The women characters of the novel are aware and confident of their individuality and cannot be

easily subjugated. Lenny, her Ayah Shanta, her mother and Godmother affirm their selfhood and
exhibit capability of assuming new roles and responsibilities. They also expose the patriarchal
biases present in the contemporary social perceptions.

Lenny the narrator of the novel, the novelist lends weight and validity to the feminine perspective on the
nature of surrounding reality.

Lenny

In Ice-Candy-Man, the narrator's relationship with her cousin (he remains cousin throughout the
novel, without the specific identity of a name) upholds the principle of equality (or even superiority of
woman), as she does not allow him to manipulate her sexually and he remains a drooling figure,
adoring her for her vivaciousness. In no way does Lenny's lameness become a source of self-pity
or a constricting force on her psyche. She remains assertive, at times even aggressive and holds her own
when it comes to the crunch. And who is the formative influence on Lenny? Her Ayah, Shanta.

Ayah

The Ayah is a flame of sensuousness and female vitality around whom the male moths
hover constantly and hanker for the sexual warmth she radiates. She acts like the queen bee
who controls the actions and emotions of her male admirers: the Fal-lattis Hotel cook, the
Government House gardener, the butcher, the compactly minded "head and body masseur" and the Ice-
Candy-Man. The measure of Ayah's power is seen when she objects to the political discussion among her
multi-religious admirers as she fears discord the Ice-Candy-Man defers to her wish and says, "It's just a
discussion among friends . . . such talk helps clear the air . . . but for your sake, we won't bring it up again.

Epitomizing the strength of the feminity of a female, she infuses in Lenity the ideas of independence and
choice. Flirtatious and coquettish, the Ayah is fully aware and confident of herself as an
individual, who cannot be taken advantage of.

At the same time, she is fiercely loyal to the interests of the family she serves and is extremely
protective of Lenny, as a mother would be, besides being emotionally attached to her. She suffers
during the Partition riots, she is abducted by the cronies of the Ice-Candy-Man, ravished and raped
by the hoodlums, kept as the Ice-Candy-Man's mistress for a few months and then is forced to become
the Ice-Candy-Man's bride. Her name is changed from Shanta to Mumtaz and she is kept at
a kotha even after her marriage. During the interregnum between her abduction and marriage, she,
in the words of Godmother, is "used like a sewer" by "drunks, pedlars, sahibs and cut-throats," with the
connivance of the Ice-Candy-Man. But as soon as the opportunity presents itself, she seizes, her
freedom and gets away from the man she does not love. She is firm and decisive. "I want to
go to my family.... I will not live with him," she tells Godmother. And this decision is in spite of
the Ice-Candy-Man's love for her who weeps, snivels and pleads humbly with the Godmother to let her
remain with him as he has married the Ayah. He receives a thrashing at the hands of the burly Sikh Guard
at the Recovered Women's Camp gate, where Ayah is admitted and turns into a madfaqir, going to the
extent of following the Ayah to Amritsar.

Lenny's mother conforms to the traditional Image of a fidel, faithful and serving wife who seems
to be capable only of humouring things out of her husband. She submits to the moods of the man
she is wedded to, tolerating in the process, the conven-tional hegemony given to the male
of the species among human beings. And here it appears, the writer could not muster courage
enough to invest her (Lenny's mother) with qualities different from those she does, considering the social
ethos in the country of her habitat. But the feminist in Sidhwa cuts a caper, and achieves her end in a
subtle and complex way. While in Train to Pakistan, it is Juggut Singh (Jugga) who, ennobled by his feel-
ings of love for his beloved Nooran, saves, at the cost of his own life, the whole train-load of Muslims
migrating to Pakistan in a bid to get away from the clutches of the violent riots, in Ice-Candy-Man, it is
Lenny's mother and Lenny's aunt who play the sterling humanitarian and heroic role of
fighting for the lives and property of Hindus. Clearing herself of Lenny's accusation that she has
been helping in the communal conflagration, she says: "we were only smuggling the rationed petrol to
help our Hindu and Sikh friends to run away. . . . And also for the convoys to send kidnapped women, like
your ayah, to their families across the border." Thus, it is the two women who undertake the risky job of
saving lives in danger and the fact acquires significance in the fictional scheme of things.

God mother

Godmother's undaunted visit to the disreputable "Hira Mandi" (the area of kothas) and
the rescue of the Ayah, once she is convinced that the Ayah is being kept by force against her will, are
commendable indeed. Godmother concentrates in her character what the feminists feel is very important
for a woman to realize her individuality: the feeling of "self-worth."

Feminism in Bapsi Sidhwas Ice

Candy Man
Regarding feminism; accurately this indictment that the will of men had brought on the
Women that places this novel apart from the other Women stories. Ice Candy Man is
exclusive in illustrating not only the assault that was revealed on the women of the
subcontinent but also in its valorization of the indictment and bravery that women are
able in periods of disaster. Colors of contemporary feminism as well as would be found
in Sidhwas work.

Feminism & Womens Power

Sidhwas interpretation of Lennys own ideas, of Ayahs overall rejection to
take her destiny, of Godmothers ingenuity, and of Lennys mother and
aunts initiatives at recovery all join to offer organization to women in this novel
in the perspective of feminism. Sidhwas Women-centered story thus vindicates the
power of women to create options and to take the reins of their life in their
own arms, which actually volumes to an act of fantastic defiance, especially if we keep
in thoughts the particular conditions of Ayahs situation. Thus, though being a novel
which seemingly prioritizes a man at least in its name, Ice-Candy-Man slightly but
successfully subvert discussion of patriarchy and rights women will, option and
durability along with the feministic features of sympathy and becoming a mother.

Feminism & Diasphoric Femininity (ies) in Sidhwas Writings

On the other hand through An American Brat, Sidhwa can appropriately be known as a
diasporic femininitys author, as the protect of the novel explains that she divides her
time between the U.S where she instructed, and Lahore where she lived a part of life.
Problematizing the idea of a set identity (ies), Sidhwa symbolizes her woman character
as having several stages of identity (ies). Searching the groups of marginalization in
Pakistan as well as in U.S, she lives upon the techniques of the sexed subaltern for
training organization. When checked out in this way, Sidhwas work is different as it
explains the various kinds and stages of marginalization. Furthermore, the limitations
between the oppressed and the oppressor are brought up into a talk. Situated in various
public and regional roles, the females of color develop methods of preparing
organization. While doing so, the factors of normalcy and traditionally feminine are
re-conceptualized. It is this state policies of gendering, its significance and effects that
are shown in the perspective of contemporary as well as classical feminism.