Yusuf Dawood’s Portrayal Of Rejection In The Price Of Living And Eye Of The Storm

Abstract

This study focuses on a critical analysis of two novels by one of the most prolific contemporary writers in Kenya. These are The Price of Living and Eye of the Storm by Yusuf K. Dawood. As an immigrant author of Asian origin, his two novels provide literary lenses through which the outside world sees the Kenyan society. Written by a medical surgeon by profession, the novels open a frontier in the inter-disciplinary exchange of discourses. The study interrogates the author’s portrayal of the theme of rejection. Our interest here is to examine the relationship between rejection and vengeance. The study is based on the assumption that individuals can move on with life after rejection without resorting to vengeance. An important concern for this research is the motivation behind the various courses of vengeance. The author’s choice of characters as carriers of his thematic and aesthetic beauty is examined. My study is anchored on the psychoanalytic criticism. The influence of the author’s experiences in life has a bearing on his thematic choices. Equally, the characters’ subconscious mind has a lot of influence on their conscious choices of actions. The interface between the author and the choice of his characters determines the quality of a work of fiction. A Combination of methodologies have been used in the study including: close textual reading, critical analysis of the primary texts, library research and interviews. This research contains four chapters. Chapter one is the introduction. Chapter two contains the author’s literary biography. Chapter three is a critical analysis of the theme of rejection and characterization in the novel The price of Living. Equally, chapter four is a critical analysis of the theme and characterization in the novel Eye of the Storm. The two chapters are the heart of this study. A conclusion at the end of chapter four wraps up the study.