Ezekiel was born on 16 December 1924 in Mumbai (Maharashtra). His father was a professor of botany at Wilson College, and his mother was principal of her own school. The Ezekiels belonged to Mumbai's Marathi-speaking Jewish community known as the Bene Israel. He died in Mumbai on 9 January 2004 (aged 79). In 1947, Ezekiel earned a BA in Literature from Wilson College, Mumbai, and University of Mumbai. In 1947-48, he taught English literature and published literary articles. After dabbling in radical politics for a while, he sailed to England in November 1948. He studied philosophy at Birkbeck College, London. After three and a half years stay, Ezekiel worked his way home as a deck-scrubber aboard a ship carrying arms to Indochina.
He
was awarded the Sahitya
Akademi Award in 1983 for his Poetry collection, "Latter-Day
Psalms”.
Theme: Images of the dark forces of evil abound in Night of the Scorpion; the diabolic tail
of the scorpion, giant scorpion shadows on the sun-baked walls and the night
itself point to evil. In fact, the poem is about the pertinent question as to what can conquer evil. Where superstition, rationalism
and religion proved futile, the self-effacing love of a mother had its say.
Love conquers all, and that is all you need to know.
Poem
I remember the night my
mother
was stung by a scorpion. Ten
hours
of steady rain had driven him
to crawl beneath a sack of rice.
Parting with his poison -
flash
of diabolic tail in the dark
room -
he risked the rain again.
The peasants came like swarms
of flies
and buzzed the name of God a hundred times to paralyse the Evil One.
With candles and with
lanterns
throwing giant scorpion
shadows
on the mud-baked walls
they
searched for him: he was not found.
They clicked their tongues.
With every movement that the scorpion made his poison moved in Mother's blood, they said.
May he sit still, they said
May the sins of your previous
birth
be burned away tonight, they
said.
May your suffering decrease
the misfortunes of your next
birth, they said.
May the sum of all evil
balanced in this unreal world
against the sum of good
become diminished by your
pain.
May the poison purify your flesh
of desire, and your spirit of
ambition,
they said, and they sat
around
on
the floor with my mother in the centre, the peace of understanding on each
face. More candles, more lanterns, more neighbours, more insects, and the
endless rain.
My
mother twisted through and through, groaning on a mat.
My father, sceptic,
rationalist,
trying every curse and
blessing,
powder, mixture, herb and hybrid.
He even poured a little
paraffin
upon the bitten toe and put a
match to it.
I watched the flame feeding
on my mother.
I
watched the holy man perform his rites to tame the poison with an incantation.
After twenty hours
it lost its sting.
Thank God the scorpion picked
on me
And spared my children.
Glossary
Diabolic - terrible, extremely bad or annoying
Paralyse – to make something unable to feel or move
Lanterns - a lamp in a transparent case, often a metal case
with glass sides that
has a handle, so that you can
carry it outside
Groan – to make long deep sound because of pain etc.
Sceptic - a person who usually doubts that claims or
statements are true,
especially those that other
people believe in
Rationalist - a person who believes that all behaviour, opinions,
etc.
should be based on reason
rather than on emotions or religious beliefs
Hybrid - something that is the product of mixing two or more different
things
Paraffin - a type of oil obtained from petroleum and used as a
fuel for heat
and light
To tame - to make something easy to control
Incantation - special words that are spoken or sung to have a
magic effect;
the act of speaking or
singing these words.
Summary
The
poem is a strong yet simple statement on the power of self-effacing love. Full
to the brim with Indianness, (being Indian) it captures a well-detached black
and white snapshot of Indian village life with all its superstitious
simplicity. The poet dramatizes a battle of ideas fought at night in lamplight
between good and evil; between darkness and light; between rationalism and
blind faith. And out of this confusion, there arises an unexpected winner – the
selfless love of a mother. It
depicts the India ethos and cultured richness through
a simple incident and epitomizes the typical Indian motherhood which depicts
sacrifice and affection.
The
poem opens with the poet’s reminiscence of a childhood experience. One night
his mother was stung by a scorpion. Ten hours of steady rain had driven the
scorpion to hiding beneath a sack of rice. After inflicting unbearable pain
upon the mother with a flash of its diabolic tail, the scorpion risked the rain
again.
The
peasant-folk of the village came like swarms of flies and expressed their
sympathy. They believed that with every movement the scorpion made, the poison
would move in mother’s blood. So, with lighted candles and lanterns they began
to search for him, but in vain.
To
console the mother they opened the bundle of their superstitions. They told
mother that the suffering and pain will burn away the sins of her previous birth.
“May the suffering decrease the misfortunes of your next birth too”, they said.
Mother
twisted and groaned in mortifying pain. Her husband, who was sceptic and
rationalist, tried every curse and blessing; powder, herb and hybrid. As a last
resort he even poured a little paraffin on the bitten part and put a match to
it.
The
painful night was long and the holy man came and played his part. He performed
his rites and tried to tame the poison with an incantation. After twenty hours
the poison lost its sting.
The
ironic twist in the poem comes when in the end the mother who suffered in
silence opens her mouth. She says, “Thank God the scorpion picked on me and
spared my children.”
Night of the Scorpion creates a profound impact on the reader with an interplay
of images relating to good and evil, light and darkness. Then the effect is
heightened once again with the chanting of the people and its magical,
incantatory effect. The beauty of the poem lies in that the mother’s comment
lands the reader quite abruptly on simple, humane grounds with an ironic punch.
Ezekiel
is known to be a detached observer of the Indian scenario and this stance often
has the power of a double-edged sword that cuts both ways. On the one side Night of the Scorpion presents an Indian
village through the eyes of an outsider and finds the deep-rooted strains of
superstition and blind faith which may seem foolish to the western eye. But on
the other, the poem never fails to highlight the positive side of Indian
village life. The poet does not turn a blind eye to the fellow-feeling,
sympathy and cooperation shown by the villagers. And in a poem that deals with
the all-conquering power of love, the reader too should be well aware of it.
To Conclude :
In
this poem, the poet describes the selfless love of a mother who is stung by a
scorpion. To portray the motherly affections, he used imagery relating to the
senses of sight, smell, touch and hearing. Even though the scorpion parted
poison in her toe, yet she is thankful to the God that the scorpion had chosen
her and spared her children. Here the poet remains as a helpless spectator and
expresses his feeling. He also comments on the Indian culture where
superstitions still play a significant role.
Objectives
·
To present
typical Indian society and the temperament of villagers
·
To point out
superstitious nature of Indian people
·
To present a
contrast between superstitious and scientific approach
·
To portray the
highly esteemed Indian mother and her dedicated feeling for her children
Clash of Ideas: There is a contrast between the world of
irrationality represented by the villagers and the world of rationalism
represented by the father who tries all rational means to save his wife from
suffering. Religion too plays its role with the holy man saying his prayers.
But all three become futile. Or do they? One cannot totally ignore the
underlying current of love and fellow-feeling in their endeavors.
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