Point of View

In An Obedient Father, Sharma uses a diversity of perspectives in order to explore the multifaceted ramifications of abuse. The majority of the novel is told from Ram’s first-person point of view. This choice forces the reader to grapple not only with the horrific impacts of rape, but with the motivations, emotions, and rationalizations behind the event itself. When Ram begins to abuse Anita, he reasons “since I was not harming her physically, the only danger I posed was to her mind. And this was not my responsibility. How could I be held accountable for the way she interpreted what I was doing” (97). In an act of radical empathy, Sharma pushes the reader to consider Ram’s own thoughts about his abuse of his daughter. The reader observes not only the harms that Ram commits against Anita, but the moral and spiritual injuries that...