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!

Roxana: The Fortunate Mistress by Daniel Defoe | Characters, Summary, Analysis

Hello and welcome to the Discourse. ‘Roxana: The Fortunate Mistress,' is a novel by Daniel Defoe that was first published in the year 1724. After Moll Flanders, it was the second novel by Defoe in which he raised the issue of a woman’s right as an individual and criticized the British society of the 18th century. The individual liberty of a woman is a major theme of the novel that also deals with the obligations of motherhood. Earlier, playwright George Farquhar raised the issue of the possibility of eighteenth-century women owning their own estate despite living in a patriarchal society in his Restoration Comedy The Beaux Stratagem (1707). John Vanbrugh too raised issues of women’s rights in his plays. Defoe’s novel can be considered a proto-feminist novel because it was written much before a feminist ideology was fully formed.

Characters of Roxana:

Roxana is the titular character and narrator of the novel. Roxana isn’t her real name but an alias that she acquired when she became a wealthy courtesan of London. It is implied that her birthname is Susan (though it is not clear). She is a beautiful woman belonging to a well-to-do family. She gets married to a rich man who loses all his money and leaves Roxana penniless. She legally marries twice and gives birth to 11 children. The Brewer is Roxana’s first husband who is a handsome and charming man, but he is also spoiled, selfish, and foolish. He recklessly spends the family's money, leaving them destitute, and then disappears. The Landlord is a merchant and jeweler who owns the house where Roxana used to live with her husband. After her husband runs away, she fails to pay the rent. The landlord tries to help Roxana but also shows his sexual interest in her. Amy is a trusted maidservant of Roxana who is very loyal to her. Amy is a clever and cunning young woman with a deceptive and cruel mind but she maintains her loyalty towards Roxana. The Prince is a German married aristocrat who develops an affair with Roxana. He lavishly spends money on Roxana and continues his relationship with her for 8 years. After his wife’s untimely death, he starts feeling guilty and decides to end his relationship with Roxana. The Dutch Merchant is a Dutch native working in Paris, France as a merchant. After the prince leaves Roxana, the Dutch merchant helps her in transferring her assets from France to England. They develop a steamy relationship and ultimately, he becomes the second legal husband of Roxana. The Quakeress is a resident of London belonging to a religious minority, She owns a house and rents parts of the house to the needy. Roxana decides to lead a modest life and settles in the house of the Quakeress at rent. The Quakeress becomes her friend and though she never asks about Roxana’s past, she does help her in avoiding her secret identity to be discovered by Susan. Susan is Roxana’s daughter from her first marriage. She is either the youngest daughter of Roxana, or the eldest. After her father ran away, Roxana managed to send her to her uncle and aunt’s house for safekeeping. Eventually, she became a maidservant while Roxana left her children to make her own independent life. Later on, when Roxana tried to look for her children whom she had left at different times with the help of Amy, Amy came to know that Susan, the daughter of Roxana is working as a servant in Roxana’s house itself.

Summary of Roxana:

The novel begins as the narrator introduces herself. Her parents were British Catholics who ran away to France due to religious persecution where her mother gave birth to Roxana. Her birthname was Susan and her parents were rich enough to raise their kids in affluence. She also had a younger brother. The family returned to England and at the age of 15, Roxana was married to the son of a wealthy brewer. Roxana and her husband had five sons (two sons, and three daughters). While her husband was a handsome and charming man, he had some bad habits and lacked financial acumen. As a result, he continued to make big losses at his business. Considering Roxana’s relationship with her husband, her father trusted some money for her with her younger brother. However, just like her husband, her brother too was a financially careless man, who eventually loses all of his money, goes bankrupt, and goes to prison. Meanwhile, her husband too continues to make big losses, and one day, about seven years after their marriage, he vanishes and leaves Roxana and their kids destitute with no way to provide for herself, or her children. Her brother already had wasted all the money her father had saved for her bad times. At such a difficult time, Amy, Roxana’s maidservant stands by her as a loyal pillar and suggests she give up her children with her husband’s relatives. Roxana agrees but realizes that none of the relatives of her husband is willing to take responsibility for the five kids. Amy forces the children's paternal aunt and uncle to reluctantly assume responsibility for the children. The landlord of the house where Roxana used to live with her family asks for the rent but she had no money to pay the rent. Amy notices that the landlord is interested in Roxana. Amy suggests that Roxana may remarry the landlord. However, after her bitter experiences with the first marriage, Roxana is not willing to marry again. Amy persuades Roxana to become the landlord’s mistress while he will take care of her financial needs. Roxana is unwilling to indulge in such a relationship but the landlord promises her to treat well and respect her as his wife. He also signs a contract providing her with money upon his death. Roxana then agrees and becomes his mistress. The landlord asks her why she denied marrying him to which she says, “I thought a woman was a free agent as well as a man, and was born free, and, could she manage herself suitably, might enjoy that liberty to as much purpose as the men do… that the very nature of the marriage contract was, in short, nothing but giving up liberty, estate, authority, and everything to the man, and the woman was indeed a mere woman ever after—that is to say, a slave.” The comparison of a wife to a slave is a simile that creates a driving connotation to reveal the severity of Roxana’s beliefs on marriage. As a slave is subjected to every command of his or her master, a wife in the eighteenth century is a marionette to the husband: her actions and beliefs must be in line with his desire. The landlord then counterargues and says that he will grant her complete control over her property. Roxana then says that after marriage, the property will no longer legally be her own. Though the husband may allow the wife to act as the manager of the property, she will be forced to administer according to the husband’s instructions. The landlord then accepts her argument.

