Zainab Ben Mabrouk
Compartmentalization of Identity
Vivek Shraya’s novel She of the Mountains is about the pressure to compartmentalize identity
and the limitations that follow it. Through the parallel of the main characters conflict to teachings
from Hindu mythology, the novel unravels the complexity and variable forms of identity. She of
the Mountains insists that the boy’s compartmentalization of his identity restricts the connectivity
to his body and that the boy must acquire the courage to allow the everchanging form of his
identity to develop and evolve.
The boy’s community growing up, introduced him to the compartmentalization of identity where
his confusion and shame for his identity could fester. The boy’s peers at school took it upon
themselves to force the ideology of the limitations to identity, assaulting the boy with their
assumptive labels: “You’re gay was a whip attempting to classically condition the weakness and
the girl out of him” (16). The metaphor of comparing the boy’s supposed identity to a “whip”
establishes a destructive relationship between the protagonist and his identity, suggesting it as a
weapon to “condition” and mold him into the label unwillingly allocated to him. The verbal
assault of “you’re gay” induced a similar atmosphere of the destructiveness of a “whip”, where
the boy is forced to cower away in shame of his supposed disgraceful identity. The
weaponization of his identity exemplifies the restricting labels the protagonist was introduced to,
any “weakness” or “girl” like characteristics that contradicted the limits of what his identity could
test, were to be “classically conditioned” out of him, providing a path for the confusion of his
peculiar existence to fester. The connotation of “classically” further implies the absurdness the
boy’s existence brought to his peers, as it opposed their classical ideologies to which identity
could be accepted, confusing the boy with his freedom to choose his own identity. The metaphor
establishing the weaponization and compartmentalization of his identity, created a path where
the dissociation of the boy’s body would develop.
With the aid of compartmentalizing his identity to soothe his inner conflict, the boy indulges in
the only escape presented to him, resulting in the dissociation of his mind from his body. In a
desperate act to pacify his confusion, the boy attempts to mold into the labels he was coerced
into, and begins to struggle with its drawbacks: “He could never escape the jarring feeling that
he and his body were still two separate entities with two separate operating systems” (79). The
dissociation of his mind from his body is established through the boy referring to them as
“entities'', isolating them into separate structures, creating a divide between their connection. He
explicitly reflects his fragmented identity into “two separate entities”, suggesting the lack of unity
between their systems. His internal conflict is additionally implied by his inability to “escape the
jarring feeling” that despite the illusory comfort provided him by compartmentalizing his identity,
it couldn't provide anything but a temporary fix to his conflict. The boy’s dissociation is further
emphasized when he refers to his body and mind as having “two separate operating systems,”
highlighting the dissociation that was created as a result of the restrictive label he attempted to
condition himself to embody. The dissociation of the boy’s body and mind and the divide that
festered between them, reveals the boy’s failure to acknowledge the fluidity of his identity to
allow it to exist beyond the bounds of the labels set out for him.
The harmony and connectivity Ganesh harbors with his unusual body can be applied to alleviate
the conflict the boy feels. Despite his elephant head, a beacon for other creatures' confusion,
Ganesh is indifferent to his body and identity as a contradictory existence. When told the tale of
the origin of his elephant head, and brought to the burial of the head of what he once bore,
“Ganesh bends down and put his head down to the fallen leaves and wet earth. Then he begins
to sing” (96). The imagery of Ganesh bending down onto the “fallen leaves and wet earth”
establishes a close relation to Ganesh and the burial of his past self, a divide between his past
and present self encapsulated by the earth, but the acknowledgment of its existence with the
motion of him bending down. The action of Ganesh singing further emphasizes his
acknowledgment as it creates an atmosphere of acceptance and new life. The song suggests
that just as his mother Parvati would sing the same melody as a representation of new life
forming, Ganesh sings for the new creation of his identity while acknowledging the conclusion of
his past identity. The imagery emphasizing the connectivity of Ganesh to his unique identity
established a path that the boy could learn from, the courage to proudly accept the fluidity of his
identity that exists past the limitations forced upon him.
The boy’s strength and courage to simultaneously accept and relinquish parts of his flourishing
identity came in the form of him testing the bounds of what was once shunned, a lesson
reflecting Ganesh’s actions. After breaking up with his girlfriend due to his newfound identity, the
boy turns to water for comfort, where he could finally develop his identity and let go of past
restrictions, “It was only after he exhausted himself from splashing and kicking aimlessly, when
he fully surrendered to the water, that he stopped drowning” (99). The challenging path in
gaining the courage to confidently express his identity is emphasized through the description
“exhausted,” suggesting the toll his internal conflict yielded on his mind. “Splashing and kicking”
implies the tiring fight the boy put up to desperately hold on to the only solution he knew to
soothe the confusion plaguing him, despite “aimlessly” struggling for only a temporary fix. The
boy’s remedy comes in the form of when he finally “surrendered to the water,” relinquishing
himself of limitations that restricted the fluidity of his identity, his fragmented identity
reconstructing itself into a new form. “Stopped drowning” further establishes the boy’s
acceptance as it expresses the conclusion to his struggles, the termination to his aimless
suffering. The acceptance and refusal to compartmentalize his identity, supplied the boy with the
courage to rid himself of the shame he once harbored, allowing a foundation for a new identity
to flourish.
Ultimately, She of the Mountains opposes the limitations placed on identity and restriction of its
fluidity and that one must find the courage to test the bound of its restriction to allow their
identity to evolve.
Shraya,Vivek. She of the Mountains. EPUB, Arsenal Pulp Press, 2014