Hello and welcome to the Discourse. Clarissa was an epistolatory novel written by Samuel Richardson that he published in 1748. The full title of the book was Clarissa; or, The History of a Young Lady, and it was published in four volumes. The novel tells the story of a virtuous, beautiful young woman who is brought to tragedy by the wickedness of the people around her. The writer lets the reader know about the events happening in the life of Clarissa with the help of letters written by her, her friend Anna Howe, and the antagonist seducer Robert Lovelace. Another letter correspondent in the novel is John Belford, a friend of Lovelace who sides with Clarissa and tries to help her. Clarissa is one of the longest English novels consisting of more than one million words. The novel is known for the psychological depiction of the protagonist and the antagonist.

Characters of Clarissa:

Clarissa Harlowe is a 17 years old, young, beautiful, virtuous girl who is universally loved and admired by everyone. She belongs to the Harlowe family which is a newly rich and uprising family. Her family possesses great wealth but little social status. Sr. James Harlowe is her father who is a successful businessman. He owns mines, commercial capital, and other properties. He is a bad-tempered and unforgiving man. Jr. James Harlowe is Clarissa’s elder brother. He is not very smart or courageous however he has extreme pride. Arabella Harlowe is Clarissa’s elder sister and eldest child of Sr. James Harlowe. Like her father, she is bad-tempered and overvalues money and reputation. Mrs. Charlotte Harlowe is the mother of Clarissa. She is the obedient and submissive wife of Sr. James Harlowe. Mr. Anthony Harlowe is the uncle of Clarissa, the elder brother of Sr. James Harlowe. Anna Howe is a close friend of Clarissa. She is a lively girl who tries her best to help and save Clarissa. Robert Lovelace is the antagonist of the novel. He belongs to a rich and well-reputed family. He is a playboy and seduces women. He believes that all women are corrupt and he can seduce any woman. He is a vile and selfish character who refuses to stop lusting after Clarissa until he gets what he wants. John Belford is a friend of Robert Lovelace and he is also a playboy. Mrs. Sinclair is a widowed woman who runs a brothel in London. She is an accomplice of Robert Lovelace. Her brothel is the home for many such girls whom Robert Lovelace first seduced and then forced into prostitution. Mr. Hickman is Anna Howe’s admirer. He is a gentleman who always wears formal clothes. Roger Solmes is a selfish, wealthy, and cruel man whom Clarissa's parents wish her to marry. He is obsessed with money and wishes to marry Clarissa only to gain her property. Col. Morden is a cousin of Clarissa who decides to take revenge against Lovelace.

Summary of Clarissa:

The novel begins with a letter to Clarissa from her friend Anna who asks her about the squabble between Clarissa’s brother James Harlowe and Robert Lovelace in which James was wounded. She is also curious about why Clarissa’s grandfather decided to give all his property to Clarissa, but none of his sons or other grandchildren.

Clarissa writes back and informs that Robert Lovelace visited their house to pay court to Clarissa’s sister Arabela. Arabella rejected him because he was not enthusiastic about her. Instead, he got attracted to Clarissa. She writes that she has no interest in Lovelace but her sister is jealous of her and suspects her. She also mentions that James was always jealous of Lovelace because of his aristocratic refinement and ease of communication, which cannot be gained with the help of money, but only by origin. This became the reason for the quarrel between James and Lovelace.

Clarissa writes that all the sons of her grandfather are doing well in their businesses and they created much more wealth of their own. She informs that her brother is secured by his godmother while her elder sister has been given huge property by her father. Clarissa remained with her grandfather since her childhood and always took good care of him and thus, he pronounced her as his heiress. She also informs that she will be able to hold all the property of her grandfather once she turns 18 years old.

None of the members of Harlowe’s family is happy about Clarissa being declared the heiress of her grandfather. The whole family threatens Clarissa to give away her inheritance and marry Roger Solmes, a wealthy man belonging to a reputed family. Roger Solmes is interested in marrying Clarissa for her wealth but Clarissa doesn’t like him as she understands how greedy and selfish he is. Clarissa’s father didn’t wish to break all ties with Lovelace’s family as his father Mr. M is an influential person who could harm Sr. James Harlowe’s business interest. Thus, James Harlowe asks Clarissa to write a letter to Robert Lovelace to pacify him. This offers Lovelace a chance to communicate with Clarissa. Lovelace decides to take revenge on Harlowe’s family by using Clarissa. Meanwhile, Clarissa’s family strictly forces her and confines her in a solitary room until she agrees to marry Roger Solmes. Clarissa continues to reject the marriage. Arabella then accuses her of being involved with Lovelace but Clarissa insists that she has no interest in Lovelace. Lovelace pretends to be a wellwisher of Clarissa in his letters to her while he writes a letter to his friend John Belford informing him how he plans to seduce another 18 years old beautiful girl and will have his way with her.

James and Arabella decide to search Clarissa’s room for the letters written by Lovelace to prove that Clarissa is having an affair with him. They send Clarissa’s trusted caretaker away and harass Clarissa brutally. None of the family members help Clarissa and thus, she finds herself trapped. Meanwhile, Lovelace began living in an inn near Harlowe’s mansion and succeeded in planting a spy in Clarissa’s house to gain all vital information. Anna sends a letter to Clarissa warning her about Lovelace’s intentions and informs her how he exploited a naive good girl living in the inn in which he resides now. However, Clarissa writes her back that it is a false rumor and Lovelace actually helped that girl in marrying the boy she loved by offering her dowry for the marriage.

Sr. James Harlowe decides to send Clarissa to her uncle’s home where only Roger Solmes will be allowed to visit and meet her. Clarissa realizes that if she is transferred to her uncle’s home, she will fail to save herself from the clutches of Roger Solmes. She shares her worries with Lovelace and he suggests that she should run away from her home. Clarissa is not willing to run away but she doesn’t have many options. Yet, she decides to meet Lovelace in person and tell him that she is not willing to run away from her home as she doesn’t wish to betray her father. When she walks to the garden where she is supposed to meet Lovelace, she notices that her family members are following her. She trusts Lovelace and believes that he is a devoted friend. When she meets Lovelace, she clearly says that she has no intention to run away from her family but Lovelace says that her family has seen her meeting him and now they will never trust her. He tries to persuade Clarissa to run away and takes her to a carrier coach that he had prepared to run away with her. Clarissa hears the voices of her relatives nearby and sees that a persecutor is running towards her as if to catch her. She gets frightened and decides to run away with Lovelace. She hopes that soon she will be 18 years old and then she will be able to stand by herself. Lovelace, on the other hand, had other plans. The apparent persecutor was his own servant who pretended and frightened Clarissa to make her run away. Clarissa doesn’t realize that she has been abducted by Lovelace.

Lovelace takes Clarissa to an inn where two prostitutes pretending to be noble kinswomen of Lovelace accompany him. Lovelace then proposes to Clarissa for lovemaking but Clarissa refuses. Lovelace forgets about it and continues to treat her well. Lovelace loves Clarissa but doesn’t wish to marry her, rather, he wants her to cohabitate with her. He already had ruined many girls by seducing them to have sex with him and then leaving them on their own as he doesn’t believe in marriages and responsibilities. He continues to change hotels without letting Clarissa that she is his prisoner. Clarissa realizes that she is in complete control of Lovelace as her reputation has already been ruined and her family is unwilling to support her or forgive her. Yet, she continues to strictly follow her virtues. Lovelace continues to tempt her to compromise her strict morals. He continues to write letters to Belford, informing him how is experimenting with Clarissa. He writes that if Clarissa is truly an exemplary woman, she will withstand his contrivances and remain a model of goodness. However, he believes that all women are corrupt at their core and Clarissa too will break soon.

After a few months, he persuades Clarissa to go to London with him where he keeps her at Mrs. Sinclair’s house which is a brothel. Most of the prostitutes in this brothel were the girls who had been involved with Lovelace in the past. He fooled and ruined them and then forced them into prostitution under the wing of Mrs. Sinclair. These prostitutes are jealous of Clarissa and when they see that she is not willing to compromise with her virtues and chastity, they encourage Lovelace to rape her. Lovelace continues to write letters to Belford, informing him about Clarissa’s behavior who is not ready to fall for his temptation. He says that Clarissa is not sure of the sincerity and seriousness of his feelings.

