Blind Man’s Garden is set in the aftermath of the US-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001. The novel follows the lives of two brothers who are forced to flee their home in a Pakistani city
Reviewed by Shoukat Lohar
Nadeem Aslam is a British-Pakistani novelist born on July 11, 1966, in Gujranwala, Pakistan. He moved to the UK with his family when he was 14 years old and has since then made it his home. Aslam’s novels have won numerous awards and have been highly acclaimed by literary critics worldwide. His novels are primarily set in Pakistan and explore themes of identity, politics, and religion. His fourth novel, Blind Man’s Garden, published in 2013, is an intricately crafted story that explores the lives of a family in Pakistan during the post-9/11 era.
Blind Man’s Garden is set in the aftermath of the US-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001. The novel follows the lives of two brothers, Jeo and Mikal, who are forced to flee their home in the Pakistani city of Heer after the American bombing campaign starts. Jeo is a promising young poet, and Mikal is his younger brother. The two brothers make their way to Afghanistan to offer their help in the rebuilding of the country. But soon after arriving in Afghanistan, the two brothers are separated, and Jeo is captured by American forces and taken to the infamous Guantanamo Bay detention camp. Mikal, on the other hand, is left to fend for himself in war-torn Afghanistan, where he is taken in by a family of Afghan refugees.
One of the central themes of the novel is the search for identity
Aslam’s Blind Man’s Garden is a complex and multi-layered novel that explores themes of identity, loss, love, and the search for meaning in a world torn apart by war and conflict. The novel’s central characters, Jeo and Mikal, are emblematic of the younger generation of Pakistanis who have grown up in a world that is very different from that of their parents. Aslam skillfully depicts the brothers’ struggles as they try to navigate the shifting political and cultural landscape of Pakistan and Afghanistan.
The novel depicts the devastating consequences of the war on the lives of the people
One of the central themes of the novel is the search for identity. Aslam explores this theme through the character of Jeo who is a talented young poet struggling to come to terms with his identity as a Pakistani Muslim in a world that is increasingly hostile to his culture and beliefs. Jeo’s poetry reflects his search for meaning in a world that is rapidly changing around him. As he writes in one of his poems, “My poetry is a way of finding my place in the world. It’s my search for identity in a world that is hostile to my culture and my beliefs.”
Another important theme that Aslam explores in Blind Man’s Garden is the impact of war and conflict on ordinary people. The novel depicts the devastating consequences of the war on the lives of the people caught up in it. Mikal, for example, is forced to leave his home and family behind and is left to fend for himself in a world that is violent and unpredictable.
The novel also highlights the plight of the Afghan people, who have been caught up in a conflict that has left them with little hope for the future.
Aslam’s portrayal of the characters in Blind Man’s Garden is both nuanced and complex.
He creates characters that are both sympathetic and flawed, which makes them all the more believable. For example, Jeo is a gifted poet, but he is also somewhat naive and idealistic.
Mikal, on the other hand, is a more pragmatic and street-smart character, but he is also deeply scarred by the violence he has witnessed. Aslam’s use of language is another notable feature of the novel. He writes in a rich and lyrical prose that is evocative of the landscapes and cultures he depicts.
His descriptions of the natural world are particularly vivid and striking, and he uses these descriptions to create a sense of contrast between the beauty of nature and the violence.
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Shoukat Lohar is Assistant professor in English at Mehran University of Engineering and Technology Jamshoro Sindh. He can be accessed at Shoukat.ali@faculty.muet.edu.pk
