Cato, a Tragedy by Joseph Addison | Characters, Summary, Analysis

Hello and welcome to the Discourse. Joseph Addison was an English essayist, poet, playwright, and politician who along with Richard Steele began the trend of periodic journals with The Tatler and The Spectator. William Thackeray portrayed Addison and Steele as characters in his novel The History of Henry Esmond which was published in the year 1852. Joseph Addison took birth in 1672. He was educated at Charterhouse School London and later on, he joined The Queen’s College, Oxford for higher studies. He became a close friend of Richard Steele during the schooldays.

Joseph Addison was a supporter of the Whigs. He met Jonathan Swift in Ireland and together they established the Kitkat Club in 1709. Richard Steele began publishing The Tatler in the same year and Addison began publishing his satirical social and political critical essays for The Tatler. Along with Steele, Joseph Addison began publishing the daily periodical The Spectator on March 1, 1711. Addison was a major contributor to The Spectator. The Spectator continued till December 1714. Steele began taking a lesser part in the publishing of periodicals. In 1713, Steele founded another daily periodical titled The Guardian that featured contributions from Joseph Addison, Thomas Tickell, Alexander Pope, and Ambrose Philips. During the same time, Alexander Pope began translating Illiad by Homer while Thomas Tickell was also working on the same project. Joseph Addison supported the translation of Tickell and this angered Alexander Pope. Pope was a friend of Addison and yet he lampooned him in his Epistle to Doctor Arbuthnot as Atticus in which Pope presented Addison as having great talent that is diminished by fear and jealousy.

One of the most celebrated works of Addison was his drama titled Cato, a Tragedy that he wrote in 1712 and which was first performed on 14^th April 1713.

The play is based on the last days of Marcus Porcius Cato Uticenses, or Cato the Younger who resisted the tyranny of Julius Caesar and stood in favor of republicanism against monarchism. Alexander Pope wrote the prologue of this play while Samuel Garth wrote the epilogue.

Characters of Cato, A Tragedy:

Cato the Younger, whose full name is Marcus Porcius Cato Uticensis, is a Stoic Roman senator who values virtue, honor, and individual liberty above all else. He is the leader of the remaining senators who opposed Julius Caesar’s tyrannical campaign to establish a monarchy in Rome. While most of the senators and supporters of Republicanism were suppressed and eradicated by Caesar, Cato still stood his ground and fled from Caesar's legions to Utica, Tunisia. His deeds, rhetoric, and resistance to the tyranny of Julius Caesar made him an icon of republicanism, virtue, and liberty. Gaius Julius Caesar isn’t an active character in the play but the plot revolves around him. After defeating Pompey in the civil war, Caesar became the dictator of Rome and abolished the senate and thus ensured the demise of the Roman Republic while giving birth to the Roman Empire. Marcus and Proteus are Cato’s twin sons while Marcia is his daughter. Sempronius is another senator who sided with Cato against Caesar. Sempronius wished to marry Martia but Cato rejected his offer and thus, Sempronius resents Cato and plans to betray him to Caesar in exchange for Marcia's hand. Syphax is a Numidian counsel of Juba. Juba is the Numidian prince whose father Scipio was killed by Julius Caesar during the battle of Thapsus. Juba idolizes Cato and leads his army in support of Cato against Caesar. Lucius is another senator who loyally supports Cato but realizes that Julius Caesar cannot be defeated in war and thus, calls for peace. Lucia is the daughter of Lucius and a friend of Marcia.

Summary of Cato, A Tragedy:

The play begins as Marcus and Protius discuss the war against Caesar. They praise their father Cato the Younger’s bravery and assure each other of their father’s victory. Marcus reveals that he is in love with Lucia, the daughter of Senator Lucius. Proteus too likes Lucia who is a friend of their sister Marcia. Sempronius arrives and praises Proteus and Marcus for their bravery and says that he too believes that Cato will defeat the tyranny of Caesar. Proteus and Marcus move out for their military duties and as soon as they go, Sempronius reveals his two intentions and says how much he hates Cato and his entire family because Cato refused his marriage to Marcia whom he lusts for. Sempronius reveals his treachery and plans to betray Cato and make an alignment with Caesar who he believes will raise him to first honor and forcibly claim Marcia.

Sempronius meets Syphax, his Numidian ally, and suggests to him persuade Juba to support Caesar and marshal his Numidian armies against Cato. Syphax agrees with Sempronius and goes to Juba to discuss the matter. When Juba hears of the treachery, he rebuffs Syphax and claims that he will never betray Cato. Syphax returns to Sempronius and complains that Juba idolizes Cao and his daughter Marcia too much. This further fills Sempronius with jealousy.

Meanwhile, Juba sees Lucia and Marcia and proclaims his love for Marcia. Marica gets annoyed and says that her father would not approve of wasting such precious moments in talks of love during such a dire situation. Juba apologizes and goes away to mend his Numidian army. Lucia chides Marcia for being too harsh against Juba. Marcia says that she cannot be overcome by love at a time like this. Lucia reveals that she is in love with Porteus but is worried about Marcus’s temper and the “sad effect” that their love will have on him. Marcia requests Lucia to control her feelings for Protius until the war is won, lest she creates more chaos in Cato's house.

At the court, Cato calls for a meeting of the remaining senate to discuss how to stop Caesar from further advancing. Lucius pleads for peace and states that enough blood has been needlessly shed and that it is time for Rome to yield to Caesar. However, no one supports Lucius. Sempronius, who already plans to betray Cato, calls for war, arguing that it is time for Rome to avenge the deaths of Scipio and others with fire and fury. Cato listens to all the senators and says that both Lucius and Sempronius are only half correct. He says that it is not a time to show unnecessary bravery nor it is a time to embrace cowardice. He says that he will continue to fight Caesar until he reaches Uticia and then only he will bargain for peace. He further says that he will immediately stop the war and be merciful towards Caesar if he surrenders now and stands trial in the Senate. Cato sends an envoy with the message of the decision of his court to Caesar.

Juba enters the court and praises Cato’s brave decision and promises to stand by him till his last breath. Cato expresses his gratitude to Juba and promises to offer Juba whatever he wants once the war ends. Juba dares and reveals his love for Marcia and asks for her hand in marriage. This angers Cato as he cannot think of marrying his daughter to a Numidian and he storms out of the court.

Meanwhile, Marcus goes to Protius and reveals how love-sick he is feeling. He says that he cannot live without Lucia and he wishes to marry her at any cost. Proteus listens to Marcus patiently and doesn’t reveal to him that he and Lucia are already having a love relationship. He goes to Marcia and tells her that Marcus is deeply in love with her and is suffering because of his unrequited love. He says that if they continue their relationship, and if Marcus came to know about it, he will be heartbroken. Lucia remembers Marcia’s pleading and suggestion that she should control her feelings for Protius otherwise it will further weaken their family. Lucia declares that she will end her relationship with Protius but she will remain a maiden throughout her life.

Proteus goes to Marcus and tells him that Lucia is too hurt by the ongoing war and she has declared that she will never marry. Marcus gets sad and says that if he cannot marry Lucia, he will prefer to fight for his father against his enemies till his last breath and die as a martyr.

Sempronius and Syphax continue to incite Juba to rebel against Cato but Juba is too loyal towards Cato and says that after his father’s death, Cato is the only person he respects like his father and he will never betray him. Sempronius realizes that this plan will not work and hence he decides to plot his own rebellion. He incites a group of soldiers against Cato and sends them to arrest him. When the soldiers confront Cato, he addresses them with a passionate speech and all the soldiers turn their hurt and vow to remain loyal to Cato.