Meanwhile, Clarissa starts suspecting Lovelace and the woman with whom she is living. She feels something sinister is going on. Lovelace decides to rape her and forcefully enters her bedchamber. Clarissa understands his intentions and tries to placate him and vigorously opposes his assault. Under the threat of rape, she promises to forgive him and marry him. However, she considers this promise made under duress as void; soon after she makes her first successful escape from Lovelace, concealing herself in lodgings in Hampstead. Lovelace gets enraged and decides to take revenge. He engages many men to find her out and when he gets the information of her whereabouts, he hires some men to pretend to be his family members and then goes to meet Clarissa with them. He begs her forgiveness and the fake family members vouch for his true intentions to marry her. Clarissa returns back to Mrs. Sinclair’s house where Mrs. Sinclair offers her a drink corrupted with a sleeping potion. Unaware of the trick, Clarissa takes the drink and falls unconscious. Lovelace then rapes her. When Clarissa wakes up, she realizes what had happened in her unconscious state. She soon realizes that all good behavior of Lovelace was a sham and that she is being forced to live in a brothel for many months. She comes to know that the women whom she considered relatives of Lovelace are actually prostitutes who almost hate her. Clarissa is deeply affected by her rape and falls insane. Even in her insanity, she continues to follow a strict moral code and accuses Lovelace of cheating her. Gradually, she recovers her sanity while Lovelace realizes that despite all his efforts he failed to corrupt her. He continues to write letters to Belford, informing him about his acts.

Belford, on the other hand, starts praising Clarissa’s virtuous character and believes that she is a divine human being.

Lovelace starts feeling that he cannot corrupt the virtues of Clarissa and decides to release her. But soon he starts thinking that his efforts failed because he raped her when she was unconscious. He thus decides to rape her again and this time, he decides to rape her in her conscious state, without using drugs. He pretends that he has caught a servant whom Clarissa bribes to help her escape and starts harassing Clarissa. Clarissa realizes that he is willing to rape her again but she refuses to give up and picks up a pen-knife. She threatens to kill herself if Lovelace tries to rape her. Lovelace gets shocked by her determined virtuous behavior and decides to go away. He asks Mrs. Sinclair to keep good care of Clarissa until he returns. Meanwhile, Clarissa succeeds in making contact with real family members of Lovelace through letters. She also manages to have correspondence with John Belford. She decides to leave Mrs. Sinclair’s home but Mrs. Sinclair manages to get her imprisoned for some unpaid bills. Lovelace continues to send marriage proposals to Clarissa but she refuses all such proposals and claims that it would be better for her to take her own life than marrying her rapist. She gets very ill and weak. Belford tries to help her but finds that she has no desire to live anymore. Clarissa buys a coffin for herself and wishes to be buried next to her grandfather. She writes a will offering all her property to her relatives equally and declares John Belford as the executioner of her will. Meanwhile, Col. Morden finds out Clarissa and comes to know all about her ordeals. Clarissa says that she doesn’t want her relatives to pursue Lovelace. She dies in front of him and he vows to take revenge. John Belford informs all the relatives of Clarissa of her death and her last will. Her family members realize their mistake in understanding the true intentions of Clarissa but they cannot help her now when she is already dead.

Belford writes a letter to Lovelace, informing him about the death of Clarissa and Col. Morden’s vow to take revenge. Col. Morden then challenges Lovelace to a duel that he accepts. Col. Morden kills Lovelace in the duel while he too gets some minor injuries. Mr. and Mrs. Harlowe die soon after, and James and Arabella marry badly and are miserable for the rest of their lives. Anna Howe gets married to Mr. Hickman, her admirer, while John Belford reforms and gives up his libertine ideas. He decides to collect all the letters of Clarissa and create a book of them that may help other girls how to lead a virtuous life.

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!

Pamela by Samuel Richardson | Characters, Summary, Analysis

Hello and welcome to the Discourse. Samuel Richardson was an English writer, and printer, who was a good friend and contemporary writer of Samuel Johnson. He was baptized on August 19, 1689, and he died on July 4, 1761. Richardson began his career as a printer in 1706 at the age of 17 when he chose to work as an apprentice of a well-known printer John Wilde. Richardson chose the profession of printing because he hoped to "gratify a thirst for reading.” Being an avid reader, he developed an interest in writing, however, he failed to get any patrons. He began his writing career in 1733 when he wrote The Apprentice's Vade Mecum, urging young men like himself to be diligent and self-denying. In 1739, his friends asked him to write and publish epistolatory articles in a common style to help those countrymen who find it hard to attain quality literature. This proposal inspired him to write his first epistolatory novel titled Pamela; or, Virtue Rewarded which was first published in 1740. An epistolary novel is a novel written as a series of letters between the fictional characters of a narrative. Pamela is considered one of the first English novels and the first modern novel. It is a form of conduct literature about marriage. Conduct literature is a genre of books that attempts to educate the reader on social norms and ideals.

Characters of Pamela; or, Virtue Rewarded:

Pamela Andrews is a 15 years old young girl who works as a maidservant of Lady B. She is the daughter of Mr. John Andrews and Mrs. Elizabeth Andrews, a poor couple living in the countryside. Pamela remains in contact with her father through letters. Lady B was a kind old woman who employed Pamela as her maidservant and ensured that she attains proper education and develops a virtuous character. On her deathbed, she told her son to look after all the estate servants, especially Pamela. Mr. B is the son of Lady B who is a country squire. He is around 25 years of age and owns properties in Bedfordshire, Lincolnshire, Kent, and London. After her mother’s death, he gets infatuated with Pamela and pursues her, trying to force Pamela to accept his sexual advances. He is a rakish person with fundamental decency. Lady Davers is the elder married sister of Mr. B. She objects to the marriage of her brother with the waiting-maid of her mother but ultimately, accepts Pamela as her sister-in-law. Mrs. Jewkes is the housekeeper of Mr. B’s Lincolnshire estate. She is a loyal ally of Mr. B. Mrs. Jervis is another lady servant of Mr. B who is a virtuous lady and tries to help Pamela out. Mr. Williams is a junior pastor of Mr. B’s parish in Lincolnshire. Monsieur Colbrand is a Swiss man, a servant of Mr. B whom he sends to Lincolnshire to keep a watch on Pamela. Jackey is Lady Davers' nephew who tries to exploit Pamela but soon understands that she is a respectable virtuous girl. John Arnold is the footman of Mr. B’s estate who delivers Pamela’s letters to and from her parents. Nan is another maidservant of Mr. B at his Lincolnshire estate. Sally Godfrey used to be a mistress of Mr. B who bore him a girl child named Miss Goodwin.

Summary of Pamela; or, Virtue Rewarded:

Pamela is a beautiful young girl of age 15 who is working as a maidservant of Lady B at her Bedfordshire estate. She belongs to a poor family and her parents are living in the countryside. Her father is an educated man and Pamela continues to write letters to him. John Arnold, the footman (postman) of Lady B’s estate delivers Pamela’s letters to and from her parents. Lady B falls ill and then dies and all her property is transferred to Mr. B, her son, who is a squire. Before her death, Lady B recommended that Pamela should work for Mr. B. Pamela desperately needs money to help her family and thus she accepts her new position as maidservant of Mr. B. She excels at her work and Mr. B rewards her four guineas and some silver. Pamela sends all the money to her father and informs him about her new job position as a servant of Mr. B through a letter.

Pamela is a good learner and she gets help from an old servant Mrs. Jervis who likes her and advises her well in time of need. However, Pamela soon notices a change in Mr. B’s behavior as he starts flirting with her incessantly. He kisses her many times without her permission and continues to pursue her. Pamela writes a letter to her father informing her new employer’s ill behavior and vows that she will suffer any injury or social penalty rather than sacrifice her chastity. Her father writes back, praising her devotion to her virtue, and advises that she should leave the job and return home before Mr. B may physically assault her.

Pamela isn’t willing to return to poverty and tries to change her job instead. She requests Mrs. Jervis to recommend her to be transferred to Lady Davers’ estate who is the elder sister of Mr. B. Mr. B promises to transfer Pamela to Lady Davers’ estate but Pamela’s departure date never seems to come.

Pamela realizes that Mr. B has no intentions to send her to his sister’s estate and thus, she decides to return back to her parent’s home. Meanwhile, she continues to write letters to her father. One day, Mr. B accuses her of gossiping against him in letters and Pamela realizes that he stealing her letters written to her father. On the same night, Mr. B hides in the closet of her room to spy on her and as she undresses, he rushes out to have his way with her. Pamela gets frightened and faints. When Mr. B notices that Pamela is unconscious, he loses his libido and realizes that he doesn’t just sexually desire Pamela, rather he wishes her to love him. Nonetheless, he continues to harass Pamela who, despite being willing to go back to her parents, fails to do so.

Finally, she determines that she can take no more and packs her bag to leave Bedfordshire estate. Mr. B gets frightened that if Pamela goes away and complains about his rape attempts at her, it will ruin his reputation. He tries to bribe her and promises her that he will arrange for her marriage with Mr. Williams, a clergyman in his parish. He lets her go back to her parents. However, the coach driver that takes Pamela out is a loyal man of Mr. B who takes her to Mr. B’s Lincolnshire estate where Mr. B intends to keep Pamela as a prisoner. Mr. B writes a letter to Pamela’s father with a fake explanation of why she failed to reach them in the village. Mr. Andrews doesn’t trust Mr. B and thus he arrives at his Bedfordshire estate and tries to seek Pamela but fails to get any information about her.

