Journey into The Past A Study of the Novel The Zig- Zag Way

Abstract

From ancient times people have been journeying from one place to another with different mottos, whether it is physical journey in search of materialistic accomplishments or spiritual journey for self fulfillment. Man has always been in search of some thing to fulfill his desires or to know about himself; about his past, present and future to get answers of many unsolved questions which make him unstable and unsettled. By finding answers to them he feels complete accomplished since life is a journey of many labyrinths which a human has to resolve to get his destination or salvation. Eric, the protagonist of Anita Desai’s novel The Zig- Zag Way is one such person, who has unknown feeling of intrusion or unidentification in his present environment due to unawareness of his cultural identity. He unexpectedly happens to journey into the past to search his family roots by which he gets self fulfillment.  Though through out the journey, he faces many difficulties, at last gains the knowledge of life which makes him feel complete.