The Supernatural Theme Analysis

Satyajit Ray’s literary works often incorporate elements of the supernatural, and “Fritz” is no different. In the story, the supernatural centers around Fritz, Jayanto’s old doll, and Ray uses Fritz to interrogate the relationship between memory and reality. Jayanto loved Fritz and played with him all the time. He even brought it with him on a family trip to Bundi where, unfortunately, it was destroyed by a couple of stray dogs. Because Fritz was “a European,” Jayanto believed a funeral to be the appropriate way to mark Fritz’s untimely passing, so he buried the doll in the garden of the circuit house. Though the memory of Fritz’s violent fate is at first difficult to recall, it soon becomes clear that it has deeply impacted Jayanto. Thirty-one years later, Jayanto is still so tormented by grief and guilt over what happened to Fritz that he believes the doll came to life, entered his room, and walked across his chest in the night. Later the next day, to get Jayanto’s mind off this doll, Shankar suggests that they dig up the place where Fritz was buried. Yet when they finally unearth his spot, what they find is a perfectly intact human skeleton, and this utterly terrifying conclusion incites more questions than it does answers about who Fritz actually was.

Thus the supernatural arises in moments of heightened fear and anxiety related to the untold story of Fritz’s identity. And because the supernatural is always associated with such heightened emotional states, it not only contributes to the buildup of narrative tension and suspense, but it also illustrates how Jayanto’s understanding of reality is impacted by these intense emotions. Through the mystery surrounding Fritz’s true identity, then, Ray skillfully incorporates the supernatural to show how unresolved events from the past will quite literally haunt the present. In doing so, he suggests that at the core of Jayanto’s fear and apprehension are childhood grief and guilt—feelings that can’t be rationally understood or categorized.