WN Learning

All Summer in a Day: Plot & Setting

Margot arrived on Venus from Earth five years ago, so, unlike the other children, she remembers the sun and the sky very well from her childhood. Sometimes she describes the sun, but William and the other children claim she is lying. For the most part, she keeps to herself and avoids the touch of water. Her parents may move the family back to Earth, since Margot is suffering so much. All of these things make William and the other children jealous and angry.

When the other children attempt to discredit Margot’s memories, it is because they are jealous of her experiences and frustrated by circumstances over which they have no control. We also learn that Margot is privileged not just because she remembers the sun, but also because her parents are wealthy enough that they may be able to move the family back to Earth, providing more fodder for the children’s jealousy. Margot closes herself off from others because her memories are so important to her that she would rather focus on them.

All Summer in a Day: Summary

A group of children press against the window of their underground classroom on the planet Venus, watching as the rain outside begins to slow. It has been raining endlessly for years—on Venus, the sun comes out once every seven years, but only for an hour, and today is the day when scientists predict that the sun will appear. The world outside is awash with tidal waves and a perpetually growing and collapsing jungle. These children are the first to grow up on the planet, which was colonized by rockets from Earth the generation before. In their eagerness, the children are tumbled together like unruly weeds. One child, Margot, stands apart. Like all the children, she is nine years old. This means that most of the children can’t remember when the sun last came out, even though they dream about what it was like and long to feel its warmth.

The day before, the schoolchildren had read about the sun and written short stories or poems about it. When Margot quietly read her poem comparing the sun to a flower aloud to the class, another boy, William, exclaimed that she didn’t actually write it. Their teacher reprimanded him. The other students pick on Margot in ways that seem initially not to make much sense: in this scene, for example, Margot is simply participating in a class activity. But William’s actions are motivated not by Margot’s actions, but by the fact that Margot has special knowledge of the sun that allows her to write poems and share detailed memories. The children are jealous that Margot has had such experiences and use her as a scapegoat for their own feelings of deprivation about the sun. Claiming that Margot is lying when she speaks about the sun is one way for William to gain power over her, and, by extension, the imbalance in their situations. In this scene, we also see the power that the sun continues to hold for Margot. She romanticizes her memories of it and briefly comes out of her shell only when she is able to express her interest in the sun.

But back in the classroom, the children are unsupervised as they wait feverishly by the windows. They worry that their teacher won’t return in time, and that this will cause them to miss the sun. Margot continues to watch and listen to the rain by herself. She is very frail and pale, as if all of the color has been drained from her. William asks Margot what she’s looking at. When she doesn’t respond, he shoves her, but she still doesn’t react and the other children edge away. Margot herself usually eschews the company of other children, refusing to play games or sing songs unless they are about the sun. Again, William tries to engage Margot in conflict even though her behavior is inoffensive. This is another example of William venting his sense of jealousy and deprivation on Margot, showing that these feelings can be strong motivators of bullying. But we also see that Margot herself may have exacerbated her isolation: she makes no secret of the fact that she looks down on life on Venus, emphasizing the privileged life she led on Earth. Another perspective on Margot’s isolation here is that she continues to be obsessed by memories of the past, to the extent that she cannot enjoy the present. This shows that strong nostalgia, like the nostalgia that Margot experiences for the sun can prevent those who experience it from finding happiness in the present.

Suddenly, the rain returns in force and the sky darkens with thunder. The children run back to the classroom, where they peer out at the deafening rain that seems as if it will continue falling everywhere and forever. They ask if it will really be seven more years before they see the sun again. Now that they have such a bright memory to compare it to, the normal day-to-day conditions of life on Venus seem unbearable. A moment of intense happiness can make everyday life seem comparatively painful, especially when the moment has been anticipated for so long. The return to waiting brings with it renewed awareness of how painful drawn-out anticipation can be. Already, the children seem transfixed by their brief memory of the sun, just as Margot is. It seems likely that they, too, will succumb to the kind of nostalgia that hindered Margot. Suddenly, one of the children remembers Margot. The children realize she is still locked in the closet, and they stand frozen in place, unable to meet each other’s eyes. After a few moments, they begin to walk slowly down the hall as the rain and lightning rage outside.

Perhaps because they now share this emotional understanding of Margot’s painful nostalgia, the children suddenly remember her. Experiencing the sun has not only made them feel happy and healthy but given them the experience and maturity to realize the magnitude of their actions and to feel guilt. This is another way that the importance of nature is emphasized. Now that they can relate to Margot, the motivations for their bullying have been taken away. The children stand for a moment before the closet, which is now silent. Slowly, they unlock the door and let Margot out.

