"Night of the scorpion" is a brilliant
narrative poem. The protagonist might be the poet himself or a
narrator who is the creation of his imagination. The mother is stung
by a scorpion on a rainy night. The mother is the most prominent figure
in an Indian home. So all the attention is focused on her.
They are simple and good and believe in the efficiency of prayer.
They believe that prayer can ward off the evil influence. They are a
set of superstitious people. They search for the scorpion but in vain.
The good and evil in the world has to be balanced
and therefore her endurance of pain will reduce the amount of evil.
This also reminds us of the peasants' belief in
rebirth. They are illiterate, ignorant and superstitious and they do not
know anything other than turn into ritualistic practices and incantations.
The narrator's father
presents before us a striking contrast. He tries modern scientific
treatments. He applies powder, herbs and hybrids. He does not
interfere with what the peasants do. He does not object to the
curses and blessings. He is quite perturbed and tries every possible
remedies. Finally he pours some paraffin in the affected area and
applies a match to it expecting the poison to burn off. Even when he
does this a holy man goes on performing his rites to remove the effect of
poison with an incantation. The scientific remedies tried by the father become
as ineffective as the rituals and the incantations of the peasants and
that of the holy man. After twenty hours the pain subsides and the woman
speaks.
The last part of the poem
upholds the dignity of the Indian motherhood. The mother's
comment: "Thank God the scorpion picked on me and spread my
children" is typical of an Indian mother. She is relieved to
find
that the scorpion let her
children alone and thanks God for it. The entire poem may be taken
as a tribute to the incomparable love of a mother. The mother's malady causes
considerable disturbance not only to the members of the family but to the
whole neighbourhood. All are anxious to alleviate her pain.
Different attempts are made by different people. All these go to
prove that the poem is woven around the theme of reverence to the mother.
"Night of the
scorpion" is typically an Indian poem by a typical Indian poet whose
interest in the Indian soil and its ordinary human events of day-to-day Indian
life is superb. A good many Indians are illiterate and are blindly
superstitious. But they are simple, loving and lovable. They
attempt to save the victim by doing whatever they can. But they do
not succeed. The father who is not superstitious and is educated
tries his own scientific ways; he too, does not succeed. There is the
holy man who performs his rites with incantation. He also fails to find a
cure. Finally the cue comes by itself. This can be taken as a
proof for the belief in 'fate'; everything in a man's life is pre-destined
and man has no role in changing it.
The poem is interpreted as
a symbolic juxtaposition of darkness and light. The night, the
scorpion, the poison and the suffering represent darkness. The
incessant rain stands for hope and regeneration. Candles, lanterns,
neighbours and ultimately the recovery of the mother represent
light. The poem can also be thought of as symbolic of Good and Evil
too.
