3.1 THE NIGHT OF THE SCORPION

UNIT III – POETRY

 

3.1 THE NIGHT OF THE SCORPION

BBA & BHM ENGLISH STUDY MATERIAL

 

 

 

INTRODUCTION:

 

The night of the scorpion is a poem written by Nissim Ezekiel (1924-2004) who is one of the leading Indian writer. He won the Sahitya Akademi Award. The poem depicts two levels of understanding. One describes mother’s selfless love for her children as she despite being stung by a Scorpion narrowly escaping death she is grateful that the scorpion had picked her and spared her children. On the second level the poem presents a charming picture of the innocent world   of illiterate and superstitious villagers of India.

 

 

CONTENT: 

 

The poem opens with the poet’s reminiscence of a childhood experience. One night his mother was stung by a scorpion. The heavy rain had driven the scorpion to crawl under a sack of rice and unexpectedly had bitten his mother’s toe; flashing its devilish tail and parting with its poison.

 

 

The peasants or villages came into the hut “like swarms of flies” to express their sympathy with the family. The neighbours buzzed the name of god hoping to paralyse the scorpion as they believed that with every movement the scorpion made, the poison would spread in mother’s blood. They searched for the scorpion with candles and lanterns. They clicked their tongues that the mother’s sufferings may decrease “the misfortunes of her next birth”. They also prayed that the sum of evil may be balanced in this unreal world against the sum of good that she had done. They prayed that the poison would purify her of her desires and ambitions. All the people sat around, the mother in the centre, while she continued to groan and twist with pain, on the mat.

 

 

The narrators father who was normally a rationalist and a practical man, also gave in to the superstitious beliefs of the villages and joined them in their cursing and praying then putting a mixture of powders and herbs on her toe, a little paraffin on the bite and lit it with a match – hoping to burn the poison away. The narrator saw his mother’s toe on fire and must have felt afraid. A holy man, the priest, performed some rites’ to probably tame the poison. Only after (20) twenty hours did the poison subside the mother was relieved of the pain, and thanked god that the scorpion bit her and spared her children.

 

CONCLUSION :

 

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.The poem thus brings out the mother’s love and sacrificial thoughts – the maternal instinct, as well as beautifully describes the superstitions and ignorant practices followed by the villagers.