All Summer in a Day: Themes

The sun has an immediately pleasurable effect, seeming to physically revive the children. The long-anticipated moment is better than they could possibly have imagined—but, because of the teacher’s warning, we know that this brief moment of happiness will be fleeting. The sunlight has revealed the massive jungle outside to be full of tumultuous, fleshy grey weeds, overgrown and bleached by the rain. In this strange environment, the children run and play among the trees, shouting and laughing. They stare up at the sun and the world around, attempting to savor everything.All Summer in a Day: Character Sketch

In the classroom, William pushes Margot again. Then, he tells her the sun won’t actually come out—it was all a joke. The other children join in, laughing and saying the sun won’t come out. Margot protests weakly. In this scene of bullying, William and the other children torment Margot by introducing a threat to the thing she cares about most. The thought that the long-anticipated day won’t come to pass is extremely difficult to bear, showing how intense this anticipation is.

At William’s urging, all the children surge around Margot and push her into a closet in the hallway as she pleads and cries. As Margot throws herself against the locked door, the children smile at each other and return to their classroom just as their teacher reappears. Perhaps because of the intensity of the setting, the scene of teasing quickly escalates to violent bullying. In a mob, the children exact their revenge on Margot’s perceived privilege, depriving her of the very thing of which they feel deprived—time in the sun. The specific nature of this bullying shows just how much the children are motivated by their sense of jealousy and longing. Glancing at her watch, the teacher makes sure everyone is ready and accounted for. She does not notice that Margot isn’t there. The children crowd around the classroom door as the rain slows and then finally stops. Outside, it is shockingly quiet and still. The children wonder at this as the door slides open.

As the big moment arrives, the children feel overwhelmed that all their waiting and anticipation has culminated in a moment that seems to surpass their expectations. The sudden stillness and quiet emphasizes how violent and intolerable Venus’ usual weather is. The experience of nature brings a sudden sense of peace. Finally, the sun comes out, turning the sky bright blue and sending the children bursting out into the sunlight. Their teacher warns them not to go too far, since they only have two hours, but the children are already peeling off their jackets to feel the sun. They remark that it is far better than sunlamps.

Conclusion: All Summer in a Day

The author does not reveal to us the consequences of the last event and the tenuous atmosphere of the story comes to an anxious open ending. The children, like Margot, are now armed with a powerful memory of happiness which will likely make it far more difficult for them to enjoy everyday life and endure the long wait for another such day. Meanwhile, Margot has experienced the shattering disappointment of expectations for a day that had become all-important in her mind, demonstrating the danger of relying on such fleeting moments. A day that should have brought joy to all has instead brought a powerful sense of loss.

Plot and Setting: My Greatest Olympic Prize

In the 1930’s, the charismatic political leader, Adolf Hitler had an important world presence with the idea that all Germans belonged to a superior human race. He single-handedly convinced an entire nation to participate in and commit notorious crimes against other fellow human beings so as to make Germany a greater nation. In the midst of such ideologies, Jesse Owens an American track and field athlete of black origin won four gold medals in the 1936 Olympic Games. This victorious feat caused immense joy and celebration all over the world and it was written down in history as one of the most inspiring events of the 20^th century.

The text of My Greatest Olympic Prize is an autobiographical record, where the author, Jesse Owens vividly describes his professional and emotional experiences before and after winning the Olympics in Berlin. It is an important piece of literature for the youth as it is about a real-life hero who overcame his defects and achieved victory through hard work and determination.

My Greatest Olympic Prize Summary

In the summer of 1936, Germany was elected to host the Olympics Game and Hitler was prepared with his best athletes to prove to the world that all Germans belonged to the master ‘Aryan’ race who were undefeatable. This retelling gives us a deep insight of the political and social climate preceding the World Wars and allows us to assess the psyche of the German leader as to how and why he decided to commit the atrocities. It shows a very clear perception about the problems of excessive human power and its relation to social prejudices and discrimination. We all have our flaws but we are redeemed by our values of friendship and humanity and this story celebrates the triumph of good over evil.

Owens was a victim of racial discrimination ever since he was a child. His ancestors were farm slaves and he had to face obstacles based on the colour of skin all through his formative years. It made a deep impact upon his psychology and he was determined to prove his mettle through his talents. The anger and hurt he faced made him train harder for the Olympics. With this goal in mind he delved further into sports and practiced new techniques with his coach. The great feat performed by him was not the result of impetuous actions. The strong athlete practiced for over six years before he got the chance to realise his dreams and win the ultimate trophy. Infact, in 1935, the year previous to the fateful event, the great athlete set a world record of 26 feet 8-1/4 inches in running board jump at the place of his education, the Ohio State University. This was when he came into the limelight and raised everyone’s expectations to a new level. He had provided hope where there was none as Hitler was said to have given his selected athletes intensive sports training for the international games.