They continue to enjoy their time together but one day, Amy teases her of sleeping with a man she is not married to and compares her with a courtesan or a whore. Roxana gets irritated and forces Amy to sleep with the landlord. As a result, Amy becomes pregnant and gives birth to a girl child. Roxana takes financial responsibility for her child. Meanwhile, Roxana too gives birth to a daughter who dies shortly after her birth. Roxana again becomes pregnant and gives birth to a son. To manage his jewel business, the landlord plans to visit France and Roxana suggests he take her with him as France was her birthplace to which the landlord agrees. They leave their son and house under the care of Amy. While spending their time in France, Roxana feels that something bad is about to happen and insists that the landlord must all of his valuables (including some jewels) with her. The landlord agrees and when he goes out for some business, he is attacked by some robbers who kill him. After the landlord’s murder, Roxana pretends that all his money and precious jewels were robbed by the robbers and keeps them for herself. She also manages to get a big part of the Jewel merchant’s estate in France and becomes a very rich woman. She then writes a letter to Amy and instructs her to join her in France. During her time in France, she meets a German aristocrat who falls in love with her. Though the German prince is already married, he develops a relationship with Roxana who becomes his mistress. The Prince lavishly spends money on Roxana and takes her on a trip to Italy where he buys Turkish garments for her. After returning to France with the Prince, Roxana accidentally meets her first husband, the brewer who is now working as a soldier in the French army. Though Roxana recognizes him, he fails to recognize her and then Roxana manages to avoid him detecting her real identity. Roxana continues to be a mistress of the Prince for eight years during which she gives birth to his three sons. One of their sons dies but two sons survive. Meanwhile, the wife of the German prince gets ill and dies. This renders the Prince very sad and repentant. He remembers how virtuous his wife was while he continued to waste his life pursuing carnal pleasures. Feeling guilty, he breaks his relationship with Roxana.

Roxana then decides to return to England and tries to liquidate all the jewels and property she owned after the death of the landlord. However, one Jewish merchant recognizes the jewels when she tries to sell them and suspects that Roxana was an accomplice of the robbers who murdered the landlord. Roxana presents herself as the widowed wife of the landlord who is being unfairly persecuted. A Dutch merchant helps her in getting rid of the charges and later on, he also helps her in liquidating her property in France while she decides to travel back to England with Amy. Roxana then decides to go to Holland while taking care of all the wealth she has amassed in France and England. The Dutch merchant visits her in Holland and helps her in managing her assets. During this period, Roxana develops an affair with the Dutch merchant and becomes pregnant. When the Dutchman comes to know about her pregnancy, he happily proposes to her to marry him but Roxana refuses to marry him. The Dutch merchant is very saddened by Roxana’s adamant behavior and tries to persuade her but she stubbornly leaves him and returns to England with all of her wealth.

In England, she settles in Pall Mall, close to Buckingham Palace with Amy and soon gives birth to her final child, the son of the Dutch merchant. Roxana continues to wisely invest her wealth in businesses while making new social relationships with wealthy successful men. Amy on the other hand, takes care of Roxana’s home and her two sons. Roxana develops affairs with many wealthy and important men and she also becomes close to the King of England during this period, she earns the name Roxana and becomes the most popular courtesan in London. However, she continues to avoid any proposal of marriage. Meanwhile, she falls in love with an old lord who ignores her beauty and doesn’t fall for her charms.

