Fabian W. Marbaniang
HoD, English Department, Martin Luther Christian University, Shillong
The Starry Night delves deeply into the psyche of people living under one roof, being affected by each other’s temperament other than the outcome of a psychological condition of the one who has been entrusted with the responsibility of ensuring that the family functions as one. The family is shattered. The roles are reversed. The psychological condition is passed on to the next generation.
It is a journey of seven long years, a journey of strength and courage, of remorse and sadness, of success and failure. Each feeling had a sound reason behind it. Each reason was revealed and discovered over the period of seven years. Each thought and emotion resulted in unintentional behaviour. Living with these outcomes came with a price and it was a heavy price to pay. The death of Zee and Ben running away into the unknown, shattered the family. It was Adi alone who stood strong, yet helpless, while her family crumbled. She kept her sanity. She found hope in something.
To survive through years of brokenness requires a very deep level of awareness of self, strength and courage. But are these factors, enough to survive, when one is crippled by a psychological condition? Nzan, presents to his readers, these factors for survival at different levels throughout his work, revealing who grows, who survives, who sinks, and who is real among his chosen characters. The events in the life of Tem’s family continues to unfold.
At the end of the day, the only escape from the harsh realities is the change of a mindset and of one’s heart. Ben chose to escape from the known into the unknown. Often times, it was an escape into the world of Van Gogh or into his world of a plethora of colours spread across a canvass, an outcome of deep thoughts and emotions. It was under the ‘starry night’ of Van Gogh, his muse, that Ben found his escape. It was this muse that helped him find a way to ‘kindness’. Some found death as an escape.
The Starry Night, as the name depicts, is inspirational. Through the darkest of times, one can get a glimpse of the stars allowing it to add value to one’s life. The glimpse becomes a source of strength and composure to carry on and find meaning in everything that the journey offers.
