Struggle for survival, Class consciousness and Identity crisis in Jayanti Gohils

Chhakaddo

Struggle for survival, class consciousness and identity crisis are the three major stand-
points in the story Chhakaddo. Marxs equality concept, Freuds Psychoanalysis and
Darwins Theory of Evolution strongly support to bring these three major points. My Dear
Jayu (Jayanti Gohil) has profoundly depicted how they struggle, how people make a shadow
line between them by admiring himself and criticizing others, and how it brings identity
crisis.
..life is continuously being hungry. The meaning
of life is not simply to exist, to survive, but to move
ahead, to go up, to achieve, to conquer (Arnold Schwarzenegger)

It is time not only to survive the position but also to move ahead and to conquer
someone what Schwarzenegger believes in. In the case of Gilo, this may fit for that. Contrary
to Darwins idea of survival, one can say that if a person can move ahead, can survive his life
otherwise he will be thrown out like a peel of banana in a dust bin. Such circumstances carry
out the tragedy of life as it happens in the life of the character, Gilo. He moves ahead like
anything and tries to survive his space on capitalistic society. Each and every person tries to
build his existence by the struggle in one or another way. Gilo makes so many meritorious
efforts in surviving his self for the fittest in the society. He possesses what he wants. He
strives for living life like working in Kanabhais carrier. By doing this, he becomes strong
enough and then buys his own auto-rickshaw to stand on his own feet. Everyone has an Eros
and a spirit of youth to become something that is found in Chhakaddo. Gilos wife and father
are to be considered as driving force for Gilo to struggle for self-glorification. Gilos
sufferance is like an opium which pleases him at various levels. Gilo works day and night
though streets and road are sleepy at night. But how this opium brings pain and grief for his
father by watching news about his sons accident is dreadful.
Behind Gilos struggle idea of psychology plays very crucial role. He has to be
conscious what happens before him. He observes every moment in his village. He is fully
aware of what he is doing. He tries to select a sort of environment naturally in which he can
fit his self.
Apart from struggle for survival, the story digs out second point that is class
consciousness. In the story, class consciousness is looked not in terms class distinction but in
terms of distinction between two people. Two paragons like, Gilo wants to be something
different from Kanabhai and Gilos father wants to distinguish him from same person.
Indifference between two people gives rise to the racial upheaval, thats what Gilo and his
father do. The author writes,
, !
! .
5 l ... ; (Chhakaddo)

This is how, inequality among family moves to inequality among social members and at last
touches to the inequality among several castes. That is why; this question remains
unanswerable in the present Era, too. Having a desire of being socially accepted and
respected, judicious Gilo seems so much frenzied that he forgets his perception and sagacity
so that dies in a predestined accident. Gilos commuting from his village to Bhavnagar city
represent the vicissitude of life for the whole mankind. Commuting, in this story, is the
second image of urbanization. For instance,
Y ... ... l... l... .
Y ... ... l... l...( l ...) (Chhakaddo)

Because Bhadi is mingled with city of Bhavnagar that denotes that villagey people are
becoming urbanized (e.g. Gilo). For that, they have to strive for day and night. They may
create a clash between them by criticizing each other. This idea of urbanization and
capitalism can be looked from Marxists eyes. Becoming urbanized is a new emerging
images of inequality among the people that you are a villagey person and I am urbanized
person that is represented through Gilo. His desire is to make homeland as an urbanized so
that he can show his self as a particular from other people. What Carl Marx wanted lower
class at the apex and upper class as a pillar but it is reverse case in present time that lower
class people are trying to be different from each other not by resisting them but working hard.
Gilos father always looks his distant brother with jealousy and tries to overpower him. If
Kanabhai has a well-constructed abode, he must have like him. People want to throw the
label of low born and attain high born personality. Gilo suffers a lot but by doing this, he
indirectly wants to be different from other social members by materialistic goods and self-
glorification. Tendency of being unequal and superior-inferior can be read with the
perspectives of Marxism.
Struggle for survival and class consciousness have the direct association with third
point, called Identity crisis. Behind the story, authors psychology works strongly in a way
that he wants to justify that Ego (Freudian term) of the people of the present period is
paralyzed even albeit it strives deadly to moderate Id and Superego. Ego of Gilo fail to
moderate the desire of Id and Superego. These Freudian terms remind of Erich Hellers
statement from A New Handbook Of Literary Terms by David Mikics,
what else is it that poets and writer talk
about? - How can he remain untouched by
Freudian thoughts even if he has never read
a line by Freud ? (Mickics, 2007)

The writer profoundly remains in touch with psychology of Gilo that is undoubtedly
found in the story of Chhakaddo. Purchasing Chhakaddo, repairing his home, buying color
T.V., are his innate impulsive instincts, come from Id (pleasure principle) that directly linked
with his social reputation. Gilo commutes from his village to city Bhavnagar, passing the
villages like Jambala, Khopala, Tagadi and Bhadi in between. These can be rendered as his
natural desires which he fulfilled slowly and steadily. One passenger raises his hand in order
to sit in his auto-rickshaw, symbolizes his depth of mind that he is supposed to be not so
hasty and rapid in possessing the goods. Symbolically his vehicle (desire) is so fast that he
overlooks that person. In short, these villages, passengers, material goods are the symbols of
My Dear Jayu, representing Freudian ideology with three psychic apparatus Id, Ego and
Superego. He encapsulates this whole idea succinctly with eighteenth times repeated line
like,
Y ... ... l... l... .
l 8 l ! (Chhakaddo)
The constant and continuous struggle of Gilo, perchance, shows his exuberance and
ebullience but may lose his identity. Perhaps his Chhakaddo, a soul, may give him an identity
as Gilo but he dies very soon then what, if body does not exist? This is a prominent and
dominant image of the current time. The author writes at the end of the story,