Meanwhile, she persuades Amy to find out about her children from her first marriage. Amy discovers that two of the five children of Roxana from her first marriage, one boy and one girl, have died; the other boy is working as an apprentice, and the two girls are working as servants somewhere. Amy succeeds in finding out the whereabouts of Roxana’s son and then Roxana manages to anonymously ensure a huge fund for his further education so that he can eventually be a merchant. Amy continues to try to locate the two daughters of Roxana. One day, she realizes that one of Roxana’s daughters is named Susan and she is working as a servant in Roxana’s own house. When she informs Roxana about it, Roxana gets frightened and asks Amy to do anything to avoid being detected by her daughter. Amy sends Susan away but also provides her a big amount of money so that she may get higher education.

When Susan comes to know that just like her, her brother too has got a big amount of money, she becomes suspicious and doubts that Amy is her long-lost mother who left her children. On the other hand, Roxana is too sad to know that she cannot openly meet with her children. Though she is still a popular courtesan, she realizes that she is getting old and losing her charm. Her bad experience with the old lord whom she really loved, also depresses her. She decides to give up her affluent life and goes away and starts living with a Quaker landlady at her house on rent. She leads a modest and quiet life but finds herself unable to stop thinking about the Dutch Merchant. She sends Amy to France to enquire about him. Amy goes to France to know the whereabouts of the Dutch Merchant but Roxana accidentally meets him in London as he has moved to England. The Dutch merchant still loves Roxana and wishes to marry her so that they may take care of their son as good parents. After her initial hesitation, Roxana agrees to marry the Dutch merchant. After their marriage, they plan to move to Holland and settle there. However, Susan comes to know that Amy is now living in a Quaker’s house and as she believes that Amy is her lost mother, she visits there to enquire about her. Roxana gets frightened that if the Dutch merchant came to know about her past, it will ruin their marriage. Amy tries to dissuade Susan from her search for her mother but Susan is very persistent. Amy then suggests that Roxana should hire some murderer to kill Susan to which Roxana gets shocked and refuses to do any such thing. However, After some days, Susan mysteriously vanishes and Roxana becomes convinced that Amy did in fact murder her. Roxana and the Dutch merchant settle in Holland and they expect to lead a successful married life but the novel ends with a hint that Roxana’s past continued to haunt her and she lost all of the wealth and happiness she has found for herself.

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!

Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe | Characters, Summary, Analysis

Hello and welcome to the Discourse. Moll Flanders was a novel by Daniel Defoe that was published in 1721. Just like his first novel Robinson Crusoe, Daniel Defoe presented this novel as an autobiography, a truthful account told in first person narrative. Daniel Defoe tried to depict the story of Moll Flanders as her spiritual biography detailing her exploits from birth until old age. The full title of the novel is "The Fortunes and Misfortunes of the Famous Moll Flanders, Etc. Who was born in Newgate, and during a life of continu'd Variety for Threescore Years, besides her Childhood, was Twelve Year a Whore, five times a Wife (whereof once to her own brother), Twelve Year a Thief, Eight Year a Transported Felon in Virginia, at last grew Rich, liv'd Honest and died a Penitent. Written from her own Memorandums." The full title offers a short summary of the novel in essence.

Characters of Moll Flanders:

Moll Flanders is the narrator and protagonist of the novel. She is a beautiful lady who is determined to survive and do well in her life. She is not a wicked person but remains ready to sacrifice morality in favor of prosperity. Moll's mother was a prisoner facing execution but was spared for being pregnant. She gave birth, then was allowed to leave for the American colonies as an alternative to execution. Moll was raised by a pious widow Nurse who took good care of Moll during her early childhood but then dies. Moll is then adopted by the Mayor and his wife. The Mayor’s wife is a generous lady who takes Moll in as a favored maid. The Mayor’s eldest son is a smart young man who seduces Moll but soon gets bored of her and decides to leave her. Robert or Robin is the Mayor’s youngest son who falls in love with Moll and marries her. Robert and Moll become parents of two children but then Robert succumbs to death. Moll then marries a Draper who is a gentleman but terrible at his business. He gets bankrupt and runs away from the country while his child from Moll becomes a ward of the state. Humphrey is a man from the American colonies whom Moll meets at Mint. He marries Moll and takes her to America where she meets Humphrey’s old mother. Humphrey and Moll become parents of three children one of whom dies during the birth. Moll’s mother-in-law is a mighty cheerful, good-humored old woman who develops a good relationship with Moll. When Moll’s mother-in-law tells her about how she had to leave England and settle in America, Moll comes to know that she is the daughter of her mother-in-law, and a half-sister of Humphrey, her husband. She then leaves her husband and returns to England where she meets the Gentleman of Bath and becomes his maid and then mistress. He gets a spiritual vision and decides to leave Moll. She then meets a grave gentleman whose wife had cheated on him. He falls in love with Moll and asks her to marry her but she insists that he should get a divorce from her wife first. She then meets James, a man from Lancashire. He is a poor man who pretends to be a rich landlord. Moll falls in love with him and marries him. However, their marriage fails and they divorce each other. Moll then becomes a thief and is helped by the Governess, an unprincipled woman who manages the affairs of many whores, deals with the problems of unmarried mothers, and also eventually has a pawnshop and deals with thieves. Moll learns that her mother left a plantation for Moll before she died. Moll returns to America to take care of her fortune. Moll takes the help of a Quaker to get control of the plantation without letting Humphrey know about her return to Virginia. She meets her son Junior Humphrey and reveals to him that she is her mother.

