Volume V Special Issue V November 2025

Name of Author : Dr Ashmi

Title of the paper : IN SEARCH OF ROOTS: THE PROTAGONIST QUEST IN CHITRA BANERJEES OLEANDER GIRL

Abstract: Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni is one of the prominent diasporic women writers from India. She is an internationally acclaimed poet, novelist, and short story writer and has achieved a desirable position in a relatively short time. She has been well known as a popular Asian American writer with a hybrid identity. This paper attempts to analyse the protagonist of Divakarunis novel, Oleander Girl, in the bildungsroman genre. The indepth analysis of the protagonist Karobis quest for identity is widely explored in this study. Furthermore, the paper also traces her growth from an innocent girl to a mature, confident, and assertive young woman. The study also explores how Korobi was depicted at the beginning of the novel and how she was changed towards the end during her journey in search of her father. The importance of love and the protagonists longing for it are vividly described. The changes she endures after her journey, how she overcame the crucial situation in her life, and how her family accepts her with her new identity are some important aspects that are discussed in this paper. The paper also examines the identity clashes, immigrant issues, and the dilemma of the protagonist as a young immigrant who travels to America in search of her father at a time when the country is coping with the aftermath of the Twin Towers disaster.

Keywords : Feminist Narrative, diaspora, identity, alterity, and transcultural

DOI :

Page Number : 36-39