Professional Documents
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ENG5 D03
(Open Course)
V SEMESTER
(For candidates with core course
other than B.A. English)
(2019 Admission)
UNIVERSITY OF CALICUT
School of Distance Education
Calicut University- P.O,
Malappuram - 673635, Kerala.
19017
School of Distance Education
University of Calicut
Study Material
(For candidates with core course other than
B.A. English)
V SEMESTER
Open Course
CBCSS UG (2019Admission Onwards)
ENG5D03: APPRECIATING LITERATURE
Prepared by:
Sabina K Musthafa,
Assistant Professor on Contract,
Department of English,
SDE, University of Calicut.
Scrutinized by:
K.J. Thomas,
Associate Professor & Head (Retd.)
Dept. of English,
MESKVM College, Valanchery
DISCLAIMER
“The author shall be solely responsible for the
content and views expressed in this book”
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CONTENT
MODULE I: POETRY 5 – 54
1. The Waking :Theodore Roethke
2. The Enchanted Shirt : John Hay
3. Peacock and Nightingale : Robert Finch
4. Ozymandias : P B Shelley
5. Night of the Scorpion : Nissim Ezekiel
MODULE II PROSE 55 – 72
1. On Doors :Christopher
Morley
2. On Running After One’s Hat : G. K Chesterton
MODULE III: SHORT STORIES 73 – 126
1. The Gift of the Magi : O Henry
2. Mark of Vishnu : Khushwant Singh
3. Happy Prince : Oscar Wilde
MODULE IV 127 – 154
1. The Monkey’s Paw : W. W Jacobs
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MODULE I
POETRY
THE WAKING
Theodore Roethke
THE WAKING
(Poem)
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Much like stanza one, stanza two also opens with a paradox. The
speaker is stating that people’s logical thoughts come out of
their feelings—which most people view as a contradiction. Of
course, humans are emotional since they experience feelings.
But they can also be rational, or logical, at times. However,
asserting that feelings are a result of logic is a definite
contradiction.
In line 2 of stanza two, the speaker is hearing himself and
listening to himself, while smiling and internally dancing. Here,
the reader is being challenged to interpret this dance, which can
be seen parallel to the dance of life. How much do people really
know about this dance, and how deeply do they experience it?
These are things the speaker wants the reader to consider. The
opening line’s paradox repeats itself at the end of the stanza, as
the speaker is trying to make readers realize how important the
moments of our life actually are.
Stanza three starts off with the speaker asking a personal
question, to both himself and the reader. It is possible that the
speaker is either with somebody as he contemplates this line, or
taking a close look at the reader, since the speaker of the poem
cannot function without a reader. Or, it is possible that the
speaker is asking the reader to consider how well he or she
knows personal acquaintances.
Blessing the ground suggests the speaker is now on holy ground,
and capitalizing “G” implies that the ground, to the speaker, is
far more than dirt. To the speaker, the ground is part of the
Earth, and the speaker shows respect for the planet by walking
lightly. The line can be interpreted as a link to environmentalism
and taking care of the planet, or as the pantheistic belief that
God is in all of nature, so humans should respect all of it, even
the dirt they might find lowly or annoying.
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CONCLUSION
After analysing “The Waking” regarding its musical devices and
tone followed by a short explanation of the poem’s meaning in
it, we can know that Theodore Roethke has a strong spiritual
life. His childhood, his father’s death, his uncle’s death, what he
knows about nature, and all experiences he had are all combined
in a deep thought about life and death throughout his poem. He
realizes that every living creature has its own fate and will die in
the end. By realizing that, Roethke has a higher spirit to live his
life well before facing his God. Using beautiful musical devices
with its repetition and many variations in it means that Roethke
wants to reinforce his state of mind beautifully and calmly too
because we know that life can be understood by learning it
slowly, not in a hurry. In the end, we can say that “The Waking”
is one of Theodore Roethke’s greatest poems because it has
beautiful aspects of music or rhyme and a deep meaning.
GLOSSARY
Alliteration : alliteration is a technique that makes use of
repeated sounds at the beginning of multiple
words grouped together. It is used in poetry and
prose.
Paradox : A paradox is used in literature when a writer
brings together contrasting and contradictory
elements that reveal a deeper truth.
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QUESTIONS:
1. What is a villanelle?
2. What is the tone of the poem “The Waking”?
3. What does Roethke mean with “I wake to sleep” in the
poem?
4. What does the poet mean by “God bless the Ground! I
shall walk softly there”?
5. Write a short note on the use of paradox in the poem
“The Waking”.
6. Write an essay on “The Waking” as a villanelle.
REFERENCE
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/43333/the-
waking-56d2220f25315
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https://owlcation.com/humanities/Analysis-of-Poem-
The-Waking-by-Theodore-Roethke
https://www.bachelorandmaster.com/britishandamerican
poetry/the-waking-summary-
analysis.html#.YQqtp70zbIU
https://rukhaya.com/poetry-analysis-theodore-roethkes-
the-waking/
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John Hay
foreign policy on the world stage. For many years his literary
contribution to the school of American Realism has received
virtually no attention. The unique dialect in the poetry of John
Hay's home country in Illinois brought a new emphasis on
authenticity through dialect and character. He introduced readers
to distant Midwestern and Southern rural locales.
Mark Twain was a longtime friend of Hay. Twain regarded Hay
as the earliest author of this specific style of colloquialism.
Besides, interplay of realistic language and events to form an
entertaining picture of rural life can be seen in his writings. He
filled his writings with picturesque slang, humour, and details of
daily life.
John Hay was also a literary influence on the developing
American Realism Movement. He is remembered for his
memorable literary influence in giving us "a new, earthy
vernacular". Interestingly, John Hay's ballads live on and its
significance as a ground-breaking new idiom and their impact
on developing American Realism should be acknowledged by
today's scholars of history and literature.
THE ENCHANTED SHIRT
(Poem)
Fytte the First: wherein it shall be shown how the Truth is too
mighty a Drug for such as be of feeble temper
THE King was sick. His cheek was red
And his eye was clear and bright;
He ate and drank with a kingly zest,
And peacefully snored at night.
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Fytte the Second: tells of the search for the Shirt and how it was
nigh found but was not, for reasons which are said or sung
Wide o'er the realm the couriers rode,
And fast their horses ran,
And many they saw, and to many they spoke,
But they found no Happy Man.
They found poor men who would fain be rich,
And rich who thought they were poor;
And men who twisted their waists in stays,
And women that shorthose wore.
Fytte the Third: shewing how His Majesty the King came at last
to sleep in a Happy Man his Shirt
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four-line stanzas have a set pattern: the first and third lines will
have four beats, and the second and fourth lines will have three.
Usually, the rhyme scheme will be ABCB, though ABAB is also
acceptable.
IMPORTANT THEMES
1. Honesty Vs deception
2. Truth (reality) vs. dishonesty (illusion)
3. Highlights the necessity of social mingling
4. Conveys the message that one should find happiness
within oneself.
5. We should be satisfied with whatever we have and enjoy
the beautiful moments of life cheerfully.
FIGURES OF SPEECH
● Simile – first doctor is compared to “a poor rat” and the
sage compares the king as “a sound nut”
● Onomatopoeia – in the sentence “roared the king in ga-
la”, roar is onomatopoeia
● Imagery – “Free heaven” can imagine a scene of free
heaven.
● Metaphor- “King is sick” – means king is not physically
sick. He is mentally sick because of his useless life and
he is compared to a sick man.
● Form: quatrain- four lined poem
● Rhyme – line 2 and line 4 rhymed
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QUESTIONS:
1. What was the king’s condition before the arrival of the
doctors?
2. Why was the beggar a happy man?
3. Define a narrative ballad
4. What is the message of the poem?
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REFERENCE
http://www.english-for-students.com/the-enchanted-
shirt.html
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/382383824610402335/
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Robert Finch
ABOUT THE POET
ROBERT FINCH (1900-1995)
Robert Duer Claydon Finch was an American-born Canadian
poet and an academician whose gift for satire found an outlet in
lyrics characterized by irony, metaphysical wit, complex
imagery, and a strong sense of form. Finch was educated at the
University of Toronto, to which he returned as a professor of
French after three years in Paris. He worked there for four
decades from 1928 to 1968. He was an expert in French poetry.
He began writing poetry in the early 1920's. His first collection,
Poems (1946), won a Governor General's Award. His second
work Acis in Oxford (1961), a series of meditations inspired by a
performance of G. F Handel's dramatic oratorio Acis and
Galatea. Dover Beach Revisited (1961), treating the World War
II evacuation of Dunkirk and issues of faith, contains 11
variations on Matthew Arnold's poem. In another collection,
Variations and Themes (1980), Finch describes in 14 poem
variations the fate of a rare pink water lily. His later works
include Has and Is (1981), The Grand Duke of Moscow's
Favourite Solo (1983) and Sail-boat and Lake (1988).
He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in
1963. The Society awarded him it's Lorne Pierce Medal in 1968.
Robert Finch's eye is fundamentally of artist, a painter who has
had many successful exhibitions to his credit between 1921 and
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https://www.poetrynook.com/poem/peacock-and-
nightingale
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Robert-Finch
http://canadianpoetry.org/volumes/vol18/trehearne1.html
https://www.rem.routledge.com/articles/finch-robert-
1900-1995
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OZYMANDIAS
P B Shelley
ABOUT THE POET
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Then he left for Italy. The first fruits of his new life were
apparent in Prometheus Unbound (1818-19, published
1820). This is a combination of the lyric and the drama.
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HISTORICAL CONTEXT
The historical Ozymandias’ legacy was not actually entirely
dead when Shelley wrote this poem. In fact, Shelley may have
been inspired to write this poem by newspaper reports that the
British Museum had attained the large head of an Egyptian
statue. It was the statue that later turned out to be of Ramses II,
also known by his Greek name, Ozymandias. This fragment of a
sculpture of Ozymandias produced not despair at the futility of
human achievements, but rather excitement, enthusiasm, and
ultimately, preservation in a museum, where the artefact would
be protected from the elements and, as much as possible, from
time itself. Some critics believe that the poem is partly—though
certainly not entirely—a response to the rise and fall of the
Emperor Napoleon, in France. In this reading, the poem serves
as a warning to those who seek political and military power, that
they will fall be eventually be forgotten, just as Ozymandias
was.
