effectiveness and brings to light the characters inna thoughts
ReplyDeleteTHE COMMENT ABOVE WAS POSTED BY SHEMEZ I FORGOT TO PUT MY NAME
ReplyDeleteThe well served as a great significance to justify itself as a symbol in the children memories, I agree but they took their fears to far by being afraid! However this gave the novel a great effect in terms of their childhood pet and their childhood nanny and aunt, who all were very close to them and I think that Bim was afraid of letting aunt Misra go that when she died it began to hunt her in her dreams because the end was near!
ReplyDeleteThe symbol used in this novel and the way in which they are used will allow the mind to think along imagination as if one was there!
The cow fell into the well one night and stayed there ever since which signified death for the Das family. The cow's death in the well made the children afraid to go near or even look into the well. They [the children] were warned not to go near the well. Even though Tara and Aunt Misra-masi had a close relationship, Bimla was the one who took care of her until her death.
ReplyDeleteAfter Misra-masi's death Bim had visions and dreams of her walking around the well and even seeing her face in the green mossy water in the well.
The well kind of foreshadowed the death of Aunt Misra-masi. Also because of what happened of the well in childhood years seems to take a huge toll on Bim.
What do you classsmates think, if Tara did not leave and was there to actually help Bimla take care of Aunt Misra-masi during her illness?
I fully agree with all of the views above that the well does in fact represent death, therefore making the well a symbol. After the death of the cow, the children viewed the well as a feature of darkness. They saw this well as something which represented death. I agree with Shemez that the well did in fact aid in bringing out the importance of death.The correlation between both Aunt Mira and the well. Anita Desai is clearly tring to show that death seems to somehow play a major role within the novel. This well has come to symbolise darkness and death, just as the cow dies in the well,Bim's dreams which she had of Aunt Mira after her death also centers around the well.
ReplyDeleteDeath is something which young children end to fear, and the fact that the cow had died in that well and was left there, caused the children to be literally afraid of this well. Out of all the children it seemed to affect Bim the most since she was the one who was caring for Aunt Mira before her death. The memories of the cow dying in the well, and Aunt Mira being sick, maybe caused her to have may dreams of Aunt Mira drowning in the well just as the cow had done.The well could be said to be the perfect symbol used for death since it is a dark place.
Yes the well is a symbol which represents death. The well is dark and the childhood memories of the cow drowning inside of the well and staying inside of their affected all the children, especially Bim. She somehow related the cow drowning in the well, and her Aunt Mira being sick to also drowning in that well, which is the reason why she had many dreams of Aunt Mira drowning in the well. Since this well is a symbol of death, Aunt Mira who is dying is also related to this well in some way since she herself is dying, and this well represents being in a dark place and death is always seen as something dreaded and something dark.The well aided in bringing out the significance of death within the novel especially with reference to Aunt Mira, since Bim has dreams of her drowning in the well. It could even be said that just as how the well symbolised something unpleasant and horrible, Aunt Mira before she died was at an unpleasant and horrible stage within her life, since she had become an alcoholic. This is maybe the reason why the author might have chosen to relate Aunt Mira and the well together.
ReplyDelete