Sempronius realizes that Cato cannot be defeated until the troops remain so loyal to him. He decides to abduct Marcia and abscond with her to join Caesar’s forces. He disguises himself as Juba to gain entry to Marcia's apartments. However, Juba himself finds him first and, realizing his treachery, kills him. Marcia sees Sempronius’s body dressed as Juba and mistakes it to be the dead body of Juba. She cries for Juba claiming that she always loved him and he died before she could admit her love for her. Juba listens to her while remaining hidden behind the curtains. He reveals himself and tells Marcia all about Sempronius’s treacherous plan against Cato. Marcia embraces Juba while admitting her love for him.

Meanwhile, Syphax succeeds in gathering Numidian soldiers against Juba and Cato. He leads the soldiers to attack Cato. When Marcus learns this, he angrily goes alone to confront Syphax. He kills many rebellious soldiers and slains Syphax but the soldiers outnumber him and he too dies during the fight. When Cato learns that Marcus got killed while defending him, he praises Marcus while condemning Sempronius and Syphax. He declares that instead of mourning his son, everyone should mourn the fallen Roman Republic, which Marcus died to protect. He then announces that he intends to surrender Utica to Caesar.

However, before surrendering, he decides to kill himself as a free man. He laments that "the world was made for Caesar," and not for virtuous men. He then uses his sword against his abdomen. As he is dying, Marcia and Protius reach his apartment. They try to save him but it is too late. He Cato gives Marcia his blessing to marry Juba, who he declares is a Numidian with "a Roman soul." He also gives Portius his blessing to marry Lucia. Portius curses that they live in the kind of "guilty world" that takes the lives of honest people like Cato and leaves villains like Caesar victorious. He declares that the tragic story of Caesar's conquest will stand forever in history as a warning to all nations of the dire cost of civil war. After Cato’s death, Portius praises him as “the greatest soul that ever warmed a Roman breast” and says “fierce contending nations” should know of what “dire effects from civil discord flow.”

So this is it for today. We will continue to discuss the history of English literature. Please stay connected with the Discourse. Thanks and Regards!

Rabbit, Run by John Updike | Characters, Summary, Analysis

Hello and welcome to the Discourse. John Updike was an American poet, short story writer, novelist, and literary critic. He won two Pulitzer Prizes for fiction for his novels Rabbit is Rich (in 1982) and Rabbit at Rest (1991). He is known for his Rabbit series of novels in which he carved the character of Henry Rabbit Angstrom, a middle-class American everyman. His Rabbit series is considered his magnum opus in which he wrote four novels, Rabbit Run (1960), Rabbit Redux (1971), Rabbit is Rich (1981), and Rabbit at Rest (1990). In addition, he also wrote a novella titled Rabbit Remembered which was published in 2001.

Characters of Rabbit, Run:

Harry Armstrong is a 26 years old married man who used to be a star basketball player during his school days. However, he failed to attain much success and now he works as a kitchen gadget salesman. He is nicknamed Rabbit for his looks and athleticism. Just like the anecdotal rabbit, Harry never completes the race but takes rest much before the completion. Janice Armstrong is Rabbit’s wife and her childhood love. They were hastily married when Rabbit was only 21 because she got pregnant. Though Janice loves Rabbit, there are tensions between them. She is addicted to alcohol while Rabbit is a careless man. Jack Eccles is a Church minister who likes Rabbit and wishes to help him. He is too much inclined towards religion and just like Rabbit, ignores his familial responsibilities. Ruth Leonard is a single woman in her late 20s. She used to be a prostitute in the past. Nelson is the two-year-old son of Rabbit and Janice and Rebecca is their infant child. Lucy Eccles is the wife of Jack Eccles who is unhappy in her marriage. She blames religion for her husband’s indifference towards her. Ronnie Harrison is also an unsuccessful former basketball player. Rabbit and Ronnie used to play for the same team during the schooldays but both were bitter competitors. Margaret Kosko is a friend of Ruth Leonard who is dating Ronnie. Marty Tothero is the former basketball coach of Rabbit and Ronnie. He used to be a skilled and popular coach but lost his job because of some scandal.

Summary of Rabbit, Run:

The novel begins as Harry Armstrong nicknamed Rabbit is returning home from his business as a kitchen gadget salesman. He sees that some kids are playing a basketball match on the street of Mt. Judge. As Rabbit sees the game, he remembers the old days when he used to be a star basketball player on his school team. He was the most prized player of his coach Marty Tothero but now he is leading a boring, mundane life with not much success or satisfaction. He works as a kitchen gadget salesman and often fails to achieve the targets. Furthermore, his married life is also not going well. For a while, he forgets all his troubles and joins the boys to play the game. After some time, he returns home.

At home, he comes to know that his wife Jaine is again pregnant while they already have a two-year-old son. The two quarrel for some minor reason and then Janice sends irritated Rabbit to fetch some grocery items. Rabbit is so much angry that he decides to leave Mt. Judge and go far away and thus, he moves his car towards the interstate highway. He decides to go to Florida and after driving for a while, he stops for fuel and directions. However, he fails to find any map of Florida. Instead, the fuel station manager tells him, “The only way to get somewhere, you know, is to figure out where you’re going before you go there.” Perplexed, Rabbit leaves the fuel station and moves on. He fails to find out the route and gets lost. He finally turns around and heads back to Mt. Judge but instead of going back home, he decides to go and meet Marty Tothero, his former basketball coach. Marty Tothero is also as broke as Rabbit as he too lost his job as the head coach because of some scandal. Both decide to go to the town and have a fun time. In the town, he meets Ruth Leonard and Margaret Kosko and manages a double date with Marty. However, Margaret looks at Marty with contempt. Rabbit and Marty learn that Margaret is dating Ronnie who used to be Rabbit’s teammate. Meanwhile, Ruth and Rabbit develop a nice rapport and Rabbit spends the night in Ruth’s apartment. They both grow very fond of each other and spend two months together.

Meanwhile, Janice is alone at home and she is pregnant. She decides to go back to her parent’s home. When local minister Jack Eccles comes to know about Rabbit’s estrangement, he decides to try bringing him back to his wife and children. Jack meets Rabbit and develops a friendship with him. He invites him to the public golf course where he teaches him how to play gold while suggesting that he must return to his family. Rabbit starts visiting Jack at his home and learns that Jack himself is leading an unhappy married life and his wife, Lucy Eccles is too frustrated by Jack’s leaning towards religion.

Meanwhile, Rabbit has left his job as a kitchen gadget salesman and has started tending the huge garden of Mrs. Smith who is a 75 years old widowed woman and likes Rabbit. Ruth is now a month pregnant yet, she has not revealed this to Rabbit. One day, Rabbit learns that Ruth was in a relationship with Ronnie Harrison, his old teammate. This angers Rabbit who enquires more about her past relationship with Ronnie. Ruth admits that they had casual sex and she used to give him fellatio. This further irritates Rabbit and he forces Ruth to give him a blowjob. Though Ruth submits, her service fails to calm Rabbit down. During the same night, Jack Eccles calls Rabbit to inform him that Janice has been admitted to the hospital as she is in labour. Rabbit hastily leaves Ruth and goes to the hospital. That night, after seeing Janice, Rabbit feels as if he has started a new life. He thanks Eccles and puts the affair with Ruth behind him.

While Janice is still recovering in the hospital, Rabbit moves back into their old apartment with his son Nelson and cleans the place up while spending quality time with the boy. He starts working for Janice’s dad in the business of selling used cars. Janice returns home after some days and finds the house well-maintained. She feels elated and decides never to touch alcohol again. Rabbit and Janice try to strengthen their family for a while but things go sour sooner than expected. Rebecca, the newly born child continues to cry the whole night while Rabbit finds himself consumed with lust for his wife, who is now more or less incapable of having sex. Janice’s disinterest in sex further irritates Rabbit who starts visiting Jack Eccles’s Church and home. He starts flirting with Lucy and one day, he playfully smacks Lucy’s bottom that startles Lucy but she doesn’t complain. The next day, when Rabbit goes to Jack’s home, he learns that he went to the Church. Lucy invites him inside the house which Rabbit mistakes as an invitation for an extramarital affair and says that he is a married man and he won’t engage in an extramarital affair. This angers Lucy who closes the door of her home in Rabbit’s face forever.

