Ice Candy Man by Bapsi Sidhwa, or Cracking India by Bapsi Sidhwa, is a coming-of-age novel. It has often been described as a contradictory novel. The novel was published in 1980 as Ice Candy Man. Narrated through the protagonist, it explores the evil side of the social beast in the veneer of humanity at the time of partition.
The writer has narrated the blood-freezing tales of body mutilations, killings of ‘others’, and the wholesale slaughter of humanity. The seeds of religious intolerance sown before the partition culminated in the dismemberment of India into two states, rapes, and the resultant mass influx of migrants after the Civil War in 1947.
All About the Biography of Bapsi Sidhwa
Bapsi Sidhwa is a Pakistani novelist of Gujarati, Parsi, and Zoroastrian descent. She is a resident of the USA and writes in English. Her date of birth is August 11, 1938. She has been awarded Sitara e Imtiaz by the Government of Pakistan. She is the author of several novels, including Cracking India, The Crow Eaters, An American Brat, The Pakistani Bride, and Water.
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Justification of the Title Ice Candy Man
The first justification is that Ice Candy Man refers to all the inhabitants of the Indian Subcontinent. The writer has shown the sweetness of humanity in the shape of harmony between different ethnicities before partition but the Ice-faced comes to light when any volatile or such situation arises.
The second justification is that the Ice Candy Man refers to the complex nature of human nature, which cannot be understood by humanity at large or any particular individual.
Major Characters of Ice Candy Man
The Family
The Servants
The Neighbors and other locals
The Overview of the Novel
The novel Ice Candy Man portrays the horrible incidents at the time of partition. The horrible stories of bodily mutilations, rape, kidnapping, killings, and tearing apart the bodies of other ethnicities make the subject matter of the story. The seeds of religious intolerance culminated with the people and children fleeing to Pakistan to save their lives.
Technique and Background
The novel has been narrated from the first-person perspective. Lenny, who is four years old at the start of the novel, turns ten at the climax. Through her, the writer has recreated the horrible incidents of 1947 that Lenny and her family had to endure.
Coming of Age Novel
The personality development and formation of Lenny, who is the protagonist, and Pakistan go side by side. Starting as a child, she turns into a mature voice, narrating the incidents of partition. This highly mature voice delineates the evil consequences of dividing a country into two states based on enforced religious divisions. As a result, Hindus, Sikhs, and Christians vie for their survival.
The Pre-Partition Community
Sidhwa shows religious discontent through the protagonist. We notice that various ethnicities live together in harmony and peaceful coexistence. The scenario entirely changed after the incident of partition. The idealistic childhood memories of Lenny show the idyllic atmosphere in which all the communities lived before the partition. The writer has delineated the phenomenon of the Civil War through the persona of Lenny.
In the same way, the multitude of people that stick around stunningly beautiful Ayah represent multiple ethnicities before independence.
Themes of the Novel
In the Ice Candy Man, the themes of the subjugation of women, the political and social upheavals of his time, forced marriages and prostitution, and themes of sexuality and religious conflicts have been dealt with through the voice and perception of the protagonist. Bapsi Sidhwa deals with these historical events with a touch of humor.
A lot of horror incidents also occurred during the lifetime of Lenny. These horrors culminate with the ultimate dreadfulness of her own betrayal of her beloved Ayah to the Ice Candy Man. Even her family is amazed at her attitude. She cannot forgive her throughout her life.
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Last Part of the Novel
The last part of the novel Ice Candy Man depicts the struggles of the Lahori women against the backdrop of the prevalence of prostitution and the black market among women to earn their livelihood. The women keep their work secret from others. We see Lenny whose mother is cognizant that she cannot be trusted.
Lenny comes to know about the work of her mother at the end of the novel When her Godmother proves her potential by locating and sending back Ayah to her home from the clutches of Ice Candy Man and Muslim thugs. The sign which has been shown at the end of the novel is that these women come together regardless of their ethnicities when the need arises.
Famous Quotes
The bond that ties her strength to my weakness, my fierce demands to her nurturing, my trust to her capacity to contain that trust—and my loneliness to her compassion—is stronger than the bond of motherhood. More satisfying than the ties between men and women.
