The Feeling Child: A Study of Precarity in Pinto’s Em and the Big Hoom

Abstract

The paper examines childhood precarity in the novel Em and the Big Hoom by Jerry Pinto. It maps the vulnerable shades of childhood in a precarious family setting as portrayed in this domestic novel. The presence of the mother who is affected by manic depression in the family makes children susceptible to myriad feelings like insecurity, guilt and torment. The stigma, shame and silence in the domestic and public space render them vulnerable and emotionally fragile. The paper argues that the children in the narrative have a central role in balancing the unstable environment of their familial space. They assume the roles and responsibilities akin to that of an adult. They often act as the caregiver in the physical absence of the father figure for the mother who is mentally ill, the metaphorically absent mother. Em’s manic episodes and suicidal tendencies are skillfully handled by her son and daughter even when they are grappling to keep their emotions at bay. Her mood swings wound the children with deep and incisive bruises that become indelible scars for a lifetime. The children in their teens are perennially on the watch for Em and her suicidal tendencies, hence they tutor themselves to anticipate crisis. This hyper vigilance ruins the insouciant and carefree nature of adolescence. They are quick to don the cloak of adulthood as the direness of the precarious situation demands it. Their precarious lives are marked by a perennial watch on their mother and the unsafe space she inhabits. Thus the boundary between childhood and adulthood is eroded to a great extent.