‘Roses Are Blood Red’ : A Review
Love is a rather vague idea, and it has different notions among individuals. For some it exists and for others it doesn’t. But at the end of the day, aren’t we all hopelessly looking for it?
Imagine a world where you look for love and end up finding a man who hurts you. And I do mean emotionally. I mean physically, sexually! The idea is horrifying!
In a country where the news of rapes are common, everyday a women is burnt alive or murdered after rape. This is the reality being dealt with in this book.
While the protagonist works in the Army, there are no intentions to create unrest in the minds of the readers. We have raised eyes on the safety and security and on the Nobel professions of Army and Surgeon.
The novel Roses are Blood Red by Novoneel Chakraborty has depicted the dangerous side of true love through this thriller. While the prologue itself sent chills down my spine! What love is this? What violence cloaked in love! If this is the kind of true love we are talking about then I would prefer to abandon all desire to find it!
As the story unfolds, it seems to leave deliberate hints for the reader. It invokes thought and interpretation.
The villainous character of the story is a master mind ages around the latter teens (a high school boy whose age is not mentioned). He burns three men alive in a cylinder blast, and hurts a classmate with hot oil. These serial killings don’t come to a stop but grow worse with age. He becomes a man of filled with rage.
He joins the army and takes violence to another level, cutting fingers, amputating and what not. As there is no law and order working in the story, the so called true lover is the one trying to do justice by killing or harming people. The book defines chaos and disorder, perfectly.
The female perspective to the story reflects upon a certain lost and naïve approach pf women towards love that we often see around us. While the story is a hyperbolic representation, we still see so many women staying in abusive relationships and marriages even when they can have a way out.
Despite knowing some chilling facts about the protagonist, women in the story still keep falling in love with him.
Binny, a childhood best friend, is the first women to fall in love with the protagonist. Living a married life in Delhi, still wishes to have her childhood lover back. She even considers him to be her husband without a wedlock.
Samiha, a drug addict who lost the love of her life and tries to help the protagonist in reducing his pain and void. They are there to fulfil each other’s sexual needs. Samiha falls in love after knowing the pain of her ‘Captain’, the protagonist. A man of many secrets, who reveals the mystery by the end.
Aarisha Shergill, the name played two roles in the story. First one was the lover of Vanav Thakur who got married to a man and moved to U.S. because Vanav was too young for her. Vanav could meet his ‘Ranisa’ (Aarisha Shergill) only after her death.While talking about the writing aspect of the novel, characters are explicitly mentioned, but their portrayal is lost somewhere.
It was hard to frame an image of the characters. With Chapters designed in a way to drop suspicion deliberately for the readers instead of letting them evolve it on their own. Even the time when the events happened in the past was not mentioned. It could have made more sense by creating a connection.
Climax of the story set the higher expectations and the falling actions maintained its pace. While there was one and another thing happening as if the mystery was placed on the platter. We reached the final resolution of the story in no time.
The suicidal attempt made it final resolution to take a step back for the story. One cannot seek mercy when you are a culprit of the society and still the protagonist was placed at a higher state at the end. It’s like we should feel bad for the culprits of the society.
While the strong message passed by the novel is the submissiveness of the women when it comes to love. Our ability to take actions, have suspicion on the other person is underestimated. Women fail to call a criminal a criminal when she is in love with the one.
Though the language used was simple to cater a general audience and the philosophy with which love is described weaving the words could make it a delight to read such as “The essence of companionship isn’t togetherness is what I’ve understood, Ranisa. Love is a soul choice, not a physical obligation and when something stems from a spiritual decision, being present or absent doesn’t matter. “
The book might not be a great read with the ideas it may spread with women submission in this progressive world. Yet it describes the crime that are taking place in the name of love and if we can seriously raise an eye on the Nobel profession and law and order of our country when it comes to crime.
