Naked Lunch by William S. Burroughs | Characters, Summary, Analysis

Hello and welcome to the Discourse. Naked Lunch was the second published novel by William S. Burroughs that was published in 1959. In his first novel Junkie (1953), Burroughs introduced the character William Lee. The character of William Lee was closely based on William S. Burroughs himself and may be called an alter-ego of Burroughs. He continued with the same character, expressing some more experiences of himself in his second novel Naked Lunch.

When first published, the novel faced bans as it was subject to various obscenity trials in the United States. The novel is disturbing, ambiguous, and controversial. The novel is narrated by one of the central characters, a drug addict named William Lee, based on Burroughs himself. While taking various drugs, Lee leaves the United States and travels to fictional cities where he becomes involved in their politics, homosexual scene, and drug culture. The novel is a non-linear narrative without a clear plot. William Burroughs experimented with the “cut-up, fold-in” technique of writing that he continued with the other three novels of the Nova series.

The Naked Lunch attained huge success and is termed as one of the best examples of Beat Literature of the Beat Generation. In Naked Lunch and the three sequel novels of the Nova Series ( The Soft Machine, Nova Express, and The Ticket That Exploded); Burroughs created an intricate and horrible allegory of human greed, corruption, and debasement that can be compared with the dystopian works like Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World (1932) and George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949).

The title Naked Lunch:

The term “naked” refers to the ability to perceive reality in its natural form which can be obtained by eliminating confusion. That confusion is regarded as a result of artificial, social boundaries. Burroughs challenges contemporary repression by addressing the reader directly and, thereby, confronting him with the excessive use of drugs which the author embeds in a surrealistic narrative. By emphasizing the sharp contrast between individual concepts of freedom and social conventions, Burroughs shows the reader “what is on the end of every fork.” Allen Ginsberg, a friend of Burroughs said that the title “relates to the nakedness of seeing, to being able to see clearly without any confusing disguises, to see through the disguise”

Characters of Naked Lunch:

William Lee is the main character of the novel. Lee is a morphine and Heroin addict who experiments with various other drugs. He is married and a father of two kids but he hardly cares for his family that left him in the previous novel (Junkie). Dr. Benway is a discredited surgeon who continues to practice medicine in increasingly disreputable circumstances, which doesn't seem to bother Benway because of his highly flexible ethics. Benwey introduces Lee to a free ‘welfare state’ named Freeland. A.J. is an agent of Islam Inc who works under the guise of a funloving international playboy. He commits disruptive and dangerous acts under the guise of harmless pranking, sowing chaos wherever he goes. Hassan is another agent of Islam Inc., also known as Salvador Hassan O'Leary. He began as a hustler and rose to become a prominent international merchant in drugs and sex. Clem and Jody are operators of Islam Inc with leanings towards Russia and thus, they commit crimes around the world while trying to demean the United States. Andrew Keif is a novelist living in Interzone, while Aracknid is a chauffeur working in Interzone. Dr. Berger is a psychologist who runs a radio program in which he talks to sufferers of various mental illnesses. Clarence Cowie is the subject of Dr. Berger's experiment to produce a "deanxietized man." Jane is a prostitute in Mexico whose pimp forces his ideas on her.

Summary of Naked Lunch:

The novel begins in New York City where William Lee is still trying to evade police. The police are seeking for illegal use of marijuana, heroin, and other drugs. One day, after dodging the police, he hops on a subway train and begins discussing his experiences with a young man. He talks about his fellow junkies Rube and Vigilante. Lee describes how addicts use safety pins and medicine droppers to administer a fix. After leaving the train at another station, Lee witnesses the bodily decay of other junkies who hang out in an automat, a vending machine-type cafeteria. As the police pressure continues to grow, Lee decides to leave New York along with Rube and Vigilante. The narrator abandons Rube in Philadelphia while Lee goes on to Chicago, St. Louis, and Houston before buying a large quantity of heroin in New Orleans and proceeding to Mexico. In Mexico, the narrator obtains cocaine on someone else's prescription and meets a marijuana-smoking pimp who mistreats his prostitute named Jane. In Mexico, he comes in contact with Dr. Benway and is assigned to work under him in a new ‘welfare state’ named Freeland. Later on, Lee learns that Dr. Benway works for Islam Inc., a shadowy organization whose motives are unclear and primarily driven by individual agents. Benway runs a Reconditioning Center where he conducts unethical and tortuous experiments on drug addicts and homosexuals. Freeland is run by a totalitarian government that controls the public through generosity. While working on their subjects, Dr. Benway and Lee are forced to flee the facility when a computer malfunction sets the inmates free and unleashes total chaos.

Lee finds himself in Interzone where he sees a man named Carl who becomes divorced from reality when he goes to visit his friend Joselito in a sanitarium. Interzone is a city where drugs and sex of all kinds are freely available. The threat of revolution against colonial influences hovers around the margins of daily life. Interzone is run by four opposing political parties: the Liquefactionists, the Senders, the Divisionists, and the Factualists. These parties also influence the narrator's involvement in Islam Inc., an organization without a clear agenda aside from the preferences of its individual agents.

A dealer/addict identified as the Sailor goes to a plaza in the city to buy a substance called Black Meat from creatures called Mugwumps. Lee gets admitted to a hospital to detox himself of drug usage where he meets Dr. Benway again. After successful detoxification, Lee meets one of his old friends who has attempted to kick his heroin addiction with questionable results. Lee too decides to get rid of his addiction again. He spends around 10 years in Interzone during which he is forced to please the County Clerk regularly so that he may not get evicted. The County Clerk is a racist jerk.

During his stint with Islam Inc., Lee comes in contact with Hassan, and A.J. A.J. hosts an annual party where he shows a blue (pornographic) movie featuring a trio engaging in lurid sexual acts that culminate in hangings. Two other agents, Clem and Jody, disrupt a Muslim funeral in Interzone's marketplace. This act typifies their worldwide travels, sowing mayhem in ongoing attempts to make the United States look bad on the world stage.

Lee decides to leave the Interzone and reaches New York again where he is again pursued by police officers. Two narcotics officers, Hauser and O'Brien catch him and a struggle ensues during which Lee shoots the officers and goes into hiding at a bathhouse. The next day he can find no reports of the shooting in the papers, so he calls the city's narcotics bureau. He speaks to a lieutenant who has never heard of Hauser or O'Brien. The narrator takes this as a sign he can no longer access the intersections of different realities.

Symbols used in Naked Lunch:

Lee describes how addicts use safety pins and medicine droppers to administer a fix. The use of safety pins and droppers suggests that there is an acute scarcity of heroin or other drugs and it is hard to get them. The narrator uses Safety Pins and Droppers as a symbol to represent the sense of desperation addicts feel when they need a fix. When withdrawal symptoms set in, they are willing to use any instruments available to get the drugs into their bodies. The safety pin reveals little concern for sanitation or for personal pain. The only thing that matters is the fix.

The author used Nooses and execution by hanging while describing two explicitly sexual scenes, one during Hassan’s orgy, and the other in the blue film shown by A.J. Noose was used as a symbol to suggest the hypocrisy of social authorities that would be concerned with the obscenity of the sex acts, but not the obscenity of the executions their own government sanctions.