EXPLANATION
Line 1
By introducing the narrative with this line, the speaker makes
the story that follows more or less reliable. Because the
following description comes from someone who went to Egypt
and actually saw the statue, the story seems more credible. At
the same time, however, the fact that the reader hears the story
from 'the friend of a friend' could make its validity seem
questionable. These two vastly different perspectives on how the
tale is told anticipate the many crossroads of interpretation in
"Ozymandias".
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Lines 2-3
As soon as the traveller begins describing the crumbling statue,
the rhyme and meter of the poem begin to fall apart. His
sentences, in their broken ruptures, help to distinguish his voice
from the speaker's, to show how excited he is about his
discovery, and to recreate vocally the fragmented statue.
Lines 4-7
The depiction of the statue's face introduces the poem's central
irony. The power that Ozymandias meant to capture for eternity
has, instead, become a testament to the flexibility of such power.
The lines also suggest that the sculptor was a keen observer than
the king himself. Probably the king might have objected to the
portrayal of himself had he understood the effects of his own
frown.
Line 8
This difficult line is composed in the traveller's typical,
fragmented style. Here, the reader should note that it is the
traveller, not the speaker or Shelley, who is struggling so with
language. Taking into account that the "hand" is the sculptor's,
the "heart" is the king's, and "them" refers to the "passions" of
Ozymandias in line 6, the statement becomes more clear. While
the sculptor "mocked" his subject's intensity of emotion,
Ozymandias continued to feed his pride though he was already
"full of himself."
Lines 9-11
The inscription was initially Ozymandias' own idea and later the
sculptor provided an artistic interpretation of the words, in the
pedestal as well as the face of the statue. The traveller observed
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Lines 12-14
In these lines, a sense of stillness, timelessness and infinite
distances accomplished through alliteration ("boundless" and
"bare", "lone" and "level") and long vowels sounds ("decay",
"bare") reflects the depiction of the vast desert where processes
of growth and decay are extremely slow in Egypt. It is a
civilization even older than ancient Greece or Italy.
ANALYSIS OF THE POEM
One of the most well-known and oft-anthologised works of
Shelley, Ozymandias is a sonnet that defies the claims of the
emperors and their empires that they are going to inspire
generations to come and glorifies the timelessness of art. It was
first published in 1818 in the issue of The Examiner in London
under the penname Glirastes. It was later incorporated in
Shelley’s collection Rosalind and Helen, A Modern Eclogue;
with Other Poems in 1826. After his death, it was included in a
posthumous compilation of his poems published in 1826.
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passions hidden beneath the cold exterior. The ruler has this
insatiable urge to conquer the world and bring it under his
control and power. The sculptor “well those passions read” and
these intense emotions are reflected in his work, the statue. The
artist’s mockery lies in his depiction of Ozymandias in the
statue. “The heart that fed” refers to the sculptor’s own fervent
way of nourishing himself on his project.
The sestet shifts our attention from the shattered statue to its
pedestal with the inscription:
“My name is Ozymandias, King of kings. Look on my
works ye Mighty, and despair. (Ozymandias)”
The irony of the situation is that around the statue no works are
visible. It is just a vast desert wasteland. The kings that
Ozymandias challenges must be the rival rulers of the countries
that he has enslaved. The pedestal stands in the middle of an
infinite empty space, described by two phrases: “boundless and
bare”, and “lone and level”. His life work is as barren and empty
as the vast expanse. The once great king’s proud boast has been
reduced to dust. His works have crumbled and disappeared. The
all-powerful Time ruins everything with its impersonal,
indiscriminate and destructive power. Thus, the statue becomes
an epitome of the ephemeral political power and of pride and
hubris of all humanity. However, a glaring contrast to these ruins
of a great empire is provided by a work of art and a group of
words. Civilisations and empires are wiped out from the surface
of the earth and forgotten but there is something that outlasts
these things and that is art. Eternity can be achieved by the
poet’s words, not by the ruler’s will to dominate.
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FORM
‘Ozymandias’ is a sonnet, a fourteen-line poem written in
Iambic Pentameter. It is not strictly a Petrarchan sonnet.
However, it interlinks the Octave (the first eight lines) with the
Sestet (the last six lines) by gradually replacing the old rhymes
with the new ones. The Rhyme Scheme is ABABACDC
EDEFEF.
IMAGERY AND METAPHORS
The entire poem is devoted to a single metaphor: the shattered,
ruined statue in the desert wasteland, with its arrogant,
passionate face and inscription. It becomes a metaphor for the
fallen and destroyed dream of the powerful, cruel ruler and the
ironic and hollow words etched onto the statue’s base. Shelley’s
use of imagery reconstructs the figure of the “King of kings”. At
first, the two legs are described, then the “shattered visage”, and
then the face itself with its “frown / And wrinkled lip and sneer
of cold command.” The sculptor then comes alive in front of our
mind’s eye. We are able to imagine the living man sculpting a
live king, whose face bore the expression of patience. The image
of the desert, boundless and bare, with the lone and level sands
stretching far away, demolishes the picture of the mighty king
who boasted of his works.
NARRATION
Shelley uses the technique of Distanced Narration. The sonnet is
framed as a story told to the speaker by a traveller. This adds
obscurity to the position of Ozymandias. Neither the reader nor
the narrator has seen the statue. Even the narrator hears it from
someone else who has seen it. Thus, the ancient king is rendered
even less commanding. It absolutely undermines his power.
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CONCLUSION
Shelley’s poetic rendering of the legend of Ozymandias is even
more memorable than the original story itself. It is also an
emphatic political statement indicating the cruel and destructive
nature of the empires of man and their outcomes. This beautiful
sonnet outlasts the so-called mighty empires based on control
and terror. These empires get eroded and destroyed leading to
disintegration of civilization and culture. However, neither time
nor distance can obliterate the works of art making the artist
immortal.
GLOSSARY
Antique : belonging to or lasting from times
long ago
Vast : unusually great in size or amount
or extent or scope
Visage : face refers to someone’s face and
facial features
Sneer : facial expression of contempt or
scorn
Passion : a strong feeling or emotion
Pedestal : an architectural support or base
Colossal : so great in size or force or extent
as to elicit wonder
Level : having a surface without slope
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QUESTIONS
1. Who was Ozymandias?
2. What words appear on the pedestal of the sculpture?
3. What does the poet mean by “two vast and trunkless legs of
stone”?
4. Identify the setting of the poem
5. Critically appreciate the poem “Ozymandias”
REFERENCES
Biterman, A. (2000). Analysis of Ozymandias." Personal web
page. Analysis of Ozymandias. Dec. 2000. Web. 12 Mar. 2012.
http://chelm.freeyellow.com/ozymandias1.html.
Glirastes (Percy Bysshe Shelley), (1818). Original Poetry.
Ozymandias”. The Examiner, A Sunday Paper, on politics,
domestic economy and theatricals for the year 1818 (p. 24).
London: John Hunt.
Shelley, P. B. (1826). Ozymandias" in Miscellaneous and
Posthumous Poems of Percy Bysshe Shelley (p.100). London: W.
Benbow.
Shelley, P. B. (1876). Ozymandias”. Reprinted in Rosalind and
Helen - Edited, with notes by H. Buxton Forman, and printed for
private distribution (p. 72). London: Hollinger.
Shelley, P. B. (1820). To a Skylark.
http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/174413.
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Nissim Ezekiel
ABOUT THE POET
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The peasants sat around the speaker's mother on the floor with
the mother in the centre. They had an expression of tranquillity
on their faces, indicative of their belief that they understood the
situation well. Then they brought more candles and more
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lanterns to look for the scorpion. The light of the candles and
lanterns threw huge shadows on the walls of the house. But they
did not find the scorpion. More neighbours came and joined the
ones who were already present there. The woman in the
meantime suffered all the agony of the sting; and she twisted
and turned her body this way and that way, groaning all the
time. The rain continued outside, and the woman continued to
suffer.
The speaker's father was a man with a scientific attitude to life.
He did not share the views of the peasants who were
superstitious. The speaker's father was a rationalist. He applied a
herb to his wife's flesh and, next a combination of the juice of
certain herbs. He even went to the length of pouring a little
paraffin over the affected flesh; and applying a burning
matchstick to it in order to burn away the sting from the
woman's bitten toe. The speaker watched the flame burning his
mother's flesh; and he also watched a religious-minded man
performing certain rites to subdue the poison of the sting with an
incantation. After a lapse of twenty hours, the effect of the
poison wore off and the woman ceased to experience the pain of
sting.
At the end of it all, the speaker's mother simply thanked God for
allowing the scorpion to choose only her for the sting and for
not allowing the scorpion to sting any of her children.
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LANGUAGE
The title is in some ways deceptive. It leads us to believe we are
in for a frightening and dramatic tale with a scorpion taking
centre stage. In fact, the poem is not about the scorpion at all,
but about the reactions of different people to its sting. The poem
starts off in the first person. Ezekiel describes an event that
really happened. However, he does not give his own feelings or
reactions: we realise he is merely the narrator. Most of the poem
is in the third person. Ezekiel does not portray the scorpion as a
villain. However, the villagers are more superstitious and link
the scorpion to 'the Evil One' (line 10). They claim that the
poison will help in many ways. For example, by burning away
the sins of the woman's former life - 'her previous birth' (line 19)
- and ease her life after this one - 'her next birth' (line 22). The
events of the night are described in rich detail such as the mud
hut and the candles and lanterns but, we know little about the
individual neighbours. Ezekiel clubs the neighbours together as
'they'. Ezekiel's father is usually a sceptic and a rationalist - in
other words, he does not believe in superstitions and is not
religious. The final three lines are poignant. We hear Ezekiel's
mother's exact words through her simple speech which is in
contrast to the blabbering neighbours. She doesn't show any
bitterness about her ordeal: she is just grateful that she was the
one who was hurt rather than her children and she thanks God.
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SOUND
Alliteration can be defined as words strung together with
repeated, often initial consonants. Alliteration can be seen
throughout the poem that helps to link or emphasize ideas: the
scorpion is seen 'Parting with his poison' (line 5), Ezekiel's
father tries 'herb and hybrid' (line 38), Ezekiel sees 'flame
feeding' (line 41) on his mother. Besides, there is a lot of
repetition, so that we hear the villagers' prayers and incantations.
Furthermore, Ezekiel uses direct speech, 'May...', to dramatize
the scene and the echoed 'they said' is like a chorus. Now a
chorus can be defined as a group of characters in classical
Greek drama who comment on the action but don't take part in
it. In a song, the chorus is a section that is regularly repeated.