Rabbit returns home with a determination to have sex with Janice. He offers some alcohol to Janice. Janice has already stopped drinking but Rabbit insists that a little alcohol won’t harm her. As Janice feels the effect of alcohol, Rabbit tries to have sex with her but she snaps back and shouts "I'm not your whore" - he walks out and wanders the town. Janice becomes wracked with fear and despair, certain that Rabbit has left her again. In her fear, she drinks more alcohol and finally, in a drunken hysteria, accidentally drowns Rebecca in the bathtub.

Rabbit doesn’t return home but he calls Jack Eccles and comes to know that his newly born child is dead. This fills him with sorrow and remorse. He goes to the home of Janice’s parents where she is staying. He apologizes to her and promises to make a strong bond with her again. The husband and wife unite for a while but just after the funeral of Rebecca, Rabbit feels a sudden awakening. He questions himself if he is the reason for the death of Rebecca and thinks that he is certainly not. Janice sees him with questioning eyes to which he gets irritated and shouts "Don't look at me...I didn't kill her."

Rabbit runs away again and reaches to Ruth’s apartment where he learns that Ruth is pregnant. He is happy to know that despite being mistreated by him, Ruth didn’t abort the child. He promises Ruth that he will never leave her and will be a good father to their child. Ruth says that if he wants to live with her, he must divorce Janice, otherwise, he must forget her and her child. Ruth agrees to divorce Janice and marry Ruth. He goes out to bring some food for Ruth but as soon as he comes out of her apartment, he finds himself confused again. He wonders how can he divorce Janice and if he does so, what will happen to Nelson, his two-year-old son. He contemplates and decides that he cannot leave Janice ever and thus, he runs away from Ruth and the ensuing responsibilities.

So this is it for today. We will continue to discuss the history of American English literature. Please stay connected with the Discourse. Thanks and Regards!

Rappaccini’s Daughter by Nathaniel Hawthorne | Characters, Summary, Analysis

Hello and welcome to the Discourse. Rappaccini’s Daughter is a short story written by Nathaniel Hawthorne that was first published in 1844 in a magazine and later on, was republished in 1846 in the collection of short stories by Harthorne titled Mosses from an Old Manse.

The story is an allusion to the Biblical story of the Book of Genesis with the role reversal of Adam and Eve. Hawthorne applied a literary jocular device before beginning the story and suggests that he is merely translating a French story written by a little-known French writer named Monsieur Aubépine However, Aubepine is the French word for the shrub of Hawthorne.

Characters of Rappaccini’s Daughter:

Giovanni Guasconti is a student at the University of Padua in Italy. He is a young attractive man who falls in love with Beatrice, the young, beautiful daughter of Doctor Giacomo Rappaccini. Giovanni lives near the poisonous garden of Rappaccini and sees Beatrice tending the plants of the garden from the window of his room. Dr. Rappaccini is a brilliant scientist with a flaw in that he considers science above humanity. He cultivates an extraordinarily beautiful but poisonous garden and he also has a beautiful daughter who gradually becomes poisonous too as her whole life is spent near the poisonous trees of his garden. Professor Pietro Baglioni is a medical professor at Padua University. He is a friend of Giovanni’s father and he is mentoring Giovanni at the University. Baglioni is jealous of Rappacini’s success at his work and wishes to defeat him anyhow. Dame Lisabetta is an old woman who takes care of Giovanni’s room.

Summary of Rappaccini’s Daughter:

The story begins as Giovanni Guasconti visits Padua to pursue his education at University. He rents a “desolate and ill-furnished apartment” on the top floor of an old house. The old house once belonged to the now-extinct Scrovegni family. The house is now owned by Dame Lisabetta who suggests he look out to the beautiful garden visible from the window of the room. Lisabetta promises to take good care of the room and Giovanni agrees to take the room at rent.

Giovanni finds the garden very beautiful flooded with beautiful plants and flowers. Lisabetta informs that the garden belongs to Giacomo Rappaccini. Giovanni learns that Rappaccini is a famous skilled doctor who distills the plants of the garden to produce various medicines. Giovanni observes that while all the plants of the garden are exotic and beautiful, the large shrub at the center of the garden, with purple flowers set in a marble vase appears magnificent.

Giovanni makes it a routine to observe the garden every day while spying on Doctor Rappaccini, trying to learn how he works with the garden. He observes that Rappaccini is a tall, lean, and careful person who examines each plant with scientific intent while avoiding touching or smelling any plant or flower. One day, when Rappaccini is trying to tend the plants in his garden, he finds it difficult to manage the large shrub with purple blossoms. Giovanni realizes that the plant must be poisonous. Rappaccini considers it too dangerous to go too near to the large shrub and decides to call his daughter Beatrice, to take care of the plant. Giovanni sees Beatrice for the first time who is a young beautiful girl, as exotic as those beautiful purple flowers. Giovanni sees that Beatrice easily mends the poisonous plant and even plucks out a purple flower from the plant and smells it while cherishing its odor. Giovanni falls in love with Beatrice and decides to meet her somehow.

The next day, he meets Professor Peitro Boglioni and asks him about Rappaccini and his daughter Beatrice. Boglioni says that Doctor Rappaccini is a brilliant scientist with an objectionable character, as he cares more for science than for mankind and would gladly sacrifice the lives of others for intellectual gain. When Giovanni tells him that he is impressed by his daughter, Boglioni warns him to keep away from Rappaccini’s daughter and his garden. However, he appreciates Beatrice too and tells him that Beatrice is very intelligent like his father. Giovanni ignores Boglioni’s warning and buys a bouquet of beautiful flowers to meet Beatrice and gift her the flowers.

When Giovanni reaches home, he sees Beatrice again plucking out a purple flower from the large shrug. As she takes out the flower, Giovanni sees a few drops of moisture from the flower falls on a passing lizard and the lizard dies instantly. Beatrice ignores the lizard and fastens the purple flower on her bosom. Suddenly, she stops to see a colorful insect and as she bows down to admire it, the insect dies seemingly from the effect of her breath. Giovanni sees all this and he gets a bit frightened but his love for Beatrice pushes him to throw the bouquet of flowers that he bought for Beatrice towards her. Beatrice notices the bouquet of flowers and Giovanni. She picks up the bouquet and thanks, Giovanni. Giovanni sees that the flowers started withering away as soon as Beatrice picked them up.

Giovanni is filled with love and horror. For some days, he avoids looking toward the garden through the window. One day, he meets Boglioni at the University and at the same time, Rappaccini also passes by through the same alley. Boglioni notices curious eyes of Rappaccini towards Giovanni and warns Giovanni that he has become the subject of one of the Doctor’s experiments. Giovanni doesn’t believe Boglioni and goes back to his room. On his way, he meets Dame Lisabetta and talks about Rappacini’s daughter to her. Lisabetta tells him that she can arrange his meeting with Beatrice and takes him to the garden’s secret entryway. Giovanni decides to go and meet Beatrice.

Beatrice greets him well and they start talking about their life. Giovanni asks about the scientific experiments of her father but Beatrice says that she knows nothing about her father’s experiments and while she has heard rumors, she believes only in what she sees with her own eyes. Giovanni notices the same purple flower fixed on her bosom of Beatrice and tries to take it away. Beatrice stops Giovanni by grasping his hand and telling him it can be harmful. Beatrice then runs away to her house and Giovanni sees that Doctor Rappaccini was observing them through a window.