The narrator often describes garbage in Naked Lunch and each time, he depicts the used condoms thrown here and there. Used condoms signify the way sex is commodified among drug addicts. It is impersonal and disposable like condoms are. They are dirtier than the rest of the garbage, containing bodily fluids that may also be diseased. They decay in these discarded containers just as the addicts' bodies are decaying containers for the drugs they take. Black Meat serves as a symbol of all drugs because it is addictive, hard to get, and requires users to enter into arrangements with unsavory characters called Mugwumps.

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 Art of Fiction by Henry James | Background, Summary, Analysis

Hello and welcome to the Discourse. ‘The Art of Fiction’ is a critical essay by Henry James that was published in Longman’s Magazine in 1884. It was a part of the ongoing debate on the art of fiction between four writers, William Dean Howells, Sir William Besant, Henry James, and R. L. Stevenson. In 1884, Sir William Besant gave a lecture titled “Fiction as One of Fine Arts.” In his lecture, Sir Walter Besant asserted that the main purpose of literature is to carry a moral criterion. Henry James countered that argument and claimed that a novel is an impression of life, which in turn is an imprint left on one’s mind. Thus, James preferred describing not an event, but someone's impression of it. Henry James gave impetus to the movement of literary Realism and claimed, “No good novel will ever proceed from a superficial mind.”

Background of The Art of Fiction:

William Dean Howell was the first to use the phrase ‘the Art of Fiction’ in a statement saying, “The art of fiction has, in fact, become a finer art in our day than it was with Dickens and Thackeray.” That began a debate that Henry James politely called the ‘era of discussion.’ In 1884, Sir William Besant offered his lecture ‘Fiction as One of Fine Arts’ that gave chances for others to raise the issue of the importance of novels as a genuine literary genre. Besant’s ethical views of writing fiction inspired many of his contemporary fiction writers, critics, and reviewers. Henry James’s “The Art of Fiction” is one of the parts of that debate. It presents realism as a great tool to express what James called an “impression of life.” James defined a novel as ‘a personal direct impression of life, the value depending upon the intensity of impressions and it must have freedom to feel and say.’ He wrote an essay discussing the ongoing debate in 1984 in which he first thanked Mr. Walter Besant for setting up a meaningful debate on the theory of novel as an art. However, he emphasized the importance of the freedom of “author’s art of execution.” He wanted to see novelistic art free from classical strains. James also opposed Besant’s idea that fiction should have a conscious moral purpose. He says how novels being a picture can be moral or immoral. He says it has not a purpose but diffidence. He has a fascination for the rich subject but he also says that an artist has not to rule out or reject the unpleasant, ugly, and disagreeable experiences. Instead of writing the social, the external, and the outward, Henry James preferred to write psychological novels. Henry James believed that the novel is all pictures, the most comprehensive and the most elastic. It will stretch anywhere and it could include anything, the subject being the whole human consciousness. James believes in the fullest freedom of mankind and the liberty of mind and desires a novel not to be tethered to rules and restrictions.

Summary of The Art of Fiction:

Henry James based his essay ‘Art of Fiction’ on three basic points which are-

1) "Fiction is an Art in every way worthy to be called the sister and the equal of the Arts of Painting, Sculpture, Music, and Poetry." This suggests that fiction, like all other arts, is limitless.

2) "That it is an Art which, like them, is governed and directed by general laws; and that these laws may be laid down and taught with as much precision and exactness as the laws of harmony, perspective, and proportion." Henry James directly opposed Besant’s claim that rules are necessary, or even possible, to guide any form of art.

3) "Fiction is so far removed from the mere mechanical arts, that no laws or rules whatever can teach it to those who have not already been endowed with the natural and necessary gifts." James stressed that, unlike other mechanical art forms, one cannot learn how to write a good novel by merely studying the supposed rules of writing a novel and practicing them. He stressed that natural talent is required to excel in writing fiction and that rules are fine to guide but cannot replace natural talent if it doesn't exist.

James states that there was no idea printed or documented that could circulate the knowledge of the creation of fiction, and could declare rules and methods of reading, understanding, and writing fiction. He states that fiction “had no air of having a theory, a conviction, a consciousness of itself behind it – of being the expression of an artistic faith, the result of choice and comparison.”

Besant, in his lecture, tried to limit what an author can experience by dictating that one must write from experience. James agreed with Mr. Besant’s suggestion that a novelist must write from his own experience, his characters must be real as met in actual life. However, James said that `experience’ does not mean war, battle, upheaval, revolt, revolution, invasion or aggression. It is never-ending and is all around. But it all depends on upon the imaginative sensibility and the fertility of the novelist's mind. If experience consists of impressions, it may be said that impressions are experience. In the same way, `adventure’ or `incident’ does not necessarily mean some hair-raising incident but it may be apparently a little happening. Henry James said that writers should write what they know but this does not pigeonhole them into only writing about what they have done from their own perspective. Instead, writers are a collection of their own experiences, varied and complicated, and so their works can hold many facets of the world and still be true to the authors' own experiences. The power to guess the unseen from the seen, to trace the implication of things, to judge the whole piece by the pattern, the condition of feeling life, in general, so completely that you are well on your way to knowing any particular corner of it—this cluster of gifts may almost be said to constitute experience, and they occur in country and in town, and in the most differing stages of education.

Another point that Mr. Besant raised was about the clarity of the characters. He said that characters of a fiction or novel should be clearly illustrated and offered a list of rules that define clear illustration. Mr. Besant says that a novelist must write from his own experience, his characters must be real as met in actual life. Henry James agreed that characters must be understandable and relatable, but instead of suggesting that this requires a description of a character's facial hair, he argues that there are myriad ways to describe a character that will make them believable to an audience. He says that reality has `a myriad forms’ – literal, physical, external, psychological or emotional and a novelist has all freedom to express his characters in any of those forms.

Mer. Besant stressed that the story of fiction must have a moral principle. James opposed this restraint and said that a story must be interesting and that a set of rules dictating what constitutes a moral storyline removes the art from the story. A true artist will not be able to create an interesting story without imbibing morals into it. James differentiated novels as interesting and uninteresting novels. The interesting novels untie the unseen realities contained in the experience. A typical selection, an inclusive selection, of incidents exposes the impression of life. In that sense, the novel competes with life. The interesting novels are products of a mind that is far from sophisticated artistry, and near to a “conscious increase of freedom”, to a skill to know the taste of contemporary readers that may expose the world. James suggested that the author should be granted his ‘subject’, the form of which ‘is to be appreciated after the fact.’ If the reader dislikes the subject, then the novel can be abandoned. The measure of a novel’s success is that of how the subject is treated; whether it develops organically, that is, like a seed into a plant, from the center of its chosen subject.

The novel, for both the writer and the reader, is the road not to moral principles, but to the moral sense; and where the novelist is intelligent, the novel will offer an experience that has the potential to shape and develop the reader’s own intelligence. The novel is ‘the great extension, great beyond all others, of experience and of consciousness.’

