Aram by Jeyamohan Book Review

Different communities have gone through different things over a period of time. We can call it two sides of the same coin. While one community ruled... another community was oppressed and deprived of their rights.

Both happened in the same location. And we will be looking at this from both sides. History says that even our ancestors were Africans. They had their own ritual, identity, and their own God. When they are taken as slaves to another country.

The new location will have its own culture and God. They are continuously treated as slaves... And they are asked to embrace a new God, rituals and culture. If the slaves believed and followed this they were promised food. A few would embrace this for acceptance and for their children.

This story is about one such family. The family has a history of its own. If the family returns back to its roots in Africa which culture would they be part of? What if both sides hate this family? Then where would they belong? Alice Walker has given answers to this through her book "The Color Purple." This is not only about the African community.

This could have happened to any community across the globe. If giving up our originality and roots is the only way to survive. A few would have been ready to die while a few would have been ready to accept the conversion. The book doesn't deal with right and wrong or the actual problem.

The book deals with the emotions that arise out of such a scenario. There is a girl named Celie. She is not that pretty. She is an African girl. Celie belongs to one of the families which migrated to a foreign land to move away from slavery.

She settles down in the foreign land and gets married. She has a sister named Nettie. There is a sisterhood bonding between the two of them. Her mother dies and so her Dad becomes very abusive. He remarries another woman. Celie finds it very difficult to be with her Dad.

There is a proposal for Nettie where a guy expresses his wish to marry her. But the Dad proposes another alternative saying Celie is good at household chores. and would take good care of the kids. Celie actually takes care of her stepmom's children.

The Dad convinces the family this way and gets Celie married to a guy in that family. The groom feels that Celie is the right choice to look after the house and marries her. There is no name given to him initially.

He is referred to as Mister. There is no change in Celie's life after marriage as she continues to do what she was doing earlier in her house. Mister already has children and his first wife had died already. So, she takes care of the children and the house.

Nettie too runs away from home to be with Celie to escape her Dad's torture. But Celie's husband lusts after Nettie. So, Nettie escapes from that place too. Celie has been separated from her sister for many years. Celie writes whatever she wants to tell her sister as letters to God.

Mister also has a never-ending love for another woman. That woman Shug is a bold woman who does what she wants. No one can please her easily. She likes to sing and dance and is very expressive. Mister likes her for this. But they didn't marry each other.

Once she gets sick and comes to stay in Celie's house. Celie should actually be frustrated about this as her husband had brought his ex-lover to their house. But she is surprised by Shug's presence as Shug does what she likes. She sings, dances and dresses the way she wants.

Celie instantly likes Shug once she hears about her. and wants to see her. Now Shug is ill and is staying at her place. Gradually, the wife and ex-lover converse with each other. Shug opens a new world for Celie where Celie learns about her body, women, and sex.

Celie begins to adore Shug. because she is 100 per cent herself. We have our own insecurities and anxiety. We think that doing certain things makes us happy and beautiful. But seeing someone who is happy in the moment makes us feel wow. Celie has that wow feeling.

When Celie tells Shug that her husband beats her up Shug is shocked. Shug tells Celie that Mister used to take good care of her Celie tells Shug that her situation is a complete contrast. Shug also tells Celie that the letters to God have reached the intended person and have brought out a response.

But the response letters have been hidden by the husband. This shocks Celie and she gets hold of the response letters. Her sister had actually written to her right from the time she left the place. There are shocking reveals in the story.

When Celie was a young girl much before the death of her mother. She had become pregnant because of her Dad. She had to bear the burden of being sexually abused by her own Dad. She gives birth to a girl child. Her Dad steals the child and kills it. She gets pregnant again and gives birth to a boy.

The Dad gives the boy away to someone. This is all she knows about her history. Most of us don't know our history. This is especially true in the case of Africans. They have their own history, culture, God and belief system. Though all of this has been washed away to give a new identity.

Their history is different. Then there is that eternal dilemma of not being able to accept the two worlds. Celie is in that space. Meanwhile, Nettie had left for Africa with two missionaries. Celie and Nettie were African Americans.

Nettie expresses her excitement about seeing Africa and her ancestors for the first time. The Missionaries have two children of their own. A girl and a boy. But the people in Africa do not accept her. because she had left them and hence this place also doesn't belong to her.

Nettie fights against the tradition over there. The wife begins to suspect the husband of having an affair as their two adopted kids are like Nettie. Nettie tells them that the two kids are similar to her elder sister who looks like her.

The children who were supposedly killed or sold off were actually the two kids. and Nettie feels happy that the two kids were with the couple. The couple eventually passed away. Celie would have seen the two kids earlier with someone.

But had the suspicion that the two kids might be hers. When she gets to know the truth, she will feel happy that her kids are well looked after. Nettie had written about her African journey and what she feels about African tradition. Her fight and her relationship with African natives.

All of this has a closure at the end of the story. There is a lot of forgiveness. At one point in the story both the Mister and Celie admire Shug. The common love that they had for one person and the role played by that person in their life. Celie and Mister feel grateful for sharing the love. They talk about it. Mister's son also marries a girl. She is a very bold girl. But he is unable to accept that.

He wonders why his wife doesn't listen to him like Celie listens to his Dad. This is quite similar to the modern-day woes of conservative men. The son almost has an identity crisis because of this. The book talks about people who are hesitant to embrace change. Characters who are responsible for change.

The book talks about different perspectives and characters concerning society. The book was first published in 1982 and won the Pulitzer Prize in 1983. Spielberg has made it into a film. A much bolder version of the same film will be released on December 20, 2023, and it will be directed by Blitz Bazawule While reading the story, it would feel like a relentless exchange of letters.

But there are many layers within that. There is an identity crisis. Even in the foreword, it is mentioned that one generation would have been willing to give up on their identity to give their children a better life. What would that generation have gone through? What were the repercussions and pros?

Even Africa was filled with its own set of problems. because of firmly holding onto a certain set of beliefs. There is no best or worst in this. Each had its set of pros and cons which were explored in this book. We all need a belief to hold onto when times are tough.

It can either be science or God. or the power of the universe. or parents or partners who give us hope to live life. It happens on its own. However, forcing hope through a belief system is always a problem. The pain and repercussions are reflected in this. If you haven't seen the film, you can read this book.

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