The next day, when Giovanni wakes up, he feels an intense pain in his hand right where Beatrice grasped his hand. He sees the purple outline of her fingers on his hand.

Giovanni continues meeting Beatrice and they develop romantic feelings between them. One day, Boglioni visits Giovanni in his room and he notices a strange sweet smell in his room. Boglioni again warns Giovanni that he has been treated as an experiment by Rappaccini. He tells him about how an Indian king sent a poisonous maiden to Alexander the Great who became the reason for his untimely death. Giovanni still doesn’t believe Boglioni. Boglioni tells him that like the Indian poisonous maiden, Beatrice too has been treated with the most poisonous elements of nature to such an extent that she has become poisonous, and even her embrace will kill a man. Giovanni remembers how even the smell of Beatrice was enough to kill the insect but he is yet not ready to accept Boglioni’s advice. Thus, Boglioni gives him a vial full of an antidote to the poison of the large shrub with purple flowers. He tells Giovanni that this antidote will cure Beatrice's poison and she will be normal again. As Boglioni goes away, Giovanni observes that the flowers brought by Boglioni for him are wilted away by his touch. He further notices that a spider instantly dies because of his breath. He realizes that he too has been made poisonous by Beatrice.

He goes to the garden and confronts Beatrice and accuses her of using him for her father’s experiments. He accuses her of being a poisonous girl and curses her for severing him from the world and knowingly entrancing him into the same horrible state. Beatrice gets shocked by hearing all this and denies all accusations. She asserts her ignorance and Giovanni realizes that she is innocent yet, his words have already broken her heart. Giovanni offers her the antidote to the poison and tells her that the antidote will make her normal. Beatrice doesn’t think for a second and drinks all the antidote. Rappaccini appears at the same time and tries to stop her but he has been late. He informs her that the poison is not a curse but a boon for her. She is too beautiful and he didn’t want her to be harmed by any ill-intentioned man and hence, he gave her that boon. He informs that since Giovanni appeared to be a good guy, he let him be near her and gradually, Giovanni too became as poisonous as her and now they can marry and have their children like them. Beatrice is further shocked by these revelations. She retorts that she would rather have been loved than feared and she doesn’t wish to give birth to monsters.

The antidote starts acting on her and she gets too weak and falls on the ground. She then reminds Giovanni of his cursive words and how he accused her without confirming her innocence. She asks him, “Was there not, from the first, more poison in thy nature than in mine?” Giovanni is ashamed, he realizes his mistake. Beatrice was not poisoned, the poison had become her nature, just like his. The antidote was meant to kill the poison and hence, it kills Beatrice.

Boglioni was seeing all this through the window of Giovanni’s room. As he sees Beatrice fall down and die, he cries in triumph for finally defeating Rappaccini and rejoices in Rappaccini’s misfortune.

So this is it for today. We will continue to discuss the history of American English literature. Please stay connected with the Discourse. Thanks and Regards!

A Pinch of Snuff by Manohar Malgaonkar | Characters, Summary, Analysis

A Pinch of Snuff by Manohar Malgaonkar | Characters, Summary, Analysis

Hello and welcome to the Discourse. A Pinch of Snuff is a short story written by Manohar Malgaonkar that was published in the assorted short story collection titled “Contemporary Indian short stories in English” in 1991. The story is witty sarcasm at the nepotism and corruption in the upper echelon of bureaucracy and the political structure of India. The story is written in first person narrative style.

Characters: Nannukaka is the protagonist of the story. He is an aged person whose nephew (younger sister’s son) is the narrator of the story who is an Under-Scretary working in the North Block of Delhi. Ratiram is a colleague of the narrator. He is Lala Sohanlal’s son who is the head of the Delhi unit of the ruling party. Hazrat Barkat Ali is an Ambassador supported by the ruling party. The Welfare Minister is a close friend of Lala Sohanlal. While Lala Sohanlal wishes his son to get married to the minister’s daughter, the minister is not willing for the relationship as he is planning for his daughter to be married to the prince of Ninnore. Nannukaka wishes to meet the welfare minister in person but he finds it not so easy and thus, he improvises his resources to create a situation where the minister himself comes forward to meet him. The Dhobi is a minor character who helps Nannukaka by playing his trick to get a luxurious car for a trial ride.

Summary of A Pinch of Snuff:

The story begins as the narrator’s mother informs him that his uncle, his mother’s elder brother, is going to visit them for two or three days. The narrator comes to know that Nannukaka, his uncle wishes to meet the Welfare Minister and since the narrator is working in the North Block of the Delhi secretariat, he expects the narrator to help him in fixing an appointment with the minister. However, the narrator is not happy about it because he is just an Under-Secretary and he is not sure he can manage a meeting of his uncle with any minister. However, his mother insists that he must do whatever he can to help Nannukaka. When the narrator goes to the railway station to pick up his uncle, Nannukaka hands him a basket with a kitten inside and tells him to rush outside. Nannukaka comes later with the Ticket Collector and informs that he traveled in a second-class coach on a third-class ticket with the help of the ticket collector. Furthermore, he was not asked to pay for the ticket of kitten.

On their way to home, Nannukaka asks the narrator about his meeting with the Welfare Minister. The narrator informs him that he was not able to fix his meeting because he is working as an Under-Secretary on probation and it is beyond his reach to fix an interview with the minister. Nannukaka was displeased by this information but soon he resumed his happy-go-lucky attitude. At home, the narrator’s mother greets Nannukaka with a warm heart and takes proper care of the kitten he brought with him. The narrator comes to know that he had to sleep in the backside verandah because his mother had arranged Nanukaka’s stay in his room.

The narrator had taken two days’ leave from the office because of his mother’s orders. The next day, he took Nanukaka to the north Block to see the Minister but to Nanukaka’s disappointment, after two hours of rushing here and there, he merely got a chance to get himself an appointment. On their way back, a luxurious yellow car rushed past them. The man driving the car honked the horn unnecessarily and waved at the narrator. When Nanukaka expressed his disliking towards the guy in the yellow car, the narrator told him that he knows him as they work at the same ministry. The guy was Ratiram, son of Lala Sohanlal. the head of the unit of the Ruling Party in Delhi. There were rumors about Ratiram going as Trade Commissioner to the Ambassador, Hajrat Barkat Ali but it was canceled due to some reason. Upon hearing this, Nanukaka asked the narrator to change into Jodhpuri closed collar and a turban to go see Lala Sohanlal whom he did not know at all. They went to Lala Sohanlal’s house and were received by his secretary to whom they told that they had visited to discuss the details of the Zamindars’ Convention. The Secretary went to see if Lalalji was free to take a sudden interview. He was actually free at that time which was clearly evident from the hookah-gurgling noises coming from the next room. Nanukaka started speaking loudly and tried portraying it as if he was in close alliance with Hajrat Barkat Ali. Upon hearing this, Lalaji came rushing out of the room to meet them and ask about old Hajrat Barkat Ali. Lala Sohanlal shared his concern with Nanukaka about how someone poisoned Hazrat Barkat Ali’s mind against his son and asked Nanukaka to convince him to take his son as the Trade Commissioner. Nanukaka assured him that he will look into the matter. He convinced him that the Ambassador is very close to him and listen to his suggestions.

Nanukaka casually took a pinch out of his snuffbox and mentioned the Welfare Minister. Lala Sohanlal expressed his disappointment in the Minister because he is in the ministerial position because of Lalaji and he still refused to consider his Lalaji’s son for his daughter’s hand in marriage. He further told Nanukaka that the Welfare Minister wants his daughter to tie knots with the Prince of Ninnore but they are yet to exchange horoscopes. After this, they came back home.