Summary of Moll Flanders:

The story begins as Moll introduces herself as a person who leads a life of Debauchery and Vice. She says that she is going to share her private history which is full of wickedness and corruption, yet, the readers who are willing to read her story with a virtuous purpose will find great spiritual and moral merits in it. Moll then says that she is using a pseudonym (Moll Flanders) to avoid any controversy as some legal matters of criminal significance are still pending on her real name in the records of Newgate Prison and Old Baily in London.

She then begins her story and informs that she was born in Newgate Prison where her mother was kept for stealing a few pieces of fabric. Her mother was sentenced to death but she “pleaded her belly” (that is, asked to be spared due to her pregnancy) and her sentence was commuted to transportation to the American colonies. Her mother was transported to Virginia when Moll was 6 months old. She was then raised by a widowed nurse who took good care of her. When Moll was 15 years old, the nurse died. The Mayor took notice of her and she became a maid-servant of the Mayor’s wife who was a generous lady. At Mayor’s house, Moll got the same education and treatment as the daughters of the Mayor and his wife. Both the daughters of the Mayor were jealous of her because Moll was exceptionally beautiful. The Mayor’s eldest son got infatuated with her and seduced her by giving compliments and gifts to her. However, after sexually exploiting her for some years, he got bored of her. The Mayor’s younger son Robert was unaware of Moll’s relationship with his elder brother. He fell in love with Moll and proposed to her to marry him. His elder brother convinced Moll to marry Robert. The Mayor’s wife was against this marriage yet, Robert married Moll and they remained married for a few years during which they became parents of two children. Robert died after that and Moll was forced to leave the house while Robert’s family took charge of the two children from the marriage.

Moll then met a draper or a tradesman who was a gentleman and always treated Moll with respect. They married and the Draper continued to spend money on Moll. Soon he became bankrupt He broke out of jail and left the country, leaving Moll free to marry again. Moll was then helped by one of her widowed friends. During the same time, she also became a friend of a young girl who was in love with a ship captain. The captain was a proud man who though used Moll’s friend but didn’t wish to marry her. With Moll’s help, her friend succeeds in marrying the captain and turns him into a humble and obedient husband.

Meanwhile, Moll meets Humphrey a gentleman from Virginia, America. She tries to impress him by pretending to be a rich lady. Humphrey realizes that Moll is a poor woman but he falls in love with her and proposes to her to marry him. Then he takes her to Virginia where she meets his old mother who is a former transported convict. Moll and Humphrey lead a happy married life for many years and become parents of three children one of whom dies. Moll develops a good relationship with her mother-in-law. One day, her mother-in-law reveals the circumstances in which she was forced to leave England and her six moth’s old daughter whom she gave birth to in jail. Moll realizes that she is the daughter of her mother-in-law and unknowingly, she has married her half-brother. When Humphrey comes to know about this, he becomes too depressed and tries to commit suicide. Though Moll saves Humphrey, she decides to leave America and returns to England.

Moll starts living in Bath where he meets a very modest and very friendly gentleman, whose wife was insane. Moll becomes his housemaid and they live a chaste life under the same roof for some years. One day, he returns home after drinking alcohol and makes love with Moll. Moll becomes his mistress then and continues their sexual relationship for some years while she gives birth to his son. The gentleman from Bath then gets ill and when he recovers, he starts worrying for his insane wife and relatives. He starts feeling guilty about making a relationship with Moll and asks her to leave him while he decided to take care of their son.