Despite his earlier success, when Owens arrived at Berlin, he was nervous during the board jump tryouts. His anxiety increased when he witnessed a German athlete, by the name of Luz Long, performing leaps of about 26 feet during practice. A certain confidential told him that this athlete was a secret weapon that the Führer had kept under wraps and was waiting to unleash him at the right moment during the Olympic Games. Coming to know of this sly tactic infuriated the honest athlete and he pledged to win the games by hook or by crook. It was a matter of personal pride and integrity for Owens and he plunged into an overdrive which resulted in him committing errors and losing focus during practice. It is a well-known fact that an angry sportsman is a distracted sportsman which is why he performed so poorly in the first two trial rounds. In his zest he would leap from several feet beyond the start line and commit a foul. This was when he decided to calm down and self-reflect upon his actions. He questioned himself as to why he had travelled so far, “Did I come 3000 miles for this?” the answer to which renewed his spirit and he decided to give his best once again but this time he needed a more practical approach.

However, Jesse Owens could not lose the frustration that had built up inside him after his failed attempts during the trials and he displayed his emotions by striking his foot in the ground. At that very moment, he sensed someone come up behind him and place a hand on his shoulder. To his great surprise the man was Luz Long, the German rival he was going to compete against in the finals. His frank and friendly appearance was unexpected for the riled up sportsman, but then Luz took initiative and offered a handshake which Jesse couldn’t refuse. The good comrade Luz even gave some suggestions and advice to the impetuous Jesse regarding the rules of the sport. He asked him to take his leaps a few inches back from the board and this guidance helped Jesse like magic. Later that night after the tryouts, Jesse went to meet Luz and thank him for his kind words of advice. Thereafter, the two good athletes dropped all their inhibitions and pretences and spent some time together talking to each other. They both shared their experiences and views on life and through their conversation Jesse realized that Luz too didn’t put any stock in the superior-Aryan race theory that Hitler had so extensively propagated. Once this revelation was made the air between them cleared and they went on to become true friends. Before they parted ways the two friends wished each other the best even if it meant their own defeat.

The day after that memorable night, the German athlete Luz performed extremely well and surpassed his own record. This incident made a great impression on Jesse’s mind and he became inspired to perform better by seeing his new friend. The next event saw him in new colours and the superb athlete of black origin was unstoppable. When he made an excellent landing during his final jump, Luz himself went up to congratulate him on his brilliant feat. The two athletes shook hands in front of everyone – the media, the press and even Hitler who was looking at them intently from the stands. It was a sensational display of fearless camaraderie and true sportsmanship.

The main lead of the story, Jesse Owens, won four gold medals that year, which according to him paled in comparison to the life-lesson and friendship he gained from Luz Long. It meant so much more to him than any Olympic Prize. Their friendship lasted for a long while until Luz sadly died during the World War II. Pierre de Coubertin who was the founder of modern Olympic Games believed in the idea that participation and good performance should be the only objectives of a good sportsman and they should not deviate or hold personal grudges against other players. Owens makes a perfect note of what fair play in any sporting event should like through the narration of his story in My Greatest Olympic Prize.

My Greatest Olympic Prize: Analysis

The style and technique of writing are simple and unbiased, which has helped the author paint a perfect picture of human flaws and redeeming qualities. As it is an autobiographical account, the whole story is from the viewpoint of one character that is also the central character of the story. The events unfold at a natural, straightforward pace without any usage of major symbolism or other literary devices. The narrative is impressive in its simplicity and effectively registers the deeper meaning of selfless acts even in the face of adversity. Although the author has no experience as a writer, he has managed to bring out the emotions of the two main characters quite well. 

My Greatest Olympic Prize: Themes

The story’s basic theme centers on the positivity of true sportsmanship and how we can come together as human beings to participate in fair play. Often we see players getting emotionally tormented after a failure in the sporting event. The author wishes to address this problem by giving instances from his own life and explains that sports can at best be a good game or a dream, but true friendships are over and above such momentary passions. Compromising the bond of humanity based on social divisions and prejudices is not worth any conflict. 

My Greatest Olympic Prize: Character Sketch

The character we first get introduced to in the story is that of Jesse Owens, and it’s his tale, so we get a first-hand perspective of the actual events as they happened. He is a hot-blooded athlete with an eye for victory as he wishes to answer back to the people who wronged him with his medals. He gains a better conscience and feels inspired by his fateful meeting with a German rival.

The figures of Luz Long and Hitler both hail from the same nation of Germany but their beliefs and characters are poles apart. As the story is based on a real event, the characters are also real, and we find many conflicting traits in the personality of these two people who apparently belong to the same nation. In fact, Luz Long is a man Hitler counts upon during the finals of the Olympics. Nevertheless, Luz Long proves to be a far better and braver man than Hitler ever could be. While Hitler was promoting the idea of a superior race, Luz gave a very important lesson on humanity’s true nature and bond.