The next day, Nanukaka announced that they will be visiting the Minister. The narrator wanted to be kept out of the plan but got ignored by his Uncle. Nanukaka further expressed the need for a private car with a uniformed chauffeur to make an impression. The narrator knew one such friend who could help him with the car. Since the motor car touts can smell a rich man from a mile away, Nanukaka curated a small plan to impress the Sikka Auto Dealers. He wrote a bearer’s cheque worth a thousand rupees and kept it in an old coat of his. He handed over the coat to the dhobi who later came running in front of everyone waving that cheque, making it look like Nanukaka had been careless enough to leave a bearer’s cheque of such a huge amount. Nanukaka even rewarded the dhobi with money. This made him look rich and wealthy enough to be able to buy that outlandish car they were eyeing on. The narrator, dressed up in a white Jodhpuri coat and an orange turban drove the car and took Nanukaka, who was looking like a royal pandit of the princely state to the Welfare Minister.

At the minister’s residence, Nanukaka merely called for the visitors’ book as the secretary fussed about not being able to know the state of business he had come for. Nanukaka clarified that he was not there to disturb the minister but was at the location to make a formal call. He mentioned that he was there simply to fulfill a formality they follow in the old princely states. Upon getting the visitors’ book, Nanukaka specified himself as the “Hereditary Astrologer to the Maharaja of Ninnore” and gave his sister’s address of residence in Delhi. While driving away, he loudly announced to the driver to take him to Maharaja Sutkatta’s palace so that he could return all the horoscopes he was entrusted with. After this, the Welfare Minister himself came to have a word with Nanukaka at his sister’s place. The narrator is a bit worried about what would happen if the Minister found out that Nanukaka is not an astrologer from Ninnore but he was also relieved knowing that Nanukaka will handle the situation if it ever happens. However, he wants to be out of the scene if it happens anyway.

So this is it for today. We will continue to discuss the history of Indian English literature. Please stay connected with the Discourse. Thanks and Regards!

Richard Steele | The Tatler | The Spectator

Hello and welcome to the Discourse. Richard Steele was an Irish-English politician, playwright, and writer who was born in 1672 and died in 1729. He wrote a few comedy playwrights (The Funeral & The Lying Lover) and established the Kitkat Club along with Joseph Addison. His first work was The Christian Hero which was published in 1701. It was a pamphlet that described what actual manhood is and what people think it is. It was a moralistic pamphlet offering moral instruction and promoting a chaste and controlled way of living. However, the work was hugely ridiculed because of its inherent hypocrisy. Steele was known for heavy drinking, occasional gambling, and debauchery; thus, when he wrote this pamphlet with moral preaching, it was criticized.

Richard Steele is known for establishing the first English weekly journal titled The Tatler which was first published in 1709 and continued in publication for more than two years. Richard Steele used the pseudonym Issac Bickerstaff Esquire to publish his essays in The Tattler. The Tatller first came out on 12 April 1709, and appeared thrice a week: Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. Initially, Richard Steele alone wrote all the essays for the journal but eventually, he engaged his friends Joseph Addison and Jonathan Swift for their contributions. However, all three continued using the same pseudonym Issac Bickerstaff Esq. Jonathan Swift already used the same pseudonym as part of a hoax to predict the death of the then famous Almanac–maker, and astrologer John Partridge. This bolstered the popularity of Steele’s periodical. Steele continued the publication of The Tatler for two years but then merged it with a new daily journal titled The Spectator that he published in collaboration with Joseph Addison.

The Tatler:

The Tatler was a literary and societal journal in which Steele published news and gossip heard in various coffeehouses in London. Generally, the articles of The Tatler were a mix of real gossip and invented stories by Steele. Steele declared in the opening paragraph of each publication that the journal isn’t about political news, rather it is a presentation of Whiggish views on various political and social manners. The purpose of the journal was thus providing entertainment and correct middle-class manners, while instructing "these Gentlemen, for the most part being Persons of strong Zeal, and weak Intellects...what to think."

While Richard Steele alone worked for most of the publications, he pretended to have four reporters employed and assigned by him in each of the four most popular coffeehouses in London. Richard Steele declared the purpose of his periodical journal The Tatler as, “The general purpose of this paper is to expose the false arts of life, to pull the disguise of cunning, vanity and affectation, and to recommend a general simplicity in our dress, our discourse, and our behavior.”

The first issue of The Tatler was published on April 12, 1709. At the time, Steele alone worked on the periodical but soon he engaged his close friend Joseph Addison whose contribution appeared on May 26, 1709. A total of 271 issues of The Tatler were published in two years. Of the 271 numbers, 188 were written by Steele and 42 by Addison; 36 of them were written by both jointly.

The Spectator:

The last issue of The Tatler was published on January 2, 1711, and then Richard Steele stopped publishing the periodic journal abruptly without any intimation to the readers. However, Steele came back within 2 months with the first issue of The Spectator which was published on March 1, 1711. One of the reasons for the abrupt ending of The Tatler was the unexpected return of Tories to power as they defeated the Whigs in 1710. Steele and Addison both belonged to the Whigs' coterie. They came back with The Spectator which was somewhat politically neutral and presented representatives from diverse walks of life. The Spectator drew a large female readership as many of the papers were for and about women. Though both Addison and Steele were Whigs, yet in The Spectator they kept up a fairly neutral political poise and, in fact, did their best to expose the error of the political fanaticism of both the Tories and Whigs. In addition, The Spectator offered more attention to trends in the trading market, and thus people from the trading community too became ardent readers of The Spectator which was published daily for around two years. The Spectator was more than a gossip tabloid. It offered more attention to the interests of England's emerging middle class—merchants and traders large and small. A total of 555 issues of The Spectator were published from March 1, 1711, to December 6, 1712, and then it was halted. On 18^th June 1714, Joseph Addison began republishing The Spectator but Richard Steele didn’t continue with him. The last issue of The Spectator was published on 20^th December 1714.

While The Tatler was published under the pseudonym of Issac Bickerstaff, Steele, and Addison created different fake personas to present the essays and articles in The Spectator. Among those, was Sir Roger de Coverley who became hugely famous and whom Steele envisaged as a Tory baron. One of the strong points of The Spectator was its humor. Steele announced the purpose of The Spectator as "to enliven morality with wit, and to temper wit with morality". Steele and Addison tried to get the involvement of middle-class people in the issues of philosophy and politics Steele mentioned in the 10th section of The Spectator that he hopes the periodical has "brought philosophy out of closets and libraries, schools, and colleges, to dwell in clubs and assemblies, at tea-tables and coffee–houses".

So this is it for today. We will continue to discuss the history of English literature. Please stay connected with the Discourse. Thanks and Regards!

The Story of David Swan by Nathaniel Hawthorne | Summary, Analysis

The Story of David Swan by Nathaniel Hawthorne | Summary, Analysis

Hello and welcome to the Discourse. Nathaniel Hawthorne was an American novelist and short story writer who took birth in 1804 and died in 1864. His first short story collection was Twice Told Tales whose first volume was published in 1837. All the stories of this collection were already published in annuals and magazines and hence, Hawthorne chose the title ‘Twice Told Tales.’

Nathaniel Hawthorne was a romanticist and his work predominantly belongs to the genre of dark romanticism. Dark romanticism reflects an intense fascination with melancholia, insanity, crime, and a shady atmosphere, with the options of ghosts and ghouls, the grotesque, and the irrational. Italian critic Mario Praz first mentioned Dark Romanticism as a unique genre of literature in 1930. Dark romanticism focuses on human fallibility, self-destruction, judgment, and punishment, as well as the psychological effects of guilt and sin.