Pamela is kept in the Lincolnshire estate under the strict ruling of Mrs. Jewkes who is the housekeeper of Mr. B’s Lincolnshire estate. She harasses Pamela and tries to force her to accept Mr. B’s sexual advancement. Pamela makes friends with another maid named Nan who is working in Lincolnshire estate. Mrs. Jewkes forces Pamela to share the bed with Nan. Nan is a good girl but she is addicted to alcohol. Pamela maintains her virtue and continues writing letters but since she doesn’t know when she will be able to send them to her father, she keeps them to herself with dates and signature. Meanwhile, she meets Mr. Williams, the junior pastor of Mr. B’s parish in Lincolnshire. She finds him a good man and seeks his help in escaping. They arrange a system of secret correspondence whereby they will hide their notes from each other beside a sunflower in the garden. Mr. Williams tries to gather support for Pamela in the local public but fails to do so because people suspect his intentions. Mr. Williams then proposes that Pamela should marry him to escape the clutches of Mr. B but Pamela declines the offer as she knows that Mr. B already planned her marriage to Mr. Williams. One day, Pamela gives all her letters to Mr. Williams and asks him to send them to her father. But when Mr. Williams goes to send the letters, some robbers attack him and snatch all the letters from him. Pamela then tries to run away from the Lincolnshire estate on foot but is soon caught by Monsieur Colbrand a strong Swiss man whom Mr. B sent to keep an eye on Pamela. Meanwhile, Mr. B suspects that Mr. Williams is colluding with Pamela and thus, he gets Mr. Williams arrested for debt.

One day, Mr. B arrives at Lincolnshire estate without letting Pamela know about it. He then orders Mrs. Jewkes to offer too much alcohol to Nan. Nan gets surprised and drinks a lot and soon falls into a stupor. At night, Mr. B decides to impersonate Nan by wearing her dress and goes to the maid's room to share the bed with Pamela. Pamela fails to recognize Mr. B in the dark and believes that Nan is sleeping with her. When Mr. B gets convinced that now he can easily overpower Pamela, he surprises her by removing his impersonation and attempting to sexually exploit her. Yet again, Pamela faints and Mr. B fails to make any sexual advancement when she is unconscious. He returns to Bedfordshire the same night but continues to spy on Pamela.

After some days, he returns to Lincolnshire with some letters written by Pamela that she gave to Mr. Williams and asks her to submit all the letters she has written till now. Pamela hesitates but submits all her letters. However, she gets surprised that Mr. B doesn’t get angry even after reading those letters, including those in which she crudely criticized Mr. B. Rather, she notices that Mr. B is going through a change while reading her letters. Mr. B realizes his mistake and decides to let Pamela leave and go back to her parents. Soon Pamela takes a coach and leaves the Lincolnshire estate. However, much before she could reach her village, Mr. John Arnold, the footman delivers a letter from Mr. B to her. Pamela reads the letter and comes to know that Mr. B is very ashamed of his bad behavior but he insists that he really loves her and has fallen ill since he couldn’t bear the pain of losing her. After reading the letter, Pamela realizes that despite all the harassment she has faced, she doesn’t hate Mr. B, rather she finds him handsome. She gets worried that Mr. B is ill and decides to return back and take care of him.

When Pamela returns to the Lincolnshire estate, she notices a marked difference in Mr. B’s behavior who is now a much moderate and sincere person. Soon he regains his health and proposes to Pamela to marry him. However, Pamela is not convinced as she suspects that Mr. B might only be trying to trick her into a sham marriage. Mr. B then tries to win her trust back. He even gets Mr. Williams out of jail on bail and takes back all charges against him. Finally, Pamela agrees to marry him but insists that they should not make it an expensive wedding. She asks Mr B to clean up his chapel in Lincolnshire where she wishes to marry him.

After their marriage, Mr. B appears to be a completely changed man who takes good care of Pamela and respects her. His elder sister Lady Davers arrives with Jackey, her nephew, to meet him. Lady Davers is unaware of Mr. B’s marriage to Pamela. She abuses Pamela accusing her of trying to trap Mr. B in her lure for his money. Jackey too harasses Pamela but finds her very attractive and tries to flirt with her. Soon it is revealed that Mr. B is already married to Pamela. Lady Davers declines to accept their marriage and demands Mr. B should reveal the truth about Sally Godfrey to Pamela. Mr. B then explains that he had an affair with Sally Godfrey during his college days and he impregnated her. He reveals that he has a daughter from Sally who now studies at a school in Bedfordshire. Mr. B reveals that her daughter is Miss Goodwin who doesn’t know anything about her parents and considers herself an orphan. He informs that Sally Godfrey moved to Jamaica where she married a rich landlord.

Pamela listens to all these revelations with calmness and promises to improve everything. Mr. B gets angry at her sister for forcing him to reveal these things to Pamela in such a manner but Pamela and Lady Davers calm him down. Lady Daver starts treating Pamela well as she finds her beautiful, virtuous, and compassionate. Pamela and Mr. B return to the Bedfordshire estate and start living as husband and wife. After some time, Pamela suggests that they should adopt Miss Goodwin to which Mr. B agrees. Pamela takes good care of Miss Goodwin, treating her as her own child while inculcating virtuous behavior in her.

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 Blue Umbrella by Ruskin Bond | A Novel for Children | Characters, Summary, Analysis

Hello and welcome to the Discourse. The Blue Umbrella was a novel of the children’s genre written by Ruskin Bond that was first published in 1980. Books for children explore and portray themes that children can identify with and find relevant and meaningful. The novels and stories of this genre are not very lengthy because of the limited retention span of children. Lively and often colorful illustrations add to the overall effect of the story. The Blue Umbrella is a short and simple story but it gives valuable lessons about human goodness and kindness. The story is based on the themes of innocence and compassion and expresses a message against materialism. We do not need an object to be happy. Good people around us and the beauty of nature are enough to make us happy. If we fall in love with an object, one day or the other, the love will fade away. The love between people never fades away.

Characters of The Blue Umbrella:

Binyadevi or Binya is the central character of the novel. She is a teen girl who lives with her widowed mother and brother Vijay or Bijju in the village of Garwhal, Himachal Pradesh in India. Binya belongs to a poor, low-income family. Bijju is her elder brother who is very fond of her and takes care of her. The family owns two cows named Neelu and Gauri and Binya often lets them graze on their own and searches for them in the evening if they don’t come back. The English woman is a tourist accompanying a group of Japanese tourists visiting Garwhal for their holidays. She owns a beautiful blue umbrella. Ram Bharosa is a small shopkeeper and tea stall owner in the village who earns a good living. Rajaram is a teenage boy from another village whom Ram Bharosa employs as a helper at his shop.

Summary of The Blue Umbrella:

The story is set in a small village in Garhwal district in Himachal Pradesh. Binya is a teen girl, around 10 years old. She belongs to a poor low-income family and lives with her widowed mother and an elder brother Vjay who is around 13 years old. Vijay deeply cares for his sister who calls him by his nickname Bijju. The village is set in the mountainous terrain of the Himalayas often visited by tourists from different parts of the world. It is a small village lacking modern facilities. The biggest shop in the village is a small shop owned by Ram Bharosa who also runs a tea stall along with his shop. Binya is a carefree girl who likes being on her own. She belonged to the mountains and thus dark forests and lonely hilltops held no terrors for her. The nearest town to her village is five miles away and that town is a popular tourist destination. Binya’s family owns two cows whom Binya lovingly calls Neelu and Gauri. While Binya’s mother has offered the responsibility of tending the cows to Binya, she often lets them graze on their own and searches for them in the evening if they don’t come back.

One evening, when Binya was searching for her cows, she noticed a group of foreigners who visited the area for a picnic. She was enamored by these strange-looking people. Most of them were Japanese tourists and an English woman too accompanied them. Binya got interested in the English lady who held a beautiful blue umbrella in her hand to avoid the occasional drizzling that was so common during that part of the year. Binya was enchanted by that blue umbrella. The umbrella was like a flower. The English woman observed the little girl gazing at her umbrella and understood that the little girl is in love with her umbrella. She noticed that Binya is wearing a strange-looking necklace with an intricate pendant on her neck. The English woman called Binya near her and asked her about the pendant in her necklace and Binya answered that it was a leopard-claw pendant which is assumed to carry positive energy and good fortune for the bearer.

The English woman liked that pendant and wished to have it. She asked if Binya is willing to sell it and offered her a good amount of money in return. Binya was not willing to sell the pendant and she had no interest in money. The English woman asked what she wanted and Binya pointed towards the Blue Umbrella. The English woman was not interested in giving up her beautiful umbrella and insisted that Binya should sell her leopard-claw pendant for money. But Binya continued to refuse the deal. At last, the English woman agreed and decided to trade the pendant for the expensive, beautiful umbrella.

