The protagonists of Anita Desai’s novels frequently attempt to ‘fight the current’, only to discover the complex relationship between freedom and responsibility. Sita in Where Shall We Go This Summer? (hereafter WS 1975), Bim in Clear Light of Day (hereafter CLD 1980), and Sophie in Journey to Ithaca (hereafter JI 1995), are women who resist the role imposed on them by their particular circumstances until they arrive at a level of awareness that demands the recognition of commitments that lead beyond the unitary self.