The Olympics game of 1960 and the present audience together as a body has also been presented as a character in the story. The excitement for the game is palpitating and can be felt if we read in between the lines. People from everywhere came together to cheer and applaud Jesse Owens as he was performing to win and defeat a dangerous social prejudice.

The spectators often only see the performances of the athletes during a game or a match. They fail to see or acknowledge the hardships and struggles that every sportsperson endures before a game. This autobiographical account by Jesse Owens gives the readers a report on how the impossible can be made possible and what goes on in the backend of every outstanding performance in the world of sports.

The Blue Bead Summary: Plot & Setting

The author sets the tone of the story from the very start with a detailed description of a river in the deep jungle where deadly crocodiles hunt for prey. The villagers and people living around this clearing in the wild are exposed to constant danger from the attacking animals. The focus of the plot then shifts to the central character of the story who is a little girl called Sibia. The author describes the twelve-year old child as wilful and ambitious. She was too poor to buy any of the shiny gems and jewellery that other girls wore so she was always attracted towards those objects and wanted to own something like that one day.

The setting of the short story is in the beautiful and scenic foothills of the Himalayas. In this landscape, the fierceness of Nature is hidden by its breath taking charm. The harshness of the terrain reflects in the hard life of the people who live there. The inhabitants of the place are completely accustomed to various kinds of life-threatening situations and the author skilfully explores this side of life in this story. 

The Blue Bead Summary

It all begins with Sibia’s yearning for the sparkling beads, beautifully designed Kashmiri clothes and shiny metal trays available in the local village market. The little poor girl had no access to such fancy items as her family always struggled to earn their basic bread and butter. Many of the women from the village collected the glass beads from the jungles and strung them together to make different pieces of jewellery. They would also use their needles to sew them onto their clothes and scarves to make it more attractive. However, Sibia couldn’t even sew or stitch her own glass beads because the only needle her family owned was broken. So she had to wait patiently till they could spare some money to buy a new one.

Sibia and her mother would work with the other village women. On one such day, when they were away collecting paper grass from the jungle, to sell in the Bazaar, Sibia noticed that all of them were wearing bright colourful neckpieces made from the shiny beads, and this made her sad as she realised that she didn’t have even one of those jewelleries. The little fanciful girl kept dreaming about these things and she silently made a pledge to herself that one day she would own these brilliant sparkling jewels to wear around her trim brown body.

After collecting the required materials from the banks of the stream, the women trudged back along the path in the wilderness; this is when they came across the river where the crocodiles rested. Every time they crossed this river or came near it to collect the paper grass, the women would scream and shout to make enough noises to scare away the crocodiles and this trick would generally work. Only Sibia doesn’t follow the women back like she usually did and stayed behind to check whether her clay cups had dried or not. She had laid out a few cups and saucers, shaped out of clay to dry before she could use them, inside a small cave where they could be safe from wind and water.

To peek inside the cave she meanders around the stream, skipping over stones in the water and then she notices a woman from the village who has come to collect water in her clay pot. As the lady bends over to store the flowing water she gets attacked by a sly crocodile that was lurking around waiting for a prey. The animal plunged its rough sharp teeth into the woman’s skin to get a hold of her leg and tried to drag her down into the water. She flails around and attempts to save herself from drowning by holding on to a rock but the wild beast was too strong and savage. Sibia had a hayfork which she was clutched in her right fist and she threw this weapon at the crocodile. The sharp edge of the hayfork hit the crocodile smack in the eye and due to the pain it had to let the woman go.

As the crocodile slunk away into the depths of the river, Sibia rushed to help the injured woman. She pulled her out of the water to lay her down on the banks. The young girl was well used to such dire situations and she knew exactly how to abate the bleeding. Sibia covered the wounded area with sand and then bandaged it with a thin rag. This woman belonged to the Gujjar community, so she helped her walk towards their camp in the jungle which was located nearby. When the men saw Sibia bringing along an injured lady, they rushed out to help her and thanked her for saving the woman’s life. The people residing in the camp then carried the injured person to the nearest hospital for treatment.

After this incident, the brave little girl dauntingly goes back to the edge of the river to collect her sickle and hayfork and also the freshly picked paper grass. As she stooped down to gather her things she saw that her fork was lying next to a rock. Sibia went towards it pick it up and as she did so, he eyes fell on a gleaming blue bead. She rushed to fish it out of the water and when she held it in her hand, her heart was full of glee. Her happiness doubled when she found that the bead was already pierced and could be tied to a string. There was no need even for a needle and the little joyful girl ran back towards her home with great excitement.

Her mother found her on her way back and she gave her a good scolding for lagging behind in the river and for not coming back with them. The loving mother was actually worried about her daughter and was looking for her everywhere. She asked Sibia if she got into any trouble or in any harm had befallen her. The courageous and carefree girl put all her mother’s concerns to rest by narrating the actual events that had happened and the author completes her on that note. 

