Non - Detailed Text Sem I

1.    AN IDEAL FAMILY

-       KATHERINE MANSFIELD

Katherine Mansfield was one of the most prominent short story writers of New Zealand. Her work is characterized by a sense of isolation and loneliness. Her innovative style and sense of psychological acuteness have been prominent in the style of writing. “An Ideal Family” is an obvious contrast to the events in the story. There is a deep sense of irony in it.

Mr.Neave is a successful businessman. His home is dominated by his family. He was not recognized much in the family, dinners and parties. Mr. Neave was motivated to work hard in order to support his family and to accommodate their extravagant life style. Often complimented on his ideal family, Mr. Neave thought of his wife and children as an extension of his success in the business world. Having reached his own high standards he is disappointed by his children’s lack of discipline and ambition. He is especially disappointed in his son Harold. Harold was too handsome by far with his full lips and eyelashes. Charlotte, his wife and their daughters had made a “young God” of Harold. But Harold was unsuitable for the job he didn’t take the work seriously and had no idea how hard Mr.Neave had worked over the years to ensure the success of his enterprise.

Mr.Neave retires into sleep and dreams of an old man walking up an endless flight of stairs. This surreal imagery is used to symbolize Mr. Neave’s growing anxiety about his retirement and the unease he feels about the life he has led. Mr. Neave was told to dress for dinner. They were to have guests again tonight. Mr. Neave protested that he was too tired to dress but the girls persuaded him to ask Charles, the butler for help. Mr. Neave  joined the old man on the stairs and walked to his dressing room. There, Charles waited to help Mr. Neave change into new clothes. Afterwards Charles left Mr. Neave in the room.

His mind wandered and he saw the man again, now climbing down the stairs, going out the door and heading to the office. Mr. Neave called out for someone to stop the man and woke himself with a jolt. He must have fallen asleep. He heard the faraway voices of his family. They had forgotten him again.

He listened to them for a moment and concluded that he did not know who they were. They were strangers to him. Life had passed him by and he had spent far too many hours at the office and not enough at home. He did not know Charlotte as well as he wanted to. He thought this Charlotte could not be his wife. His wife was the Charlotte of many years ago, who wrapped her arms around his neck and called him “my treasure”. The rest of his life has passed by as if in a dream.

Then the door opened and Charles told Mr. Neave that dinner was ready and the old gentleman got up and said, “I’m coming, I’m coming”.    

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2. WAR

-       LUIGI PIRANDELLO

Luigi Pirandello was a dramatist, novelist, poet and short story writer. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1934. “War” is a tragic story about the grief of the parents of the slain soldiers. It also highlights the sense of the pain and hopelessness that war brings about in the lives of ordinary people. There is also a deep sense of patriotism in the story.

A husband and wife board a second-class railway carriage at dawn in Italy. They join the five people who have already spent the night in it. The woman is large and in deep mourning. Some of the passengers help her and make room for her.

The husband inquires if she’s alright but she doesn’t reply and covers her face with her collar. The husband explains to the others that their only son is being sent to the war in three days and they are going to see him off.

While one passenger says that his son has been sent from the very first day of the war, another says that he has two sons and three nephews at the front. Like this everyone there was in the same plight as the husband and wife. This sets off a passionate discussion as to who is sacrificing the most. The husband says if a father has two sons and loses one of them in the war, he has still one left to console him, whereas in their case they have only one son. But the other passenger responds that a parent of two sons has an obligation to live for his other son and thus can’t end his misery at his own hand.

Another passenger an old fat man interrupts them and asserts that their children don’t belong to them but to the country. They have interests of their own, including a love for their country and they gladly fight for it. They don’t want tears because if they die, they die happy. And dying young and happy is all anyone could want as it spares them of the boredom and disillusionment of life. That’s why he doesn’t even mourn the death of his own son. Saying this he stops there, his lips trembling and his eyes watery and motionless.

The old man explains their sorrow by saying that a parent’s love for their children is simply greater than their love for country. This is evidenced by any parents’ willingness to take their son’s place at the front. On the other hand a young person loves his country greater than he loves his parents.

