The Ice Cracks for Frozen Flow: Comprehending the Irony of Development through Metaphor of Water

Abstract

Water, one of the five elements, runs through the course of evolution as life line. Conceived as the source of origin, sustenance and annihilation, it is believed to be the crux of existence. Whether scientific or mythical, it serves as the foundation of cyclical nature of life that begins with Ice Age and ends in great Deluge. Water, being chiefly conceived as the life giving fluid, is mainly associated with the flow that designates existence. But interestingly, the flow of water does not remain restricted to single form or shape. Through its adaptability, malleability and transforming flamboyance, it narrates the beauty, splendour, exoticism, functionality, and dynamism inherent in nature. In literary and cultural discourses water emerges as a chief motif to communicate concrete as well as abstract realities of life. Envisaged in myriad forms such as haze, mist, fog, frost, ice, vapour, and so on it appears in various semblances and disguise to whisper some message in human ears. Its dripping sound echoes the essence of being. Creating a wondrous spectrum of variability, it extends from tiny dew drops to vast oceans. In fact, the metaphor of water serves one of the foundational artistic imagery of visualising life. Present paper studies how water is projected in our literary and cultural discourses to comprehend various experiential truths of human civilisation. It probes into the mystery of incredulous development of humankind that amazes with its incredible achievements. Human civilisation may boast of its consistent progress over the years, but literary delineations in the metaphorical renderings of water question how far do we agree with the progressive march of humankind. What are the ironies that constitute the dilemma of human rationality and the development of a civilisation across cultures?