The Blue Bead: Analysis

The era in which Norah Burke was born was an interesting period of evolution in the history of English Literature. The British Raj was busy negotiating and expanding its rule in India, and there was a great influx of English people in the country. It was alluring and exciting for the English people as the ways of life here were so very different from their traditions and culture. The author and her family resided in the rural foothills of the Himalayas, which was a very exotic location and subject for many of her international readers. So many of them were reading about the jungles of India for the very first time, and this curiosity made Burke a popular and famous writer.

The story The Blue Bead is also based on the life of a brave little Indian girl, and the setting of the story plays a vital role in the narrative. The author initiates the story with an acutely descriptive picture of the wilderness. The beauty and the freshness of nature contrast the fiercely devious animals that lurk in the rivers to prey upon the unsuspecting victims. Despite the many adversities present in the environment, the people of the valley lead effortless lives with very basic wants and desires.

The girl Sibia, the leading character of the story, also has such single-minded wishes that she wants to fulfill without much thought or worry about anything else. At the end of the story, the blue bead meant so much to her that the incident that preceded the finding of the bead completely vanished from her mind. Saving the Gujjar woman from the deadly clutches of the crocodile seemed like only a mildly engaging part of her day, the highlight of which was, of course, the discovery of the pretty bead for her.

The Blue Bead: Themes

The writer cleverly adapts colloquial language styles and mannerisms in her writing to create the right scenario for the story. We can at once relate to the simplicity of the characters and also be awed at the brave and risky lives they lead in the hills. Nature is both the forbearer and the giver but also the destroyer. They sustain due to the gifts of nature, but their lives are also threatened by the dark side of nature. The author skillfully plays with these ideas in the story, and certain literary critics agree that it qualifies as the main theme of the story.

The theme of bravery in times of adversity has also been depicted in this short story. Most people, in the face of danger, lose their common sense and conscience. Any fearful person would have run away or called for help in such situations, but the child Sibia took charge and made an instantaneous decision of pulling the woman out of the crocodile’s clench herself. She did any waste any time deliberating what to do or not to do. She did not even care for her own safety at the moment and rushed to the woman’s aid without any fear. Despite the complexity of the situation, Sibia seemed unbothered and went back to the deadly waters to find her prize, which was the blue bead.

The Blue Bead Analysis: Character Sketch

The story revolves around the character of a little girl named Sibia, and the focus of the story entirely rests upon her. Nevertheless, the author introduces a myriad of characters in the plot to make the setting more conventional. The role of the girl was pivotal when it came to saving the woman from the animal. It underlined the base morale of the story and also gave the readers deep insight into the psychology of the young child. She was the daughter of the mountains, untamed by the wild jungles, and she managed to handle the crisis without any hesitation or fear. Her presence of mind was exemplary, and she sprang into action the minute her mind registered the situation. The character’s simplicity and child-like innocence contradict her brave personality. There is a lesson to be learned from the little girl’s humility as she acted no less than a hero and wished for nothing from the woman and her family in return. She was still pinned for her sparkling beads, so she was rewarded for her courage when she went back to collect her things.

The story has an important message of perseverance. It relates the tale of a good and hardworking girl who lives poorly in the rough terrains of North India. Her struggles and victories remind us of all the things we have, and it gives hope to people who are battling with similar hardships in life

The Little Match Girl Plot & Setting

The popular fairy tale is based on a snowy landscape with very low temperature. It is the festive period between Christmas and New Year when most people remain at home surrounded by their friends and loved ones. The plot of the story mentions very few characters and the tale is entirely based on a young little girl and her magical fantasies just before she dies freezing outside in the cold. Since the author is from Denmark, the story was originally written and published in the Danish language, titled Den Lille Pige med Svovlstikkerne.

The Little Match Girl Summary

The narrative begins on a brutally cold winter evening which also incidentally happens to be the New Year’s Eve. A little girl is walking over snow with bare feet and uncovered head trying to sell matches to people. Since it’s the evening before New Year, there are not many people outside in the cold as they are all busy celebrating the occasion in the warmth of their houses with their families. This poor lonely girl roamed around in the snow in the hopes of selling a bundle of matches before she returned home.The reason why she was without slippers she left her house wearing her mother’s slippers which were too huge for her small sized feet. While she was crossing an icy path she came in front of two carriages which hurried past her and left her dazed. She lost one of her slippers in this process and then came along a mischievous little boy who stole her slipper thinking he can put it to use someday in the future as a cradle for his offspring.