In addition to this, much of the meaning of a poem is conveyed
by the attitude it expresses towards its subject matter. The ideas
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http://dcac.du.ac.in/documents/E-
Resource/2020/Metrial/17renusingh2.pdf
https://poemanalysis.com/nissim-ezekiel/the-night-of-
the-scorpion/
https://owlcation.com/humanities/Analysis-of-Poem-
The-Night-of-the-Scorpion-by-Nissim-Ezekiel
https://ardhendude.blogspot.com/2011/01/analysis-of-
night-of-scorpion.html
https://www.litgalaxy2019.com/2020/05/critical-
appreciation-night-of-the-scorpion--nissim-ezekiel.html
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MODULE II
PROSE
ON DOORS
Christopher Morley
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As you grasped the knob the thought flashed, “When I open this
door again, what will have happened?”
There are many kinds of doors. Revolving doors for hotels,
shops and public buildings. These are typical of the brisk,
bustling ways of modern life. Can you imagine John Milton or
William Penn skipping through a revolving door? Then there are
the curious little slatted doors that still swing outside denatured
bar-rooms and extend only from shoulder to knee. There are
trapdoors, sliding doors, double doors, stage doors, prison doors,
glass doors. But the symbol and mystery of a door resides in its
quality of concealment. A glass door is not a door at all, but a
window. The meaning of a door is to hide what lies inside; to
keep the heart in suspense.
Also, there are many ways of opening doors. There is the cheery
push of elbow with which the waiter shoves open the kitchen
door when he bears in your tray of supper. There is the
suspicious and tentative withdrawal of a door before the
unhappy book agent or peddler. There is the genteel and
carefully modulated recession with which footmen swing wide
the oaken barriers of the great. There is the sympathetic and
awful silence of the dentist’s maid who opens the door into the
operating room and, without speaking, implies that the doctor is
ready for you. There is the brisk cataclysmic opening of a door
when the nurse comes in, very early in the morning – “It’s a
boy!”
Doors are the symbol of privacy, of retreat, of the mind’s escape
into blissful quietude or sad secret struggle. A room without
doors is not a room, but a hallway. No matter where he is, a man
can make himself at home behind a closed door. The mind
works best behind closed doors. Men are not horses to be herded
together. Dogs know the meaning and anguish of doors. Have
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will move out and close the door which is symbolic of death
from which no man can escape.
GLOSSARY
Pluperfect : utterly perfect or complete
Misdemeanour : a minor wrongdoing
Reconciliation : the process of making two people
or groups of people friendly again
after they have argued seriously or
fought and kept apart from each
other, or a situation in which this
happens
QUESTIONS
1. What are the various kinds of doors mentioned in the essay
“On Doors”?
2. Critically analyse “On Doors”
3. “The opening and closing of doors are the most significant
actions of man’s life”- explain.
REFERENCE
https://readandripe.com/on-doors-by-christopher-morley/
https://bloggingeinstein.wordpress.com/2016/07/18/chris
topher-morley-and-portals/
https://www.jstor.org/stable/803748
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https://www.ebooks-
library.com/author.cfm/AuthorID/964
https://www.poemhunter.com/i/ebooks/pdf/christopher_
morley_2012_3.pdf
G K Chesterton
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
G.K. CHESTERTON (1874- 1936)
G.K. Chesterton was the best writers of the twentieth century. He
was a critic, novelist and a poet but he was an essayist also. He
began his career as a journalist and to write weekly articles for
newspapers and magazines. He became a reputed figure in the
Daily News. He used to sit in Fleet Street cafe and write his
articles and essays with the help of his imaginative and
intellectual power. Chesterton possessed some literary
implements in which mainly he used to use wit and paradoxical
arrows to win and with these weapons, he smartly dealt his duty.
His quizzical humour, stylish use of wit, delightful mental
creativity like a gymnastic which were in paradoxical and
epigrammatical way and his whole-heartedly defensive manner
for old, cheerful romantics are the things which regard his
writing style and spill different from any other contemporaries
of his time. Hence, he was called the “prince of paradox”.
G.K. Chesterton easily can handle with literary and
social criticism, history, politics, economics, philosophy and
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Now a man could, if he felt rightly in the matter, run after his hat
with the manliest ardour and the most sacred joy. He might
regard himself as a jolly huntsman pursuing a wild animal, for
certainly no animal could be wilder. In fact, I am inclined to
believe that hat-hunting on windy days will be the sport of the
upper classes in the future. There will be a meet of ladies and
gentlemen on some high ground on a gusty morning. They will
be told that the professional attendants have started a hat in
such-and-such a thicket, or whatever be the technical term.
Notice that this employment will in the fullest degree combine
sport with humanitarianism. The hunters would feel that they
were not inflicting pain. Nay, they would feel that they were
inflicting pleasure, rich, almost riotous pleasure, upon the people
who were looking on. When last I saw an old gentleman running
after his hat in Hyde Park, I told him that a heart so benevolent
as his ought to be filled with peace and thanks at the thought of
how much unaffected pleasure his every gesture and bodily
attitude were at that moment giving to the crowd.
The same principle can be applied to every other typical
domestic worry. A gentleman trying to get a fly out of the milk
or a piece of cork out of his glass of wine often imagines himself
to be irritated. Let him think for a moment of the patience of
anglers sitting by dark pools, and let his soul be immediately
irradiated with gratification and repose. Again, I have known
some people of very modern views driven by their distress to the
use of theological terms to which they attached no doctrinal
significance, merely because a drawer was jammed tight and
they could not pull it out. A friend of mine was particularly
afflicted in this way. Every day his drawer was jammed, and
every day in consequence it was something else that rhymes to
it. But I pointed out to him that this sense of wrong was really
subjective and relative; it rested entirely upon the assumption
that the drawer could, should, and would come out easily. “But
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if,” I said, “you picture to yourself that you are pulling against
some powerful and oppressive enemy, the struggle will become
merely exciting and not exasperating. Imagine that you are
tugging up a lifeboat out of the sea. Imagine that you are roping
up a fellow-creature out of an Alpine crevass. Imagine even that
you are a boy again and engaged in a tug-of-war between French
and English.” Shortly after saying this I left him; but I have no
doubt at all that my words bore the best possible fruit. I have no
doubt that every day of his life he hangs on to the handle of that
drawer with a flushed face and eyes bright with battle, uttering
encouraging shouts to himself, and seeming to hear all round
him the roar of an applauding ring.
So I do not think that it is altogether fanciful or incredible to
suppose that even the floods in London may be accepted and
enjoyed poetically. Nothing beyond inconvenience seems really
to have been caused by them; and inconvenience, as I have said,
is only one aspect, and that the most unimaginative and
accidental aspect of a really romantic situation. An adventure is
only an inconvenience rightly considered. An inconvenience is
only an adventure wrongly considered. The water that girdled
the houses and shops of London must, if anything, have only
increased their previous witchery and wonder. For as the Roman
Catholic priest in the story said: “Wine is good with everything
except water,” and on a similar principle, water is good with
everything except wine.
****
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our temper. The title of the essay is also appropriate and justify
the story line. As we run after our problems and think that it is
Right to do so. We chase for that thing in our life which is quite
necessary. But our psychological satisfaction in it and we again
and again follow this sequence as a runner runs, as a bowler runs
without thinking another idea in our mind.
GLOSSARY
Grumble : to complain about someone or
something in an annoyed way
Trivial : having little value or importance
Battersea : a place in London
Gondola : a long and narrow boat
Archipelago : a group of islands, or an area of
sea where there are many islands
QUESTIONS
1. What makes G. K Chesterton to romanticize flood?
2. What according to Chesterton can turn everyday nuisances
and irritations into a joyful act?
3. Is running after one’s hat a moment of embarrassment?
4. Discuss G. K Chesterton’s prose style with reference to “On
Running after One’s Hat”
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REFERENCE
https://www.britannica.com/biography/G-K-Chesterton
http://essays.quotidiana.org/chesterton/running_after_on
es_hat/
http://sittingbee.com/on-running-after-ones-hat-g-k-
chesterton/
http://www.jiwaji.edu/pdf/ecourse/language/G.K.%20Ch
esterton.pdf
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MODULE III
SHORT STORIES
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She put on her old brown coat. She put on her old brown
hat. With the bright light still in her eyes, she moved quickly out
the door and down to the street.
Where she stopped, the sign said: “Mrs. Sofronie. Hair
Articles of all Kinds.”
Up to the second floor Della ran, and stopped to get her
breath.
Mrs. Sofronie, large, too white, cold-eyed, looked at her.
“Will you buy my hair?” asked Della.
“I buy hair,” said Mrs. Sofronie. “Take your hat off and
let me look at it.”
Down fell the brown waterfall.
“Twenty dollars,” said Mrs. Sofronie, lifting the hair to
feel its weight.
“Give it to me quick,” said Della.
Oh, and the next two hours seemed to fly. She was going
from one shop to another, to find a gift for Jim.
She found it at last. It surely had been made for Jim and
no one else. There was no other like it in any of the shops, and
she had looked in every shop in the city.
It was a gold watch chain, very simply made. Its value
was in its rich and pure material. Because it was so plain and
simple, you knew that it was very valuable. All good things are
like this.
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thin and he was not smiling. Poor fellow, he was only twenty-
two—and with a family to take care of! He needed a new coat
and he had nothing to cover his cold hands.
Jim stopped inside the door. He was as quiet as a hunting
dog when it is near a bird. His eyes looked strangely at Della,
and there was an expression in them that she could not
understand. It filled her with fear. It was not anger, nor surprise,
nor anything she had been ready for. He simply looked at her
with that strange expression on his face.
Della went to him.
“Jim, dear,” she cried, “don’t look at me like that. I had
my hair cut off and sold it. I couldn’t live through Christmas
without giving you a gift. My hair will grow again. You won’t
care, will you? My hair grows very fast. It’s Christmas, Jim.
Let’s be happy. You don’t know what a nice—what a beautiful
nice gift I got for you.”
“You’ve cut off your hair?” asked Jim slowly. He seemed
to labor to understand what had happened. He seemed not to feel
sure he knew.
“Cut it off and sold it,” said Della. “Don’t you like me
now? I’m me, Jim. I’m the same without my hair.”
Jim looked around the room.
“You say your hair is gone?” he said.
