Mother India, Fire -- Cait Collins

In Katherine Mayo's criticism of Hindu she expresses how the patriarchy of India is repressive to it's women. Mayo at that time identified these women as being oppressed by a non-westernized patriarchy. By focusing on another society than her own she was able to simplistically pick out the repressive nature of the geographical area as well as of the religion. When we use our "critical eye" to examine another culture it is very easy for one to point out the weaknesses or the faults of the society. What Mayo should have done is take that same critical eye and use it to examine the oppressive patriarchal christian nation she was apart of. It is so very easy to point out the flaws of others, but not to look at the flaws we each possess.


The response to Mayo's writing with the film Mother India showed that while women are oppressed by a society that puts a man first, this not leave a woman ultimately weak. The female protagonist acts in a similar manner to Brutus in Jacques-Louis David's The Lictors Bring to Brutus the Bodies of His Sons. Brutus had to make the challenging decision to kill his devious sons to protect the good of his people. The female protagonist of Mother India also had to choose to kill her son to protect the people of her town. Ultimately she had a strength that many people whether male or female would not possess.

Deepa Mehta's Fire adds another facet to the identity of the Hindu Indian woman by showing how the religious practices can underwhelm the lives of those following it. These women have to deal with loveless marriages that are based on traditional rather than on love. These women live in quiet desperation, with sexual drives and intimate needs that are not being validated. These women have as much complexity as any other woman from any other part of the world.

What I found to be most interesting when comparing Mother India the text, and Nair’s Fire was the shock and anger both brought about from the Hindu Indian community. Both show elements of the Hindu culture that perhaps society refuses to look upon. While Mayo’s writings were both highly racist and anti-Hindi, they did bring about the revelation that the marriage age was rather low, and that forced marriages of young children was a practice that must fall out of use. Anger against Mayo’s writings is understandable due to her obvious bigoted views as well as due to the fact that she was a Westerner looking into a society she had no understanding of or relationship to. Nair’s situation on the other hand is quite different. Nair has an understanding of the Indian Hindi culture due to being a member within it herself. Yet, her people still rebelled against her due to presenting to them an element of their own society that they wished not to see.