The miserable little girl couldn’t even go back to her house which was her only shelter because she was afraid of her father who would beat her if she didn’t procure any money. The house she lived in was in anyways a broken run-down little cottage which was kept unkempt. The wind whistled through the gaps in the roof and it was never warm inside so she decided to stay outside for as long as she could. Although she carried some match boxes in her pocket, she didn’t dare light them because they were given to her for the purpose of selling. But there were hardly any people about and the lanes were all deserted.

After having roamed around for a while and when her tiny hands and feet turned blue with cold, she came across a corner in the middle of two houses. The girl sat herself down there and decided to light a few matchsticks to warm her numb fingers. The light flared bright as soon as the match was lit and it seemed to the poor innocent child that she was holding a candle in her hand. In the light she visualizes a warm iron stove with a flaring flame inside and she dreams that she is getting cosy in the warmth it let out. Then the match burns out and her vision disappears. She decides to burn another matchstick because in the purity of her child-like mind she believes that if she keeps burning the matches her fantasies will come alive. So the little girl starts to play this game to keep herself sustained in thelone and dark of the icy cold night.

Her excitement rose to a new level when she strikes another match and the sight of a deliciously cooked Christmas dinner floats in front of her eyes. The meal included cooked goose with baked plums and fruits that made her drool with hunger. Surprised and perplexed she continues to strike more matches and then she sees a beautifully decorated tall Christmas Tree with dazzling lights and her dead grandmother whom she dearly loved and missed. The visions showed her everything she ever desired in her young neglected life and she took her momentary pleasure, even though it was not real. In the distant night sky, she suddenly sees a star falling down and remembered what her grandmother had once told her. According to the lore, a falling star is said to be the sign of someone dying and going to heaven. The little girl becomes sad upon seeing the star as she feels the intuition that someone is about to die.

Her premonition comes true when in a desperate attempt to make her grandmother reappear she lights a big bundle of matches together to create a larger flare. In the brilliant light she sees the apparition of her grandmother and runs into her arms. The grandmother happily picks her up and they are at last united in a warm embrace. They both then together leave the terrestrial plane of hunger and poverty to a place where such anxieties do not haunt the poor. They went up to God.

The next morning, at the still cold hour of dawn, a crowd of people gather around the corpse of the little girl lying on the snowy corner. Her red cheeks and smiling mouth never betrayed the pain she went through. But the burnt out matches that lay strewn around her, told her sad story. The people in sympathy, looked at the matches and said with a sigh that the poor girl only wanted to warm herself. None of the onlookers could guess the brilliant sights she witnessed before she died or how happy she was to fly away with the spirit of her grandmother into a New Year. 

The Little Match Girl: Theme

There are many important themes in this beautifully crafted short story, but the most important would be the themes of child abuse and child poverty. Children are nearly never responsible for their parents’ actions and, without reason, suffer a life full of destitution and deprivation. They are exposed to the ruthless world of the poor and the fallen from the minute they were born, and their miserable life more often than not ends due to hunger and lack of necessities and like warm clothes and proper shelter. They are the unfortunate victims of poverty, and they live within a hazardous circle of illiteracy, unemployment, and eternal hardships.

The author also speaks about the reassurance of the self against the tide of difficulties. The subconscious mind of the little girl was strong enough to hold on to her memories of the grandmother to provide her some sense of comfort and respite even in the darkest of times. The people see only the frozen dead girl lying uncared for on the snow, and they feel sorry for her. They do not understand the reality of the situation, where death came as a welcome relief to her otherwise tortured life. According to the author, in some cases, when a life cannot be saved or ignored by others, death can end the painful existence. This is a much-debated and controversial topic, and it has been proved that others should do their utmost to help and save a life in such situations.

The small child had a beautiful ending to bleak and dreary life, as described by the storyteller. Her imaginary visions were strong enough to carry her through the night and send her off smiling into the afterlife. She was so lost in her delusions that she didn’t feel the pangs of starvation and cold near the end. In her mind, she died peacefully in the arms of her dear grandmother, who didn’t leave her alone in the night and took her away to a safe place with her.

The Little Match Girl: Analysis

The little girl is sent off to sell matches by an abusive, cruel father at an age when she should be protected and nourished by her parents. This motherless girl child has nowhere else to go, so she wanders off alone in the snow to avoid her father. Usually, father figures are respected and honored by daughters in all cultures, but here we see a little girl running away from her father. It is unfortunate when children cannot even count on their parents for safety and love since the outside world is always full of harsh and exploiting people. We see an example of such an uncaring world in the character of the boy thief and the carriages that rushed past her as if she was an invisible figure. Even during the festive season of Christmas and New Year, her suffering continues, and she gets respite only through the hallucinations. Only in the trick of the fire does she truly live a glorious life.

The character of the father and mother are mentioned only sparingly in the story, but we realize that they have an essential role to play as the tale unfolds. The reckless and abusive father and cares very little about his daughter. He is shown to be the kind of person who places the responsibility of earning cents for food on his daughter and beats her up when she cannot procure any money.