In his essay, Henry James suggested writers stay true to themselves and their vision and worry less about following rules and more about creating art. He suggests they do what feels, looks, and sounds real rather than what feels, looks, or sounds right. Novels should not transmit moral principles and rules as such, but renovate and develop the mind by attempting to engage the reader in the pursuit of intricate combinations of form, content, and germinating subjects. There is no “conscious moral purpose” of an author to moralize, or to preach to the readers. Henry James emphasized that the perfection of the novel depends on the liberty of an author and his art of execution. The perfection of art is itself the most interesting purpose.

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!

Cry, The Peacock by Anita Desai | Characters, Summary, Analysis

Hello and welcome to the Discourse. Anita Desai or Majumdar is an Indian novelist and educator working as a Professor of Humanities at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In 1978, she was awarded the Sahitya Academy Award by India's National Academy of Letters for her novel Fire on the Mountain. In 1983, she won the Guardian Prize in the UK for her novel The Village by the Sea. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, London. Her three novels, Clear Light of Day (1980), In Custody (1984), and Fasting, Feasting (1999) were shortlisted for the Booker Prize in the respective years. Her first novel was Cry, The Peacock which was published in 1963. The novel tells the story of a girl facing existential depression, psychological discontent, and the fragility of sanity. The novel explores subjects like conjugal disharmony, absence of personality, idealism, and a feeling of aimlessness in life in a patriarchial society. The novel looks at the restrictions placed on women. The protagonist’s fight for independence and self-expression draws attention to the limited roles and expectations for women in her social environment.

Themes of Cry, The Peacock:

The novel discusses the psychic tumult of the protagonist and highlights the impact of unfulfilled expectations, cultural norms, emotional solitude, and fear of death. The book explores a variety of subjects, including human introspection, the impact of suppressed emotions, and the fine border between sane and crazy. In a patriarchal society where a woman feels suffocated and restricted in her efforts of self-exploration, Maya, the protagonist suffers an existential crisis. The novel delves into her quest for the meaning of life in a world that seems heartless.

Those who have read A Song of Ice and Fire or, have seen the Game of Thrones series, may compare Maya’s character with that of Cersei Lannister.

Characters of Cry, The Peacock:

Maya is the protagonist of the novel. She is a sensitive, young, married girl who is haunted by a childhood prophecy of a fatal disaster. She is the daughter of a rich advocate in Lucknow. Being alone in the family, with her mother dead and her brother having gone to America to carve his own independent destiny, she gets the most of her father’s affection and attention. Gautam is her husband who used to work as an assistant to her father. Gautam is a good and loyal friend of her father. Since her father trusts him completely, he arranges for Maya’s marriage with Gautam. However, the couple suffers conjugal disharmony. Though Gautam is loyal and responsible, he is twice the age of Maya and his view of the world is completely different from that of Maya. Gautam’s mother is a wise elderly woman who tries to help Maya. Arjun is Maya’s elder brother who goes to America for higher studies and settles there. Rai Sahib is the father of Maya who is a successful reputed lawyer. He loved his wife and after her death, he devoted himself to his kids. However, Arjun, his elder son goes away to America and he devotes all his affection and attention to his daughter Maya. Gautam’s younger sister is a compassionate woman who visits her at times. The albino seer was an astrologer whom Maya met during her teenage. He tells her that within four years of her marriage, someone will die that will ruin her married life. Maya believes that she will die. Toto is Maya’s pet dog.

Summary of Cry, The Peacock:

The novel portrays the psychic tumult of a young and sensitive married girl Maya, who is haunted by a childhood prophecy of a fatal disaster. She is the daughter of a rich advocate in Lucknow. Being alone in the family, with her mother dead and her brother having gone to America to carve his own independent destiny, she gets the most of her father’s affection and attention and, in her moments of affliction, exclaims to herself: “No one, no one else, loves me as my father does”. The excessive love Maya gets from her father makes her have a lop-sided view of life. She feels the world to be a toy made especially for her, painted in her favorite colors and set to move according to her tunes.

Rai Sahib, her father spends all his quality time with his caring daughter. He always tries to fulfill her daughter's wishes no matter what it is and always takes care of his daughter. The mother of Maya died a long time ago, and since then her father has been everything to her as he has taken care of her like a mother.

Gautam, an assistant and friend of Rai Sahib is a promising lawyer. He is a trustworthy friend of Rai Sahib and respects him but he is a bit arrogant. As Rai Sahib grows old, he wonders what will happen to his daughter after him and thus, he begins to look for a suitable match for her. Though Gautam is younger than Rai Sahib, he is an aged person, about twice as old as Maya. Yet, he is unmarried because he spent most of his time making his career. Rai Sahib notices that Maya is comfortable with Gautam and though Gautam is too old for Maya, he trusts him that like he cared for his daughter, Gautam too will take good care of Maya. Thus, he marries Maya to Gautam.

The thinking of Maya and Gautam is very different because of a huge difference in their age but still, Maya’s father married her to Gautam. Gautam is a spiritual person whereas Maya is a materialistic woman and he fails to satisfy her in bed as he is much older than Maya. Before marriage, Maya used to be a delighted and passionate woman but after marriage, her life is like hell because Gautam neither takes care of her nor gives her proper attention. She is neither able to get company from him nor physical, or sexual satisfaction. She even takes initiative in love but Gautam’s response to it is astonishingly cold. Maya believes in a life of total absorption and involvement. Gautama preaches to her the need for detachment. Because of their temperamental differences strolling together does not prove to be a wonderful affair and conversation seems to be hopeless because they are not able to know each other and grow areas of common interest for establishing meaningful relationship with each other.

Gautam’s mother and sister visit their home once a week or sometimes once a month and whenever they visit Maya’s home, she gets some relief from her loneliness and sadness. To get rid of her loneliness, Maya begins caring for a dog whom she names Toto. During her loneliness, Maya often reminisces about her past and how her father used to love her. Whenever she gets a chance, she complains to Gautam that he doesn’t love her and says, “No one, no one else, loves me as my father does”. When Gautama, a busy, prosperous lawyer, too much engrossed in his own vocational affairs, fails to meet her demands, she feels neglected and miserable. Seeing her morbidity, her husband warns her of her turning neurotic and blames her father for spoiling her. However, the reason for her depression is not the excessive love of her father. Rather she keeps brooding over the prediction by the albino astrologer of death either for her or her husband within four years of their marriage. The terrifying words of the albino seer continue to haunt Maya as she feels that her fate and the time have come, and four years, it was now. It was now to be either Gautama or her.

One day, her pet dog Toto dies which makes her completely gloomy but for Gautam, it’s not a big deal because he believes it’s just a dog that she can easily replace with another pet dog. This further pushes Maya into depression. As the season of monsoon comes every single peacock cries and dances in the rain to attract male peacocks. When she observes a peacock crying, she recalls the albino seer's talk about the myth surrounding the peacock’s cry. Listening to the cries of peacocks in the rainy season, she realizes that she should never sleep in peace. She remembers the albino seer said that her life would be like that of a crying peacock who would never get her mate. She begins feeling the immense fear of death as the fourth year of her marriage comes close. However, the disenchantment and arrogance of Gautam make her realize that it would be better if Gautam died instead of her. Maya suffers from headaches and experiences rages of rebellion and terror. As she moves towards insanity, she sees the visions of rats, snakes, lizards, and iguanas creeping over her, slipping their club-like tongues in and out. Her dark house appears to her like her tomb, and she contemplates the horror of all that is to come. Maya compares those lizards in her dreams with death. She begins contemplating the words of the albino astrologer that since the albino had predicted death to either of them, it may be Gautama and not she whose life is threatened. She makes up her mind that even if she was meant to die, she would transfer her death to Gautam. She remembers how Gautam is detached and indifferent to life, it will not matter to him if he misses life. In her depression, she begins thinking of the word ‘murder.’