Binya was too happy after acquiring the beautiful blue umbrella. When she reached home, her mother asked where did she get the umbrella and Binya told her all about the deal with the English lady. Binya was absolutely in love with the blue umbrella, so much so, that she never closed the umbrella and always carried it with her wherever she would go. Binya’s elder brother Bijju once asked Biya why she does not close the umbrella and keep it away? Binya answered that the umbrella is no more beautiful when it is closed.

Binya would keep the umbrella with her always. The people of the village were envious of Binya while they loved the umbrella. They would often wonder how this poor little girl got such an expensive umbrella. Binya was a kind girl who would hold the umbrella for everyone who would ask her to. Meanwhile, Ram Bharosa noticed that the customers of his shop too are very much interested in the blue umbrella. Ram Bharosa too was enchanted by that beautiful umbrella and wished to own it for himself. He thought that if he gets the umbrella and keeps it at his tea stall, it will help him in improving his business. He decided to lure Binya into selling the umbrella to him in exchange for some free toffees and cookies from his shop. Binya, however, was so devoted to her umbrella that she resisted eating the toffees. Ram Bharosa decided to lure Bijju, her elder brother. He offered chocolates for Bijju on credit and promised to offer many such chocolates for free if Bijju succeeds in bringing the umbrella for him. However, Bijju plainly said that Binya loves the umbrella too much and always carries it with her.

Ram Bharosa knew that Bijju’s family is poor so he decided to lure Bijju again during his holidays. Ram Bharosa offered Bijju to work in his shop and hoped that in return, Bijju will help in acquiring the blue umbrella. However, Bijju declined the job because he was required to help his mother in the fields. This angered Ram Bharosa. Anyhow, he appointed a teen boy from a nearby village to work on his shop. His new servant’s name was Rajaram. Rajaram was a very hardworking boy and he was too loyal to Ram Bharosa. The boy noticed that Ram Bharosa always used to remain frustrated about the blue umbrella. He realized how much Ram Bharosa wants to have that umbrella. When Rajaram asked about it, Ram Bharosa told him that Binya will never sell that umbrella to him. He asked Rajaram to steal the umbrella from Binya and bring it to him. Rajaram agreed and decided to snatch the umbrella from Binya as she never left the umbrella unattended. Rajaram failed to snatch the umbrella rather, he was caught by Bijju while trying to steal it. When Bijju asked him why he is stealing the umbrella from his sister, Rajaram answered that Ram Bharosa told him to do so.

Everyone in the village came to know about the cunningness of Ram Bharosa. They decided to punish him by ostracizing him and stopped going to his shop. With time, the umbrella lost its shine. Binya’s blue umbrella faded and the signs of stitches began appearing on the umbrella. Still, it was the most beautiful umbrella in the village. Binya noticed that Ram Bharosa is very sad nowadays because nobody visits his shop. She felt bad about it. One day, she decided to visit Ram Bharosa’s shop to buy candy. Ram Bharosa was shocked at seeing her. She was the first customer to visit his shop in the last two weeks. Binya asked for candy and offered a coin on the counter. Ram Bharosa thought that Binya came to mock him. He checked if the coin was real and then he gave the candy to Binya. Binya took the candy and left the shop and she left the blue umbrella in the shop too. Ram Bharosa noticed the umbrella. He picked it up and ran outside the shop to return it to Binya. Binya told him to keep that umbrella, saying, “An umbrella is not everything.” Ram Bharosa was happy at Binya’s gesture and praised her compassion. Binya encouraged other villagers to forgive Ram Bharosa and soon people started visiting his shop again. Everything returned to normalcy but the people found that Ram Bharosa has been changed. He is much cheerful, compassionate, and selfless.

One day, Ram Bharosa found a bear’s claw near his shop. He took it to the blacksmith and told him to carve the bear’s claw in a beautiful pendant. He gave Binya the pendant saying it is luckier than a leopard claw.

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!

The Room on the Roof by Ruskin Bond | Characters, Summary, Analysis

Hello and welcome to the Discourse. Ruskin Bond is an Anglo-Indian author and novelist who was born on 19 May 1934 in Kasauli, India. His father was Aubrey Alexander Bond, a British Military officer posted in India and his mother was Edith Clerk. His parents got separated and divorced in 1942 and his mother married a Punjabi Hindu man. In 1944, Ruskin Bond’s father died of Malaria. Ruskin Bond is known for his short stories, essays, and novels which include 69 books for children. Ruskin Bond moved to England in 1951 and began his writing career. In 1956, his first novel The Room on the Roof was published which was a semi-autobiographical story in which he introduced the character of Rusty, an Anglo-Indian boy for the first time. The novel revolves around Rusty, an orphaned seventeen-year-old Anglo-Indian boy living in Dehradun. Due to his guardian, Mr. Harrison's strict ways, he runs away from his home to live with his Indian friends. The character of Rusty is loosely based on Ruskin Bond himself. He returned to India in 1957 and continued his writing career.

The Roof on the Roof is based on the theme of loneliness and the dangers of youthful rebellion that can lead to disillusionment and even to the dark corners of crime and misery.

Characters of The Room on the Roof :

Rusty is the main character and narrator of the story. He is an Anglo-Indian orphan adolescent boy of age 17 who lives with his guardian Mr. John Harrison, a Missionary, and his wife in Dehradun. Somi, Suri, and Ranbir are three Indian kids whom Rusty befriends. Somi is a Sikh boy while Rnabir is a Hindu boy who is known as the best wrestler in Dehra. Kishen is a teenage boy whom Rusty begins teaching English. Kishen is the son of Mr Kapoor who is an aged man. Mr. Kapoor married Meena Kapoor, a young woman about 20 years younger than Mr. Kapoor. Yasmin is a young Muslim Indian girl Rusty loves.

Summary of The Room on the Roof :

The novel is set in Dehradoon, India. Rusty is a seventeen-year-old English boy living in India. He is an orphan who is living with Mr. John Harrison, a missionary who is his strict guardian. His wife Mrs Harrison is a kind-hearted lady. Rusty is a lonely boy who is frustrated by his guardian’s stern restrictions and suffocating environment. Mr. Harrison is a missionary and wants to inculcate Christian values and moral principles in Rusty and would often use means of corporal punishment. Being a Race supremacist, Mr Harrison didn’t like Indian and wished Rusty too would avoid making any relationship with Indians. Mr. Harrison never gave him the freedom to live life on his own terms. Rusty was abode by the orders of his guardians because he knew if he broke any of such orders, no one can save him from the torture of Mr. Harrison. Due to this, he felt suffocated by them and craved independence.

One day, Rusty finds that there is an abandoned room on the roof of his guardian’s house. He decides to clean and mend it and starts spending most of his time in the room. He develops an interest in literature and would often read books of Charles Dickens while sitting in his room on the roof. Gradually, he started writing his own stories too. Yet, he missed any audience and was bereft of any friends. One day when Mr John was away, Rusty goes out for a walk to explore the vividness and bask in the fresh glory. While he was walking through the forest, there was a constant battle between his heart and mind about deciding whether to enter the bazaar or not. Finally, he followed his instinct and entered the bazaar.

While returning from the market, Rusty met a Sikh Indian boy named Somi. It was drizzling that afternoon and thus, Somi offered Rusty a lift on his bicycle. Rusty was hesitant at first but accepted to take the lift as the rainfall began taking pace. Somi and Rusty were then joined by two other boys, Suri, and Ranbir who were friends of Somi. All four boys soon developed a liking and friendship with each other and they spent a good time while bicycling on the streets. Rusty then began spending his time with his new friends. Ranbir was a strong Hindu boy who was known as the best wrestler of Dehradoon while Suri was a bespectacled and bony boy, known for his reputation as a spy. Suri also had a pet dog named Prickly Heat. Rusty would often share his stories with his newly found friends. While spending time with his friends, Rusty meets a girl named Yasmin, a sister of Suri. Rusty finds her very beautiful and feels that he loves her.

Rusty starts learning about the customs of his Indian friends and one day, he comes to know that it is the occasion of Holi. Ranbir insists Rusty play with colors and though Rusty is hesitant, he begins enjoying the colors with his friends and in the process messes up his face and clothes. After returning home, he notices that his guardian, Mr. Harrison is unable to recognize him because of the colors on his face. When Mr Harrison realizes that he is Rusty who has sullied himself and his clothes while playing Holi, a festival of lowly Indians, he gets very angry and starts beating Rusty mercilessly. Rusty fails to control his aggression and fights back against Mr. Harrison and hits him hard in the face with a huge flower vase. When Mrs Harrison sees this, she scolds Rusty and he runs away from the house.

Rusty decides never to return to his guardian’s house but finds that it is difficult to survive on the streets. He tries to find out his friends but he fails to find them because they had already gone to their homes. Rusty is forced to spend the night alone on the street. He meets Somi the next day and informs him that he has left Mr. Harrison’s house. Somi promises to help him out and takes him to his house. Rusty realizes that he is old enough to try to earn a living. Somi helps him by finding a job as a private tutor to teach English to the son of Mr Kapoor whose name is Kishen. In return for his service, Mr. Kapoor offered Rusty a room on the roof of their house and food.