The girl is only a child, and he seems to be some monster for having inflicted such an ordeal upon her. The father and the missing mother have made the girl feel very alone in her life, and perhaps her happiest memories of family come from her grandmother, who loved and cherished the little girl a lot when she was alive. The impact of a dysfunctional family on the psychology and actions of a child can be very disastrous.

The legendary author and poet Hans Christian Andersen have weaved a beautifully tragic story that also includes a message of hope and redemption. The story, The Little Match Girl, has all the elements of a typical Christian winter tale, but here the character is redeemed by not the good deeds of fellow human beings or a Christmas miracle but death. The narrative’s subtext is thought-provoking, and the readers are compelled to think about the young and the needy who require necessities to survive the long winter season. The festive month is the time for merriment and the time for compassion for the poor.

Angel in Disguise: Plot & Setting

In his formative years, the author grew up in remote surroundings, and perhaps the setting of this story is inspired by that. In a sparsely populated rural village, a poor single mother struggles with her addiction to alcohol while also having to take care of her three children, one of whom is perpetually sick and bedridden.

The unnamed woman had been an outcast for most of her life since the villagers can show no pity to an always intoxicated person. It is important that the reader understands the time in which this story has been written as village society back then had yet to emerge from the clutches of poverty and low standards of living. The people of the village were themselves destitute and had very little time or inclination to help others. It was a hard life for them, and therefore they had found it easier to exile the wretched woman from their society. The author painstakingly articulated this setting to make the story more poignant and endearing. The harshness of the other villagers makes the kindness of one villager shine even brighter like a lamp of light in the dark.

After the idle woman dies in a fit of drunkenness in front of her terrified little children, the villagers find it in their hearts to give her a proper funeral. Since death is the ultimate punishment for the wicked, they believed that the woman had suffered enough in her lifetime and she should receive a good send off. They all gather around the village to arrange for the ceremony, and afterward, they try to contemplate what they should do about the three children. This is the basic plot of the story, and it develops from here.

Angel in Disguise: Summary

After the death of an anonymous drunk woman, the people of her village decide to forgive her previous misconduct, and they all come together to decide the fate of her three little children. One of the farmers from the village chose to adopt the eldest son, who was twelve years old at the time. The farmer thought that the boy would be of use to him in the field, so he takes him home as one of his own. Next, the young girl Kate gets adopted by Mrs. Eli, although she does so with great reluctance as Kate was still much too young to be able to work in any factory and earn money. Mrs. Eli kept chiding her for being an undisciplined child and didn’t seem happy at all for having to feed an extra mouth. At long last did their concern fall upon little Maggie, who was the youngest among all three siblings. None of the people surrounding the unfortunate family came forward to adopt her since she was terminally ill and could be of no material use to them. When Maggie was just a little older than a toddler, she had fallen down from a window. This accident had resulted in a permanently damaged spine which had physically disabled her. All agree to put her up in a poor house, but none of the onlookers take any initiative to fulfill this responsibility. The crude villagers looked upon her as nothing but a liability, and they hastily turned away from her, leaving her alone at the funeral of her dead mother.

All left, except Joe Thompson, who lingered behind to look upon the poor little child. As a village man, Joe was a hard-working wheel-maker who earned his living by making wooden wheels for carts and carriages. Although his personality and demeanor made him appear rough and uncouth, he was, in reality, a kind man who loved children. He and his wife had been hoping for a baby for a long time, but the distraught couple were left childless despite many attempts. Maggie notices Joe standing among the parting crowd and beckons him to come towards her. She realizes that everybody is going away except him and therefore pleads with him not to leave her alone. The gentle-hearted man knew that his wife would be perturbed if he took her back to his home, but still, he gives in to Maggie’s pleas and carries her away in his arms. As the two of them reached home, Joe’s wife demanded an explanation for Maggie’s presence in the house. Joe explained the entire incident to her, and as he had rightly guessed, she was none too happy upon hearing the news. She was not ready to adopt Maggie as a child and asked her husband to dispel her from the house.

The kind man tried to reason with his wife by citing a text to her from the Bible. According to the holy text, those who help children never go unrewarded. Then Joe asks his wife to set aside the bitterness of her heart and imagine the harsh life that Maggie has to face every day just for the sake of survival. The innocent child is not at fault for her condition, and she still has to bear its pain. This softened the childless mother’s heart, and she felt compassion for the bedridden Maggie, who was now all alone in the world without a home. She suppresses her emotions and doesn’t talk about it at the moment, and goes to work in the kitchen.