A strong dust storm rages the town that afternoon and when Gautam returns home, Maya asks him if the dust storm caused any problem to him. Gautama is so much lost in his work that Maya finds him oblivious to the dust storm. This further affirms Maya’s wish to transfer her death to him as he is oblivious to life and happenings. Maya asks him to accompany her to the roof of the house to enjoy the cool air, he accompanies her, lost in his own thoughts. Passing out of the room, Maya catches sight of bronze Shiva dancing and prays to the Lord of Dance to protect them.

As they climb to the roof, Maya sees a cat suddenly speeding past them in a state of great alarm. They walk towards the terraced end, Maya looking enraptured at the pale hushed glow of the rising moon. As Gautama moves in front of her, hiding the moon from her view, she, in a fit of frenzy, pushes him over the parapet to “pass through an immensity of air, down to the very bottom”. Maya takes a sigh of relief as she not only gets rid of the fear of her death but she also frees herself from her arrogant husband who was not fit for her from the start of their marriage. Afterward, the mother and sister of the late Gautam come and realize what just happened. However, they find Maya in a haphazard condition and realize that she has lost her mind. They send Maya to her father’s home. Her father sends her to a mental hospital for her mental health care and the novel ends.

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!

Samskara by U. R. Ananthmurthy | Characters, Summary, Analysis

Hello and welcome to the Discourse. Samskara; The Rite for a Dead Man is a novel by Indian author U. R. Ananthmurthy that was first published in 1965. The novel was originally written in Kannada in 1965 and was also made into an award-winning film in 1970. It was later translated into English by a renowned Indian poet and translator, A.K. Ramanujan in the year 1976. Ananthamurty attempts to expose Brahmanical cultural dominance and unmasks the religious hypocrisy through his novel. The novel shows a clash between the traditions and modernity. The novel raises questions about social evils like untouchability, casteism, ritualism, and disintegration in the Hindu community.

Characters of Samskara:

Naranappa is the dead character of the novel around which the story revolves. He was a member of the Brahmin community of the small Indian village of Durvasapura, but he was notorious for his ill habits. He left his wife for a woman of a lower caste, enjoyed alcohol and meat, and showed a general disregard for Brahmin traditions. His death created an uproar, as the other Brahmins were uncertain how to handle his funeral rites. They could not decide if his behavior made it inappropriate for him to be buried in their temple's cemetery. Praneshacharya is a reputed and highly regarded scholar of the Brahmin community. The elderly people of the community ask him to decide whether or not Naranappa should be buried in the Brahmin cemetery. He is depicted as a kind man who lovingly attends to his extremely ill wife Bhaghirathi. She speaks very infrequently and is mostly seen crying out in pain. She suffers so immensely that she often wishes she weren't alive. Praneshacharya cares for her diligently. Chandri used to be a prostitute for whom Naranappa left his wife and began living with her. She is extremely generous and cares for Naranappa while he is alive, regardless of how poorly he acts. She continues to show this care for him after he dies, pushing for him to receive Brahmin funeral rites. Throughout the novel, Praneshacharya develops feelings of romantic and physical attraction towards her. Garuda is the greedy, selfish relative of Naranappa who continuously declines to perform the last rites of Naranappa but claims his right over his gold and property. Lashamana is another relative of Naranappa. Naranappa’s wife and his wife were sisters. He continues to quarrel with Garuda over the claim of Naranappa’s gold after his death. Putta is a man whom Praneshacharya meets in the forest. He begins to follow Praneshacharya and tries to corrupt him with the same habits as those of Naranappa. Padmavati is a beautiful woman, a friend of Putta who tries to seduce Praneshacharya and make him stay the night at her home. Shripati is a young Brahmin guy who perceives the Brahmin elders as out-of-touch and foolish. He has an affair with Belli, a young poor girl of low caste whom he exploits.

Summary of Samkara:

The novel is set in a small fictional village Durvasapura. Praneshacharya is a reputed and renowned scholar of the village. After obtaining mastery over Vedic Scriptures, and earning the title „the Crest-Jewel of Vedanta‟ in Kashi during his religious training, Praneshacharya performs all religious rituals and discharges his religious duties as an ascetic religious authority in Durvasapura village. He marries an invalid woman, Bhagirathi who is bedridden, just to serve his selfish purpose of obtaining “ripeness and readiness‟ on his way to salvation and keep himself away from the sensual pleasures of the world. It is a kind of self-chosen martyrdom to achieve the higher fruit of salvation. He treats his Brahmin birth as a divine test for qualifying himself for salvation. However, he is dutiful towards Bhagirathi. He engages in his daily routine of tending and taking care of his chronically ill wife. She has been ill for years. He feeds her before putting her to bed. Then another woman, Chandri, rushes to Praneshacharya's home. As Praneshacharya sees her, at the door of his home, he gets worried about his purity as she is a woman of low caste, she is the concubine of Naranappa. She came to tell him that her lover, Naranappa, caught a fever and died suddenly. This news saddens Praneshacharya and he consoles Chandri and goes out to inform Garuda about the death of Naranappa. Naranappa was a relative of Garuda. When Praneshachrya reaches Garuda’s house, he finds that Garuda is about to take his lunch. He stops Garuda from eating food and informs him that Naranappa has died. As custom requires, they must fast.

Garuda isn’t too happy in following this custom of maintaining a fast until the last rites of the dead relative are performed. He says that Naranppa was a notorious man who was not accepted well by the community. Praneshachrya informs Lakshamana, another relative of Naranappa of his death.

The Brahmin community turns to Praneshacharya to make a decision regarding Naranappa's funeral rites. According to customs, only a family member or relative of Naranppa can perform his funeral rites. However, both Garuda and Lakshamana are hesitant in performing their duties. Naranppa was a notorious person who was disliked by the whole Brahmin community of the village. He left his wife for a prostitute, ate meat, and drank alcohol. Naranppa deliberately used to do such things that would provoke and ridicule the Brahmin family of his village. Once, he threw Saligrama, the holy stone which is believed to represent God Vishnu, into the river, and spat after it. The reputed people of the Brahmin community discuss Naranappa's various transgressions, criticizing him for his lifestyle. Some of them oppose the idea that now when Naranappa is dead, his last rites should be allowed to be performed in the traditional cemetery of the Brahmin community near the village temple. Praneshacharya says he will continue to weigh the decision. Chandri looks at him, conveying her hope that he will treat Naranappa's body with charity. She eventually offers her jewelry as payment for the rites to be performed.

Praneshacharya remembers his last meeting with Naranappa in which he insulted the Brahmin tenets of faith. Praneshacharya remembers him saying that the Brahmins are hypocrites, as many members of the caste engage in shady scheming and lead generally joyless lives. Naranappa at one point took a group of boys fishing in the temple pond, an act that was viewed with great outrage. Praneshacharya made it his mission to prove Naranappa wrong but ultimately felt that he failed to do so. The Brahmin continue to be perturbed by the ongoing question of Naranappa's funeral rites.

