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PIEBALD TRIŚAŃKU : TIIE EURASIAN IN ANGLO-INDIAN nCTION 195

in Anglo-Indian fiction. Paul Scott has two scenes with this motif in Johanie

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Sahib and The Alien Sky respectively. Johns in the first novel ‘ has never been further west than Bombay, but from books and from talking to others... has formed for himself a vision of England and at last convinced himself he had been there—for it was a confession of mixed blood not to have been home.’³⁸ Bill Parish, the Englisłunan exposes him, when Johns says he has had his childhood in Buckinghamshire. Parish ’s searching questions about Buckinghamshire soon become morę difficult to answer for the poor Eurasian, and the Englishman takes pity on him by generously dropping the subject. Johns is however incurable. Later, when Jim Taylor mentions Ihat he hails from London, this is how Johns reacts : ‘ there was a palhetic eagemess in John‘s face as he waited for Jim to talk to him about London; talk that he could remember for other occasions; talk by which he could transport himself and make himself believe.’³⁹ Judy Anderson, the Eurasian girl in The Alien Sky is not as lucky as Johns, because unfortunately for her, her tormentor is a catty British woman — Cynlhia Mapleton, to whose over-developed sense of humour many things in India appear to be excruciatingly funny. She expertly dedates Judy’s claim that she hails from Brighton, by encouraging Eurasian girl to talk about the location and the topography of the place, and poor Judy is soon tying herself into knots.

One seldom finds a Eurasian trying to own up his Indian blood in Anglo-Indian fiction, and an attempt of this kind is most likely to end up in failure, as in the case of Victoria in Bhowani Junction. A Brilisher’s unsuccessful attempt to rape her proves to be a tuming point in Victoria’s life; ‘In a kind of unpleasant way I was grateful to him, because he had set me free. I have always admired the English, and like the rest of us, pretended to be morę English than I am. When Macaulay tried to rape me, he broke the chain. I was free... IT I wanted to tum to India, my home, I could.’⁴⁰ Later, she lells her falher (who himself is a Eurasian); ‘We are half Indian... But lhcre’s not going to be any place for half Indians soon. I can’t make myself a whole Indian, but I can show that I don't think of myself as whole English. I can show that I think India is my home.’⁴¹ She now thinks her quest can be attained with the help of Ranjit who admires her, but soon realizes that ‘however close I got to Ranjit there was always a thing like a very delicate gauze screen curtain hanging down between us. The pendulum then swings to the other extreme and she has a frantic aflair with Savage, the Englishman. But ever unsure of herself, she is worried whether she can give him a happy home and a family (provided of course that he is ready to make her his wife). Ultimatcly, she decides to go back to her first lover-Pairick, the Eurasian, with all his faults, he is at least fully her own.

The Eurasian sub-inspector in D. G. StolTs The Dove Found No Rest