KOROBI’S VENTURE FOR IDENTITY IN DIVAKARUNI’S OLEANDER GIRL

ABSTRACT

Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni’s Oleander Girl is the story of Korobi- young, strong-willed, spirited, and orphan of seventeen years. She is brought up by her grandparents in a traditional Hindu way. She belongs to a renowned family in Calcutta, even the road on which they have their house is named after her great-grandfather,TarakParsad Roy. Korobi is thoughtful and expressive girl who can stand by the right side; no matters how hard the way is. She falls in love with neo rich Rajat, a successful and wealthy man, and is engaged to him. She is about to enter in next phase of life when she came to know the truth about her parents. All of a sudden, everything changes for her. She is determined to find her true self and for this, she travels half of the world- from Kolkotta to America, leaving behind all her happiness, keeping on stake her bright future with Rajat, just to meet her father and to know truth about her parent’s marriage as she thinks it important to understand her roots first and for this she exercises each required effort to search her identity. In this paper, the author well depicts the conflict between given identity that is covered under the sheets of traditions and the identity that is transformed with lot of endeavors and taking a hard step that inspires an individual to learn through experiences.

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