The poem “Hunger” describes a certain experience
of the protagonist (poet speaker) with a fisherman’s daughter. The fisherman’s
financial stringency had compelled him to use his teenaged daughter as a
prostitute in order to earn some money and to keep himself and his daughter
going. The protagonist contacted this fisherman in order to have sexual
gratification with the fisherman’s 15 years old daughter. The fisherman took
the protagonist to his shack close to the seashore to have sexual pleasure with
her. She opened her legs. The poor fisherman’s daughter, driven by poverty, is offered for the
sexual gratification of the Prufrock-type visitor. The woman’s desire for food
cannot be met in normal circumstances. She belongs to a poor father who is in
no position to provide for her food.
This poem has a lot of
psychological interest. The visitor, apparently a man burdened by passion and
guilt at the same time, must have her to release his tension, but cannot
overcome the usual pricking of his conscience. The sense of guilt is emphasized
when the protagonist says that the soot from the oil lamp repeatedly entered
the spaces of his mind.
It is usually seen that men who are not satisfied with
their married life or are not married or are divorced, go to brothels and give
money for their own pleasure. It has become a business now, especially in
India. Saying India a poor country will be an understatement. India now is not
just poor by money, but poor by morals. The basic moral of a human being to
realize that women are responsible for the creation of a new generation is
wiped off our minds. It is a shame that we have forgotten women are not toys
meant for sexual gratification or satisfaction of men. They are the creator of
the entire human race.
The poem is meant to demystify
life in the so-called red-light zones (most such zones have little or no light
at all). The sex drives of prostitutes or women making a living out of sex are
often exaggerated and misrepresented. Tucked away in the southern coast of
Orissa, Gopalpur-on-sea is a small town thronged by tourists for its sunny
beaches, shallow sea and quiet nights. Women from fishing community, who
generally sell fish in the local market, sometimes double up as prostitutes,
catering to the visitors.
The poem also deserves praise
because of Mahapatra’s highly commendable choice of words and his skillful
arrangement of words. For instance, the word “thrash” has metaphorically been used.
Then there is the originality of the line: “my mind thumping in the flesh’s sling.” There is also the sentence : “Silence gripped my sleeves,”
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