Lenny
Lenny
These lines show the erotic relationship that can exist in the family also. When Lenny talks to her grandmother, she hugs her and kisses her. It shows her preference for her family and intimate relations.
My nose inhales the fragrance of earth and grass—and the other fragrance that distills insights. I intuit the meaning and purpose of things. The secret rhythm of creation and mortality.
Lenny
These lines narrate the condition of Lenny when she sees Masseur and Ayah having sex late at night. She let us know her intuition about the power of sex.
Even in retrospect, these isolated impressions didn’t add up to a reliable warning. Pir Pindo was too deep in the hinterland of the Punjab, where distances are measured in footsteps and at the speed of bullock carts, for larger politics to penetrate.
Lenny
These lines show the narration of how the conflict between different religions reaches countrywide. The proliferation of this religious chasm and how it culminates, in the end, is an important theme of the novel.
Do you expect us to walk away with our hands and feet? What use will they serve us without our lands? Can you evacuate our land? [. . .] Do you expect us to leave everything we’ve valued and loved since childhood? The seasons, the angle and color of the sun rising and setting over our fields are beautiful to us, the shape of our rooms and barns is familiar and dear. You can’t expect us to leave just like that!
Villagers in Pir Pindo
These are the lines of the village head in Pir Pindo and other villages. He exhorts people to leave their villages for the cause of safety but the villagers argue powerfully that it is not easy for them to leave their belongings and land.
And the vision of a torn Punjab. Will the earth bleed? And what about the sundered rivers? Won’t their water drain into the jagged cracks? Not satisfied by breaking India, they want to tear the Punjab.
Lenny
Lenny utters these words after the murder of Mr Rogers. She imagines literally here what would be the condition of Punjab after partition.
One day everybody is themselves—and the next day they are Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Christian.Lenny
Lenny
Through these lines, Lenny shows how people have themselves become symbols of religion following the skirmishes in the city of Lahore.
That night I went mad, I tell you! I lobbed grenades through the windows of Hindus and Sikhs I’d known all my life! I hated their guts… I want to kill someone for each of the breasts they cut off the Muslim women… The penises!
Ice-candy-man
These words have been uttered by the Ice Candy Man when he saw the train in Lahore carrying a body of mutilated and murdered Muslims. His violent justifications show us how former friends and neighbors turned enemies to take avenge their fellow ethnicities.
Major Themes in the Ice Candy Man
The narrative of the whole novel the Ice Candy Man is through the perspective of a girl who is Lenny. She helps the reader to land in the era of partition and experience these events.
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Bapsi Sidhwa has shown the dilemma of the Parsi community through the novel Ice Candy Man. They were supporters of the British Raj but now they have to face a new dilemma in the shape of their allegiance to either India or Pakistan.
Human Emotions are at Play in the Whole Novel
The feelings of humans have been relegated backward during the process of shaping history. The vicious tide of violence turns upside down everything existing before the partition. Bapsi Sidhwa narrates different characters and their lineage with impartiality.
In this novel, the reader is introduced to a Khansama who has rebellious tendencies, the Khalsa who refuse to leave Lahore, a frightened Hindu Tota Ram, and the vacillating mentality of the Parsi community.
The Theme of Inter-Faith Marriages
Like her other novels like The American Brat and The Crow Eaters, the theme of Inter-communal marriages has been dealt with in the novels of Bapsi Sidhwa. She maintains a balance regarding these sensitive issues and does not go against rigid social conduct. In the novel American Brat, the issue of inter-communal marriages has been dealt with in detail.
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The Theme of Ugly And Traumatic Experiences of the Partition Time
The horrible and chilling incidents of 1947 have been created by Sidhwa. The atmosphere of her novel is poignant and full of stark realities. The rumblings of the post-partition have been re-created.
The Autobiographical Touch in the Novel in the Shape of the Parsi Community
Bapsi Sidhwa has introduced some autobiographical touches in the novel. When she talks about the Parsi community and their rigid social code of conduct, she is delineating her Parsi lineage. She also talks about the dilemma of the Parsi community when they have to choose between Pakistan and India.
Conclusion
To sum up, The Ice Candy Man by Bapsi Sidhwa is among those novels which narrate the horrible partition experiences. This novel along with its excellent art of characterization makes Sidhwa a great persona in the world of literature.
