A Study Of Nature’s Role In Shaping Human Experience In Ruskin Bond’s The Room On The Roof

The present paper is an attempt to study the role of nature in shaping human experience in Ruskin Bond’s The Room on the Roof. Ruskin Bond is a well know and wide read short story writer and novelist of Indian English literature. Literature is the mirror of society. The character is the reflection of knowledge of the author. Ruskin Bond, through his characters let readers know the role of nature in shaping the life of a person. Rusty, the protagonist of the present novel, faces many challenges during his childhood to adolescence. Readers can mark the mental development of the protagonist through his behavior. The protagonist which readers meet in the opening pages of the novel totally changed at the end of the novel. By applying ecocritical approach, the present study investigates how natural landscapes reflect Rusty’s psychological and emotional turmoil while also acting as catalysts for his self-discovery. The study attempts to explain that nature in Bond’s narrative is not only a physical backdrop but also a formative force that influences protagonist’s growth and maturation. Rusty’s interactions with nature, he confronts his personal problems and challenges which ultimately lead to his emotional and psychological transformation.