The old man’s words were so inspiring that all the passengers agreed with him including the inconsolable wife. She finds strength in his words and listens to the old man who; tells about how his son died heroically for King and the Country without any regrets. All the other passengers congratulated the fat man for his stoicism and bravery.

Then suddenly the wife as if waking from a dream asks the old man, “Then… is your son really dead?” The question, though silly and incongruous makes the old man realize for the first time that his son was really gone forever. The thought weakened him and to the amazement of everyone, he broke into uncontrollable tears.

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3. THE VERGER

-       WILLIAM SOMERSET MAUGHAM

William Somerset Maugham was a British playwright, novelist and short story writer. He received numerous awards during his life time for his work in the field of literature. The writer highlights in this short story the strength of the human spirit that can triumph over all obstacles, through sheer courage and determination.

Albert Edward Foreman is a verger since sixteen years. He likes his job and does it as good as he can. Recently the vicar has died and a new one had been appointed. Albert Edward regretted his predecessor because the new one always wanted to control everything.

The vicar has a special talent which is to make babies stop crying when he is holding them. He wants to talk to Foreman. He is surprised to see the two church wardens with him. It seems for him that the two men did what the vicar want, but do not agree with him.

Before being a verger, Foreman was a servant in very good houses. The vicar told foreman that he has heard that he couldn’t read or write. Foreman confirms it. The vicar told him; that it is impossible to have a verger who couldn’t read or write. Foreman doesn’t want to learn so he will have to go.

He was polite until he was outside of the church, there he became sad. He doesn’t want to be servant again, because now he has been his own master. He wants a cigarette but cannot find a shop anywhere. The next day he opens a little shop and sets up a business as a tobacconist and newsagent.

Albert Edward did very well. With the time he opens more shops and becomes richer. One day the banker told him that he should invest all his money. The only thing he has to do is to sign the transfer, but because he can’t read that becomes a problem.

The banker is very surprised to see that this successful man can’t read or write. He is wondering what he would have now been, if he could read and write. Albert Edward answered that he would be a verger.

This story makes us think about the importance of good education. It is for certain that we need it, but the moral is that we have to do things with our knowledge.

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4. THE SCARE CROW

-       SATYAJIT RAY

Satyajit Ray was an illustrator, writer and a movie director who was acclaimed both nationally and internationally. He was not only one of the greatest film makers of India but also wrote many essays and criticisms on films and movements such as Italian neorealism. The shot story “The Scare Crow” is about a protagonist Mriganko Shekhar Mukhopadhyaya, a famous author who comes across certain revelations regarding an incident happened in his life, that create a dramatic twist in the story.

Mriganko Shekhar Mukhopadhyaya was a famous and popular writer of Calcutta. He was invited by a club in Durgapur in order to felicitate him in a cultural function. Now he was on his way back to Calcutta by car. As they were about to reach Panagarh, his car went out of petrol. The driver walked to Panagarh which is three miles away to fetch petrol. Mriganko Babu got out of the car and found himself stranded in the middle of nowhere.  

He looked around. It was the end of January. The fields were empty and barren, the pond was almost dried up and there were clouds in the sky, but it was quite sunny. There was no sign of habitation except. In the middle of the field was a scare crow. Through the sunlight he saw it was dressed in a red and black shirt. It reminded him of someone. He returned to the car and started to think over a new plot for his story.

Unable to get any idea for his story, he again came out of his car and stood on the road. Suddenly he felt the scarecrow was moving towards him. It came to life and spoke to him actually in a human voice. Mriganko Babu recognizes the voice to be that of Abhiram, an old servant who worked for him earlier. Abhiram accuses Mriganko of being unjust towards him. Mriganko recalled what had happened three years ago.

Abhiram had worked for his family for twenty years. One day Mriganko Babu had lost his gold watch and Abhiram was charged of stealing it. Mriganko’s father called a local witch doctor whose magic spell pointed at Abhiram as the thief. Though Abhiram denied the charge, everyone believed the witch doctor’s words and removed him from the job. Abhiram never worked anywhere. He fell ill due to dropsy and was never recovered. Now that he was dead, he wanted to make certain revelations that would prove his innocence. He told Mriganko to look under his wardrobe when he went home. There he would find his watch pushed to the back.  He also told that he had found peace after so many years having told the truth now. Saying this, the figure of Abhiram vanished before Mriganko Babu’s eyes. He woke up from his sleep and saw the scarecrow exactly in its place standing still.

