Book Review: Pyre by Perumal Murugan A Heart-Wrenching Tale of Love and Loss in the Face of Caste Prejudice

Perumal Murugan's Pyre, translated from Tamil by Aniruddhan Vasudevan, was on the International Booker Prize 2023 longlist. It's a love tragedy spun around caste discrimination in the 1980s Tamil Nadu

Representational image. Pyre by Perumal Murugan is about a young couple who face caste discrimination.

Source : Getty

Caste is a voyeuristic term that dusts the bones of society with a history of violence and injustice. Some might take privilege in their caste, some not. But the one thing that keeps society moving forward is the tolerance that human beings are blessed with. Pyre by Perumal Murugan strips naked the image of such tolerance. 

The story is of a love that tries to break free from the clutches of the age-old caste system. However, no one knows what this will cost them. The story belongs to Kumaresan and Saroja. Just married, lost in the fantasy of living a long happy life together, Kumaresan and Saroja get down from the bus and walk towards the former's ancestral village in Tamil Nadu, holding a secret in their hearts. Theirs is an inter-caste marriage.

Little do they know at the time that what awaits them is a demon that both of them have ever witnessed.  

About Pyre, By Perumal Murugan

Pyre is a powerful novel, originally written in Tamil by Perumal Murugan, which talks about young love facing social discrimination and fighting a losing battle against it. "Perumal Murugan is a great anatomist of power and, in particular, of the deep, deforming rot of caste hatred and violence. With flashes of fable, his novel tells a story specific and universal: how flammable are fear and the distrust of others," The International Booker Prize 2023 panel of judges wrote about the book after adding it to the award longlist.

Kumaresan has confidence in the fact that once the first few inquisitive questions about Saroja have been answered, the individuals in their village would welcome her and respect their privacy. However, he is oblivious to reality. Upon observing Saroja, a woman with a lighter complexion, the local community immediately assumes that she is part of a different social group than Kumaresan and, therefore, she is not a member of their community. The couple is subject to scorn and animosity not only from the townspeople but also from Kumaresan's own mother and relatives. The infuriated community gangs up to retaliate against the young couple for violating caste-based societal conventions.

Pyre is a unique fusion of a heart-wrenching love story with a critical evaluation of an insular group. In his book Waves, Eduard von Keyserling had introduced a character who asserted that the introduction of an outside factor to a societal unit generates a similar effect to the reaction of citric acid with soda. Perumal Murugan's Pyre would remind you of this. The act of blending and combining may be successful when dealing with artificial colours, but it is not applicable in real-life situations. The Pyre experiment resulted in an eruptive response.

The novel sheds light on how society uses tradition and social hierarchy as a means to exploit the less privileged and perpetuate caste discrimination. The book explores the differences between rural and urban living, and challenges the commonly held belief that people from small villages are inherently uncomplicated and friendly. The plot evokes a sense of agony and sorrow as a naive girl from a small town is mistreated, subjected to prejudice, and more, all due to outdated customs and false beliefs. It is a poignant and compelling story that stays with you.

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