Mr. Kapoor’s wife and Kishen’s mother Meena is a generous lady. Mr. Kapoor was a heavy drinker and some twenty years elder than his beautiful, charming, and young wife Meena Kapoor. Rusty finds himself attracted to Meena who treats him well. Meena notices that Rusty is infatuated by her and she too reciprocates the admiration as she feels unloved by her husband. One day, Mr. Kapoor arranges for a picnic with his family in a nearby jungle, and Rusty accompanies them. During the picnic, Mr. Kapoor again drinks too much while neglecting his wife and son. On that day, Rusty and Meena share a kiss while expressing their love for each other. After a couple of days, Mr. and Mrs. Kapoor leave for Delhi for some business while they leave Kishen with Rusty at home. After a few more days, Rusty receives a telegram that mentions the tragic news of a car accident in which Mrs. Meena Kapoor lost her life. Kishen is devastated by hearing the news of the death of his mother while Rusty feels orphaned again in his young life. Kishen’s aunt who lives in Hardwar comes to take him away leaving Rusty all alone. Rusty feels he truly loved Meena and had planned future dreams with her but now he finds nothing more for him in his life. After a few days of wallowing and self-pity, Rusty decides to leave for England in the hope of starting a new life. But, before leaving, he decides to see Kishen. He knows that he will need to visit the British consulate in Delhi for the arrangements of his travel. On his way to Delhi, Rusty decides to stop at Hardwar.

When Rusty visits Hardwar to meet Kishen he gets shocked to know that Mr Kapoor has remarried. Kishen’s aunt informs him that Kishen found it difficult to tackle with the sorrow of his mother’s death and when Mr Kapoor remarried, Kishen totally got lost and took the path of crime. Kishen became friends with some hooligans of Hardwar and became a thief. Rusty comes to know that Kishen is a wanted criminal in Hardwar. Rusty decides to find and meet Kishen and after some struggles, he succeeds in meeting Kishen. Rusty tells him to stop thieving and start living an honest life. He advises him to quit thieving as he still feels responsible for Kishen. After all, he knows what it feels like to be sad, alone, and confused. He has had his fair share of tragedy and loss.

The book – Room on the rooftop ends on a positive note with both Kishen and Rusty deciding to start a fresh life without letting the past affect the present and future.

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!

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott | Characters, Summary, Analysis

Hello and welcome to the Discourse. Louisa May Alcott was an American short story writer, novelist, and poet. She was born on November 29, 1832, and died on March 6, 1888. Her parents were transcendentalists and she recognized herself as an abolitionist and feminist who took an active part in social reform movements involving temperance and women’s suffrage. Her best-known work is the coming-of-age novel ‘Little Women’ which was published in two volumes in 1868 and 1869. In 1880, the two volumes were published as a single novel titled Little Women. Before that she she sometimes used pen names such as A. M. Barnard, under which she wrote lurid short stories and sensation novels for adults that focused on passion and revenge.

The novel ‘Little Women’ is semi-autobiographical as it is hugely based on the life of the author Louisa May Alcott and her three sisters Abigail May Alcott, Elizabeth Sewall Alcott, and Anna Alcott. The subtitle of Little Women is Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy and it tells about the four sisters and their struggles as they grow up from their childhood towards womanhood. The title suggests that the four sisters are surpassing their ‘childhood innocence’ while they are preparing themselves to face the inescapable woman problems that become more serious because of the biased society of that time when women in general were considered inferior or little as compared to men.

Characters of Little Women:

Meg or Margaret is the eldest of the four March sisters. She is 16 years old beautiful girl who takes care of her younger sisters and household when her mother is absent. She hopes to conquer her vanity and do her work cheerfully. Jo or Josephine is the second oldest March sister. She is a 15 years old strong, willful tomboyish girl who is very creative and smart. The character of Jo is loosely based on the author Louisa May Alcott herself. Jo loves literature. She writes short stories and composes plays for her sisters to perform. She goes to New York to pursue her literary career where she meets Frederick Baehar, a German professor. Jo is against marriage as she thinks it would break up her family and separate her from the sisters whom she adores. Beth or Elizabeth is the third March sister. She is a 13-year-old, quiet, selfless, shy girl, who only wishes to be at home with her family. She loves music and plays the piano. She succumbs to the scarlet fever and dies. Amy is the youngest of the March sisters and is loved by all the family members. She is 12 years old girl who is very creative and is interested in arts. Margaret ‘Marmee’ March is the mother of the March sisters who is the head of the family while her husband is away. She engages in charitable works and lovingly guides her girls' morals and their characters. Mr. March is the Father of Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy. During the civil war, he serves as a chaplain for the Union Army. He is a good man, but very unworldly. Mr. Laurence, or Grandfather is the wealthy neighbor of the March family who was a good friend of Marmee’s father. He cares for all the March sisters and especially likes Beth, whom he gifts a piano. Laurie or Theodore Laurence is Mr. Laurence’s grandnephew who has lost his parents. He develops a brotherly relationship with March sisters and becomes especially close to Jo who calls him Teddy. Later on, Laurie proposes to Jo to marry him but she rejects him because she feels that Beth loves Laurie. Laurie then marries Amy. John Brooke is Laurie’s tutor. He accompanies Mrs. March to Washington when Mr. March is sick, and he woos and marries Meg. Aunt March is Mr. March’s aunt. Rather old and cranky, she first has Jo as her companion, then Amy. She disapproves of how the girls are raised. However, she loves all the March sisters and is very generous towards them.

Summary of Little Women:

The story begins at Christmastime in 1860. The March family is living in Concord, Massachusetts. Mr. March is a philosopher and teacher. He is a good man but unworldly. While trying to help a friend, he lost all his property and that further weakened the financial situation of the March family. Mr. Marrch volunteered to serve in the Union Army as a chaplain, leaving his wife and daughters to fend for themselves in his absence. Mrs. March is a strong-willed woman who is patient with poverty and advises her girls to maintain a healthy balance of work and play. She urges her daughters to be pious and marry good, kind men. Meg is the eldest daughter and is a motherly figure for her younger sisters. Jo is the second sister who is tomboyish and rash in her nature. She is completely devoted to her family and adores her sister. Beth is an elegant 13 years old girl, frail but pious. Amy is 12 years old and she is the youngest March sister who is loved by all.

The four sisters are discussing buying Christmas gifts for themselves. Soon, they decide that they should buy a gift for Marmee, their hard-working mother.

On Christmas morning, the four sisters wake up and find a copy of The Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan under the pillow of each of them. It is their Christmas present. All four sisters accept the gift cheerfully and decide to read a little from their books each day and put the morals they learn into practice. The girls promise to improve their characters so that they may surprise their father when he returns. The March sisters notice the poor Hummel family living in their neighborhood. They are poor German immigrants who live near the Marches. The girls cheerfully decide to give away their Christmas dinner and Beth goes to the house of the Hummel Family to offer the dinner as a gift for the Hummel family. Later on, Mr. Laurence, the wealthy old neighbor of the March family decides to reward their charity by sending a feast for the March family. Mr. Laurence never met the March sisters but he used to be a good friend of Marmee’s father.

Meg’s wealthy friend Sally Gardiner invites Meg and Jo for the New Year’s party where Jo meets Laurie, the nephew of Mr. Laurence, and becomes a friend of his. Meg sprains her leg while dancing at the party and Laurie helps her and escorts the girls to their home. Laurie becomes a close friend, a brotherly figure for all the four March sisters. One day, Jo learns that Laurie is sick and she decides to visit him at Mr. Laurence’s home. Jo finds the Laurence villa very beautiful but she criticizes a painting on the wall in front of Mr. Laurence. The painting was made by Mr. Laurence herself but he doesn’t get angry with Jo, rather finds her honest and straightforward. He makes a bond with Jo and then he befriends all the March sisters. He especially likes Beth and presents her with the piano of her deceased daughter. As school starts, Meg, Jo, and Amy get busy with their education while Beth avoids going to school because she is too shy. Amy takes some pickled limes to the school and is caught by the headmaster who punishes her. After returning home, Amy complains about the corporal punishment she got at the school and Marmee decides to stop sending Amy to school. Being left out, Amy gets frustrated and burns down Jo’s school books. Jo gets too angry and when Amy goes ice-skating, she decides not to save her when she tumbles upon and falls down on water. Jo realizes that her anger and violent behavior is a problem. Meanwhile, Meg decides to attend Annie Moffat's party and lets the wealthy girls dress her up. Meg realizes she let vanity overtake her. While at the party, she hears that people think she intends to marry Laurie for his money. She decides to make her distance from Laurie. Laurie continues to make strong friendships with all the four March sisters and soon joins the Pickwick Club whose head is Meg. The girls start feeling lazy and one day, they decide not to do the work assigned to them. In response, Marmee too decides not to do her own work and the girls realize the importance of productivity. Laurie helps the girls in deciding their goals. Jo expresses her interest in literature and starts submitting stories to a newspaper. Meg starts tending to old Aunt March. One day, Meg complains that one of her gloves is missing. Laurie reveals that his private tutor Mr. John Brooke has feelings for Meg and has her missing glove.