“You don’t have to look for it,” said Della. “It’s sold, I
tell you—sold and gone, too. It’s the night before Christmas,
boy. Be good to me, because I sold it for you. Maybe the hairs of
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Jim and Della are a husband and wife living in a rented room in
New York. They are quite poor and recently Jim has had his
salary cut back to only $20 a week from the $30 a week he used
to make. After rent and groceries, the couple hardly have any
money left. Christmas is only a day away and, for a Christmas
present, Della wants to buy Jim a gold watch chain for his gold
watch. They do not have much to be proud or happy about, but
Jim is very proud of that watch. And Della? Della is most proud
of her beautiful long hair. But she really wants to buy that gold
chain for Jim's watch. Too bad she only has $1.87. So, she
decides to sell her hair to a woman who makes wigs and other
hair articles. The woman pays Della $20 for her hair. The chain
costs $21, so she now has enough money. She buys the chain to
give to Jim. She goes home and prepares Jim's dinner and waits
for him to come home, a little bit worried that Jim will be
shocked when he sees her with all her beautiful hair cut off.
When Jim comes home, he does look shocked when he sees
Della with short hair. He stares at her in a strange way and it
scares her. She explains to Jim how she sold her hair to buy him
a nice Christmas present. Jim tells her not to worry and that
nothing can change his love for her. The reason he is shocked to
see her without her long hair is that he also wanted to get a nice
Christmas present for Della. He gives her the present wrapped in
paper and Della unwraps it to see that Jim had bought her a set
of beautiful combs for her hair. She had seen them in a shop
before, but they were so expensive. How was Jim able to afford
them? Suddenly, she remembers Jim's present. She gives him the
gold chain. The chain is beautiful, but when Della asks Jim to
put it on his watch, Jim surprises her. He sold the watch to buy
her those nice combs. Were they both foolish to sell their
favourite possessions? O. Henry tells us that, no, they were
wise. They were wise because they had each sacrificed their
most valuable possessions for the person they loved. They were
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like the three wise men — the Magi—who brought presents for
Jesus Christ after he was born. Keep in mind, that this is why
Christians still give presents on Christmas Day: to remember the
gifts the Magi brought Christ on that very first Christmas.
PLOT
In The Gift of the Magi, the exposition happens when the main
character is introduced. There was a woman named Della. She
was counting her money and realized that it was not enough to
buy a present for Jim, her husband. She felt really sad that the
next day would be Christmas and she still did not know what to
do. She really wanted to buy Jim a present.
After exposition, the story goes on to rising action. It happens
when Della was totally in deep confusion about what she could
do. She only got $1.87 as the result after she had saved every
penny for months. She knew that $1.87 would never be enough
for such a great present. She cried for a while but then she found
out that she had to take a risk. It is told that Della had an
extremely long brown hair. She immediately went out of her
house and searched for any store that would buy her hair. While
she was walking through the street, she suddenly stopped since
she read a sign said “Mme. Sofronie. Hair Goods of All Kinds.”
She rushed into the store, met a woman named Madame
Sofronie, and asked her if she wanted to buy her hair. Madame
Sofronie then examined her hair and quickly told Della that her
hair was worth $20. After Della got the money, she went to a
store where she finally found the right present for Jim. It was a
simple platinum fob chain, and she thought it would be perfect
for Jim’s watch. The chain reflects the simplicity and quietness
of Jim. Della bought it for $21 and got back home with her 87
cents.
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The rising action always lead the story to the climax. The climax
in this story happens when Jim finally went home from work.
Seeing his wife’s hair cut off, he suddenly just stands still at his
place without being angry, surprised, or disapproval. He asked
his wife to make sure that her hair had been really gone. Della
cried and told him that she cut it off and sold it.
The climax goes down to the falling action. The falling action in
this story is when Jim took out a package from his coat and
spoke to Della. He seemed to feel alright. He did not mind about
Della’s short hair. He asked Della to unwrap the package to
make Della understand why Jim was like that at the first time he
saw Della. She opened the package and cried hysterically. It was
a set of comb made of pure tortoise shell with jewelled rims. It
was all that she had dreamed for long time. After that, Della
gave Jim the chain that she bought, and asked him to try it on his
watch. However, Jim did not obey that. He threw himself on a
couch and smiled.
The ending of the story can be considered as resolution since
Jim and Della were happy in the end. Jim finally told his wife to
put the presents away for a while and stated that they were too
nice to be just a present. While sitting on the couch, he told
Della that he had sold his watch to buy the comb set for Della.
Now, Jim asked his wife to prepare the dinner for them both.
CHARACTERS
Character is personality or attitude for a person in story. The
types of character are divided into two categories there are role
and personality from role are divided into two major and minor
characters. Meanwhile from personality, there are flat, round,
static, dynamic, stock, hero, anti-hero, and allusion.
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There are major and minor characters in the story based on their
roles. Della and Jim is the major characters. Della is considered
to be the major character since she is the one who appears from
the beginning until the end of the story. It seems that the
beginning of the story is telling about Della’s confusion to buy
present for Jim, her husband until she finally did a sacrifice in
order to be able to buy a nice present. Meanwhile, Jim can be
also said that he is major character as he is another person who
has a relationship with Della, the first major character. Jim also
has interactions with Della that create a good flow of the story.
Besides, there is actually one minor character. She is Madame
Sofronie who was the woman buying Della’s hair for $20. The
reason why she is the minor character is that she only appeared
in the middle of the story for a moment.
The next explanation is based the characters’ personality. There
are only three kinds of characters, which are flat, dynamic,
static, and stock characters. Della is dynamic character in the
story since her physical appearance changed in the end of the
story. In the beginning, it is described that she has a beautiful
long brown hair. It looked like a brown waterfall. However, she
cut off her hair in order to buy a present for her husband, so her
hair became very short. Besides, Della is a flat character since
her way to interact with other characters throughout the story
tends to be the same from the beginning until the end.
Next, Jim can be considered as a flat and static character. Jim’s
way of talking remains the same since he only appeared almost
in the end of the story. He is static character because his physical
appearance did not change at all. The last kind is stock character,
which is Madame Sofronie. She is considered as stock character
since she tends to be the only complement character.
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SETTING
The definition of a setting in a story is where the story takes
place and when the story happens. Every story has a setting.
Moreover, setting it is not only about place.
In The Gift of the Magi, the story takes place at Della and Jim’s
house, Madame Sofronie’s store, and the store where Della got
the chain for the present. It took place at Della and Jim’s house
when Della was counting her money to buy a perfect present for
Jim, and when Della and Jim were finally meeting and talking
about their presents in the end of the story. Next, it took place at
Madame Sofronie’s store when Della finally decided to cut her
hair off and sold it to Madame Sofronie for $20. Lastly, there
was one store when Della finally found the platinum fob chain
to be the right present for Jim.
The time setting of the story is considered to be in a Christmas
Eve since it was explained that Della was confused about what
she was going to buy Jim’s Christmas present on the following
day. Specifically, it was in the afternoon when Della was
counting money, going to Madame Sofronie’s store, and buying
the fob chain for Jim’s watch. In the end, it seemed to be in the
evening when Della and Jim finally met and talked about their
presents.
POINT OF VIEW
Definition of point of view is the position of the narrator, which
is relation to the story, as indicated by the narrator’s outlook
from which the events are depicted and from the attitude
towards the character. There are two types of narrator, which are
participant and non-participant narrator. Participant narrator
takes a role in the story. It tells the story from the first-person
point of view and uses the pronoun “I” while non-participant
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narrator does not take any role in the story. It only tells the story
from the third person point of view and uses the pronoun “she”,
“he”, “it”, and names as well. Non-participant narrator is also
divided into three branches, which are omniscient or all-
knowing, limited omniscience, and objective.
The narrator of The Gift of the Magi is non-participant. It uses
the limited omniscience third person point of view. The narrator
tells the story by using the pronoun “she”, “he”, “it”, and names
to mention all the characters and other things. It is considered to
be limited omniscience as the narrator only knows all about the
major characters, which are Della and Jim. The narrator explains
the physical appearance and all the feelings of Della and Jim.
THEME
Beauty Della is worried that Jim won't think she is beautiful
with short hair, but Jim loves her for more than just her beautiful
hair and how she looks. If you really love somebody, they are
beautiful no matter how they look.
Family Jim and Della are husband and wife and they love each
other. Jim's watch was given to him by his father and has been in
his family for many years. Still, he sacrifices it out of love for
Della.
Giving Della and Jim both feel that it is important to give nice
gifts to each other to express their love.
Identity Della learns that Jim loves her for just for being
herself, not because of her hair or the Christmas present she
buys him.
Love Because Jim and Della love each other, there is really no
need to prove their love by buying gifts for each other.
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Love is the greatest gift. Money Della and Jim sell valuable
things to get money to buy gifts for each other, because they are
poor.
Sacrifice Both Della and Jim give up valuable possessions so
they can buy Christmas gifts for each other.
Wisdom Della and Jim were wise because they were willing to
make sacrifices to show their love for each other.
To conclude, The Gift of the Magi is considered part of the
Realism and Naturalism literary period of American History.
The story has a beautiful and clever twist in the end, which
brings out O. Henry’s genius and narrative skills. He compares
the gifts that the Magi or the three wise men of the East brought
to the Baby Jesus in the manger to the gifts Della and Jim give
each other on a rather dismal winter Christmas Eve. Although
the Magi chose their gifts wisely, they gave their gifts out of
their plenty without sacrificing much. In comparison, there was
a deep sense of sacrifice and most important love in the gifts
bought on Christmas Eve by Della and Jim. The sixth of January
is celebrated in most Christian countries as the Epiphany of the
Lord Jesus, the day when the three Magi or Wise men from the
East travelled a great distance to ratify Lord Jesus’ love for
humankind by offering their symbolic spiritual gifts. However,
if we have people like Della and Jim in our midst, they are better
Magi than the three wise men because of the love they share in
their gifts.
Because of selfless loves like Della and Jim’s, the Lord Jesus is
manifested every day in our midst. Also, note that Della and Jim
bought gifts for each other by sacrificing articles that were very
much dear to them. Della sacrificed her long brown hair to buy a
gold watch chain for Jim’s watch, while Jim sacrificed his watch
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GLOSSARY
Parsimonious : not willing to give or spend money
Mendicant : someone who belongs to a
religious group that lives by asking
the public for food, money etc.
Falter : to stop being effective or making
progress
Flutter : to move up and down or from side
to side with short, quick, light
movements, or to make something
move in this way.
