A Study of Narrator’s Psychodynamics in Atiq Rahimi’s The Patience Stone: A Perspective on Narrative Strategies
Author : Mohd. Irfan Habib Shaikh and Dr. Shaikh Kalimoddin Rashid
Abstract :
The present paper tries to highlight narrative styles employed by French-Afghan author Atiq Rahimi in his acclaimed novel The Patience Stone. It focuses on the literary narrative strategies such as the use of faulty narration, foil characters, character development, symbolism, and internal conflicting. It intends to study the narrator’s psychodynamics through perspectives on narrative techniques. It aims at revealing the narrating style of the protagonist in the novel. Atiq Rahimi through the protagonist in the novel represents Afghan woman who has been faceless and voiceless bravely and offers a distinctive identity. It also brings forth the issues created by war such as honour, love, sex, marriage in the lives of people living in Afghanistan. It further reflects Atiq Rahimi’s technique in building a rich and intricate tale that tackles the concepts of love, religion, and power in a civilization that has been devastated by war. Narrator’s talk with her husband reveals her desires, confessions, pains, and secrets about their married life. Her narration speaks about unsatisfied marital life, societal norms, and oppressive life of an Afghani woman through the narrator in the novel. This paper also highlights on the conventional narrative techniques such as stream of consciousness, and flashbacks in The Patience Stone.
Keywords :
Narrative, narrator, narration, monologue, protagonist, flashback, symbolism psychodynamics
