THE BURDEN OF CHOICE: EXISTENTIAL FREE-WILL AND MORAL RESPONSIBILITY IN FAIQA MANSAB’S THIS HOUSE OF CLAY AND WATER

Abstract

This paper moves beyond the prevalent socio-political and identity-based critiques of the novel. It explores its core philosophical dilemma. This dilemma is inescapable tension between individual free-will and social fate. Previous scholarship has largely analyzed the characters through feminist, queer, and psychoanalytic lenses. These studies focused on external oppression. This research employs a close reading informed by classical existentialism. It investigates the characters’ internal struggle with choice, self-deception and moral responsibility. The analysis specifically examines protagonist Nida's emotional isolation. This is not merely as a result of patriarchal constraint. It is also a consequence of her Sartrean "Bad Faith." This "Bad Faith" is her attempt to define herself by the essence of her marriage. The paper further interprets Bhanggi's quest for love. It is seen as an authentic Camusean revolt against a society that attempts to deny their free existence. Sasha’s eventual fate is interpreted as the tragic result of a series of conscious, heavy-laden choices. By shifting the critical focus from identity-based frameworks to the existential burden of choice, this paper argues something. It argues that the novel functions as an existential narrative. It showcases how the suffering of marginalized individuals is intensified. This happens when they are forced to confront their radical freedom in a rigidly prescriptive society. Ultimately, the novel's open-ended conclusion compels the reader to address universal questions. These are questions of faith, purpose, and the moral weight of being an agent in a seemingly absurd world.