By

By

Farman Ali
A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF ICE CANDY MAN

IN THE CONTEXT OF NEW HISTORICISM
ICE CANDY MAN
 Ice Candy Man by Bapsi Sidhwa narrates the

story of partition of sub continent.
 It recounts the events surrounding the Partition
through the eyes of Lenny, a precocious Parsi
girl who has been disabled by polio.
 Throughout the novel, Lenny relates the effects
of Partition on her family and community.
ICE CANDY MAN
 The novel is actually the story of Lenny’s

coming of age.
 The novel relates a complex history of the
growing divisions among Hindu, Muslim
and Sikh communities of India at the
time.
 It is a scathing social commentary about
the British colonization of India.
NEW HISTORICISM
 New Historicism is based on the study of

literary criticism of Stephen Greenblatt and is
proposed by the philosophy of Michel Focault.
 New Historicism is a method based on parallel
reading of literary and non literary text usually
of the same period of time.
 New Historicism aims at paying close attention
to the historical context of literary works.
NEW HISTORICISM
 New Historicist believe that a text should be

considered a product of time, place and
circumstances of its composition rather than
an individual entity.
 For a New Historicist, , it is essential to
understand the culture and the society that
produces a text.
ICE CANDY MAN AND NEW HISTORICISM
 Ice Candy Man is the story of Partition. It

describes the historical events, politics, political
leaders cultural change, family structures, love
and hatred of a particular era.
 So it becomes suitable to analyze the novel in
the context of New Historicism.
 First of all historical events are being
mentioned.
HISTORICAL EVENTS
 Certain historical events have been mentioned

in the novel. There is a reference to Gandhi’s
intention “to walk a hundred miles to the ocean
to make salt”. There are many other such
references to historical events happening at
that specific time. These references to
historical events establish the historicity of the
novel.
THE VISITS OF POLITICAL LEADERS.
 Sidhwa shows Mahatma Gandhi visiting Lahore in

the pre Partition moths of 1947. It is a fictional
rendering based on similar visits Gandhi made to
various parts of the subcontinent.
 The presence of Gandhi in Lahore allows Bapsi
Sidhwa to reassess his place in history.
 Sidhwa has used political events of reassess the
role of important historical characters in history.
SCENES OF VIOLENCE
 The novel is replete with scenes of violence.
 Tara Singh’s visit to Lahore and his passionate
speeches is an example. Sidhwa calls him “the
Sikh soldier-saint”. His tone is aggressive and
challenging, “ we will see how the Muslim swine
gets Pakistan”.
 There is also a description of Sikh’s attack on the
Muslim village of Pir Pindo. These episodes of
violence directly stand for incidents that happened
at the time of partition.
POLITICS
 Ice Candy man is deeply political in its retelling of the
events of partition.
 It shows how Hindus were being favoured by the English
over Muslims. Sidhwa writes, “The Hindus are being
favoured over the Muslims by the remnants of Raj….
They grant Nehru Gurdaspur and Pathankot without
which Muslim Kashmir cannot be secured”. The author
implies that Nehru was successful with the British
because he was charming and urbane. Her concern is
that Jinnah has not received his due because he was
‘past the prime of his elegant manhood”.
HISTORICAL FIGURES.
 Some of the most prominent political and
historical figures of that era have been mentioned
in the story. Their presence is highly significant to
establish the historicism of the novel. Jinnah,
Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Lord
Mountbatten, Subhash Chandra and Tara Singh
are those political activist who have been
struggling for their political cause. “Gandhi, Jinnah,
Nehru, Iqbal, Tara Singh, Mountbatten are names I
hear”. The presence of these historical figures
make it possible to analyze the novel in the
context of New Historicism.
RELIGIOUS & CULTURAL DIFFERENCES
 Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims had been living together for
centuries. They were sharing their happiness and
sorrows. They were sharing their cultural values. But at
the eve of partition everything changed. The friends
became enemies. Everyone was trying to behead other..
 Ice Candy Man suggests that religious and cultural
differences were artificially created and deliberately
fostered. Sidhwa writes, “And I became aware of
religious differences. It is sudden. One day everybody is
themselves and the next day they are Hindu, Muslim,
Sikh, Christian. People shrink, dwindle into symbols…”.
This change refers to the change that happened at the
time of parititon of the subcontinent.
LOVE AND HATRED AS PORTRAYED IN THE
NOVEL.
 Ice Candy Man highlights the depths of human
relationships against the backdrop of partition.
These are relationships marked by different
shades of love and lust that permeate the
narrative. The reader becomes aware of both the
destructive and the sustaining aspects of these
different kinds of love and lust of partition era.
 The sustaining and unconditional love between
Lenny and Godmother is the purest form of love
between human beings.
LOVE & LUST….
 The cruel, pitiless and obsessive face of human
love is exhibited in Ayah and Ice Candy Man
relationship. Initiallly besotted with her, he
becomes an avenger when he finds a rival. He
then ensures that the good natured woman is
physically defiled before he forces her into a
marriage and then takes to hira mandi.
 Love of ancestral lands and rootedness to One’s
soil is portrayed through the village folk of Pir
Pindo who refuse to leave their lands to migrate to
unknown country for the sake of religion.
CONCLUSION
 The present discussion can be concluded with

the words that the novel Ice Candy Man by
Bapsi Sidhwa is suitable to analyze in the
context of New Historicism. It has all the
essential ingredients that are analyzed in New
Historicism. This novel narrates the story of
cultural, social and political change of an era.

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A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF ICE CANDY MAN

 Ice Candy Man by Bapsi Sidhwa narrates the

 The novel is actually the story of Lenny’s

 New Historicism is based on the study of

 New Historicist believe that a text should be

 Ice Candy Man is the story of Partition. It

 Certain historical events have been mentioned

 Sidhwa shows Mahatma Gandhi visiting Lahore in

 The present discussion can be concluded with

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