THE THEME OF EXILE IN THE GUNNY SACK

The present paper focuses on the theme of exile in “The Gunny Sack. In The Gunny Sack, Vassanji has depicted very vividly how the feeling of being a foreigner is the genesis of all uncertainty as far as the Indian Diaspora is concerned. Salim Juma, the narrator-protagonist, narrates how the Shamsi community, which settled down in Africa and helped the empirical forces in crushing the local Africans, was dislocated by economic factors. Dhanji Govindji, the narrator’s great grandfather settled in a village called Matamu and begot a large number of Progeny. Vassanji throws light on the various issues which the Indian Diaspora encountered in an alien land. The Indian migrants played the role of a buffer and did not show much sympathy for the nationalistic movements. The present paper is an attempt to probe The Gunny Sack and to offer yet another dimension of the process of identity formation. It reveals how the relations between immigrant Indians were conditioned and influenced by various social and historical circumstances. 

Keywords: Migration, Identity, Exile, Diaspora, History.