Trip : to move with quick light steps
Wriggle : to move or make something move
by twisting or turning quickly
QUESTIONS
1. Why did Della cut hair and sell it?
2. What was Jim’s gift for Della?
3. What are the important themes discussed in the story The
Gift of the Magi?
4. Significance of the title The Gift of the Magi
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REFERENCE
https://owlcation.com/humanities/Analysis-of-The-Gift-
of-the-Magi-by-O-Henry
https://english.binus.ac.id/2014/11/07/a-critical-analysis-
of-o-henrys-the-gift-of-the-magi/
https://americanliterature.com/the-gift-of-the-magi-
study-guide
https://www.enotes.com/topics/gift-magi/in-depth
https://www.academia.edu/34677353/The_Gift_of_the_
Magi_Analysis
https://magadhuniversity.ac.in/download/econtent/pdf/th
e%20gift%20of%20Magi,Summary,charector%20analys
is.pdf
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Khushwant Singh
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
KUSHWANT SINGH (1915-2014)
Khushwant Singh is an Indian author, lawyer, politician, and
journalist. He was born in a Sikh family in Hadali, Khushab
District, Punjab (which now lies in Pakistan). He was the
youngest son of Sir Sobha Singh and Veeran Bai. Khushwant
Singh’s grandmother named him Khushal Singh that means
‘Prosperous Lion’. He was called by nickname, Shalee. He had
named himself Khushwant, in order to rhyme with his brother’s
name Bhagwant. Khushwant Singh studied at Delhi Modern
School and went on to pursue higher education at the
Government College, Lahore followed by St. Stephen’s College,
Delhi and then at King’s College London.
Later, he married Kawal Malik and blessed with a son Rahul
Singh and a daughter Mala. He began his career as a practicing
lawyer at High Court in 1939. And then he joined All India
Radio as a journalist in 1951 till 1956 he worked at the
Department of Communication of UNESCO at Paris. Soon he
began to edit various Indian Newspapers and journals that
includes Yojana, a journal of Indian Government, The Hindustan
Times, The Illustrated Weekly of India and many such more
magazines and journals. He went on to edit, various magazines
of literary and journalistic repute through 1970s and 1980s. his
career in Mass Communication and Journalism spurred the
writer in him and very soon he embarked on this literary journey
which resulted in much fame and fortune to him. Khushwant
Singh also participated in the political milieu of the country
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with a pair of eyes at the tail. You should have seen the fun
when it was put in the jar. There wasn’t an empty one in the lab.
So the teacher put it in one which had a Russel's viper. He
caught its two ends with a pair of forceps, dropped it in the jar,
and quickly put the lid on. There was an absolute storm as it
went round and round in the glass, tearing the decayed viper into
shreds."
Gunga Ram shut his eyes in pious horror.
"You will pay for it one day. Yes, you will."
It was no use arguing with Gunga Ram. He, like all good
Hindus, believed in the Trinity of Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva,
the creator, preserver, and destroyer. Of these he was most
devoted to Vishnu. Every morning he smeared his forehead with
a V mark in sandalwood paste to honour the deity. Although a
Brahmin, he was illiterate and full of superstition. To him, all
life was sacred, even if it was of a serpent or scorpion or
centipede. Whenever he saw one he quickly shoved it away lest
we kill it. He picked up wasps we battered with our badminton
rackets and tended their damaged wings. Sometimes he got
stung. It never seemed to shake his faith. More dangerous the
animal, the more devoted Gunga Ram was to its existence.
Hence the regard for snakes; and above all, for the cobra, who
was the Kala Nag.
"We will kill your Kala Nag if we see him."
"I won’t let you. It’s laid a hundred eggs and if you kill it all the
eggs will become cobras and the house will be full of them.
Then what will you do?"
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"We’ll catch them alive and send them to Bombay. They milk
them there for anti-snakebite serum. They pay two rupees for a
live cobra. That makes two hundred rupees straightway."
"Your doctors must have udders. I never saw a snake have any.
But don’t you dare touch this one. It is a phannyar - it is hooded.
I’ve seen it. It’s three hands long. As for its hood!’ Gunga Ram
opened the palms of his hands and his head swayed from side to
side. ‘You should see it basking on the lawn in the sunlight."
"That just proves what a liar you are. The phannyar is the male,
so it couldn’t have laid the hundred eggs. You must have laid the
eggs yourself."
The party burst into peals of laughter.
"Must be Gunga Ram’s eggs. We’ll soon have a hundred Gunga
Rams."
Gunga Ram was squashed. It was the lot of a servant to be
constantly squashed. But having the children of the household
make fun of him was too much even for Gunga Ram. They were
constantly belittling him with their new-fangled ideas. They
never read their scriptures.
Not even what the Mahatma said about non-violence. It was just
shotguns to kill birds and the jars of methylated spirit to drown
snakes. Gunga Ram would stick to his faith in the sanctity of
life, he would feed and protect snakes because snakes were the
most vile of God’s creatures on earth. If you could love them,
instead of killing them, you proved your point.
What the point was which Gunga Ram wanted to prove was not
clear. He just proved it by leaving the saucerful of milk by the
snake hole every night and finding it gone in the mornings.
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One day we saw Kala Nag. The monsoons had burst with all
their fury and it had rained in the night. The earth which had lain
parched and dry under the withering heat of the summer sun was
teeming with life. In little pools frogs croaked. The muddy
ground was littered with crawling worms, centipedes and
velvety ladybirds.
Grass had begun to show and the banana leaves glistened bright
and glossy green. The rain had flooded Kala Nag’s hole. He sat
in an open patch on the lawn. His shiny black hood glistened in
the sunlight. He was big—almost six feet in length, and rounded
and fleshy, like my wrist.
"Looks like a King Cobra. Let’s get him."
Kala Nag did not have much of a chance. The ground was
slippery and all the holes and gutters were full of water. Gunga
Ram was not at home to help.
Armed with long bamboo sticks, we surrounded Kala Nag
before he even scented danger. When he saw us his eyes turned
a fiery red and he hissed and spat on all sides. Then, like
lightning Kala Nag made for the banana grove. The ground was
too muddy and he slithered. He had hardly gone five yards when
a stick caught him in the middle and broke his back. A volley of
blows reduced him to a squishy-squashy pulp of black-and-
white jelly, spattered with blood and mud. His head was still
undamaged.
"Don’t damage the hood," yelled one of us. "We’ll take Kala
Nag to school."
So we slid a bamboo stick under the cobra’s belly and lifted him
on the end of the pole. We put him in a large biscuit tin and tied
it up with string. We hid the tin under a bed.
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At night I hung around Gunga Ram waiting for him to get his
saucer of milk. ‘Aren’t you going to take any milk for Kala Nag
tonight?’
"Yes," answered Gunga Ram irritably. "You go to bed."
He did not want any more argument on the subject.
"He won’t need the milk anymore."
Gunga Ram paused.
"Oh, nothing. There are so many frogs about. They must taste
better than your milk. You never put any sugar in it anyway."
The next morning Gunga Ram brought back the saucer with the
milk still in it. He looked sullen and suspicious.
"I told you snakes like frogs better than milk."
Whilst we changed and had breakfast Gunga Ram hung around
us. The school bus came and we clambered into it with the tin.
As the bus started we held out the tin to Gunga Ram.
"Here’s your Kala Nag. Safe in this box. We are going to put
him in spirit."
We left him standing speechless, staring at the departing bus.
There was great excitement in the school. We were a set of four
brothers known for our toughness. We had proved it again.
"A King Cobra."
"Six feet long."
"Phannyar."
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forgiveness from Kala Nag for having been troubled by the boys
that finally results in his death.
MAIN THEMES
Conflict between science and religion, the old and the new
generation, and the traditional and the modern are themes.
Throughout the story we see that Gunga Ram who represents the
old generation and religion enters into verbal arguments with
young boys who represent the new generation and science. The
main cause of disagreement between the two is the former’s
belief based on religion or rather superstition such as snakes
drink milk or that they are sacred. While the latter are based on
scientific reason and facts that snakes eat only once in several
days.
Another important theme of the story is concerned with
blindfolded belief in anything or anybody that is likely to incur a
lot of consequences. Gunga Ram meets his end for his foolish
belief that venomous serpents would never harm anyone. He
fails to draw a line between religious beliefs and superstition.
CHARACTERS
The main character of the story is Gunga Ram, an old and
illiterate Brahmin. Gunga Ram is an ardent devotee of lord
Vishnu who would smear his forehead with a V mark with
sandalwood paste everyday as a sign of his reverence for the
Lord Vishnu. He knows nothing about scientific facts and we
trace his ignorance time and again in the story. For instance, he
is unable to relate to the fact that snakes are milked for anti-
snake bite serum. He is also confused whether the cobra is a
male snake or a female snake. But what is the distinguishing
trait of Gunga Ram is his blindfolded reverence for all creatures
even the serpents and the scorpions. It is this trait that prevents
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On the surface, the title refers to the V mark where ‘V’ stands
for Lord Vishnu that Gunga Ram makes on his forehead
everyday with sandalwood paste as a sign of deep reverence for
the Hindu deity Vishnu.
On a deeper and more significant level, the V mark conveys the
very essence of the story. Towards the end of the story we find
that the Kala Nag had bite Gunga Ram at the very place on his
forehead where the V mark was. This conveys the message of
the story that Gunga Ram’s superstitious belief that is
symbolized by Kala Nag had the potential to harm him. Despite
his undying faith in God Vishnu represented by ‘V’ mark on his
forehead.
STYLISTIC DEVICES
Humour- the story is characterised by humour that evokes such
fun and laughter. There are various such instances in the story.
There goes a conversational between Gunga Ram and young
boys, when Gunga Ram says that Kala Nag had laid hundred
eggs that would soon become a hundred cobras. To this the
boy’s reply that since the Kala Nag is a male it couldn’t have
laid eggs. They make fun of Gunga Ram by saying that those
eggs must have been laid by Gunga Ram and thus soon there
would be a hundred eggs.
Another instance of pure humour is the situation when the
teacher in school unties the tin in which the boys had brought
Kala Nag than the lid of the tin flies off and just misses the
teacher’s nose. The entire scene that describes Kala nag flying
causes the teacher to topple over his chair with the boys
laughing and yelling is a source of much amusement to the
readers.
SATIRE
Another stylistic device used by Khushwant Singh in the story.
