THE ART OF INNER WORLDS - EXPLORING NARRATIVE TECHNIQUES IN THE NOVELS OF ANITA DESAI

Abstract

A lot of credit and magic go to Anita Desai for the narrative approach or tactic she used. The inner
lives of her characters are just as important to her as their exterior lives. The mental environment,
rather than the physical one, occupies her primary attention and care. Using techniques like stream-
of-consciousness, internal monologue, and flashbacks and forth, Anita Desai expertly delves into
psychological psychology in her works. If a novelist were to describe their characters' inner lives,
they would inevitably touch on the emotional side as well as the intellectual. The emotional side is
just as important, if not more so, than the intellectual side, which is often severely underdeveloped.
An effort at discussing her books' art and style of narration is undertaken in this article.