Garuda and Lakshmana are the only two relatives of Naranappa who can perform his last rites. However, none of them is willing to do so while Praneshacharya sees them arguing bitterly over the issue of claim on the gold and property of Naranappa. The Brahmin community again turns to Praneshachrya and tells him to decide what to do with the gold from Naranappa's estate.

Praneshacharya is troubled about these issues as he doesn’t wish to provoke any of the two relatives of Naranappa. He continues reviewing the sacred texts and speaks with Chandri. He remains undecided and the other Brahmins begin to complain, both because of their inability to eat and also because of the stench of Naranappa's corpse. Chandri offers to pay for Naranappa's funeral rites by selling the few jewels she possesses; Praneshacharya tells her to keep them.

Later, Chandri sits beneath a tree with plantains in her lap. Vultures begin circling the sky, a terrible omen to the Brahmins. They attempt to chase them away with noise. Praneshacharya remains in agony over the decision regarding Naranappa. He wanders through a nearby forest and finds Chandri. Both exhausted from these trials, they weep. He feels suddenly drawn to her, as she pulls him close to her body. Overcome with desire for her, Praneshacharya sleeps with her that night. He wakes up at midnight and tells Chandri he must confess what he has done by tomorrow.

Chandri too feels ashamed of what happened last night. She is still sad about Naranappa’s death and worries about his rotting body in the temple premises. In desperation, she pays a Muslim fishmonger to steal the body and cremate it. Meanwhile, several young men in the village rehearse for a play and then talk afterward. They say that no Brahmin women are as kind as Chandri and that everyone is treating the matter of Naranappa's body too seriously. The Brahmin continue to be frustrated with the lack of decision about Naranappa while Praneshacharya remains miserable, guilty, and uncertain. He does not return to the village that evening.

Praneshacharya eventually returns home and thinks quietly to himself. He reflects on his actions, wondering what drew him to Chandri. He goes to tend to his wife and sees that she has a fever. He steps outside briefly and then is struck with a terrible premonition. When he goes back inside, he finds that his wife is dead. He burns her body and weeps. The Brahmins continue to debate the Naranappa matter in a circuitous manner. Garuda and Lakshmana try to push their claim for Naranappa's wealth, as they are related. The swami in the temple becomes enraged at their greed and chastises them both. They apologize. Praneshacharya leaves the temple and wanders in the nearby jungle where he encounters a young man named Putta. He feels a bit cagey around Putta, as he is concerned about keeping his identity concealed from him. Putta talks to him at length and follows him every step of the way. They eventually go to a small town together. Putta convinces Praneshacharya to drink coffee and watch a cockfight, which only heightens his sense of despair. Then Putta takes him to visit a woman named Padmavati who lives nearby. Praneshacharya feels a sudden lust towards her as he finds her excessively attractive. Putta tries to convince Praneshacharya to stay with Padmavati for the night, but he refuses. Padmavati too tries to seduce him but Praneshacharya strictly controls his feelings of lust and leaves the place. He thinks about Chandri and how he fell for her. He then thinks about Shripati, another Brahmin who often sexually exploits Belli, a poor girl of low caste. Praneshacharya thinks if he did the same sin with Chandri. He continues to struggle with his feelings as he enters a temple and joins in a prayer. He talks to the other men in the temple and resolves to perform the rites and confess his actions. Praneshacharya heads back to Durvasapura and the novel ends with him anxiously awaiting his return.

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 Deserted Village by Oliver Goldsmith | Structure, Summary, Analysis

Hello and welcome to the Discourse. The Deserted Village is a long poem by Oliver Goldsmith that was first published in 1770. The poem details a once-lovely town by the name of Auburn. At one point, it was the speaker’s nostalgic paradise. Now, though, Auburn has been altered by greed and modernization, causing its residents to desert the hamlet—much to the speaker’s chagrin. It is a social commentary that condemns the migration of people from rural areas to developed cities and America in pursuit of excessive wealth. The poet also expressed his concerns over the effects of the agricultural revolution, which resulted in the enclosure of arable land, often to form private parks or gardens.

Structure of A Deserted Village:

It is a long poem containing 430 lines written in Heroic couplets, which are pairs of rhyming lines of iambic pentameter. A line of verse written in iambic pentameter contains five feet; each foot comprises an unstressed and stressed syllable. The poem has many stanzas of varied lengths, some are short while some are too long and appear like paragraphs. These stanzas begin and end as the subject matter changes.

"The Deserted Village" is narrated in the first person. The speaker reminisces about his childhood village and warns of changes brought about by commercialism. Goldsmith is also clear in his disapproval of the enclosures movement and describes the effects of commercialism on country life as farmland is purchased by the rich, forcing populations of entire villages to leave their rural lives. The poem follows a simple rhyming pattern of ‘AABBCC....’. The whole poem is written in the past tense. Goldsmith has used Alliteration in the first few stanzas ("humble happiness," "succeeding sports," "sweet succession," and "light labor”). Later in the poem, Goldsmith writes "sweet confusion sought the shade" and "whitewashed walls." Goldsmith has used an extended Metaphor to represent the situations of all villages using the fictional village Auburn. In addition, Goldsmith uses the image of a woman as a Metaphor for Auburn. First, the village is described as "some fair female, unadorned and plain." As people begin to leave, the metaphorical woman feels the loss: "Her friends, her virtue, fled." The fleeing "virtues" or "morals" signal the final transition, when that "wholesome" woman has now become a prostitute, leaving her "wheel and robes of country brown" in the place where "courtier[s] glitter in brocade."

The poem is a fine example of Georgic poetry as the subject of the poem is agriculture and rural life and the theme of the poem shows tension and concern. The themes of the poem include corruption and greed, the innocence of rural life, and resilience in the changing world. A Deserted Village is also a fine example of pastoral elegy that compares the village and rural life to innocence in contrast to the encroachment of industrialization that brought materialism and corruption to the people. The poet laments over the loss of innocence in the rural countryside which is heavily affected by the industrial revolution as reflected in the romanticized recollection of “Auburn” village. The village was able to sustain the life of the inhabitants with “health” and “innocence” in the absence of material wealth. This clearly reflects that the rustic life is a natural wealth and an abundance for the people but the coming of materialism has brought corruption and it has destroyed the innocence of the village. The poet also laments how trade, with its relentless pursuit of profit, has taken over the land and displaced the rural inhabitants.

Oliver Goldsmith belonged to the Neoclacissist authors of the Augustan era and the poem The Deserted Village is a prime example of Neoclassicist Augustan poetry. The poet expressed a balanced account of Auburn in its inhabited and deserted states, and in its employment of an authorly persona within the poem, it conforms to contemporary neoclassical conventions. In addition, Goldsmith emphasizes that this migration is led by greed and corruption and warns about the danger that England faced from its increase in wealth. It was believed that the decline of the Roman Empire was attributed to the growth of luxury and pride in Rome and the poet draws the parallel from that history.

