Journey of the Displaced from Idealization to Realization in Anita Desai’s In Custody

Abstract

Displacement cannot be bound to any single aspect but tends to include anything and everything that marks the distance and shift in real or ideal sense. This paper focuses on the eye opening journey of the protagonist of Anita Desai’s novel In Custody. Enamoured by the flimsy cobweb of his idealism Deven stops to grow which makes him a misfit in his familial, social and professional life. A chance to interview his ideal Urdu poet Nur proves to be chance to bring him face to face with the reality of his abject failure. Dejected, rejected and thrown to the corridors of lamentation. He realized that the life lived and the life desired may not be necessarily and seemingly same. This meeting serves him from falling down in the same abyss. He may not turn out to be an epitome of perfection but at least he has touched upon the realization not to glide down.