The March family gets a telegram that while serving the Union Army, Mr. March has gotten ill. Marmee decides to go and nurse him but she has no money to go. Jo decides to sell her beautiful long hair to arrange money for Marmee’s travel. Mrs. March leaves, and the family sends letters to keep each other updated. The Hummel family continues to suffer poverty and the youngest son of Mr. Hummel gets severely ill. Beth visits the Hummel family to see the ill child who dies in her arms. Beth is devastated. She catches scarlet fever from the Hummel family and falls severely ill. When Marmee learns this, she returns to nurse Beth. Jo tells Mrs. March that Mr. Brooke has Meg's glove, and Mrs. March tells Jo she already knows about Mr. Brooke's feelings. Marmee says that she already knows about Mr. Brooke’s feelings. While Marmee is willing to let Mr. Brooke marry her daughter Meg, Aunt March is against this marriage and declares that if Meg marries, Mr. Brooke, she will cut her off her inheritance. Meg realizes that she too loves Mr. Brooke but decides not to marry at present.

Three years have passed, Meg has developed her homemaking skills, Jo has continued writing and caring for Beth, Beth is still sickly, Amy now tends to Aunt March, and Laurie is away at college. Meg is 19 years old now and she decides to marry Mr. Brooke and settle with him. Jo receives positive criticism for her stories and she takes Beth to the sea to help build her strength. Amy too develops her artistic skills and invites her art class for a party. She insists Jo help her in making social calls but the party fails because of heavy rainfall. Meg realizes the hardship of married life and finds it difficult to balance her duties. She soon gives birth to twins, Demi and Daisy. Aunt Carrol is planning a trip to Paris and Jo wishes to accompany her. However, Amy gets to go to Paris instead of Jo because their Aunt Carroll prefers Amy’s ladylike behavior as a companion.

Jo realizes that Laurie is in love with her and she also feels that Beth is in love with Laurie. To escape Laurie’s affection for her, Jo moves to New York to give Beth a chance to win his affection. There Jo meets Professor Bhaer, a poor German language instructor. Jo in New York begins writing adult stories anonymously to earn some extra income. Professor Bhaer discovers that Jo is writing sensational stories and discourages her from doing so. Jo takes his advice and finds a more straightforward writing style. She realizes that she has soft feelings for Professor Bhaer. When Jo returns home, Laurie proposes to her, but she turns him down as she still feels that Beth is in love with him. Beth says she knows she is fated to die young and she soon succumbs to the Scarlet fever that she caught from the Hummel family.

Meanwhile, Laurie visits Paris and comes close to Amy during Christmas. They marry and return home on the night before Jo’s 25th birthday. Jo begins to hope that Professor Bhaer will come for her. He does and expresses his feelings for Jo and she accepts. They get married a year later. Amy and Laurie have a daughter named Beth, who is sickly. Five years pass. Jo and Bhaer are married, they have two boys, and they inherit Aunt March’s house when she dies. Jo and Bhaer turn it into a school called Plumfield.

The March family decide to gather and celebrate the 60th birthday of Marmee. The entire March family gathers in the apple orchard and reflects on how blessed they are to have each other. Marmeereflects that there is no greater happiness than to experience the love she has for her family.

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!

The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger | Characters, Summary, Analysis

Hello and welcome to the Discourse. J. D. Salinger was an American author who mainly wrote short stories. His most popular and acclaimed work is The Catcher in the Rye, a novel published in 1951. Jerome David Salinger was born on January 1, 1919, and he died on January 27, 2010. His father was a successful Jewish cheese importer, and his mother was Scotch-Irish Catholic. Salinger was a shy and reticent person since his childhood. He belonged to an upper-middle-class family and though he tried and got enrolled in several colleges to complete his graduation, he always flunked the course. He took fictional writing classes at Columbia University and began writing short stories for Story magazine in 1940. During World War II, Salinger joined the U.S. Army’s infantry division and served in combat, including the invasion of Normandy in 1944. The battle at Normandy was one of the bloodiest battles of World War II. Salinger witnessed the slaughtering of thousands of young men at Normandy and that had a deep effect on him. After his return from the battleground, he continued his writing career and in 1951, his first and only novel The Catcher in the Rye was published. Just like Salinger, the protagonist of The Catcher in the Rye belongs to upper-class New York City, both flunked out of prep schools, and both find it difficult to communicate with others. Salinger’s horrifying experiences of World War II are expressed in Holden’s mistrusting, cynical view of adult society. The major theme of the novel is adolescent alienation and loss of innocence. The novel has an optimistic ending that suggests that alienation is just a phase. Through this novel, Salinger expressed the trauma of World War II that he considered a blunder of adults. World War I was supposed “the war to end all wars,” but World War II proved that this claim was hollow and phony, just like the ideas that adults continue to force on Holden in the novel.

Characters of The Catcher in the Rye:

Holden Caulfield is the narrator and protagonist of the novel belonging to a rich family. He is not good at studies and continues to move from boarding school to boarding school after being repeatedly expelled. He is a shy and reclusive adolescent teen with a self-destructive side. He is deeply affected by the death of his elder brother Allie who was suffering from leukemia. D. B. Caulfield is the eldest brother of Holden who is a war veteran and now works as a screenwriter in Hollywood. Phoebe Caulfield is the 9-year-old sister of Holden who appears more mature and intelligent than other children of her age. She understands Holden’s mistrust, misanthropy, and sadness and tries to help him. Mr. Antolini is a former English teacher of Holden. Holden stays for a night at Mr. Antolni’s house after running away from his home. He tries to help Holden but fails to win his trust. Ward Stadler is a self-centered, arrogant roommate of Holden at the hostel who bullies him. Carl Luce is a friend of Holden who used to study with him at Wooten. Carl passed the school but Holden failed. Mr. Spencer is Holden’s history teacher at Pencey. Robert Ackley is a classmate and neighbor of Holden at the hostel in Pency. Jane Gallagher was a friend of Holden during their childhood. Holden feels that he loves Jane and when Ward Stadler informs him that he is going on a date with Jane, Holden gets disturbed. Mal Brossard is another classmate of Holden. Ernest Morrow is a classmate of Holden whom he doesn’t like and feels that "the biggest bastard that ever went to Pencey.” Sally Hayes is another childhood friend of Holden whom he asks for a date but gets irked by her pretentious mannerism. Faith Cavendish is a popular stripper and prostitute who rejects Holden’s advances. Lillian Simmons is a former girlfriend of Holden’s elder brother D.B. whom Holden tries to avoid because he thinks she is phony.

Summary of The Catcher in the Rye:

The novel begins with a blunt statement by the narrator, “If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you'll probably want to know is where I was born, and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don't feel like going into it if you want to know the truth.” The narrator reveals that he is Holden Caulfield, a sixteen-year-old guy, currently in psychiatric care in a sanitarium in south California. He says that his parents are nice but “touchy as hell.” He mentions his elder brother D. B. Caulfield who was a terrific short story writer but now works as a screenwriter in Hollywood, and continues to visit him every weekend.

The narrator says that he will prefer to talk about the incidences that happened around Christmastime of the previous year. Holden begins his story from his last day at Pencey Prep, an exclusive private school in Pennsylvania. He was recently expelled from the school by Dr. Thurmer for being irresponsible and immature. Before leaving the school, Holden decides to visit Mr. Spencer, his history teacher to say goodbye. Mr. Spencer is a well-meaning old man who advises Holden that he must realize that “life is a game” and one should “play it according to the rules,” but Holden, who has already left four private schools, dismisses much of what Spencer says.

Holden then returns to his hostel room where he meets Robert Ackley, his obnoxious neighbor with a terrible complexion. Holden doesn’t like him for his lack of hygiene, impolite questioning, and mannerisms. His roommate is Ward Stradler, a strongly built handsome adolescent whom Holden likes but feels that Stradler is conceited, arrogant, and a ‘secret slob.’ At his core, Holden seems to want to be Stradlater and thus command power over men and women alike. Stradler asks Holden to write an English composition for him as he is preparing for a date. Holden agrees to write the composition for Stradler and asks who is he planning to date. Stradler reveals he is going with Jane Gallagher. Holden gets distressed by knowing this as Jane used to be his childhood friend and he was infatuated by her. Holden remembers his childhood when he had two close friends Jane Gallagher and Sally Hayes. He remembers that he always loved Jane Gallagher and now he is pensive as he believes that Stradler is dating her only for having sex.

