The Forest as a Mirror of the Self: Inner Exploration and Self-Discovery in Indian English Fiction

Author(s): Shreya Mishra

Abstract:

The forest has long served as a potent metaphor in literature, embodying mystery, exile, and transformation. In Indian English fiction, this motif assumes particular depth as writers situate forests, rivers, and mountains as symbolic landscapes where characters confront alienation, loss, and the search for inner meaning. This article explores how Anita Desai’s Fire on the Mountain, Arundhati Roy’s The God of Small Things, and Kiran Desai’s The Inheritance of Loss use natural spaces not merely as backdrops but as active mirrors of human consciousness. The hills of Kasauli in Desai’s novel underscore Nanda Kaul’s withdrawal from society, exposing both emptiness and the possibility of self-realization. Roy’s evocation of Kerala’s backwaters transforms rivers into living archives of memory, trauma, and fractured identity. Meanwhile, Kiran Desai’s Himalayan landscapes dramatize the dislocation of characters negotiating cultural loss, exile, and belonging. Drawing on eco-critical perspectives, existentialist thought, and Jungian archetypes, the analysis argues that forests and wilderness externalize psychic fragmentation while simultaneously offering the potential for reconciliation. By reading Indian English fiction across generations, the article demonstrates how natural landscapes function as liminal spaces of both alienation and healing. Ultimately, it suggests that these texts reaffirm the centrality of nature in shaping human selfhood, while also resonating with contemporary ecological and existential crises.

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Pages: 88-91     |    2 View     |    0 Download