Volume V Special Issue IV October 2025

Name of Author : Ms Samprithi J, Dr. S. Subramanian

Title of the paper : Ecological Collapse and Feminist Resistance in Anita Desais Fire on the Mountain

Abstract: In Fire on the Mountain, Anita Desai talks about the interconnection between ecological collapse and feminist resistance in the landscape of Himalayas. The novels have a natural setting portrayed by decay and disintegration, that reflects the inner lives of Nanda Kaul, Raka, and Ila Das, women who are negotiating silence, erasure, and violence under patriarchal structures. Desais describes the novel with recurring images of fire, barrenness, and wilderness that depicts the intricate connections between gender and environment the natures exploitation lines up with the control of women. In this situation, rises the acts of resistance Rejection of Rakas domestication, Outspoken defiance of Ila Das, and Withdrawal from prescribed roles of Nanda Kauls all these suggest other ways of survival and autonomy. From the aspect of Ecofeminist perspective, this paper argues that Desai visualizes resistance not as triumph but as fragile persistence that is surrounded by ecological and social ruin.

Keywords : Anita Desai, Indian English Literature, Ecofeminism, Patriarchy and environment, Feminist resistance

DOI :

Page Number : 95-97