Coolie as a Picaresque Novel

Edwin Muir says, "The picaresque novel is the tale of the hard-working travelling hero, suffering every vicissitude, good or bad, and enduring them all.” Coolie has several elements of a picaresque novel. It is episodic in nature. It relates to a series of adventures and episodes but lacks logical unity. The novelist has shown the adventures of Munoo because he moves from the North to the South, and then returns to the North. It describes his adventures or misadventures in Sham Nagar, in Daulatpur, in Bombay and in the end, in Simla where he breathes his last.

Firstly, he is appointed as a domestic servant in Babu Nathoo Ram’s house in Sham Nagar and he is ill-treated there and then runs away from Sham Nagar. He then reaches Daulatpur and works as a boy servant in a pickle factory and then he serves as a coolie in the grain market. Next, the turn of fortune’s wheel brings him to Bombay where he works in a textile mill and experiences the worse conditions of the coolies, communal riots, drinks and even goes to the red light area. Lastly, he comes to Simla and is appointed as a domestic servant-cum rickshaw puller of Mrs Mainwaring and dies of consumption.

      The novel Coolie is charged with a loose and rambling plot. The only unity that these adventures have is that they happen to the central figure, Munoo. Coolie is not a novel of character like a picaresque novel, but it is a novel of movement and action. The novelist does not take an interest in the evolution of Munoo’s character; he simply gives a description of the various phases in his life and the adventures and happenings which take place in his life.

Anand never speaks of Munoo’s inner and spiritual developments, he never attains maturity or self-realisation. He wanders here and there without any goal in his life. In fact, he does not act but he is acted upon by society Munoo spends his life visiting one place to another and within two years of a hard life, he passes away. He moves from Bilaspur, his village to Sham Nagar and from there to Daulatpur, from Daulatput to Bombay and lastly returns from there to Simla. At every turn of his life, he meets someone and is helped by him. The persons who come into his life are mostly kind-hearted and sympathetic, and his future course of action is determined by chance and fate.

      A picaresque novel deals with a wide variety of events and characters. The canvas of Coolie is a crowded one, so Anand has little time for character development, for giving us well-developed, three-dimensional, remarkable figures. In the life of Munoo, a great number of characters appear but soon they are replaced by others. Over time, when Munoo ends his Sham Nagar sojourn, his uncle, Daya Ram, his master Nathoo Ram, Bibiji and others are not heard of. Their place is taken by Prabha Dyal, the pickle factory owner, his wife, Parbati and the co-partners of the factory Ganpat, Toder Mal, and others. When Munoo leaves Daulatpur for Bombay these characters are left behind. While living in Bombay he comes across Hari Har, his wife, Lakshmi, Ratan, Jimmie Thomas, the foreman of the factory and many others. These characters also make an exit from the scene when he comes from Bombay to Simla. After that, no characters are again seen on the stage. What happens to Hari and his family and Ratan is not further stated. There is not a single character save Munoo who is present from the beginning to the end of the novel.

      A picaresque novel is panoramic in nature. Through the movement of the hero from one place to another, the novelist presents a wide panorama of social life i.e. it relates to social criticism and social indictment. Coolie is also a panoramic novel. Its action moves from the village of Bilaspur in the hills of Kangra, in Punjab to Sham Nagar, from Sham Nagar to Daulatpur, from Daulatpur to Bombay, and then back again from there to Simla in the North. Thus, the novelist gives a wide view of the varied scenes and sights of India.

      Anand’s purpose in writing a novel like Coolie as a picaresque novel is to give a panorama of the society of the times and to expose and criticize its many evils and vices, and injustices. Indeed a picaresque novel is a novel of social criticism. Anand through his great art Coolie gives us a comprehensive and detailed view of the society of the time. He has concentrated on the sordid side of life.

      In a nutshell, Coolie contains the elements of a picaresque novel. In fact, it has the picaresque framework—its series of adventures, its diversity of characters and incidents and its episodic nature. Coolie is only different from a picaresque novel as its hero is not a rogue, but a humble, and innocent boy who has been the victim of the world’s rogueries.

Walt Whitman: A Poet of Democracy

 

Whitman is not only the greatest poet of America but also one of the greatest poets of the world. Democracy is the keynote of his poetry. In his poetry we find newness. He is considered as the greatest poet of American democracy. A faith in the inherent dignity and nobility of the common man is the very root and basis of Whitman's democracy. In his view all men and women are equal and all professions are equally honourable.

Whitman laid stress on liberty, fraternity and brotherhood. Without these ideals, there is no question of democracy. In his poems Whitman celebrates himself. But the self-celebration is the celebration of himself as a man and an American. This makes him at once the poet of democracy and the poet of America. In fact, Whitman's democracy is ideal and universal. The body of his thought is nationalistic. His democracy is spiritual too. It is because he sees in democracy the possibilities of universal peace, tolerance and brotherhood. Whitman is not a mere idealist, a theorist of democracy but his democracy is practical. His ideal of democracy is essentially pragmatic and earthbound.

Union, equality, human dignity and progress are major themes of Whitman's poetry. Whitman is the most uncompromising champion of democracy, liberty, equality, fraternity and brotherhood in the annals of American poetry. The idea of union attains a great height in the theme of death. His 'When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloomed' deals with the death of Abraham Lincoln, the leader and hero of American democracy. In his handling of his theme, Whitman is the undoubted forerunner of the poetry of socialism. Whitman was the first to introduce the theme of labour into poetry.