After Stradler goes out, Holden decides to go to New York City with Ackley and Mal Brossard to watch a movie. After returning, Holden writes the composition for Stradler which is about his elder brother Allie’s baseball mitt. He mentions that his brother died of leukemia and he was so sad and angry at his death that he broke all the windows of their garage on that night. When Stradler returns, Holden asks him about his date with Jane. Stradler ignores his queries and starts reading the composition. He gets upset when he notices that Holden didn’t follow the rules for writing the composition which has to be about a place or house. Holden gets annoyed and tears down the composition. He asks again about Stradler’s date with Jane to which Stradler indirectly suggests that he might have had sex with Jher. This enrages Holden and he tries to punch Stradler in the face while calling him a moron. Stadler, being stronger easily overpowers Holden and then knocks him out.

After his fight with Stradler, Holden feels alienated and decides to leave Penecy right then. He decides to go back to New York City where he will first stay at a hotel and then will go to his home as his parents are yet to know that he has been expelled again from the school.

On the train to New York City, Holden meets a middle-aged woman and finds out that she is the mother of a Pencey student, Ernest Morrow. Nobody likes Ernest at Penecy but Holden decides to lie and praises Ernest in front of his mother and tells her how popular and well-respected her son is at Pencey. Holden starts flirting with Ernest’s mother and invites her to have a drink with him at the club car but she refuses. In New York, he rents a room at Edmond Hotel but soon starts feeling lonely. He thinks of calling Jane Gallagher but fails to gather enough courage. Thinking about Jane, who probably had sex with Stradler, Holden decides to call Faith Cavendish, a former burlesque stripper and reputed prostitute, but she rejects his advances. He then visits the nightclub of the hotel where he dances with Bernice Krebs, a blonde woman from Seattle who is vacationing in New York with several friends. Bernice is not at all interested in Holden and tries to evade him but Holden continues to pursue her as he thinks she is an excellent dancer. Soon he gets tired of Bernice and decides to visit a piano club where he used to go with her eldest brother D. B. He sees Lillian Simmons, his brother’s former girlfriend. He decides to leave the club as he wishes to avoid being noticed by Lillian who he thinks, is a phony person. When he returns to the hotel, the elevator attendant offers him a prostitute for entertainment. Holden was already looking for a prostitute and thus he agrees. Sunny, a young prostitute visits his room but Holden gets nervous after seeing her and refuses to have sex with her. He asks her to go back but Sunny demands ten dollars for her charge. Holden offers her five dollars as he didn’t have any sex with her. Sunny goes out but soon returns with the elevator attendant and demands five dollars more. Holden argues that he already paid according to the deal but the elevator attendant bullies him and punches him in his stomach while Sunny robs the money from his pocket. Holden feels severe pain and imagines shooting the elevator attendant and killing him. He feels so humiliated that he considers jumping out of the window to commit suicide.

The next day, Holden decides to call Sally Hayes and invites her to a matinee show. During the show, Sally mentions that she just saw a boy whom she knows. Holden gets pestered and tells her to go over and give the boy “a big soul kiss.” When Sally goes to talk with the boy, Holden feels disgusted at how phony the conversation is. Later on, he takes Sally to ice skating and then they decide to take lunch. During lunch, Holden tells her that he is fed up with everything around him and suggests that they run away together to New England, where they can live in a cabin in the woods. Sally rejects his proposal and Holden insults her and calls her pretentious and a “royal pain in the ass.” Sally decides to run away.

After the failed date, Holden decides to call one of his old friends Carl Luce with whom he studied at Wooton School. While Holden failed the school exam, Carl passed and then got admission to Columbia University. Carl meets him at Wicker Bar. Carl soon becomes annoyed at Holden for having a “typical Caulfield conversation”—one that is preoccupied with sex. He chastises Holden for repeatedly failing at school and says that he thinks Holden is immature and childish. He suggests that Holden should see a psychiatrist. Carl leaves him while Holden continues to drink at Wicker Bar. Soon he starts feeling lonely and weak. He leaves the bar and starts wandering around Central Park. He thinks he is sick and suffering from pneumonia. He fears he may die soon and thus, he decides to go to his home to meet Phoebe, his nine years old sister whom he loves so much.

He sneaks into the house while evading his parents and awakens Phoebe. She gets startled at seeing him and asks how he returned from Penecy. When Holden informs her that he has been expelled, she gets pensive and says their father will kill him. He tells her he might go out to a ranch in Colorado, but she dismisses his idea as foolish.

Holden tells her that he does not like Penecy because it is a phony school. Phoebe then asks if he likes anything in the world? Holden says that he liked Allie who is no more. He says he thinks he likes the nuns at Grand Central and a boy at Elkton Hills who committed suicide. He tells her that he would like to be a catcher in the rye, taking care of young children at the edge of a cliff. He would come out of somewhere and always catch them just before they fell off the edge. After some time, his parents return home but Holden evades them again and sneaks out of the house. He decides to spend the night with Mr. Antolini, his former English teacher at Elkton Hills. Mr. Antolini gets startled at seeing him at his home. When he reveals that he has been expelled from Penecy too, Mr. Antolini tells Holden that he is headed for a serious fall and that he is the type who may die nobly for a highly unworthy cause. He quotes Wilhelm Stekel: “The mark of an immature man is that he wants to die nobly for a cause, while the mark of the mature man is that he wants to live humbly for one.” Holden is not interested in Mr. Antolini’s lecture and he soon falls asleep on the couch. After some time, he suddenly wakes up and finds Mr. Antolini with his hand on Holden’s head. Holden finds it inappropriate and feels that Mr. Antolini is trying to sexually abuse him. He says that he has to take his luggage from Grand Central Station and he will return soon. However, Holden spends the night at the station. The next morning, he sends a note to Phoebe at school, telling her to meet him for lunch. He feels very pensive and distressed and fears that he will die soon. He is very weak and falls unconscious due to diarrhea. After gaining consciousness back, he meets Phoebe and tells her that he is going away. Phoebe insists that she will come with him but Holden refuses to and Phoebe gets angry. He then buys Phoebe a ticket for the carousel at the nearby zoo, and as he watches her, he begins to cry.

Holden says that he doesn’t remember what happened next as he fell unconscious again and when he woke up, he found himself in the sanitarium. He says that people wonder if he will pursue his education and if will he improve? Holden ends the story by mentioning that he is already missing Strandler, Ackley, and Mal Brossard, suggesting that he is optimistic about the future.

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!

The Autobiography of an Unknown Indian | Thy Hand Great Anarch! by Nirad C. Chaudhuri | Summary

Hello and welcome to the Discourse. Nirad C. Chaudhuri was an Indo-Anglian writer who took birth on 23 November 1897 and died on 1 August 1999. Nirad C. Chaudhuri was an Anglophile who liked the discipline followed by the Britishers, he considered them more civilized and had a great admiration for Britishers. He found out many drawbacks on the part of Indians which suppressed them from getting respect in society. His most famous work is ‘The Autobiography of an Unknown Indian’ which was published in the year 1951. “Thy Hand, Great Anarch! India, 1921-1952” was a sequel of The Autobiography and it was published in 1987.

It is an autobiographical work in which Nirad C. Chaudhuri not only talks about his personal life but also discusses the socio-political, economic, and religious practices that he observed in India from his birth in 1897, till 1950. The Autobiography is divided into four parts with each part having four chapters. The first part describes three places, his birth native place, Kishorganj, and his ancestral village. Banagram, and the village of his mother Kalikutch. This book is dedicated to the memory of the British Empire in India because it made shaped and quickened, that was a good life for Indians. Nirad wrote his autobiography not for Indian readers but for academic circles in the West under whose influence he grew up and to whom he owed all his intellectual and academic attainments. It may appear as if Nirad was trying to woo the Western audience while criticizing and showing contempt for Indian society and civilization. Nirad believed that India cannot grow and develop without foreign influences. He commented, "I expect either the United States singly or a combination of the United States and British commonwealth to re-establish and rejuvenate the foreign domination of India."

Summary of The Autobiography of an Unknown India:

Nirad’s father was a successful criminal lawyer and the Vice-Chairman of the Kishorganj municipality of Bengal who made enough money to buy unlimited quantities of books for his children. Thus, Nirad. C. Chaudhuri grew up in a literary environment. His parents were influenced by Brahmosamaj and were followers of the teachings of Raja Ram Mohan Roy. Nirad did not learn Sanskrit and did not also read the existing English translations of Sanskrit texts but he did read a lot of English literature since his childhood. He read about Queen Victoria, Prince Albert, Napoleon, Shakespeare, Raphael, Milton, Burke, Warren Hastings, Wellington, King Edward VII, and others. Nirad did read about Bankim Chandra Chatterjee and Vivekanand through modern Bengali literature.

