Self Discovery In Anita Nairs Ladiesbor - 1330 Words

The paper intends to explore the theme of self discovery through the act of journey in Anita Nair’s Ladies Coupe. Travel narratives are broad genres which illuminate mainly on people, place and culture. Journeys form the focal point of every travel narrative. In literature, the motif of journey is used as a distinctive idea or theme and is used to represent a character’s epiphany or self realization. It provides a personal assertion outside the compressed state of one’s life. Journey is seen as a means of confrontation and as an act of self discovery throughout the novel Ladies Coupe. Ladies Coupe deals with a woman’s quest for strength and independence. Women should realize how important they are, not only at home but also in the society†¦show more content†¦Once we are exposed to the variety of cultures and mentalities of the world, we acquire a broad perspective which gives the freedom to step out of the society-constructed image of ourselves a nd to become the person who we really are. Moreover, travel fills our body, soul and mind with strength and positivity and all our thoughts, words, actions and emotions will then radiate from this inner core. Merriam Webster’s Encyclopedia of Literature defines travel literature as: Non fiction prose form that depends largely on the wit, powers of observation, and character of the traveler for its success. In the past centuries, the traveler tended to be an adventurer or a connoisseur of art, landscape, or strange customs who may also have been a writer of merit. (Kuiper 1128) Travel narratives are prose forms which are written out of traveler’s personal experience and they are considered as an important genre of literary study. They are records of places, people and events of a particular region from the traveler’s point of view. Roy Bridges, a critic on travel narrative comments on the significance of the genre in The Cambridge Companion to Travel Writing: Travel writing†¦ has a complex relationship with the situations in which it arouse. It is taken to mean a discourse to describe and interpret for its readers a geographical area together with its natural attributes and its human society and culture. Travel writing may embrace approaches ranging from an