Summary of The Deserted Village:

Lines 1-4

“Sweet Auburn! loveliest village of the plain;

Where health and plenty cheered the labouring swain,

Where smiling spring its earliest visit paid,

And parting summer's lingering blooms delayed”

The poet begins with a fantastic description of Auburn a fictional village. The speaker the beauty and serenity of Sweet Auburn, a village filled with health, abundance, and the joys of nature. Oliver Goldsmith belonged to Lissoy, an Irish village and it appears he had Lissoy in his mind while he wrote The Deserted Village. His own village transforms into ‘Sweet Auburn’ in his imagination expressing the combination of his Irish memories and English experiences.

Lines 5-34 

The speaker continues to remember their youthful days spent in his village, Auburn, where every scene used to bring happiness and innocence. They recall the cottages, farms, brooks, mills, and the church atop the hill, all surrounded by the charm of hawthorn bushes providing shade for conversations and love. The speaker fondly remembers the days when work turned into play, and the entire village gathered under the spreading tree to enjoy various sports and games. Laughter, competitions, and displays of strength filled the air, and each activity inspired the next. The village was a place of simple pleasures, where even toil could be enjoyed. However, sadly, all these cherished charms have now vanished.

Lines 35-46 

In these lines, the poet describes how Auburn, once a beautiful, ‘loveliest village in the plain’ changed with time. The speaker laments that the village’s sports and charms have disappeared. Between the cozy houses the speaker sees the effect of the "tyrant" and the "master" on the "smiling plain." In the presence of such evil, everyone has left the now-"desolate" village. The only guests are bittern birds that guard their nests with "hollow-sounding" calls. The speaker offers a picture of a village that has lost its vitality and joy, replaced by a sense of abandonment and decay.

Lines 47-52

“Sunk are thy bowers in shapeless ruin all,

And the long grass o'ertops the mouldering wall;

And trembling, shrinking from the spoiler's hand,

Far, far away thy children leave the land

Ill fares the land, to hastening ills a prey,

Where wealth accumulates, and men decay”

The once-cozy houses have sunken and molded. Everyone has left to chase wealth in the city, which the speaker calls the place where "men decay." The speaker mourns the loss of the village’s once thriving and prosperous state. The children of the land are forced to leave, seeking a better life elsewhere. The speaker expresses concern about the state of the country, where wealth accumulates while the people suffer.

Lines 53-74

In these lines, the speaker laments that the village—once filled with "bold peasantry" that was the "country's pride"—is now deserted. Princes and lords may come and go, but the true pride of a nation lies in its hardworking and resilient peasantry. Once destroyed, the loss of a strong and self-sufficient peasantry cannot be easily replaced. This, the speaker claims, is where "England's griefs began." People used to be happy simply when their needs were met, but with the rise of trade people longed for opulence and "unwieldy wealth." They longed to ease "every pang that folly pays to pride." This greed caused the decay of "rural mirth and manners." The speaker reminisces about a time when every piece of land could sustain its inhabitants, providing them with just enough to live a simple and content life. In that time, the people’s true wealth lay in their innocence, health, and the absence of excessive material wealth.

Lines 75-136

The speaker laments how trade, with its relentless pursuit of profit, has taken over the land and displaced the rural inhabitants. Once filled with simplicity and tranquility, the scattered hamlets have now been replaced by opulence and grandeur. Every desire is now linked to wealth, and every pain is the price paid for pride and foolishness. The peaceful and abundant hours, the contentment with little, and the joyful activities that once adorned the landscape have all vanished. They have sought refuge in kinder shores, leaving behind a void where rural happiness and customs no longer exist. These lines highlight the impact of commercialization and the loss of traditional rural life, where simplicity, contentment, and community were valued.

The speaker describes returning home after years away, taking "solitary rounds" amid the dangled walkways and "ruined grounds." All around him, he sees evidence of "the tyrant's power." Seeing how run-down the once beautiful village has become fills the speaker's heart with emotion. He had long wished to return to Auburn as an old man, but it is his greatest grief to realize this will be impossible. Again, the speaker recounts images of the happy, bustling village where children came singing from school, and even the noisy watchdogs, geese, and nightingales sounded like "sweet confusion." Now, the population has been displaced, leaving behind only a feeble "wretched matron" who forages for food and cries herself to sleep each night.

Lines 137-192

In these lines, the speaker recalls the village preacher. The place where his "modest mansion" once stood is now overgrown with wildflowers. He ran a "godly race" and was rewarded with a salary of £40 per year. The preacher never sought riches or fame—he only wanted to care for the wretched. He dedicated his life to easing others' pain, whether they were injured soldiers or ruined "spendthrifts." Regardless of the beggars' backgrounds, the preacher pitied and cared for them all: "He watched and wept, he prayed and felt, for all." His sermons were rousing—even fools who came to mock the church stayed to hear him. Everyone, from adults to children, longed to be near him.

Lines 193-250

In these lines, the speaker continues to remember the people he knew from the village. Near the church was a noisy school where a stern schoolmaster ruled strictly. The speaker knew the schoolmaster well, as did the rest of the village truants. Despite the schoolmaster's stern appearance, he was kind and loved to teach. The children, in rapt attention, used to wonder how much knowledge could be crammed into one man's head. But now no one remembers the schoolmaster's wisdom. The school, once lovingly cared for with "white-washed wall" and a "nicely sanded floor," now sinks into obscurity. It lies unused and forgotten, alongside every other pleasure of the village where the barber told tales, the woodsmen swapped stories, and "coy maids" passed drinks.

Lines 251-286

In these lines the speaker says that though he knows the rich mock his nostalgia for home, but this cruelty only makes him fonder of the "simple blessings" of his "lowly" beginnings. Everyone else seems to love the "gloss of art," working hard to obtain its expensive beauty. The speaker much prefers the beautiful images of memory that "lightly ... frolic" over his "vacant mind." He goes on to blame the rich for chasing "wanton wealth," claiming their greed hastens "the poor's decay." The rich must decide where to draw the line between a "splendid," or opulent, land and a happy one. The land is rich, and men come from around the world to plunder her spoils. In doing so, the rich expand their boundaries. They push away the poor to make more room for their horses and dogs. The rich rob their neighbors of half the silk in their fields simply to make themselves another robe. The land had enough riches for everyone to enjoy, but the wealthy stripped it barren for their own gain.

Lines 287-340

In these lines, the poet uses metaphor and compares the land to a young woman who needs no "adornment" to show off her beauty. As time passes, however, the land needs such adornment to maintain its charm, but it has been betrayed. There's no way of covering up the "impotence" and "decline" of its splendors that transformed the "smiling land" into a "scourged," or tortured, place. It has been transformed from a blooming garden to a blooming grave. The speaker wonders where the poor should live if the rich push them off their native land.

Lines 341-384 

The poor must travel through "dreary scenes" with "fainting steps." Eventually, they will arrive at "that horrid shore" that the speaker describes as if he were describing Hell: either some overcrowded city or some wilderness. To him, the city is a place where "birds forget to sing" and "the dark scorpion gathers death around." The speaker carefully contrasts this hellish scene with the "cooling brook" and "grassy vested green" of the village. He imagines what it might have been like for the traveling villagers to look upon their homes for the final time. He paints a heartbreaking scene of a family tearfully saying goodbye to each other.