David Swan or The Story of David Swan is a short story by Nathaniel Hawthorne which was published in Twice Told Tales. The story depicts the binary opposite forces that govern human perception. Whether a thing is good, or bad, lucky, or unlucky, The story further presents a unique balance of chance and choice that carve our life. While all the good or bad chances are aware of us, we may remain ignorant about most of them while these chances continue to wait for our response, if we do take, reject or ignore them, let alone not notice them.

Summary of The Story of David Swan:

David Swan is a 20-year-old young boy from New Hampshire. He belongs to a poor but respectable family and has attained ordinary school education. He is going to Boston to his uncle who is a small dealer in the grocery line in hope of finding a job. He has been traveling on foot for a long on a summer day and thus he is tired. He quenches his thirst from a spring in the trees and then he decides to wait under the maple shade for the stagecoach to Boston. Being too tired, he falls asleep. Being the main road, many passers cross him on the road. Some were traveling on foot, some on horses, and some on other vehicles. Most of them ignore him while some people scorned him. He is young and handsome. A middle ages widow woman sees him and thinks that he is very charming. A preacher passes through him and thinks of him as a dead drunkard while chiding him. David Swan, however, is unaware of these praises and scorns. The criticism, praise, merriment, scorn, and indifference of the passers observing him don’t affect David Swan while he is asleep.

Soon a carriage going to Boston halts in front of the shade where David was sleeping. The back linchpin of the carriage had fallen out and one of the wheels had slid off. The driver starts mending the linchpin and fixing the wheel while the lady and her husband decide to get down under the shade. They notice David Swan sleeping in the shelter. The lady and the gentleman had lost their son and they had no heir. They had taken care of a distant nephew but he too passed away due to a disease. As the lady observes David Swan, he reminds her of her departed nephew. Her husband notices her feelings and says that the boy is sleeping soundly and which shows that he is healthy and well-built. The lady says that she wishes to wake the boy up and adopt her as her son. But her husband stops her and says that they know nothing of the boy’s character. The lady argues that he looks so innocent, he must be of good character. The man also starts feeling fatherly love for David Swan and thinks of waking him up and adopting him, declaring him the heir of all his wealth. However, the coach has been mended by then, the driver whistles and the couple leave the shade in haste with no time to decide. Unaware of their feelings, David Swan continues to enjoy his little nap.

The next visitor is a young beautiful girl going to Boston. As she sees the shade, she decides to take some rest and tidy up her dress. As she sees a young boy already sleeping in the shade, she thinks of going away but as she steps back, she sees a dangerous bee entering the shade and hovering above the head of the sleeping boy. The monstrous bee settles on David Swan’s eyelid while he is asleep. The girl sees this and worries that the bee will harm the sleeping boy and thus, she uses her handkerchief and rushes the bee away. As she does so, she had a glimpse of David Swan’s beautiful face and she blushes at seeing him. She thinks he is so handsome and appears a perfect man. She wishes to wake him up and propose to him for marriage but then a bus arrives at the stop and before she could decide anything, she goes away while David Swan continues to sleep. The girl was the only daughter of a wealthy country merchant who is looking for a good suitor for her daughter. Had Swan waken up and had he made acquaintance with the girl, her father might have offered a clerical job to him and he might have gained the hand of the beautiful girl in marriage. But he kept sleeping.

Within a few moments, both wealth and love had just passed by David Swam while he remained unaware of those changes. He could have been the only heir of the rich lady and her husband, or he could have married that young beautiful girl who genuinely fell in love with him. But he was asleep.

As the girl goes away, two crooks pass through the maple shade. As they observe a young boy sleeping alone, they enter the shade and observe the bulging bundle on which Swan’s head was placed. They think that the bundle must have some valuables, or at least it must have a bottle of brandy. The crooks were notorious thieves who used to rob or embezzle others. They see that the young lad is no match to them and decide to check the pockets of his pants and the bundle of luggage under his head. One of them worries what if he wakes up? The other answers that if he wakes up, they will kill him. Just as they decide to check his pockets, a dog enters the maple shade in hope of some water to drink. The crooks get alarmed. They fear that the owner of the dog must be somewhere near and decide to run away. David Swan was just touched by death as the crooks were ready to kill him if he makes a noise, but he kept sleeping and remained safe. An hour had passed by then and the stagecoach bus approaches the maple shade. David Swan gets awake by the sound of the stagecoach. He asks the driver for a seat and the driver said that he may travel while sitting on the top of the stagecoach. David Swan, unaware of the fortunes and misfortunes that just touched him from so near, climbs up the coach and goes away. He had no idea of how near he was to being adopted by the rich couple who were thinking of making him the only heir of all their wealth. He remained oblivious to the sensuous feel of that beautiful girl whose rich father might have offered him a much better job than he hopes to get in Boston. He certainly was unaware of the fact that he was so near to death at the hands of those crooks. All of these possibilities were unexpected that was about to happen randomly. Nathaniel Hawthorne ends the story with the line, ‘Unexpected things thrust themselves across our paths still there is regularity’.

So this is it for today. We will continue to discuss the history of American English literature. Please stay connected with the Discourse. Thanks and Regards!

Verses on The Death of Doctor Swift by Jonathan Swift | Structure, Summary, Analysis

Hello and welcome to the Discourse. Verses on The Death of Doctor Swift is a long satirical poetic eulogy that Swift wrote for himself in 1739. Though he continued to live till late 1745, he wrote about how people will feel at his death. The poem was inspired by a maxim by French moralist and author Francois de la Rochefoucauld. The maxim simply says “In the misfortune of our best friends we always find something that does not displease us.” Jonathan Swift begins his poem with this maxim and then he continues his 500 lines long take on the maxim in this poem. Jonathan Swift seems to agree with the maxim but at the end of the poem, he does offer contradiction. He didn’t write this poem as a confessional statement agreeing with the maxim, rather he wrote this poem to develop better human behavior and morals. Swift uses satire to criticize the follies and weaknesses of himself, his friends, and others as a cynical observer and this creates an irony because it appears as if Swift is enjoying the description of follies and weaknesses of his friends and others, and thus, is proving the maxim.

Structure of Verse on The Death of Doctor Swift:

It is a 500-line long poem that can be divided into seven parts. In the first part, Swift introduces the maxim by La Rochefoucauld and explains it with examples in common life. In the second part, the poet discusses his own life, friends, and acquaintances while relating to the maxim. In the third part, Swift implements the maxim to observe the behavior of onlookers of Swift’s last illness. In the fourth part, Swift imagines his death and discusses the public and political reaction it would entail. In the fifth part, he discusses how his friends and acquaintances will feel at his death; in the sixth part, the poet reflects on the fate of his work one year after his death. In the last part, Swift offers a eulogy for himself as a detached observer.

Summary of Verses on The Death of Doctor Swift:

Section 1 (lines 1-38)

Swift states the English translation of the French maxim by La Rochefoucauld above all and then he begins his poem while describing the essence of the maxim and says,

“In all distresses of our friends / We first consult our private ends,

While Nature, kindly bent to ease us, / Points out some circumstance to please us” Swift simply states that human by nature is selfish and to support this, the poet offers four hard-hitting facts from common life. Firstly, he mentions that no one in a crowded place where people have gathered to see an action wishes to have his view obstructed by another one, even a close friend, standing at a higher position. It fills us with a sense of loss. He then says that the competitiveness between close friends may instigate the friends of a hero to “wish his laurels cropped,” that is, the friends may wish to be a reduction of the hero’s accolades, or they may wish to get bigger accolades to out-compete him. The poet then says that it is always easy patiently bear the pain and illness of another one while it is always difficult to go through the same pain. That is, even though we may feel sympathetic towards the other one in distress, we can never feel the same pain that the other one is going through. In the fourth example, Swift brings up his profession and says that no poet would want to see others “write as well as he.” Swift then proclaims that selfishness and pride are implicit in human nature and says, “The strongest friendship yields to pride, / Unless the odds be on our side.”