Khushwant Singh has satirised rigid beliefs of the people
belonging to old generations represented by Gunga Ram and the
heartlessness of the new generation represented by the young
boys. Throughout the character of Gunga Ram, he has exposed
the folly of religious faith that robes a person of his ability to
discern what is harmful and what is innocuous. On the other
hand, the story through the boy’s characters lay bare the
weaknesses of the new generation. The boy’s arguments
regarding snakes may be scientifically sound but their behaviour
towards Gunga Ram were just on disrespect and insensitivity.
DICTION
Diction is also employed. As a postcolonial writer in Indian
English, a remarkable feature of Khushwant Singh’s style is the
use of Hindu words in the story such as Kala Nag, and Phanyaar.
Such usage imparts an Indian flavour to the story and helps the
reader, specially, an Indian reader to relate to a particular object
more closely. Besides, Khushwant Singh chooses to write in a
simple language that despite being easy to comprehend is highly
effective. The intelligibility of the language also shows that
Khushwant Singh’s works like the story Mark of Vishnu are read
widely not just by the intelligentsia even the common man.
QUESTIONS
1. Major themes discussed in the story The Mark of Vishnu
2. How could you justify the title The Mark of Vishnu?
3. Describe Kala Nag
REFERENCE
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/328094732_Th
e_Mark_of_Vishnu_A_Critical_Study
http://sittingbee.com/the-mark-of-vishnu-khushwant-
singh/
https://primestudyguides.com/the-mark-of-
vishnu/analysis/characters/gunga-ram
https://entranciology.com/mark-of-vishnu-khushwant-
singh-summary-english-language/
http://englishdepartmentnewcollege.blogspot.com/2016/
09/summary-mark-of-vishnu-325-words.html
“He looks just like an angel,” said the Charity Children as they
came out of the cathedral in their bright scarlet cloaks, and their
clean white pinafores.
“How do you know?” said the Mathematical Master, “you have
never seen one.”
“Ah! but we have, in our dreams,” answered the children; and
the Mathematical Master frowned and looked very severe, for he
did not approve of children dreaming.
One night there flew over the city a little Swallow. His friends
had gone away to Egypt six weeks before, but he had stayed
behind, for he was in love with the most beautiful Reed. He had
met her early in the spring as he was flying down the river after
a big yellow moth, and had been so attracted by her slender
waist that he had stopped to talk to her.
“Shall I love you?” said the Swallow, who liked to come to the
point at once, and the Reed made him a low bow. So he flew
round and round her, touching the water with his wings, and
making silver ripples. This was his courtship, and it lasted all
through the summer.
“It is a ridiculous attachment,” twittered the other Swallows,
“she has no money, and far too many relations”; and indeed the
river was quite full of Reeds.
Then, when the autumn came, they all flew away.
After they had gone he felt lonely, and began to tire of his lady-
love. “She has no conversation,” he said, “and I am afraid that
she is a coquette, for she is always flirting with the wind.” And
certainly, whenever the wind blew, the Reed made the most
graceful curtsies. “I admit that she is domestic,” he continued,
the mother had fallen asleep, she was so tired. In he hopped, and
laid the great ruby on the table beside the woman’s thimble.
Then he flew gently round the bed, fanning the boy’s forehead
with his wings. “How cool I feel,” said the boy, “I must be
getting better”; and he sank into a delicious slumber.
Then the Swallow flew back to the Happy Prince, and told him
what he had done. “It is curious,” he remarked, “but I feel quite
warm now, although it is so cold.” “That is because you have
done a good action,” said the Prince. And the little Swallow
began to think, and then he fell asleep. Thinking always made
him sleepy. When day broke he flew down to the river and had a
bath. “What are markable phenomenon,” said the Professor of
Ornithology as he was passing over the bridge. “A swallow in
winter!” And he wrote a long letter about it to the local
newspaper. Every one quoted it, it was full of so many words
that they could not understand.
“To-night I go to Egypt,” said the Swallow, and he was in high
spirits at the prospect. He visited all the public monuments, and
sat a long time on top of the church steeple. Wherever he went
the Sparrows chirruped, and said to each other, “What a
distinguished stranger!” so he enjoyed himself very much.
When the moon rose he flew back to the Happy Prince. “Have
you any commissions for Egypt?” he cried. “I am just starting.”
“Swallow, Swallow, little Swallow,” said the Prince, “will you
not stay with me one night longer?” “I am waited for in Egypt,”
answered the Swallow. “To-morrow my friends will fly up to the
Second Cataract. The river-horse couches there among the
bulrushes, and on a great granite throne sits the God Memnon.
All night long he watches the stars, and when the morning star
shine she utters one cry of joy, and then he is silent. At noon the
yellow lions come down to the water’s edge to drink. They have
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eyes like green beryls, and their roar is louder than the roar of
the cataract.” “Swallow, Swallow, little Swallow,” said the
Prince, “far away across the city I see a young man in a garret.
He is leaning over a desk covered with papers, and in a tumbler
by his side there is a bunch of withered violets. His hair is
brown and crisp, and his lips are red as a pomegranate, and he
has large and dreamy eyes. He is trying to finish a play for the
Director of the Theatre, but he is too cold to write any more.
There is no fire in the grate, and hunger has made him faint.” “I
will wait with you one night longer,” said the Swallow, who
really had a good heart. “Shall I take him another ruby?” “Alas!
I have no ruby now,” said the Prince; “my eyes are all that I
have left.
They are made of rare sapphires, which were brought out of
India a thousand years ago. Pluck out one of them and take it to
him. He will sell it to the jeweller, and buy food and firewood,
and finish his play.” “Dear Prince,” said the Swallow, “I cannot
do that”; and he began to weep.
“Swallow, Swallow, little Swallow,” said the Prince, “do as I
command you.” So the Swallow plucked out the Prince’s eye,
and flew away to the student’s garret. It was easy enough to get
in, as there was a hole in the roof. Through this he darted, and
came into the room. The young man had his head buried in his
hands, so he did not hear the flutter of the bird’s wings, and
when he looked up he found the beautiful sapphire lying on the
withered violets.
“I am beginning to be appreciated,” he cried; “this is from some
great admirer. Now I can finish my play,” and he looked quite
happy.
The next day the Swallow flew down to the harbour. He sat on
the mast of a large vessel and watched the sailors hauling big
chests out of the hold with ropes.
“Heave a-hoy!” they shouted as each chest came up. “I am
going to Egypt!” cried the Swallow, but nobody minded, and
when the moon rose he flew back to the Happy Prince.
“I am come to bid you good-bye,” he cried.
“Swallow, Swallow, little Swallow,” said the Prince, “will you
not stay with me one night longer?” “It is winter,” answered the
Swallow, “and the chill snow will soon be here. In Egypt the sun
is warm on the green palm-trees, and the crocodiles lie in the
mud and look lazily about them. My companions are building a
nest in the Temple of Baalbec, and the pink and white doves are
watching them, and cooing to each other. Dear Prince, I must
leave you, but I will never forget you, and next spring I will
bring you back beautiful jewels in place of those you have given
away. The ruby shall be redder than a red rose, and the sapphire
shall be as blue as the great sea.”
“In the square below,” said the Happy Prince, “there stands a
little match-girl.
She has let her matches fall in the gutter, and they are all
spoiled. Her father will beat her if she does not bring home some
money, and she is crying. She has no shoes or stockings, and her
little head is bare. Pluck out my other eye, and give it to her, and
her father will not beat her.” “I will stay with you one night
longer,” said the Swallow, “but I cannot pluck out your eye. You
would be quite blind then.” “Swallow, Swallow, little Swallow,”
said the Prince, “do as I command you.” So he plucked out the
Prince’s other eye, and darted down with it. He swooped past the
match-girl, and slipped the jewel into the palm of her hand.
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“What a lovely bit of glass,” cried the little girl; and she ran
home, laughing.
Then the Swallow came back to the Prince. “You are blind
now,” he said, “so I will stay with you always.” “No, little
Swallow,” said the poor Prince, “you must go away to Egypt.”
“I will stay with you always,” said the Swallow, and he slept at
the Prince’s feet.
All the next day he sat on the Prince’s shoulder, and told him
stories of what he had seen in strange lands. He told him of the
red ibises, who stand in long rows on the banks of the Nile, and
catch gold fish in their beaks; of the Sphinx, who is as old as the
world itself, and lives in the desert, and knows everything; of the
merchants, who walk slowly by the side of their camels, and
carry amber beads in their hands; of the King of the Mountains
of the Moon, who is as black as ebony, and worships a large
crystal; of the great green snake that sleeps in a palm-tree, and
has twenty priests to feed it with honey-cakes; and of the
pygmies who sail over a big lake on large flat leaves, and are
always at war with the butterflies.
“Dear little Swallow,” said the Prince, “you tell me of
marvellous things, but more marvellous than anything is the
suffering of men and of women. There is no Mystery so great as
Misery. Fly over my city, little Swallow, and tell me what you
see there.” So the Swallow flew over the great city, and saw the
rich making merry in their beautiful houses, while the beggars
were sitting at the gates. He flew into dark lanes, and saw the
white faces of starving children looking out listlessly at the
black streets. Under the archway of a bridge two little boys were
lying in one another’s arms to try and keep themselves warm.
“How hungry we are!” they said. “You must not lie here,”
shouted the Watchman, and they wandered out into the rain.
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Then he flew back and told the Prince what he had seen.
“I am covered with fine gold,” said the Prince, “you must take it
off, leaf by leaf, and give it to my poor; the living always think
that gold can make them happy.”
Leaf after leaf of the fine gold the Swallow picked off, till the
Happy Prince looked quite dull and grey. Leaf after leaf of the
fine gold he brought to the poor, and the children’s faces grew
rosier, and they laughed and played games in the street. “We
have bread now!” they cried.
Then the snow came, and after the snow came the frost. The
streets looked as if they were made of silver, they were so bright
and glistening; long icicles like crystal daggers hung down from
the eaves of the houses, everybody went about in furs, and the
little boys wore scarlet caps and skated on the ice.
The poor little Swallow grew colder and colder, but he would
not leave the Prince, he loved him too well. He picked up
crumbs outside the baker’s door when the baker was not
looking, and tried to keep himself warm by flapping his wings.
But at last he knew that he was going to die. He had just strength
to fly up to the Prince’s shoulder once more. “Good-bye, dear
Prince!” he murmured, “will you let me kiss your hand?” “I am
glad that you are going to Egypt at last, little Swallow,” said the
Prince, “you have stayed too long here; but you must kiss me on
the lips, for I love you.” “It is not to Egypt that I am going,” said
the Swallow. “I am going to the House of Death. Death is the
brother of Sleep, is he not?” And he kissed the Happy Prince on
the lips, and fell down dead at his feet.