Lines 385-430

In these lines, the speaker attacks materialism and curses luxury. People want luxury, leaving their "pleasures" behind to seek its "insidious joy." Even as the speaker stands now, he can see "the rural virtues leave the land." He recalls days of "contented toil" and "hospitable care" when people worked hard and were kind to each other. They were pious, faithful, and loving, but now they are greedy and cruel. The speaker feels a sense of shame at the way the villagers have changed. Finally, he says goodbye to the village of his memory, with the hopes that time might "redress the rigors of the inclement clime" and bring both truth and humility back to the land.

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 Man in Black | The Citizen of the World by Oliver Goldsmith | Summary, Analysis

Hello and welcome to the Discourse. Best known for his comic play "She Stoops to Conquer" and the novel "The Vicar of Wakefield," Oliver Goldsmith was also one of the most prominent essayists of the 18th century. "The Character of the Man in Black" appears in Goldsmith's most popular essay collection, "The Citizen of the World." Although sometimes described as a novel, Oliver Goldsmith’s ‘The Citizen of the World’ (1760) is united by a very slight plot. A collection of letters written by Lien Chi Altangi, a fictional Chinese visitor to London, the letters were originally published individually in the daily journal ‘The Public Ledger’ as a series that ran between January 1760 and August 1761. There are 119 letters, some 700 pages, in all; in them, Goldsmith uses his fictitious author to deliver witty and frequently damning criticism of contemporary British culture. In the process, he incidentally also reveals a lot about contemporary British conceptions of Chinese culture and the state of British trade relations with China.

The major theme of The Citizen of the World is to emphasize ‘Internationalism’ while condemning ‘National Prejudices.’

The Character of The Man in Black, also known by the title The Man in Black is perhaps the most famous essay from the pen of Oliver Goldsmith. Along with his Beau Tibbs, it ranks among the greatest English essays. Goldsmith has drawn a memorable character through this essay. The Man in Black is a sort of roving ambassador of kindness and generosity. The essay is a character sketch of an English man which is a testimony to the writer’s maturity as a humourist and his peculiar style of writing. His character is a curious mixture of contradictory qualities. He is generous in the extreme but loves to be known as a great miser. His talk gives the impression of a cruel and ill-natured man, a misanthrope who hates mankind. But while he is talking ill-naturedly, his cheek is glowing with pity. He tries his utmost to hide his noble feelings as though he feels ashamed of them. But his pretence of being what in reality he is not, is often exposed to a very casual observer. The greater part of the essay deals with this strange paradox of this most lovable man’s character. Goldsmith gives three concrete instances of his conduct with the poor and needy persons, and in all these instances his innate good nature becomes more and more attractive.

The Man in Black is a friend of the imaginary ‘Chinaman’ Lein Chi Altangi, the fictional writer of Goldsmith’s letters or essays. This Chinese citizen is supposed to live in London. He is always roaming about in the city and tries to note the peculiarities of the English people. He naturally comes in contact with people of all sorts, especially people with some odd character. The Man in Black is one such person. The writer aptly calls him ‘a humorist in a nation of humorists.’

It is worthy to note that, like his ‘Chinaman’, Goldsmith too, is a foreigner living in London. He was an Irishman who later settled in London. But scholars often suggest that through this character Goldsmith has attempted to sketch a kind of self-portrait. The Man in Black, in some measure, represents the author himself.

Summary of The Man in Black:

Goldsmith under the guise of Altangi, a Chinese philosopher, gives an interesting description of an English man who is probably the man in black. It is an immortal creation of Goldsmith himself. He registers the need for humor and humanism in human life. The man in black has contrary qualities. He is a humanist in a nation of humorists. He always pretends to be a miser. Through, he is extremely generous; he looks like a misanthrope. He tries to hide his good qualities but at all times his good qualities are revealed.

One day, The Man in Black and Altangi go out on a tour of the country. They discuss beggars and poverty. The Man in Black lashes at the poor calling them lazy hypocrites. Every one of them is an impostor, and they ―rather merit a prison than relief. The Government has taken steps to relieve their suffering but they roam about everywhere pestering travellers. While the man in Black is talking in this manner an old man appeals for help. He speaks about his dying wife and five hungry children, Obviously, it is an invented story but the Man in Black is moved by it. Seeing it Altangi pretends to look another way. The Man in Black stealthily slips in a piece of silver into the beggar‘s hands while loudly warning the old man against troubling people like him. He scolds him for telling false stories.

The man in Black thinks that Altangi did not notice his charity and starts to attack the beggars with his words. He also adds beggars should be put in prison. Then, he tells two stories of ladies robbed by beggars. When he starts the third story, a sailor with a wooden leg asks for help, and the man in black asks him angrily how he had lost his leg. The sailor replies that he lost his leg in defense. On hearing this, the man in black is really touched. He wants to help him. Instantly, he asks the matchbox of the sailor. The sailor asks him for a Shilling for it. The man in black without hesitation gives it to him.

Then, he happens to see an old woman in rags. She has one child in her arms and another on her back. She was attempting to sing ballads, but with such a mournful voice that it was difficult to determine whether she was singing or crying. The man in black is moved by the poor state of the woman. At that incident, he puts his hands into his pocket to give money but finds it empty. He feels great pain for not solving the woman’s problem. The man in Black looks more miserable than the woman because he cannot relieve her. Then he remembers the matchbox worth a shilling. He puts it into her hand and walks away.

In conclusion, despite his austere exterior, the ‘Man in Black embodies a compassionate and noble spirit. He is truly a generous individual and a remarkable character, a testament to the depth of human goodness concealed beneath outward appearances. Thus, the Man in Black seems black outside but white and noble inside.

A Humorist in a Nation of Humorists:

The word humorist means an eccentric person or one with strange inconsistencies in manners. Goldsmith calls the Man in Black a humorist because of the eccentricities observed in him. The Man in Black is ashamed of his natural benevolence and wishes to appear harsh. The inconsistencies of his words of cruelty and harshness towards beggars in general and his graceful acts of generosity towards particular ones are humorous in the extreme. In fact, this humor is the very life and strength of the whole essay. The subtle humor of the character of the Man in Black makes him a loving and immortal character.

England is a nation of humorists because there are many types of eccentric people.

The essay is a societal critique in which Goldsmith portrays a society that is broken both economically and morally. He criticizes the widespread poverty and economic conditions that have led to it. Oliver also criticizes the moral shortcomings of the society such as its indifference to the plight of the poor. The Man in Black is ashamed of his feelings of compassion and tries to hide them because it is not an appreciable trait in society. Goldsmith also criticizes the help offered by the government for the poor people and suggests the incompetency and corruption in it. He favors indirect reforms and he introduces the Man in Black to highlight these issues and promote change.

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!

An Elegy on the Death of a Mad Dog by Oliver Goldsmith | Structure, Summary, Analysis

Hello and welcome to the Discourse. Oliver Goldsmith was an Anglo-Irish novelist, poet, essayist, and playwright born on 10^th November 1728 and died on 4^th April 1774. He is most known for his popular novel The Vicar of the Wakefield, published in 1766, and his comedy-drama She Stoops to Conquer 1771. In addition, he is also known for his philosophical poem ‘The Traveller; or, a Prospect of Society’ published in 1764, his pastoral poem The Deserted Village published in 1770, and The Hermit, a 160-line romantic ballad published in 1765.