Section 2 (Lines 39-72)

In the second section, Swift offers his misanthropic view and says, “Vain humankind! Fantastic race! / Thy various follies who can trace?” After establishing that selfishness and pride are implicit in human nature, Swift satirizes and impugns the honesty of those who claim that they are sympathetic and altruistic. Swift declares that the key characteristics of humankind are “Self-love, ambition, envy, pride.” He then brings focus on himself and his friends which include, Pope, Gay, Arbuthnot, St. John, and Pultney. He praises all of them and mentions the strength of each of them. But then he frankly admits his jealousy and mortification over their success and says, “When you sink, I seem the higher.” He admits that when his friends fail, he feels some sort of pleasure in it. He then admits that his friends are highly skilled and successful but claims that they are playing on his turf with tools of poetry, prose, wit, and irony, of which he was the original master. Thus, he suggests his superiority over his friends. He then offers a strong reference to the initial maxim and says, “To all my foes, dear Fortune, send / Thy gifts, but never to my friend: / I tamely can endure the first, / But this with envy makes me burst”.

Section 3 (Lines 73-143)

After exposing his own jealousy, envy, and selfishness, Swift targets his friends and imagines how his friends would react at the news of his last illness and wonder what profit would they gain by his death and says, “My special friends / Will try to find their private ends: / Though it is hardly understood / Which way my death can do them good.” He then imagines the good and says that after his death, his friends will discuss how his wit and sarcasm were getting weaker and weaker with his growing age and will exclaim that they are better than him as “themselves, and reason[ing] thus: / ‘it is not yet so bad with us’” He then proposes a hypothesis and says if some of his friends prophesy his death at his illness, then he would rather wish that he dies, otherwise, his prophecy would prove a lie that he wouldn’t like.

Section 4 and 5 (Lines 144-204 and Lines 205-242)

In these sections, Swift imagines the reaction of the public and close friends to the news of his death. In the fourth section, he describes the imaginative reaction of public and political offices to the news of his death; in the fifth section, he describes the reaction of his friends. Then he declares that just like strangers public, his close friends too will not be much affected by his death and says that like strangers, his friends too will remain apathetic at the news of his death and claims, “Indifference clad in wisdom’s guise / All fortitude of mind supplies.” He says that his friends will offer reasons not to worry much and remain indifferent because as wisdom suggests all good things must end, and all good people must die. Swift again reflects on the maxim of La Rochefoucauld and says “When we are lashed, they kiss the rod, / Resigning to the will of God.” That is, when we or someone suffers, our friends say that it is the will of God and then they praise God. Swift suggests that his friends will hardly be concerned by his death. While he mentions that he wishes no ill will to his friends, he certainly shows them in a bad light. The self-centeredness of his friends and humanity, in general, can make the reader feel bad for being a human.

Section 6 (Lines 243-298)

In this section, Swift imagines what would happen to his literary work after one year of his death. He then says that his death would be pleasing to the new emerging writers as their works will rise to the status of best-selling literature while the popularity of his work will reduce. He then imagines a squire visiting Lintot the bookseller to enquire about Swift’s work and says that the bookseller will probably answer, “Dean was famous in his time, / And had a kind of knack at rhyme. / His way of writing is now past: / The town has got a better taste.” In a way, he demeans the new writers who take the help of the scribe to take their place on the bookseller’s shelves.

Section 7 (Lines 299-484)

In this section, Swift offers a eulogy to himself and suggests that he lived a calm life “quite indifferent in the cause.” Swift says that when a successful person dies, even their minor acquaintances pretend to be close friends to the diseased and they do so to gain profits from such suggested connections with the person of reputation who just died. He then says that his death too will offer an opportunity to many such mad people and fools who will pretend to be his great friends so that they may gain something from these false connections with the dead man. Thus, even after his death, he will get some mad and fool friends. He further says that though selfishness is innate in human nature, he was different and selfless. He says, “Without regarding private ends / Spent all his Credits for his Friends./” He establishes that though the maxim of La Rochefucauld appears true, he is an exclusion. He then explains the nature of his literary work and says that "malice never was his aim; / He lash'd the vice, but spar'd the name."

The purpose of satire is to reduce the position of others while elevating one’s own position. Swift does the same by declaring that all others, including his friends, are selfish, self-centered, envious, and proud, he is an anomaly, a better and honorable scholar.

So this is it for today. We will continue to discuss the history of English literature. Please stay connected with the Discourse. Thanks and Regards!

A Bend in the Ganges by Manohar Malgaonkar | Characters, Summary, Analysis

Hello and welcome to the Discourse. Malgaonkar was a historical fiction writer who had a deep knowledge of historical facts that he incorporated into his fictional stories to present a critical unbiased viewpoint of the events during the freedom struggle of India and the aftermath of partition. One such novel written by Manohar Malgaonkar was A Bend in the Ganges which was published in the year 1964. India faced the Sino-India War in 1962 and it raised questions about the policy of non-violence of Nehru. During such a period, Malgaonkar published this novel which depicts the internal conflicts between the proponents of non-violence and the supporters of violence. He recreates one of the most tragic phases of modern Indian history, the period of the 1940s when India attained independence against British rule but at the same time, had to face the gruesome burden of partition that resulted in one of the worst communal riots in the history of mankind. Thus, it is a Partition novel. The author forces the reader to contemplate if non-violence brought freedom, or who actually won? Gandhi or the British? Malgonkar owed the title of his novel to The Ramayan.

Characters of A Bend in the Ganges:

Gian Talwar is a young man from a poor peasant family who becomes a follower of Gandhi’s non-violence call during the Swadeshi Movement. However, he is a pragmatic, cowardly person who adopts his policy to suit every circumstance. Hari is Gian’s elder brother while Vishnudutt is a rich landlord of his village. Debi Dayal is the son of a rich trader from Duriabad. During his teenage, he saw a drunken English officer molesting his mother and he violently revolted against him. Since then he has had a strong hatred for the British and this personal hatred becomes his reason to fight for Independence. Though, he believes that non-violence is for cowards and joins a violent rebellious group called Hanuman Club. Tekchand Kerwad is Debi’s father who is a rich trader and Sundari is Debi’s younger sister. Shafi Usman is another young rebellious man who ridicules Gandhi and believes that only non-violent means can bring freedom. His father was massacred at Jallianwalla Bagh. Shafi believes in Muslim superiority but believes that Hindu-Muslim unity is necessary to uproot the British Raj and thus, he tries to be secular. Shafi is an active terrorist most wanted by the British Police. Mumtaj is a poor Muslim girl whom Shafi keeps as his concubine. Patrick Mulligan is the jailer of British jail in Andaman where Debi and Gian are sentenced to suffer jail terms. Patrick Mulligan easily manipulates Gian who betrays Debi and others. Hafiz Khan is a fanatic who believes in Muslim supremacy. He manipulates Shafi and instigates hatred against Hindus to such an extent that Shafi starts believing that the primary enemy of the Muslim community is Hindus. Basu is another friend of Debi Dayal who is also a revolutionary. Initially, he believes in Hindu-Muslim unity but during a riot, some Muslim hooligans threw acid on his wife’s face and this cruel incident fills him with hatred toward Muslims. He joins Hindu Mahasabha to be aligned, in sheer self-defense of Hindus against Muslims. Dipali is the beautiful wife of Basu who is attacked by a Muslim with an electric bulb filled with acid that disfigures her face.

