Union and Division Between Body and Mind

Throughout One Part Woman, the author explores the relationship between the individual's body and mind, and illustrates the psychic turmoil caused when the two are at odds. Through Kali's constant mental wanderings, the author shows the ways in which the mind is capable of upsetting the body's sense of grounding and engagement with the circumstances of the present. Because Kali is so distressed by familial and cultural pressures to have a child and his inability to impregnate his wife, he often retreats to the annals of his memory and past. The result is an overarching sense of narrative disorientation, which mimics Kali's psychic instability.

In Chapter 5, when Kali recalls visiting the priest at the temple of Devatha, the narrator explains the cultural importance of sharing one's body and mind with his wife. In order to achieve ultimate balance and peace...