Maya on the Spiritual Path: A Stylistic Analysis of Her Speeches in The Mystery Cave

Abstract

No previous attempt has been made to stylistically examine the central character of Maya in The Mystery Cave. In this paper, the authors aim to examine the speeches of Maya, particularly in part IV of the novella and claim that she evolves as a spiritually mature character towards the end of the story. This claim has been achieved by looking at the coherence and subject of her speech in part IV through stylistic examination. When we meet Maya in Part IV of the story, we see her as a Sadhavi, who gives well informed, structured and coherent speeches to her audiences. Her speeches analysed reveal her experiences and thoughtfulness of the concepts of society, religion and spirituality quite well. She talks about esoteric and exoteric religion and makes people understand the difference between the two and how to follow esoteric religion and become spiritual and humanitarian in ultimate terms.