Summary of A Bend in the Ganges:

The story of the novel covered the period from the 1930s to 1947 when India got its independence and the scar of Partition. The novel begins with the ceremonial burning of Western goods and clothes by Indian villagers during the Swadeshi movement. Gian Talwar is a villager who comes to the city of Duribad for his education where he becomes a friend of Debi Dayal. While Gian belongs to a poor peasant family, Debi is the son of Tekchand Kerwa, the richest and most successful trader of Duribad. Debi is a revolutionary who is engaged in active rebellion against the British government. One day, he invites Gian to a picnic where he meets other revolutionary friends of Debi which include Shafi Usman disguised as a Sikh, Basu, a Bengali student and a revolutionary, Dipali, Basu’s beautiful wife, and Sundari, the younger sister of Debi. Gian feels attracted to Sundari who is very beautiful. During the picnic, Debi reveals that he is a revolutionary and believes that the non-violence of Gandhi cannot bring any good to Indians. Gian opposes him and claims that he has full confidence in Gandhi and he will never join any non-violent group. Shafi criticizes Gandhi and says that non-violence is the philosophy of sheep, a creed for cowards and it is the greatest danger to this country. He further shows discontent with his revolutionary group too and says that everybody is motivated by their personal reasons while none of them think of the nation as an entity. He mentions Debi who hates British rulers because, during his teen years, he witnessed a drunken British police officer trying to molest his mother.

Gian remains friends with Debi as he is enamored by Sundari. One day, he presents an idol of Shiva to Tekchand, Sundari’s father who accepts it and establishes it at the temple of his home. After some days, Gian returns to his village Konshet where he gets involved in a family feud between his family and the family of the landowners over the Piploda land. In this dispute, Hari, his elder brother is murdered by Vishnu Dutt. Gian could not muster the courage to interfere and stop the fight. He tries to be a true follower of Mahatma Gandhi. He pays only lip service to the principle of nonviolence. When faced with reality his entire idealism evaporates and he feels that non-violence is an impractical philosophy that cannot be followed in real life. His heart fills with an extreme vengeance and he kills Vishnudutt.

Meanwhile, Debi Dayal joins a revolutionary group called Ram-Rahim Group on the insistence of Shafi. To increase unity between the Hindu and Muslim members of the club, Shafi introduces some secular ways of behavior. Their common slogan is Jai Ram-Jai Rahim. To renounce vegetarianism and the taboos of religion they partake in the ceremony of eating a meal of beef and pork. This brings the Hindu and Muslim members of the group closer to each other with their only aim to attain freedom for India. They establish the Hanuman Club as a disguise for their anti-establishment activities which include fishplates from the railway tracks, cutting telephone wires, and blowing up Air Force planes with explosives. Shafi is the most ‘wanted’ by the British police and one thousand rupees is announced as a reward to the person who gives information about him. Shafi disguises himself as a Sikh not to be caught by the police while Debi helps him in keeping safe. However, all their unity and harmonious relationships are shallow. While Shafi realizes that he needs Hindu members for the activities of his group, he sternly believes in Muslim superiority. Furthermore, one of his associates Hafiz Khan advocates the two-nation theory and pleads for a separate state. However, Shafi opposes Hafiz and suggests that irrespective of their religion, they are all brothers. Still, he starts feeling jealous of Hindu members and especially Debi who belongs to a rich family. One day, he assigns a task to Debi which includes setting fire to an airplane by using explosives. After performing the task, Debi runs away. Shafi gets information about police trying to capture Debi and instead of warning Debi about impending capture, he offers clues to the police to capture Debi. Debi gets caught because of the betrayal of Shafi and is sent to Andaman where he meets Gian again who is facing jail term for the murder of Vishnudutt. Gian has developed a good rapport with Patrick Mulligan, the jailer. He offers help to Debi and says that if he too behaves well, the jailer will let him have an easy time. However, Debi rejects his help. Debi continues to plan for running away from the jail. He learns that the Japanese are planning to attack Andaman and he wishes to get away with the Japanese and take their help against the Britishers. Gian, on the other hand, hopes for a release with the help of Patrick and he too betrays Debi by telling all his secrets to Mulligan.

Meanwhile, Hafiz convinces Shafi to accept the two-nation theory. He tells Shafi that they should re-orientate their activities. Hafiz asks Shafi that he should concentrate his activities not against the British but against the Hindus since they are their real enemies.

Gian is released much before Debi who continues to hope for the arrival of the Japanese. Andaman is then attacked by the Japanese forces and Debi gets a chance to get rid of Andaman's jail. He stays with the Japanese forces for a while and realizes that the Japanese are no better than the British and gives up the idea of taking Japanese help for his own freedom struggle. He returns to India so that he may continue his struggle against the British forces but by then, the British forces have announced India as a free state along with Pakistan, as a part of it. In Bombay, he meets Basu who takes him to his home. When Debi meets Diplai, he gets shocked by seeing her disfigured face. Basu informs that all the Hindu members of the Ram-Rahim club in Duribad were captured by police because Shafi betrayed them. Basu somehow managed to avoid being captured but failed to safeguard Dipali who was attacked by a Muslim mob with an electric bulb filled with acid that burnt her face. Basu informs that he joined the Hindu Mahasabha “to be aligned, in sheer self-defense of Hindus against Muslims.” Debi learns that Duribad is now a part of Pakistan and his family is caught in extreme Hindu-Muslim violence. He and Basu decide to return to Duribad to safeguard Debi’s family and to take revenge against Shafi.

Meanwhile, Gian had reached Duribad for his affection towards Sundari. Unaware of Debi’s whereabouts, he pretends to be a close friend of his and says that Debi will return soon. He continues to fool Debi’s father while trying to get Sundari’s hand in marriage. But after the independence and Partition, the situation worsens and he runs back to India while Duribad is now a part of Pakistan. After returning back to safer areas he learns about the atrocities done by Muslims on the Hindus of Punjab. For the first time, he feels guilty about being a coward and decides to return to Duribad to help Sundari get out of Duribad.

Debi and Basu reach Duribad and find Shafi in a brothel. He is too drunk to respond to them. Debi and Basu go to his home where they find Mumtaz, a concubine of Shafi. Debi abducts her as a sign of revenge and takes her with him. The whole of Punjab is engulfed in Hindu-Muslim riots. While trying to safeguard Mumtaz from the rioters, Debi realizes that he likes her and to show that Hindus and Muslims can live peacefully, he decides to marry Mumtaz. The extreme violence in the name of religion makes Debi question his own belief in violence and he decides to accept Gandhi’s non-violence.

On the other hand, Shafi is too furious because of the abduction of Mumtaz. He decides to attack Debi’s home in Duribad and abduct his beautiful sister Sundari and take her as his keep. He attacks Debi’s home with a crowd of his followers and kills all the Hindu servants of the house. Debi’s mother also dies while trying to protect Sundari. However, Gian reaches Debi’s home and tries to rescue Tekchand and Sundari. Shafi is too strong against Gian and Sundari but they attack him with the same idol of Shiva that he presented to Tekchand. Sundari kills Shafi by using the idol of Shiva and then Gian takes her and Tekchand to the railway station to go back to India. However, Tekchand has no motive to go. He worked hard throughout his life to establish his big farms and tract of land in Duribad. Now when he is old, and it is time for him to cherish the fruits of his hard work, he is supposed to go away as a poor moneyless refugee. He decides not to leave and vanishes from the railway station alone. Gian and Sundari return back to India. On the other hand, Debi and Mutaz too try to reach India but Debi is caught by a group of Muslim men searching for Hindus and killing them. Debi pretends to be a Muslim but soon he is caught. Debi is a strong man who always preferred violence but now, he has given up violence. He tries to follow Gandhi’s non-violence and tries to reason with the angry Muslim mob but he falls a victim to the violence of a mob on the very day that brings freedom to the two countries. Before dying, he questions himself, Who won? Gandhi or the British?

So this is it for today. We will continue to discuss the history of Indian English literature. Please stay connected with the Discourse. Thanks and Regards!