. ,
. ..... (Chhakaddo)

This struggle for survival creates another diversion of class consciousness or self-
consciousness that one should be equal to other people as a moral standard. Gilos super-ego
tends to stand in opposition to the desires of the Id because of their conflicting objectives like
changing an image of his home with color T.V., chairs, chhakaddo and their aggressiveness
towards the ego. He thinks that his conflicting primitive desires may content his external
desires of being something different, popular and known by everybody. Efforts to seem
superior itself raises the doubt of inequality from viewpoints of Marx. In The Roughtledge
Dictionary Of Literary Terms, Herbert Marcus states,

Different instinctive shapes emerge in
response to different social condition.

According imposed social conditions, man behaves as superior or inferior. Gilo reciprocates
the social conditions what his Id forces him to do as superior. He suffers from inferiority
complex by doing job in Kanabhais carrier. Hence, he does the same thing what capitalists
used to do. Simultaneously, in the present time, no one likes to be inferior if we consider in
Freudian terminology. His inability to acknowledge the right of something to exist becomes a
cause of an inevitable accident. Thats why this whole phenomenon leads popular Gilo to the
lowest pedestal (Death).
Apart from this, what Chhakaddo brings out is Identity crisis in people of the
village. In this story, Gilo is known as Chhakaddo as his identity by below Gujarati instance,
| | | H |;
. | Y. (Chhakaddo)

that suggests that persons identity is defined by another identity. That means that a subject is
defined by an object. That is true that people are known by their Karmas rather than their
names. Gilos real identity remains unknown. He lives with a new entitled name, Chhakaddo
that emerges the question of existentialism. He makes a grave mistake of adjusting a buffalo
in his Chhakaddo in which he used to sit his travelers. Naturally, it requires a pint of salt to
realize that the buffalo cannot be accommodated comfortably in it. But in order to possess a
social credit from Mukhi, he does not hesitate to do so. In this fashion, he wants to be
superior to other. This is a bit satirical one in terms of Marxist theory. Baroness Greenfield,
professor of pharmacology at Oxford University, says in his research Facebook, Twitter
Leading To Identity Crisis that using Facebook and Twitter, people want admiration and
compliments so that they are valued. This ignites a spark to become superior to his friends. If
someone is not praised by one or another way, he becomes uncomfortable and nervous. He
feels that he is less valued and inferior. Facebook depression leaves a person with an identity
crisis. Gilo does the same thing for his brand image in society. Moreover, he does as he likes
with the speed of bits and bytes.
The author depicts the modern human being who runs with the time and has
experience of life but forgets to use it at the right moment. He makes an error of judgment at
the critical time that brings tragic flow in his life. His hubris boomerangs upon him in a way
that brings pain and panic to his father. Gilos madness is clearly felt by the following
paragon,
Y . | .
, H l
Y % l. (Chhakaddo)
Freud rightly mentions in his New Introductory Lecture On Psychology about Ego
which negotiate the conflict between the insatiable demands of the Id and impossibly
stringent requirements of the Superego. Here Gilos desire of buying T.V. stand comes from
his Id and to fetch an animal to Bhavnagar veterinary hospital and becoming socially model
member is coming from Superego. Here, his morality principle seems unsuccessful in making
Id and Superego composed.
In concluding side of the write up, one prominent point to support Marxist idea is that
in the story, Gilos father has an attitude of praising himself and criticizing other that directly
insinuates that he is superior and Kanabhai is inferior. Even if belonging to the same caste,
two people are feeling indifferent to each other. Not only that but few symbols like well-
constructed house with colors, T.V. stand, Chhakaddo, chairs and painted entrance of the
abode also can be analyzed in terms of Marxism. In a nutshell, Darwins popular phrase
survival of the fittest can be deliberated as a cause to class consciousness and identity crisis
because to survive, one has to do something good or evil. Hence, one has to gain superiority
over another in any case. In doing this, it may bring the problem of disparity and ultimately
identity crisis. My Dear Jayu draws the picture of modern man who works persistently,
attains nothing, and yet keeps working.

Work cited
1. My Dear Jayu, Jeev, Ahmadabad: Parshva Publication, 1999
2. M.H. Abram, A Handbook Of Literary Terms, India Private Limited,2009
3. Peter Childs and Roger Fowler, The Routledge Dictionary of Literary Terms,
Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd., 2006.
4. David Mikics, A New Handbook Of Literary Terms, Yale University Press, 2007.
5. Chris Baldick, Oxford Concise Dictionary Of Literary Terms, Oxford University
Press, 2001.
6. J.A. Cuddon, The Penguin Dictionary Of Literary Terms And Literary Theory,
Penguin Group LTD, 1998.
7. Edward Quinn, A Dictionary Of Literary And Thematic Terms, Library of
Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data, 2006
8. http://www.itproportal.com/2011/08/01/facebook-twitter-causing-identity-crisis-
oxford-prof-claims/
9. http://www.woopidoo.com/business_quotes/survival-quotes.htm
10. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Id,_ego_and_super-ego