Explore the powerful summary of “Mother of 1084” by Mahasweta Devi — a poignant tale of a mother’s awakening to her son’s revolutionary life and death in the Naxalite movement.
Mother of 1084 Summary By Mahasweta Devi
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Summary of Mother of 1084 By Mahasweta Devi
Introduction
“Mother of 1084” is the story of a suffering mother who confronts the truth of society after the death of her son. This novel is not just a personal tragedy, but exposes the entire social and political structure that hides injustice and considers silence as civilization.
Mother of 1084 Character Analysis
1. Sujata – Brati’s mother
The main character and the soul of the novel:
Sujata is an ordinary housewife, but in the novel she comes across as an extraordinary mother. When she is told that her son’s corpse has got the number 1084, she is broken from within, but this pain gives her the strength to think and understand.
Awareness of social injustice:
Initially she was a woman who accepted the rules of society, but Brati’s death becomes a turning point in her life. She is confronted with questions she never thought of before – such as poverty, exploitation in society, and the need for a youth revolution.
Mother’s struggle and questions:
Sujata is not just a mother of a son, she becomes a representative of all those mothers whose sons are lost to the system. Her suffering empowers her. She sets aside her husband, other children and the pretenses of society to search for the truth.
Symbol of women empowerment:
Sujata gradually becomes a strong woman who tries to understand her son’s thoughts and struggle. She finds her identity in that male-dominated society.
2. Brati – Revolutionary son
Symbol of revolution:
Brati is a young boy who raises his voice against injustice and exploitation. He was associated with the Naxalite movement, which stood against the system.
A young man with values and ideals:
Brati’s personality was very honest, courageous and just. He had a different way of thinking from his family’s beliefs. He was aware of the realities of society and was ready to bring about a change.
Alive even after death:
Brati’s life may have ended, but his thoughts, ideas and ideals live on in Sujata. The revolution within his mother is born because of him.
3. Divyakar Bose – Sujata’s husband
Symbol of traditional man and system:
Divyakaar is a high-ranking government official, who considers the rules and prestige of society paramount. He considers Brati’s death shameful and rejects Sujata’s questions.
Emotionless and selfish:
Power, money and name are the biggest values for him. He wants authority in the family but is not emotional in relationships. He calls Brati’s ideology a ‘rebellion’ and hates it.
Contradictory Character:
She is not as sensitive as Sujata, but her mindset represents that section of the society which wants to crush every revolution.
4. Nandini / Tony Kapoor
Brati’s partner and Sujata’s eyes:
Tony was Brati’s partner, who was a part of the movement. She knew the world in which Brati decided to live. She meets Sujata and exposes Brati’s thinking.
Representative of new thinking and new generation:
Tony is a strong-minded young woman, who wants to change the society. She makes Sujata aware and gives direction to her thinking.
Mother-Son Bridge:
Tony’s character becomes a bridge between Sujata and Brati, through which Sujata is able to know the reasons behind her son’s death.
5. Neha, Tushar, and other children
Selfish and compromising children:
Sujata’s other children are settled in the rules of the society. They do not have the courage to think like Brati. For them, life is just about living in comfort and convenience.
Distance from mother:
They do not understand their mother’s pain and leave her alone. These children represent that generation of modern society which turns a blind eye even when it sees injustice.
6. Police and administration
Inhuman face of power:
In the novel, police and power are shown to be ruthless, which kills young people like Brati considering them to be “terrorists”. They do not treat them as humans, they just make them a ‘corpse number 1084’ and leave them.
Cruelty of the system:
When Sujata goes to identify the body, the attitude of the officers there is inhuman. They are insensitive, harsh and arrogant.
7. Collective character of society
Silent spectator and masked face:
In the novel, society is such a character which sees everything, knows everything, but does nothing. Everyone remains silent on the death of young people like Brati because it does not affect their ‘comfort zone’.
