சிவசங்கரி நாவல்களில் பாத்திரங்களும் பண்புகளும்: Characters and Their Qualities in the Novels of Sivasankari

Sivasankari is a notable writer among modern Tamil novelists. She records the thoughts and feelings of ordinary people with a realistic approach, and her ideas reach the reader mainly through her characters. This paper studies four principal characters – Raji and Sampath in Vaḷartta Kaṭā and Bharath and Mohana in Āyuḷ Taṇṭaṉai – in the light of the theory of characterisation in fiction. It shows how the novels set love, sacrifice and care for the elderly against the corrupting effects of excess wealth and of poverty. The study argues that, for Sivasankari, life becomes beautiful when people help one another and make sacrifices, and that poverty without right guidance can push a person onto a wrong path. Her novels thus stand out as ethical, realistic works that give primary importance to the human mind and emotions.