An Elegy on the Death of a Mad Dog is a satirical ironic poem written by Oliver Goldsmith that was a part of his popular novel The Vicar of the Wakefield. The poem is about a rabid dog that bites a man, and the effect that this act of violence has on the people of London.

An elegy is a generally serious poem written to honor an individual who has died. Even though it is titled as an ‘elegy’, the obvious tone of the poet is that of derision and mockery. He gets the readers to contemplate over superficial attributes of an individual and questions the generally acknowledged version of what defines ‘good’.

The poem describes the death of a mad dog who once bit a very good man who was admired by everyone. The man and the dog lived in a town called Islington, which was full of all different kinds of dogs, and the man at first befriended this dog when they encountered one another. However, for some unknown reason, the dog bit the man, and everyone was shocked that the dog would bite so good a man, they decided that the dog must be mad and believed that the man would die of his injury. However, it was the tragic death of the dog at the end that imparts the complete impact of what the poet has been advocating all this while! 

Structure of the Poem:

The poem contains 32 lines set in eight stanzas or eight quatrains (4 lines each). The rhyming scheme of the poem is simple ABAB. Goldsmith employed a simple songlike alternating metrical pattern of iambic tetrameter and iambic trimeter. Thus, the first and third lines of each quatrain contain eight syllables, and the second and fourth lines contain six syllables. The poem follows a ballad pattern and it may also be compared with a nursery rhyme style pattern. The poem follows the genre of Satire and Parody. The poem satirizes the genre of elegies.

Summary of An Elegy on the Death of a Mad Dog:

Stanza 1 Lines 1-4

“Good people all, of every sort,
Give ear unto my song;
And if you find it wondrous short,
It cannot hold you long.”

The poet urges people from all walks of life, people of all kinds to give their ears to his song. The poet acknowledges that the song may be short, but assures the listeners that it won’t take up much of their time. It implies that the song has a concise and captivating message that can be enjoyed by everyone. So, the poet invites people to listen and engage with the song, regardless of its brevity. In the third and fourth lines, the poet also lowers the audience’s expectations, reminding those who might find his poem too “short” or inconsequential that it at least will not detain or “hold” them “long.”

Stanza 2 Lines 5-8

“In Islington there was a man,
Of whom the world might say
That still a godly race he ran,
Whene’er he went to pray.”

In this stanza, the poet offers the setting of Islington and introduces, the man, the main character of the poem. The speaker says that there was a man in Islington who was known for his devout religious practices. Whenever he went to pray, he was regarded as someone who maintained a strong and righteous spiritual connection. The lines imply that this man was highly respected for his religious devotion. In line 7, the speaker describes that man as ‘godly’ which means that he is a good and pious man, a good Christian, who appears to be a fine example of Christianity and well-liked by the townspeople. However, the poet inserts a doubt in line 6, an ironic statement that hints the man is not as charitable or godly as he seems to the rest of the “world.”

Stanza 3 Lines 9-12

“A kind and gentle heart he had,
To comfort friends and foes;
The naked every day he clad,
When he put on his clothes.”

The speaker continues describing the man who is the central character. The man was considered to be a kind-hearted and religious man. He was thought to be a good Christian. He was ever ready to help the “naked” or poor and the needy. This stanza highlights the kindness and compassion of the man in Islington. He had a gentle heart and showed care and support not only to his friends but also to his enemies. The lines also humorously mention that he helped the needy by clothing the naked, but only when he put on his own clothes. This emphasizes his generosity and willingness to help others in any way he could. Again, the speaker hints at irony in line 12. The man cares for himself first and only then, does he think of helping others, also when he is going to get known for that help. Oliver Goldsmith iterates that these acts considered to be virtuous are motivated by self-regard, making you wonder if this is actually the sort of right thinking that should be upheld.

Stanza 4 Lines 13-16

“And in that town a dog was found,
As many dogs there be,
Both mongrel, puppy, whelp and hound,
And curs of low degree.”

In the fourth stanza, the speaker introduces the titular mad dog. The poet describes it as one of ‘many dogs’. In the town of Islington, there was a wide variety of dogs, including mixed breeds, puppies, young dogs, and even lowly mutts. The lines highlight the diverse and varied population of dogs in the town, ranging from different breeds and backgrounds. The irony is again introduced when Goldsmith portrays Islington as the home of many stray dogs of differing breeds and “degree.”

Stanza 5 Lines 17-20

“This dog and man at first were friends;
But when a pique began,
The dog, to gain some private ends,
Went mad, and bit the man.”

In this stanza, the speaker acknowledges the man and the stray dog have a history as “friends”, but after a “pique” or provocation between them occurs, the dog bites the man, for reasons unknown to onlookers. Initially, the dog and the man were friends. However, a disagreement or argument arose between them, causing the dog to become enraged and bite the man. The lines illustrate a shift in the relationship from friendship to hostility due to the dog’s sudden change in behavior.

Stanza 6 Lines 21-24

“Around from all the neighbouring streets
The wond’ring neighbours ran,
And swore the dog had lost its wits
To bite so good a man.”

In this stanza, the speaker mentions the witnesses’ response to the biting incident. The speaker describes how the incident with the dog biting the man attracted the attention of the neighbors. They were surprised and couldn’t believe that the dog would act in such a way towards a good man. The neighbors concluded that the dog must have gone mad or lost its sanity to harm someone who was well-regarded. Only a mad dog could have bitten such a good man.

Stanza 7 Lines 25-28

“The wound it seemed both sore and sad
To every Christian eye;
And while they swore the dog was mad,
They swore the man would die.”

In this stanza, the speaker continues to describe the response of the witnesses of the biting incident while informing about the seriousness of the wound that the godly man suffered. The stanza highlights the seriousness of the man’s wound, which saddened and concerned everyone who saw it. While some believed the dog was mad, others feared for the man’s life, thinking that his injuries were severe enough to be fatal. The lines emphasize the gravity of the situation and the worry surrounding the man’s well-being. The “Christian” neighbors of the man swear the dog is mad and that the man will die of his “sore and sad” wound.

Stanza 8 Lines 29-32

“But soon a wonder came to light
That showed the rogues they lied,—
The man recovered of the bite,
The dog it was that died!”

The last stanza offers the crux of the poem, the main irony. The stanza describes a surprising turn of events. Contrary to what the skeptics believed, it was revealed that the man actually recovered from the dog bite. The real surprise was that it was the dog that ended up dying. It’s a humorous ending that shows how appearances can be deceiving. The speaker asserts that the ‘Christian’ neighbors, now described as “rogues,” had “lied” and were wrong about how the man and dog would fare. The man recovers from his wound, and the dog is the one who ultimately dies from the incident.

Ultimately it is the man who carried the poison within him (an extended metaphor relating to the poison within our hearts), which even got to the dog and killed it. It is even more daunting to know that despite all the ‘bad’ in the man, he continues to live. This twist at the end throws light on how society believes and supports what is shown to be good, often disregarding actual merit. Oliver criticizes that some people are more poisonous than a mad dog. In reality, it may not be so, but "these people" cause more harm than a mad dog can.

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!