Influence of Bengal Renaissance: Nirad describes the religious influence in his formative years in four stages; first, the most elementary and elemental belief in ghosts and spirit and animistic duties and the routine of magic and ritual organized around this belief, secondly a polytheism both anthropomorphic and pantheistic and on the whole sunny and benign, thirdly the Brahmo monotheism, fourthly the pseudo-scientific. Chaudhuri talks of Brahmo Samaj as an organization whose morality was derived from Puritan Christianity. It led a moral crusade attacking four vices namely sensuality, drunkenness, dishonesty, and falsehood. Chaudhuri tells us that none of these vices had reached diabolic proportions, since feebleness and passivity permeated even the vices. Chaudhuri was evidently not a follower of the Brahmo Samaj. He was imbued with the ideas propagated by the new cultural movement mainly based on the formula of a synthesis of the values of the East and the West, which passes under the name of the Indian Renaissance. The great Bengali reformers from Raja Ram Mohan Roy to Rabindranath Tagore spearheaded the Indian cultural Renaissance in the early part of the 19th century. After their death, Nirad says that the idea of the Indian Renaissance was suppressed and the real villains were Nehru and especially Gandhi, who threw over the opportunity of their youthful experience in England to deny all that could have revitalized India.

During his childhood, he read works of Toru Dutt, and Michael Madhusudan Dutt, a wealthy Bengali who converted to Christianity. Chaudhuri calls him the greatest exponent and greatest martyr of Bengali humanism and a great scholar. Once his father enquired him to beam by heart some passages from Michael Madhusudan Dutt's famous epic poem Meghadnaradhya Kakya. He wrote "We received a valuable critical lesson from our perplexities over Dutt's treatment of the Ramayanic theme. Henceforward we never forgot."

The author was hugely influenced by British literature and social practices and criticized the Indian ways in a way that showed a need for improvement.

Nirad depicts the poverty-stricken urban life of Indians under the British Raj Kishorganj. He informs that the villagers used to drink water from the same river where they took baths along with other animals like cows and elephants. They had to live in squalid conditions; moths, ants, and centipedes were their constant companions. In the rainy season, they had to deal with flies, while in winter, mosquitoes made their life troublesome, and they did not have any preventive measures for such conditions. Whenever the children got the insect bite, the only remedy they could get was a mixture of mustard oil and slaked lime which was worse than a disease in itself. They had to live in such unhygienic conditions that resulted in diseases like Cholera which was a very frequent visitor in their life. Nirad described population explosion as one of the most severe problems for India because population explosion also becomes the sole cause of many other challenges in Indian society such as lack of food, hospital facilities, and jobs, and consequently the people have to live in very disappointing conditions. The problem of sanitation is one of other several problems in over-crowded cities throughout India in general and in a city like Calcutta in particular. The sewage system of these cities does not suffice the need for overpopulation, and in the rainy season, the situation becomes worse. Nirad also mentioned the issue of gender bias in Indian society. When the matter of the status of women comes into context of the Indian society, it is considered no better than that of a mere object. They have no right to speak or do anything according to their own choice. They have always been exploited in the name of the pride of family or in the name of tradition. The same is the case with the family of the author. Nirad mentioned that when his aunt became a widow at an early age, a marriage proposal came from the richest landlord of the town but he was considered rather inferior in status by the author‟s family. Nirad mentions how his grandfather responded to the proposal by saying, “I would sooner cut her up and feed the fishes of the Brahmaputra with the pieces.” One may think that Nirad was criticizing the caste system, however, Nirad made no critical viewpoint against the caste system in the entire book and while he mentioned Gandhi, Subhash Chandra Bose, Sharat Chandra Bose, Nehru, and others in his autobiography, he curiously left out Dr. B. R. Ambedkar and didn’t mention him throughout the book. Yet, Nirad criticized the class consciousness of Indian society. Class consciousness is explicitly revealed by the author when he describes the customs of his family. It is told that the author‟s family always avoided having meals with those families who were inferior to them in status. Nirad criticizes the superstitious society of India and believed that their superstitions encouraged British society to discriminate against them. He mentions a case in his autobiography that once a Brahmin contractor's cow was strangled to death accidentally and all the other Brahmins gathered and punished the contractor for committing the sin, he was treated worst then than an animal. All these drawbacks of the Hindu culture persuaded Britishers to the evil deeds toward Indians.

Hindu-Muslim Riots:

In his autobiography, Nirad discusses the bloody partition and ensuing Hindu-Muslim riots in 1947. he explains that the Britishers were not the sole reason behind this catastrophic conflict, though as rulers of the country, they profited from this conflict. According to the author, the seed of this conflict was hidden in the past which was sown long ago in the history when the Muslims invaded this country and vanquished the Hindu kings, and afterward ruled for a long time. Therefore, according to the author, the enmity between Hindus and Muslims was present there since the beginning. Nirad believed that Pan-Islamism was the greatest danger facing Indian society, and for this reason, during the Turco-Italian War and the two Balkan Wars when most Indians were pro-Turkey, Chaudhuri was anti-Turkey.

Nirad divides Indian History into three cycles(I) The Beginnings of the first of the three historical cycles of Indian history can not be doted. It came to light with the commencement of the third century B.C. when historical records properly so called began to reveal the sequence of events in Indian History. (II) The second cycle begins with the defeat of Prithviraj Chauhan by Muhammad Gori in 1192 A.D. and comes to a close in 1757, the year of Plassey. (III) The third cycle began towards the middle of the 18th Century and is still continuing. About foreign influences on Indian History Chaudhuri writes, "The foreign influences in Indian History are exceptional in their character and are also exceptional in their operation and results."

On the subjugation of India by Muslim invaders, Nirad says that Muslim rulers, as long as they remained strong, had no Hindu rebellion to fear. Provided they paid a commensurate reward they could count on being able to enlist any number of Hindus to act as administrators, army commanders, suppliers, and advisors. Hindus would even advise them of the best means of bringing other Hindus under subjugation. However, Hindu homes and kitchens were out of bounds for Muslims even as Hindu society tightened rules against intermarriage during the period of Muslim rule. Chaudhuri quotes Sarat Chandra Chatterji who summed up the underlying principle of Hindu behavior with the example of a woman who has a low caste paramour and who boasts that although she has lived with him for twenty years, she had not, for a single day, allowed him to enter her kitchen.

On Decline of Mughal Empire:

Chaudhuri refutes the argument that Islam declined in India because of Aurangzeb's intolerance. Other Muslim monarchs were less tolerant of Hinduism. Tolerance or no tolerance, Indian Hindus were never reconciled to Muslim rule. The empire ceased to receive new administrators and soldiers from Iran and Turkestan and the resident Muslims were too denigrate.’ In short, the decline of the Moghul Empire was not due to uprisings by the Marathas or the Rajputs. Globally Islam had declined and this decline took India in its stride. ‘The revolt of the internal proletariat against Muslim rule was only the ass’s kicking of the sick lion.’

On Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi:

During the civil disobedience movement of 1930, Chaudhuri was a passionate supporter of Gandhian methods. However, in the late thirties, he moved away from what he calls ‘Gandhism ideology’. Nirad worked as a private secretary to Sarat Chandra Bose, an important Bengali Indian National Congress Leader from 1937 to 1942. Sarat Chandra Bose was the elder brother of Subhash Chandra Bose. Rabindra Nath Tagore died in 1941, and Subhash Chandra Bose left Indian National Congress and joined the Axis powers as leader of the Indian National Army. With the Japanese just east of Bengal and the political leadership of Bengali Hindus eclipsed by Bengal's Muslim majority and, at the national level, by non-Bengalis like Gandhi and Nehru, Nirad felt that he can hardly have any place and decided to leave Bengal. He began working as a freelancer in Delhi and soon accepted a position as a writer of propaganda for the Government broadcasting system in Delhi.

On Decline of British Raj:

Nirad liked British culture but he mentioned British rulers as tyrants, racists, and oppressors. He has compared the teaching attitude of Indians and Britishers and found that Britishers produce only machines and mechanically talented scholars whereas Indians produce human brains with their own identity. In Thy Hand, Great Anarch, which was a sequel to The Autobiography of an Unknown Indian, and was published in 1987, Nirad claims that the British rule in India did not come to an end on account of Gandhi, that Gandhi had nothing to do with the departure of the British, that the British left out of sheer exhaustion at the hands of Hitler. The British willed their own end when they felt that they could not continue to rule over India in the postwar world. He further mentions another flaw of the British government in India that led to the downfall of the British Raj and says that the British ignored the function of cultural proselytization which was the secret of the success of ancient Roman emperors and modern French colonizers. In the sequel, Nirad criticizes Gandhi as a 'great anarch’ and piss poor pathetic for his lament over the independence of India and says: “It appeared to me that his entire ideology was driven by a resolve to abandon civilized life and revert to a primitive existence.” The title of the sequel was inspired by the concluding couplet of Alexander Pope's The Dunciad, and thus, Nirad portrays Gandhi as a Dunce.

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!