A world of pretense:
Everything is pretended to look good in the society, but everything is rotten from the inside. Sujata gradually recognizes this truth.
Detailed Summary
The heroine of this work is Sujata – an ordinary woman who is bound by her family, home, relationships and social norms. But when her son Brati is killed in a police encounter and his body remains just “body number 1084” in government papers, a new chapter of thinking begins in Sujata’s life.
Conflict between society and mother’s silence
Sujata is a mother who earlier used to see life within the confines of her husband and children. She stays quiet, doesn’t question, and does what is expected of “a good wife and mother”. But when she gets a call from the police informing her of Brati’s death, she is shocked.
Her son has been declared a militant. But the mother’s heart is not ready to believe that her son was just a ‘criminal’. She wants to know what her son thought, what paths he followed and why he chose such a life. The urge to know takes her out of her own world.
Brati – Not a revolutionary, but a sensitive soul
Brati, a university student, was uncomfortable with the unjust conditions of his time. Exploitation of the poor, oppression of the authorities, and the false facade of society were unacceptable to him. So he chose the path of rebellion – a path that was not easy, but true.
His aim was not to overthrow the government, but to bring a system of equality and justice in society. But by declaring him a terrorist, he was deprived of his identity. This incident was not just the death of a son — it was the murder of an idea.
Sujata’s Awakening – The Soul’s Journey of Rebirth
When Sujata meets Brati’s old friends after his death — like Nandini, who has also suffered atrocities — she realises that Brati’s life had much more depth than she had imagined. He was a fighter, a thinking person.
This is the point where Sujata’s consciousness awakens. She is no longer just a mother, but a human being who sets out to find the truth. The question that has been suppressed within her for years now bursts into words — is motherhood limited to just parenting, or is understanding your child’s soul also a part of it?
1084 – A Body Number or the End of True Identity?
In government records, Brati’s name is not recorded, but only as body number 1084. It is a number that robs him of his identity. He becomes just a statistic — neither a human being, nor a part of history.
But for Sujata, this number is everything. It is the number that wakes her up from her sleep, forces her to think, and gives her a new life. “1084” is no longer just a number, but a proof of the tyranny of power that tries to erase the truth.
Silence of the family, silence of the society
After Brati’s death, not only the society, but Sujata’s own family also wears a veil of silence. Her husband Divyan – who is a government officer – considers this incident a “family stigma”. Her daughters, relatives, even her mother-in-law repeatedly tell her that “now forget everything, life must move on.”
But Sujata does not listen to anyone now. She realizes that the silence which she considered a virtue till now, was her biggest weakness. And now she decides to break that silence and bring out the reality of Brati.
Unique expression of women’s consciousness
This novel is a wonderful depiction of the inner struggle of a woman. Sujata is a traditional woman who served everyone all her life, always sacrificed herself for others. But when her son was taken away from her, she started asking questions to herself.
Now she started wondering what her own identity was? Was her existence limited to being only someone’s wife, mother and daughter-in-law? Bharati’s death filled her with a new energy – the energy to think, understand and free her soul.
Mahasweta Devi’s social view
Through this creation, the author has shown a mirror to the society which neither accepts the truth, nor those who question the system. This novel is based on the conflict of power, society, morality, motherhood and thoughts.
This is not just Bharati’s story. It is the story of every youth who stands up for his dreams and also of every mother who stands behind him – even if late, but strongly.
Conclusion – When a mother not only gives birth but also gives thoughts
“Mother of 1084” is a work that shakes us. It tells us that a mother’s love is not limited to the life of her child, but it can also live in her thoughts.
Only when Sujata accepted that her son was not wrong, did she truly forgive, understand and accept him. This novel teaches us that becoming a mother is not just a biological process, but also an ideological responsibility.
Last question to the readers
Are we also ready to give space to ideas like Brati’s in our society?
Do we also have the courage to recognize a “1084” as a human being and not just a number?
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