“This broken lead heart will not melt in the furnace. We must
throw it away.” So they threw it on a dust heap where the dead
Swallow was also lying.
“Bring me the two most precious things in the city,” said God to
one of His Angels; and the Angel brought Him the leaden heart
and the dead bird.
“You have rightly chosen,” said God, “for in my garden of
Paradise this little bird shall sing for evermore, and in my city of
gold the Happy Prince shall praise me.”
*****
ANALYSIS
INTRODUCTION
The Happy Prince is the story about a beautifully decorated
statue of a prince who lived a very happy life. He learnt about
sorrow after his death, when his statue was placed at a high
point from where the misery of the entire city could be seen.
Moved by the plight of the poor, the Happy Prince gave away all
his possessions to the needy with the help of a kind swallow.
This compassionate bird sacrificed his life for the noble cause of
the Prince.
STORYLINE
Once in a town there lived a prince. He was called the Happy
Prince because he had been happy all his life. After his death,
his statue covered with gold, two precious sapphire stones
embedded in the eyes and a ruby stone fitted into the handle of
his sword was erected on a tall pedestal in the middle of the
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town. From there, he could see all around the place and realized
that the people lived in a lot of poverty and misery. This sight
saddened the prince and being helpless, he would weep to see
the plight of his people. One day a swallow was flying through
the city, on its way to Egypt to meet its friends. On the way, it
took shelter for the night at the feet of the statue of the happy
prince. The bird realized that the statue was weeping and upon
inquiry, realized the plight of the prince. The helpless prince
requested the bird to help it by becoming its messenger. After
initial refusal, the bird agreed and took the ruby stone out of the
sword hilt and delivered it to a poor seamstress. The next
morning, as he went to bid goodbye, the statue convinced him to
stay back for one more day. That day, the bird was asked to
remove the sapphire stone from one of the statue’s eyes and
deliver it to a young playwright. Also, on the third day the bird
had to pull out the second sapphire stone for a poor match girl.
By this time, the weather had become cold and the bird had
developed an attachment with the statue. The bird did not want
to leave the statue which had now become blind. The happy
prince asked the bird to go around the city and inform him the
condition of the people living there. The bird told him that the
rich were making merry while the poor lived in misery. As the
happy prince did not have any more precious stones, he ordered
the bird to remove the gold foils from his body and distribute
among the living who needed money for survival. Gradually, the
statue of the prince lost its covering of gold and became dull and
grey. On the other hand, the poor became joyous as they got
bread to eat. The bird was now unable to withstand the cold
weather and realized that death was approaching. It informed the
statue that it had to leave and the statue, who loved the bird
asked it to kiss him. As the bird died and fell at the statue’s feet,
a strange sound came out of the statue and it was the sound of
the breaking of its heart. Although the statue’s heart was made
THEME
The story is an allegory and is based on the theme that
love and sacrifice are important values in human life.
Happiness comes to those who make others happy.
Those who have compassion and concern get as much
joy as those who receive their kindness and charity.
Hence, one must try to live a life guided by the virtues of
love, sacrifice, benevolence, and joy.
The spiritual beauty or inner beauty is more important
than outward beauty. The real beauty is love, compas-
sionate heart and sacrifice. The prince and the swallow
lost their outward beauty to attain inner beauty by help-
ing the poor and needy.
There is a huge gap between the rich and the poor. We
should help the poor and needy people in society so that
they are able to lead a happy life.
MESSAGE
1. The first message is that we must spread happiness
around us if we wish to be happy. It is useless to mount
statues with gold and jewels when the people are hungry.
The Prince could be happy only as long as sorrow was
not allowed to enter his palace. Once he saw pain, suffer-
ing and injustice, even his lead heart cried.
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make a number of poor people happy around the city. So, the
title “Happy Prince” is apt. It is about the inner or real happiness
of the prince at the cost of his outer happiness.
SYMBOL
THE LEAD HEART
The Happy Prince has a heart made of lead, which breaks when
his beloved Swallow dies of the cold. At first, this lead heart
appears to emphasize the superficiality of the Prince’s beauty,
though it later comes to symbolize the steadfast nature of love.
In the beginning of the story, the lead heart reveals that the gold
decorating the Prince’s outside does not carry through his
insides. This advises one to avoid judging by appearances, as
they can be deceitful. Although town officials try to melt the
heart down and repurpose it with the rest of the statue, it refuses
to melt. And when at the end of the story God asks for the two
most precious things in the city to be brought to him, the lead
heart, although broken, ends up being one of them. The lead
heart thus ultimately represents both the steadfastness of true
love and the value of compassion. By refusing to melt, the heart
also indicates that some things persist beyond one’s own life—
that is, that there exist values greater than the sum of a life.
GLOSSARY
Seamstress : a woman who makes a living by
sewing
Thimble : a metal or plastic cap with a closed
end worn to protect the finger and
push the needle in sewing
QUESTIONS
1. Why do the courtiers call the prince “the Happy Prince”?
2. What does the swallow see when it flies over the city?
3. Why did the swallow not leave the prince and go to Egypt?
4. What are the precious things mentioned in the story? Why are
they precious?
5. Justify the title Happy Prince
6. What are the major themes discussed in the story The Happy
Prince?
REFERENCES
https://interestingliterature.com/2021/03/oscar-wilde-the-
happy-prince-summary-analysis/
https://www.learncram.com/english-summary/the-happy-
prince-summary/
https://fictionistic.com/the-happy-prince-by-oscar-wilde-
brief/
https://study.com/academy/lesson/the-happy-prince-
themes-analysis.html
https://www.litcharts.com/lit/the-happy-prince/characters
Module IV
W.W Jacobs
“Never mind, dear,” said his wife calmly; “perhaps you’ll win
the next one.
” Mr. White looked up sharply, just in time to see a knowing
look between mother and son. The words died away on his lips,
and he hid a guilty smile in his thin grey beard.
“There he is,” said Herbert White as the gate banged shut loudly
and heavy footsteps came toward the door.
The old man rose quickly and opening the door, was heard
telling the new arrival how sorry he was for his recent loss. The
new arrival talked about his sadness, so that Mrs. White said,
“Tut, tut!” and coughed gently as her husband entered the room
followed by a tall, heavy built, strong-looking man, whose skin
had the healthy reddish colour associated with outdoor life and
whose eyes showed that he could be a dangerous enemy.
“Sergeant-Major Morris,” he said, introducing him to his wife
and his son, Herbert.
The Sergeant-Major shook hands and, taking the offered seat by
the fire, watched with satisfaction as Mr. White got out whiskey
and glasses.
After the third glass his eyes got brighter and he began to talk.
The little family circle listened with growing interest to this
visitor from distant parts, as he squared his broad shoulders in
the chair and spoke of wild scenes and brave acts; of wars and
strange peoples.
“Twenty-one years of it,” said Mr. White, looking at his wife
and son. “When he went away he was a thin young man. Now
look at him.”
“He doesn’t look to have taken much harm.” said Mrs. White
politely.
“I’d like to go to India myself,” said the old man, just to look
around a bit, you know.”
“Better where you are,” said the Sergeant-Major, shaking his
head. He put down the empty glass and sighing softly, shook it
again.
“I should like to see those old temples and fakirs and the street
entertainers,” said the old man. “What was that that you started
telling me the other day about a monkey’s paw or something,
Morris?”
“Nothing.” said the soldier quickly. “At least, nothing worth
hearing.”
“Monkey’s paw?” said Mrs. White curiously.
“Well, it’s just a bit of what you might call magic, perhaps,” said
the Sergeant-Major, without first stopping to think.
His three listeners leaned forward excitedly. Deep in thought,
the visitor put his empty glass to his lips and then set it down
again. Mr. White filled it for him again.
“To look at it,” said the Sergeant-Major, feeling about in his
pocket, “it’s just an ordinary little paw, dried to a mummy.”
He took something out of his pocket and held it out for them.
Mrs. White drew back with a look of disgust, but her son, taking
it, examined it curiously.
“And what is there special about it?” asked Mr. White as he took
it from his son, and having examined it, placed it upon the table.
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They think it’s just a story, some of them; and those who do
think anything of it want to try it first and pay me afterward.”
“If you could have another three wishes,” said the old man,
watching him carefully, “would you have them?”
“I don’t know,” said the other. “I don’t know.”
He took the paw, and holding it between his front finger and
thumb, suddenly threw it upon the fire. Mr. White, with a slight
cry, quickly bent down and took it off.
“Better let it burn,” said the soldier sadly, but in a way that let
them know he believed it to be true.
“If you don’t want it Morris,” said the other, “give it to me.”
“I won’t.” said his friend with stubborn determination. “I threw
it on the fire. If you keep it, don’t hold me responsible for what
happens. Throw it on the fire like a sensible man.”
The other shook his head and examined his possession closely.
“How do you do it?” he asked.
“Hold it up in your right hand, and state your wish out loud so
that you can be heard,” said the Sergeant-Major, “But I warn
you of what might happen.”
“Sounds like the ‘Arabian Nights’”, said Mrs. White, as she rose
and began to set the dinner. “Don’t you think you might wish for
four pairs of hands for me.”
Her husband drew the talisman from his pocket, and all three
laughed loudly as the Sergeant-Major, with a look of alarm on
his face, caught him by the arm.
the dying fire. He saw faces in it; the last so horrible and so
monkey-like that he stared at it in amazement. It became so
clear that, with a nervous laugh, he felt on the table for a glass
containing some water to throw over it. His hand found the
monkey’s paw, and with a little shake of his body he wiped his
hand on his coat and went up to bed.
PART TWO
In the brightness of the wintry sun next morning as it streamed
over the breakfast table he laughed at his fears. The room felt as
it always had and there was an air of health and happiness which
was not there the previous night. The dirty, dried-up little paw
was thrown on the cabinet with a carelessness which indicated
no great belief in what good it could do.
“I suppose all old soldiers are the same,” said Mrs. White. “The
idea of our listening to such nonsense! How could wishes be
granted in these days? And if they could, how could two
hundred pounds hurt you, father?”
“Might drop on his head from the sky,” said Herbert.
“Morris said the things happened so naturally,” said his father,
“that you might if you so wished not see the relationship.”
“Well don’t break into the money before I come back,” said
Herbert as he rose from the table to go to work. “I’m afraid it’ll
turn you into a mean, greedy old man, and we shall have to tell
everyone that we don’t know you.”