Moll was forty years old now and found it difficult to live in London as it was a costly place and decided to go somewhere in the north since living there was cheaper. Before going away, she decided to take care of her financial obligations with the help of an honest banker. The banker introduces her to a grave gentleman whose wife was a cheat whom he had caught red-handed with another man. He was looking for a virtuous wife and he found Moll a good woman whom he wished to marry. Moll told him that she will marry him but he first needs to get a divorce from his first wife. The grave gentleman said that he will get the divorce soon and will marry Moll when she returns from the North.

Moll then shifted to Lancashire where she met one of her old friends. Moll again decided to pretend to be a rich lady so that her friend may introduce her to some rich young man and then she will be able to marry a rich man. Her friend introduced her to a rich Catholic family who took good care of Moll. She also met a handsome, rich-looking Irish man named James and fell in love with him. James courted her and she married him. After the marriage, Moll came to realize that James is actually not a rich man, rather just like her, he too pretended to be a rich guy so that he may seduce a rich lady and marry her for her wealth. After realizing that both are poor and none of them have any wealth, they decided to divorce and try their luck elsewhere. However, both loved and appreciated each other.

Moll then decides to return to London but when she returns, she comes to realize that she is pregnant. She takes the help of a midwife who tells her to sell her child to a rich man whose wife is unable to conceive a baby. Moll agrees and sells her child. After getting rid of the pregnancy, she meets the banker who helped her before she left London. She comes to know that the grave gentleman has divorced his first wife and is willing to marry her. Moll ascertains that he may never come to know about what she did in Lancashire and about her child that she sold and marries him. They live a happily married life for five years but then the grave gentleman’s business fails and he goes bankrupt. He fails to control the situation and dies of a heart attack.

Moll becomes lonely and destitute again and she realizes that she is no longer a young and attractive woman who may get a good rich handsome man who will marry her. She tries her luck but fails to get any honest way of rich living and then decides to meet the midwife who helped her in selling her child. The midwife is now working as a pawnbroker and leader of thieves. She recruits Moll and trains her to become a skillful thief. Being a clever woman, Moll soon becomes an excellent and successful thief who uses ingenuine tricks and techniques to steal silver and cloth. Moll always remained careful and never used violence. She was clever enough to always hide her real identity and whereabouts from her colleagues and thus she always succeeded in avoiding being caught while most of her colleagues suffered jail terms. However, her luck fails to save her for long and she ends up in police custody for stealing some silk.

Moll is then sent to the Newgate Prison where her mother gave birth to her. Initially, she remains unrepentant though she regrets being caught. She leads a miserable life in jail. One day, she finds that James too has been imprisoned at Newgate Prison for a highway robbery. This helps her in bearing the burden of her jail term. But when she falls in despair when she is sentenced to death for thievery. During such a time, her Governess sends a Minister to help her during her last days and she starts leading a life of a pious Christian. The Minister gets impressed by the stark change in her behavior and appeals for a reprieve for her from the death sentence. Her punishment is then reduced to transportation to Virginia. Moli comes to know that James too has been given a chance to either accept the death sentence or to be transported to some American colony. She tries to convince him to come with her to Virginia but James is more willing to accept the death sentence than living a life of destitution in some far land. At such a time, Moll gets the news of the death of her mother who has left a plantation farmland to her. Moll then convinces James to go to Virginia with her where they can restart their life again.

After returning to Virginia, Moll finds it difficult to acknowledge herself to be her brother's former wife and the mother of his son, now a thriving young man, because she did not want James to know about her incestuous past. She takes the help of a Quaker who is her trustworthy friend to get hold of the plantation left by her mother in her name. James and Moll start living on a plantation of tobacco near the plantation of Humphrey, her brother, who is now a very old and almost blind man. Moll finds it difficult to avoid meeting her son Junior Humphrey and decides to reveal to him that she is her mother. Junior Humphrey accepts her as his mother and becomes an obedient son while acting as a paid steward of her. They decide not to reveal her identity as Junior Humphrey’s mother either to James or old Humphrey. After some years, old Humphrey dies of old age and then Moll tells James about her past and reveals that once she was married to her half-brother and Junior Humphrey is her own son. James accepts their relationship and says that he is "perfectly easy on that account... For, said he, it was no fault of yours, nor of his; it was a mistake impossible to be prevented." Moll and James then make a good fortune through their plantation and become very rich. At the age of 69, Moll decides to return to London along with James and live there with fake names.

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!