Ideology is reflected in every walk of our life. Books are no exception. Ideology, simply put, is a set of belief that is reflected in literary work. Sometimes, sneaky, overtly visible, or at times both. Either way, ideology matters, and we all should care what the content is really trying to tell.
For example, our beloved fairy tales reek of patriarchy and male-dominated society. Or in The Jungle Book, Mowgli’s animal-like portrayal is the British perception of the Indian society as crude, savage beings. Similarly, in Secret Garden, today’s conscientious reader can easily spot instances of racism in the book. The above examples are classified as sneaky since the writers’ biases were reflected subconsciously in their writing.
On the other hand, “Heather Has Two Mommies” by Lesléa Newman, with Diana Souza’s illustrations, is a story of two lesbian mothers starting a family. Newman consciously wrote this book to create awareness about the LGBTQ community in the 80s. Or my all-time favorite, The Paper Bag Princess, by Robert Munsch, where the princess kicks the dragon’s butt with her wit — all while rescuing her prince, is a beautiful tale and 101 on feminism.
Anyone who knows me well knows how strongly I feel for the female spirit. My debut novel was bound to have a strong female character. But is there more to Morāmbā or its ideology?
The ‘90s culture in India idealized disciplining children. While society embraced obedient children, there was no place for a child’s individuality. Children that were academically successful and had ideal social conduct were revered. Kids that were strong-willed or independent thinkers, and had lesser academic inclination, were considered misbehaving.
Most adults lacked the empathy to understand such children. They had no time or energy to get to the root of a child’s psyche. In fact, in their pursuit of well-behaved children, adults of this time have resorted to extreme intimidation, sometimes even beating to “straighten” out the kid. After all, it’s so much easier to intimidate a child than to understand what she truly needs.
In Morāmbā you’ll experience many such adult-child moments. But more importantly, it portrays the child’s perspective while dealing with adults. Besides the strong female character, the narrative gives a peek into the child’s mind that may help adults understand their “stubborn” child better. The book subtly aims at empowering children while taking into consideration their complete personalities.
Ideology, ideology — can it be sneaky?