His mother laughed, and following him to the door, watched him
go down the road, and returning to the breakfast table, she felt
patiently as her sex would permit for him to state his business,
but he was at first strangely silent.
“I – was asked to call,” he said at last, and bent down and picked
a piece of cotton from his trousers. “I come from ‘Maw and
Meggins.’
“The old lady jumped suddenly, as in alarm. “Is anything the
matter?” she asked breathlessly. “Has anything happened to
Herbert? What is it? What is it?”
Her husband spoke before he could answer. “There there
mother,” he said hurriedly. “Sit down, and don’t jump to a
conclusion. You’ve not brought bad news, I’m sure sir,” and
eyed the other, expecting that it was bad news but hoping he was
wrong.
“I’m sorry –” began the visitor.
“Is he hurt?” demanded the mother wildly.
The visitor lowered and raised his head once in agreement.”
Badly hurt,” he said quietly, “but he is not in any pain.”
“Oh thank God!” said the old woman, pressing her hands
together tightly. “Thank God for that! Thank – ”
She broke off as the tragic meaning of the part about him not
being in pain came to her. The man had turned his head slightly
so as not to look directly at her, but she saw the awful truth in
his face. She caught her breath, and turning to her husband, who
did not yet understand the man’s meaning, laid her shaking hand
on his. There was a long silence.
“He was caught in the machinery,” said the visitor at length in a
low voice.
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Without hearing his wife’s scream, the old man smiled weakly,
put out his hands like a blind man, and fell, a senseless mass, to
the floor.
PART THREE
In the huge new cemetery, some two miles away, the old people
buried their dead, and came back to the house which was now
full of shadows and silence. It was all over so quickly that at
first they could hardly realize it, and remained in a state of
waiting for something else to happen – something else which
was to lighten this load, too heavy for old hearts to bear.
But the days passed, and they realized that they had to accept the
situation – the hopeless acceptance of the old. Sometimes they
hardly said a word to each other, for now they had nothing to
talk about, and their days were long to tiredness.
It was about a week after that the old man, waking suddenly in
the night, stretched out his hand and found himself alone. The
room was in darkness, and he could hear the sound of his wife
crying quietly at the window. He raised himself in bed and
listened.
“Come back,” he said tenderly. “You will be cold.”
“It is colder for my son,” said the old woman, who began crying
again.
The sounds of crying died away on his ears. The bed was warm,
and his eyes heavy with sleep. He slept lightly at first, and then
was fully asleep until a sudden wild cry from his wife woke him
with a start.
“We had the first wish granted,” said the old woman,
desperately; “why not the second?”
“A c-c-coincidence,” said the old man.
“Go get it and wish,” cried his wife, shaking with excitement.
The old man turned and looked at her, and his voice shook. “He
has been dead ten days, and besides he – I would not tell you
before, but – I could only recognize him by his clothing. If he
was too terrible for you to see then, how now?”
“Bring him back,” cried the old woman, and pulled him towards
the door. “Do you think I fear the child I have nursed?”
He went down in the darkness, and felt his way to the living
room, and then to the fireplace. The talisman was in its place on
the shelf, and then a horrible fear came over him that the
unspoken wish might bring the broken body of his son before
him before he could escape from the room. He caught his breath
as he found that he had lost the direction of the door. His
forehead cold with sweat, he felt his way round the table and
along the walls until he found himself at the bottom of the stairs
with the evil thing in his hand.
Even his wife’s face seemed changed as he entered the room. It
was white and expectant, and to his fears seemed to have an
unnatural look upon it. He was afraid of her.
“WISH!” she cried in a strong voice.
“It is foolish and wicked,” he said weakly.
“WISH!” repeated his wife.
******
by an old fakir. The story continues and then Mr. White and the
sergeant-major trade.
Later, Mr. White wishes for 200 pounds. A man comes and visits
the Whites telling them that their son Herbert had been killed,
and then he gives them 200 pounds. The consequence of Mr.
White’s first wish is the main reason he uses a second and third
wish. Mr. White did not want to use a second wish but his wife
insisted that they wish their son back to life. Mr. White wishes
his son back to life, but nothing happens so they go to sleep.
They are sleeping when they hear a knocking sound at their
front door. Mrs. White goes downstairs to answer the door even
though Mr. White told her not to answer the door. Mrs. White
approached the door while Mr. White looked for the monkey’s
paw. At the very moment Mr. White unlocked the door Mr.
White found the monkey’s paw and made his third and final
wish. Just as he made his wish the knocking stopped, and his
wife opened the door. What was the last wish? The author never
really says, but one can assume that he wished he had never
made his second wish. The end of the story is open and leaves
you to come up with an end of your own.
To conclude, the storyline was well written and cleverly thought
out. With the three wishes as to the main parts of the story; the
author was able to lead you one way and then suddenly change
direction. It has been adapted many times in other media,
including plays, films, TV series, operas, stories and comics, as
early as 1903 and as recently as 2019. It was first adapted to
film in 1915 as a British silent film directed by Sidney
Northcote. The film (now lost) starred John Lawson, who also
played the main character in Louis N. Parker's 1907 stage play.
Jacobs provides suspense, a building sense of menace, and real
drama, as well as bringing in such themes as family tragedy and
the problems with imperialism.
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THEMES
1. The concept of fate and explores the disastrous consequences
of attempting to challenge one's destiny.
2. Another theme could be greed. The Whites are greedy for
money and pay for that greed with their son's life. Then, they are
greedy to have their son back from the dead without thinking
what a horrible experience this will be.
3. The danger of wishing beyond one’s need
4. The clash between domesticity and the outside world
Jacobs depicts the Whites’ home and domestic sphere in general
as a safe, cosy place separate from the dangerous world outside.
The Whites’ house is full of symbols of happy domesticity: a
piano, knitting, a copper kettle, a chessboard, a fireplace, and a
breakfast table. But the Whites repeatedly invite trouble into this
cosy world. Sergeant-Major Morris—a family friend, seasoned
veteran, and world traveller—disrupts the tranquillity in the
Whites’ home with his stories of India and magic and warnings
of evil. He gives Mr. White the monkey’s paw, the ultimate
token of the dangerous outside world. Mr. and Mrs. White mar
the healthy atmosphere of their home again when they invite the
Maw and Meggins representative inside, a man who shatters
their happiness with news of Herbert’s death. The final would-be
invader of the domestic world is Herbert himself. Mr. White’s
terrified reaction to his dead son’s desire for entrance suggests
not just his horror at the prospect of an animated corpse, but his
understanding, won from experience, that any person coming
from the outside should be treated as a dangerous threat to the
sanctity of the home.
SYMBOLS
THE MONKEY’S PAW
The monkey’s paw is a symbol of desire and greed—everything
that its owner could possibly wish for and the unrestricted
ability to make it happen. This power makes the paw alluring,
even to unselfish people who desire nothing and have everything
they need. Mr. White, for example, hastily retrieves the paw
from the fire, even though he himself admits that he wouldn’t
know what to wish for if he owned the paw. Its potential also
prompts Herbert to half-jokingly suggest wishing for money the
Whites don’t really need, ostensibly just to see what happens.
The paw grants Mr. White’s wishes by killing Herbert and
raising his corpse from the grave in an unexpected and highly
sinister twist. At the same time, however, the paw’s omnipotent
power may be misperceived, because Herbert’s death may have
been entirely coincidental and the knocks on the door may be
from someone other than his living corpse
CHESS
Chess symbolizes life in The Monkey’s Paw. Those who play a
daring, risky game of chess, for example, will lose, just as those
who take unnecessary risks in life will die. When the story
opens, Mr. White and Herbert play chess by the fire, and the
game’s outcome mirrors the story’s outcome. Mr. White, the
narrator explains, has a theory of “radical changes” concerning
chess. He takes terrible, unnecessary risks with his king, risks
that make his wife nervous as she watches the game unfold. As
he plays, he notices that he has made a mistake that will prove
deadly. The risks and mistakes Mr. White makes playing chess
parallel the risks and mistakes he makes wishing on the
MOTIFS
GROUPS OF THREE
Jacobs’s story is structured around a pattern of threes. The
central force of the story is the monkey’s paw, which will grant
three separate owners three wishes each. The White family is
made up of three people. Mr. White is the third owner of the
paw. (The second owner is Sergeant-Major Morris; the first
owner used his third wish for death.) Sergeant-Major Morris
begins talking about his adventures in India after three glasses of
whisky and urges Mr. White three times not to wish on the paw.
The representative from Maw and Meggins approaches the
Whites’ gate three times before he musters up the courage to
walk up the path to their door. Mrs. White orders her husband
three times to wish Herbert alive again before he retrieves the
paw. And the reanimated corpse of Herbert knocks three times
before his mother hears him. In addition to permeating the plot,
the number three gives “The Monkey’s Paw” its structure. The
story is broken up into three parts, which take place at three
times of day, during three types of weather. Part I occurs in the
evening during a rainstorm. Part II takes place during the
morning of a bright winter day. Part III is set in the middle of a
chilly, windy night.
By stressing threes, Jacobs taps into a number of associations
that are common in Western culture. Most relevant to the story is
the saying “bad luck comes in threes.” One well-known trinity,
or three, is from Christian theology, in which God is composed
of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Disregard for threes has
been superstitiously equated with disregard for the trinity. In the
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GLOSSARY
QUESTIONS
1. Who is Mr. White?
2. What happened to their son, Mr. Herbert?
3. What was the power of the Monkey’s Paw?
4. How did the Whites get the Monkey’s Paw?
5. What were the three wishes made by Mr. White in the story?
6. What was the final wish?
7. Comment on the ending of the story The Monkey’s Paw?
8. Describe the weather and its influence on the theme of the
story
9. Does fate rule our lives or do we have some control over
what happens to us? Explain your viewpoint based on the
story The Monkey’s Paw
REFERENCES:
https://www.kyrene.org/cms/lib/AZ01001083/Centricity/
Domain/2259/The%20Monkeys%20Paw%20-
%20text.pdf
http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/books/2014/10/illustrat
ed_edition_of_the_monkey_s_paw_by_w_w_jacobs.htm
l
https://englishsummary.com/the-monkeys-paw-
summary-by-w-w-jacobs/
https://www.coursehero.com/lit/The-Monkeys-
Paw/character-analysis/
https://www.owleyes.org/text/monkeys-
paw/analysis/character-analysis