SOCIAL DISCRIMINATION IN ANITA DESAI’S 'WHERE SHALL WE GO THIS SUMMER?' (Pages 184-194) by Ms. S. Chitra in THE ENGLISH RESEARCH EXPRESS / ISSN:2321-1164 (Online); 2347-2642 (Print)

This paper depicts the progress of women writers in Indian writing in English. Women writers come forward and write about their own sex. Women are oppressed by male dominated society by means of marriage, dowry system, female infanticide, etc. Women writers in Indian fiction contribute the major segments of the contemporary literature. Anita Desai occupies a place of prominence among Indo-Anglican novelists. The aim of this paper is to highlight social discrimination of the protagonist, Sita with her husband Raman in Anita Desai’s Where Shall We Go This Summer? (1975). The protagonist, Sita is a nervous, sensitive, middle-aged woman who finds herself isolated from her husband and children because of her emotional reactions. She takes a holy pilgrimage to Manori, an island for spiritual purification. She redefines her relationship with her childhood soil, Manori where she understands her husband, children and city life. There is a change in Sita’s identity and she realized that there is no magical charms exist in Manori Island. She accepts to go with her husband. Her return to the mainland with her husband is the result of her realization and her sense of alienation is rootless. Through this paper we can understand the male-centered world –its discourse, institutions and practices, civilization and culture is a pre-condition for women’s liberation .To understand their nature is to understand the nature and mode of domination, repression and oppression. Discourses which challenge and combat the institutions and practices which heighten our awareness about domination contribute to emancipation and liberation of the women. Keywords: dominated, isolated, spiritual, discrimination, identity, alienation, discourse, liberation, awareness.