After reaching home, he went straight into his room and found his watch under the wardrobe as Abhiram had told. He feels ashamed of himself and sorry for Abhiram. Had he not believed the witch doctor’s words then, he would never have suspected Abhiram’s loyalty.

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5. A VILLAGE LOST TO THE NATION

-       KRISHNA CHANDRA PUJARI

The present extract “A Village Lost ToThe Nation” by Krishna Chandra Pujari was published in Indian Express on 18^th March 2009. It is a poignant article by the author who relives the loss of his home to the Hirakud dam constructed by the government.

Jawaharlal Nehru, our first Prime Minister dedicated Hirakud dam in 1957. The main purpose of the Hirakud dam was to check the massive floods that were affecting a large part of coastal Odisha. But the construction of the dam greatly affected the natives of the western part of Odisha. Nearly 400 villages and 1,50,000 people were affected by this dam. Nearly 22,000 families were displaced as the water kept rising to maximum storage level of 630 feet.

The author could remember vividly that his own village Rampella which was among many vanished at the first. They remembered the original name of their village Ramyapalli which meant ‘the enchanting village’. Their heads were down and eyes choked in tears when they were forcibly evacuated from their village.

Due to the construction of the dam, many villages were submerged and people were displaced. He returned to visit his old dear village ruined by the river. He was nostalgic of his village where both the brothers used to play kabaddi and football. He, along with his parents recognized him tracing the temple remnants. They were upset that the rudimentary herbs which cured all kinds of ailments were now lost. He felt that he had lost his village forever in the depth of the reservoir.

While returning from there, the author felt a strong sense of loss. Choking with emotion he thought of those villagers who left the village decades ago. These concluding lines depict that a big sacrifice must be made to make one’s nation prosper.

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 6. MARTIN LUTHER KING AND AFRICA

-             CHINUA ACHEBE

Chinua Achebe was Nigerian novelist, poet, professor and critic. In the present essay Martin Luther King and Africa he draws out the complex issues of racial discrimination. Chinua Achebe discusses the legacy of Martin Luther King how he was able to fight racial discrimination and slave trade.

According to chinua Achebe, the death of Martin Luther King left a strong feeling that he had belonged to Africa in a special way. The author felt that his ancestors were brought to America from Africa. King had developed a strong vision in his early life to bring down the structures of racism by sheer moral force.

James Baldwin, African-American writer had called this historical alienation “the African Conundrum”. He lamented that the African history was an unnatural and indescribable crime of the horrendous transatlantic slave trade. In the words of Basil Davidson the distinguished British historian, it was ‘the greatest crime against humanity in the history of the world’.

King had established strong and strategic relationship with almost all the progressive leaders of Africa. When he was 28, King and his wife travelled to Ghana to participate in its independence celebrations in 1957. In the same year, he had urged the international community to protest against apartheid in South Africa. In 1962 King and Albert Luthuli of South Africa sponsored an ‘Appeal for Action Against Apartheid’ which recommended economic sanctions against the country.

Achebe thinks that King might have learnt many of his humanitarian values from Gandhiji. Through his life, Gandhiji taught King that human beings have a fundamental duty to respect the life even in the midst of a struggle. If they forget this obligation, they would cheapen their own lives and their very humanity.

Martin Luther attracted so many people, Blacks and Whites alike, through his charismatic leadership. People came in thousands to listen to his speeches because of the inspiration and hope. He inculcated through his matchless eloquence and oratorical skill. In his short span of life, he travelled far and wide and extended his support to all progressive leaders who campaigned against racial discrimination. He was assassinated in 1968 by a white racist and he was just thirty nine at that time.

There are two things that make us commemorate Martin Luther King with honour and celebration. First as a man who struggled to conquer in himself both fear and hate and secondly as a man who always stood with people in their struggle for freedom and justice.

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