Destroying Myths: Farrell and the British Raj in The Siege of Krishnapur

Abstract

The revolt in the Indian subcontinent against British rule in 1857 stirred the imagination of the British, who churned out books by the dozen to decry the savagery of the Indians who had turned against their benevolent British masters, who had ushered in an age of peace, progress, and prosperity. However, this myth of an Enlightened Empire was deconstructed in J.G. Farrell’s 1973 Booker-award-winning book, The Siege of Krishnapur. Basing his fictional city of Krishnapur on Lucknow, the fortitude (and ultimate victory) of whose British citizens was celebrated ad nauseam by English writers, Farrell exposes the ‘heroism’ of the British community and, in doing so, gently uncovers the myths that the British Raj had solidified around itself.