In Whitman's poetry, we come across repeated references to scientists, engineers, technicians, architects, inventors and others. In 'Song of the Open Root' Whitman gives expression to the Darwinian theory of the continuous struggle for existence. The scientific theory that matter is indestructible has been expressed in 'Song of Myself'. Whitman believed in the deterministic theory. He believes that whatever has been created has its significance. Nothing that has been created is useless. Even evil has its place and significance. That's why the poet shows his interest in the body along with the soul. Nothing is really evil or trivial and worthless. Therefore, he sings of the entire expanse of the round globe.

Whitman is the most revolutionary of poets. He is a revolutionary not only in matters of versification but he is equally a revolutionary regarding the subject matter. His treatment of love and sex is equally revolutionary. This treatment is frank and realistic. He again and again asserts that he is the poet of the body and the soul.

Whitman is a great technical innovator. His poetry was a new kind of poetry. It deals with new themes and ideas. Thus it required a new kind of language. To increase the expressive range of his language, he freely used words taken from the life of trade, commerce and business of the average American. He compounded and coined words. He imported words from a foreign language. He did not even hesitate to use slang and colloquial words. He was a symbolist long before symbolism became a conscious movement in Europe. His poetry is highly symbolic. He used symbolism to communicate his apprehension of the mystery of the universe.

Thus Walt Whitman is a great poet. He greatly influenced the coming generations of English and American poets. He is, indeed, the greatest poet of American democracy and his 'Leaves of Grass' is the Bible of Democracy.

Games at Twilight (Question-Answers)

 

Questions and answers

1. Describe the afternoon when the children wanted to play outside.

Ans. It was still too hot to play outdoors. They had their tea and the utensils had been washed long ago. The children were anxious to go out but their mother didn’t allow them to go outside. The children felt suffocated inside the house.

2. What did the children do as they went out?

Ans. As they went out, the children felt released. They began tumbling, pushing against each other, frantic to start their play.

3. Where did Ravi hide? Why was he pleased with himself for choosing that place?

Ans. Ravi hid himself inside the shed next to the garage. Yes, he was happy with himself at choosing that place as the shed made him feel protected.

4. What shapes could Ravi dimly see in the shed?

Ans. Ravi could dimly see the shapes of old wardrobes, broken buckets, and bedsteads around him.

5. What, according to Ravi, was the loveliest scent in the world?

Ans. According to Ravi, the sweet scent of water on dry earth is the loveliest scent in the world.

6. What did the children do while Ravi was hiding?

Ans. While Ravi was hiding, the children had forgotten about Ravi and also started different games.

7. Comment on the narrative technique of story Games at Twilight

Ans. “Games at Twilight” is narrated by a third-person narrator. The narrator is absent in the story but is aware of the thoughts and feelings of the characters. The narrator introduces the emotional experiences of childhood through the psyche of Ravi. The third-person narrative only limits Ravi and his thoughts as the story develops.

7. Character sketch of Ravi

Ans. Ravi is the central character of the story. He is one of the younger members of the family who picked his nose panicking that Raghu will find him. Ravi is afraid that he isn’t tall or doesn’t have long legs like Raghu’s and doesn’t stand any chance of escaping Raghu. Ravi wants to be like Raghu. When Ravi finds out how fast he is with switching his place of hiding and quick thinking he self-congratulates. He begins to desire of winning over Raghu and everyone else in the group. He is so engrossed in his imagination that he forgets it has been hours he has been hiding and he needs to touch the “den” to claim his triumph. And with his dreaming, he overcomes his fear of the dark and spooky place. When he runs to the verandah to touch the “den”, he bawls, and tears roll down his cheeks because he thinks he has won. But soon realizes his victory has no value because his cousins have shifted to different games and have long forgotten about hide and seek. His dreams are crumpled by the reality of his insignificance.

8. Write a note on Symbolism used in the story Games at Twilight.

Ans. Symbolism is presented in the story by using the Verandah, the shed, and the funeral game as symbols. The verandah symbolizes safety which is the children’s place for playing and their mother allows them to go out only with the condition that they will play on the verandah. The verandah is familiar to the children as well as the mother because it is near their home. The shed instills a sense of fear because it is an unfamiliar spooky and dark place and Ravi is unaware of animals and insects that could be living there. This place inspires a sense of being unsafe and being watched by unknown beings. The funeral game is seen toward the end of the story. Ravi sees the children playing the game where two children create a tunnel out of their hands and the remaining kids duck under it as they sing a song about being remembered after their death. This funeral game implies the death of Ravi’s dreams and hopes as he lies down on the damp grass with his face on it scorned by the way he is treated.

9. Comment on the appropriateness of the title of the story

The word twilight implies light from the sky denoting both light and darkness. The title reflects the thin line between both light and darkness indicating the thin line between reality and fantasy. Ravi dreams of winning over all of his cousins while hiding in the shed at noon but meets with reality when he touches the verandah in the evening. Ravi is hit with the reality of his insignificance at the end of the day. He falls from his web of fantasies with the realization that his victory means nothing.

10. Write a note on the themes of the story Games at Twilight.

Ans. Childhood and its joys and sorrows are the themes of the short story. Summer and its discomfort are for adults; for children, summer with its long holidays is an unadulterated delight. Games at Twilight has at its center, a large gaggle of children; brothers, sisters, and cousins, no doubt come together for vacations. The older ones tend to be bossy, like Raghu for example, or they are motherly and managing like Mira. The little ones Manu and Ravi occupy a no man’s land. If they are meek and lack self-esteem like Ravi does, they are in for a distressing time. But they grow up fast enough and take their place in the pecking order. Ravi is seeking a position and success but does not find it the way he wants.