Sieges are often thought of as events that took place long
ago and far away, in Medieval castles in foreign lands. The
Siege of Krishnapur is certainly geographically remote from Farrell’s own
birthplace of Liverpool, set as it is in the fictional town of Krishnapur in
the British Indian empire, but it is not historically removed from the present
day. Having based the fictional tale
upon the very real events of the Indian Rebellion
of 1857, Farrell explores the concept of the siege and uses the novel as a
metaphor for the assault on the ideology of colonialism, which was well
advanced by the time he was writing.
Krishnapur is a quiet outpost of the British Indian Empire,
where the class system is rigidly enforced and the British subjects attempt to
recreate a “Little Britain” in India.
The Collector is the de facto chief
of the colony and becomes concerned that the Indian sepoys may be planning a
mutiny, much to the ridicule of the British military around him. The Collector’s fears are proven to be
justified however and the residents of the garrison quickly barricade
themselves in to the compound. They have
to cope with ever increasing privations, as a result of dwindling food and
other supplies, which leave them squabbling among themselves as they attempt to
maintain their petty social hierarchies.
It isn’t just the residents who are under siege – the British class
system is as well. Farrell ridicules his
characters for trying to preserve their class structures while they have
nothing to eat but at the same time displays little sympathy for alternative
societal structures: he portrays the Chartist Magistrate as unsympathetic and
callous towards his fellows. Farrell seems
to convey little in the way of empathy for any of his characters and consequently
it is hard for the reader to like them; Fleury the poet is uselessly detached
from reality, Dr Dunstaple is more concerned about his professional rivalry
with Dr McNab than he is with curing his ever-increasing list of patients and
Lucy, the colony’s “fallen woman” is ridiculous as she holds a tea salon in the
rubble of the garrison’s dining room.
There are a number of metaphors for the destruction of
supposed progress; the Great
Exhibition at the Crystal Palace in London is frequently mentioned as a
beacon of civilisation and modernity. The
Collector owns a number of gadgets and prototypes that he acquired there of
which he is extremely proud; however these all ultimately end up being used as
ballast to shore up the siege defences or as ammunition for the garrison’s
cannons. In this Farrell suggests that
for all the supposed intellectual superiority of the British and for the
technological progress that they attempted to impose on their Indian subjects,
none of this would ultimately leave a meaningful legacy.
Farrell’s war saga is darkly humorous in places; the
ridiculousness of the women of the garrison fighting over where they will sleep
in the former billiard room, the absurdity of Fleury attempting to demonstrate his
military prowess in order to impress the attractive Louise Dunstaple and the
description of the ephemera loaded into the cannon would be inherently ridiculous
if the situation for the garrison wasn’t so bleak. Farrell revels in the absurd processes and
protocols of the Empire, exposing its pretensions and making them appear
ridiculous. Even the ending demonstrates
just how ignorant and out of touch the British are in their rule over their
Indian subjects.
Farrell was posthumously awarded the Lost Booker Prize for Troubles
in 2010, a novel that was published
three years prior to this one, and The
Siege of Krishnapur can be seen as another work that discusses the
disintegration of empire. Farrell wrote
at a time when many former British colonies had either gained their
independence or were emerging from postcolonial struggles and the novel is
undoubtedly a product of a time when the British Empire was being thoroughly
re-examined by people who were uncomfortable with its questionable past. The
Siege of Krishnapur is, for me, shocking in the portrayal of the complete
confidence of the British protagonists in their right to oppress and rule over
their Indian subjects; the Magistrate, for example, although a Chartist and
sympathiser with the rights of Workers, does not believe that these rights
should be extended to Indian citizens.
As a novel, The Siege
of Krishnapur is gripping and entertaining in equal measure, a good war
yarn for those who like that sort of thing, but is also a darkly humorous and
very sad story with a strong message.
Like a number of the other Booker winners I’ve read so far, it
demonstrates the dreadful consequences of one people’s attempt to subjugate
another and the unravelling of imposed social structures as these consequences
play out. The novel uses the siege as a
microcosm of the besieged concept of empire and the notion that it is
acceptable for one people to impose their norms, values and beliefs upon
another. As we continue to see British troops dying in
far-flung corners of our world, Farrell’s message is as relevant today as
it ever was.