Later in the night, she went herself to feed Maggie some supper. The next day, Joe gets permission from the authorities at the poor house and returns home to see his wife and young Maggie conversing with each other. He was pleased to see his wife’s changed expression, and they looked as if they were bonding. The couple understood that they should help Maggie recover her health, so they decided to let her stay with them a few more days before she was to be sent off to the poor house. Somehow, the sweet angelic face of Maggie and her deep sense of love and gratitude for them won the hearts of the Thompsons, and she eventually became their daughter.

Angel in Disguise: Analysis

T. S. Arthur, as a writer, had been much preoccupied with elevated language and all his stories include strong vocabulary and complex style of writing. The prose, Angel in Disguise, is no exception and its long winding sentences prove to be a challenge for the reader. The characters and the setting have been described in vivid detail. The way the characters speak and present themselves stresses reality rather than fiction, making the story a good rendition of human psychology, especially under circumstances of social strain. It also speaks about the helplessness of children who are left without parents and the kind of dilemma they are made to go through. Most of the villagers are selfish and only looking for any scope of self-gratification. They hardly care about the children’s welfare or the future and select them only as of the basis of the business. It’s like an auction where a master pay’s for a lifetime of servitude through food and shelter. Young John was the first to get picked by the farmer so that he could be made to work in the field.

There is no mention of the name of the place where the story unfolds, but the reader can guess that it’s an old rural place where the money came before morals. All the villagers were acquainted with each other because they were a small society of people. This detail works in favor of highlighting each character and giving it a life of its own. The conservative and stifling atmosphere of the story brings out the narrow-mindedness of the people, especially in the manner in which they treat the outcast woman and her children. It’s like, emotions of love, sympathy, and compassion are bereft among these people, and they follow only base rituals and ceremonies because of fear of religion and judgment.

The flow of the narrative is outstanding as the author is careful in arranging the sequence of events in a natural manner. The eloquent vocabulary is just for the use of old English communicative mannerisms. It relates to that period in history where people used to talk, act and behave as indicated in the story. Hence, the author has remarkably created and influenced the characters to realistically tell the story of an all-enduring love in an orthodox society.

Angel in Disguise: Theme

The central theme of the narration is obviously about love and the appeal of parenthood. Other themes like general social prejudices and personal selfishness act as contiguous elements that further reinforce the power of unconditional love and affection. It is important to note the physical and psychological damage that irresponsible parents can inflict upon their children. The survival and care of the three unfortunate kids had been left to the mercy of the rude and greedy villagers.

Death also plays a major determining role in this story as the poverty-stricken family of four could receive attention from the village people only after the death of the mother. If the poor single mother had been given some counseling and help before she died of excessive alcohol consumption, she could have perhaps overcome her addiction and led a respectable life. This speaks a lot about the nature of society as they prefer to provide sympathy by organizing a funeral after death but could not help while the person was still alive. It’s like dead people are given more value than living people.

Angel in Disguise: Character Sketch

The character of Maggie is perhaps the story’s main character because the ‘Angel’ in the title is referred to her. However, some critics have pointed out that the title could also be in reference to the character of Joe. Since Joe was the brutish wheel-maker and the only person who could find enough love in his heart to care for the unwanted and neglected little girl, he could in full right be the real “angel in disguise.”

The wife of Joe is also a vital aspect of the story as the small sick girl could make her way into her heart and gain her confidence. Maggie had touched her dormant motherly affection and turned her into a loving person. It was her acceptance that altered the future of Maggie. From being a rejected orphan, Maggie had become a part of their family.

The story, Angel in Disguise, is a heart-touching tale of a little girl who finds comfort in the form of a home and a family with the Thompsons. Arthur as a writer, has excellently captured the blunt truth about human society and portrayed the evils inside the hearts of men. The villagers wish to continue with their lives without giving any care to their fellow humans who falter. Even then, in the end, it showcases the victory of love and kindness over selfish ignorance.

A Face in the Dark by Ruskin Bond: Setting & Plot

The prose, A face in the Dark, was published in the year 2004 in a collection of short stories by Ruskin Bond. Set in the misty landscape of Shimla, the plot of this story and the style of writing are both very simple and pragmatic. There is an element of supernatural mystery created by the author to spook the reader. Bond uses the darker aspects of nature like eerie sounds, crooked branches and pine trees all shrouded in the misty atmosphere of the hills to create that ghoulish sensation. Although the story begins on a completely ordinary note, it gradually and creepily develops into a horrific tale of ghostly occurrences. Like the author’s other ghost stories, this tale of haunting also includes weird coincidences and surprise endings. It offers an insight into human nature and the ways it is affected by difficult situations.

A Face in the Dark Summary by Ruskin Bond

The central protagonist of the story, A face in the Dark is a British man called Oliver. He is an enthusiastic and kind teacher at a prestigious school in Shimla. He is extremely devoted to the well being of his students and attempts to educate them in the best possible way. He spends most of his time at the school or the library with pending work because he has no family of his own and is thus very lonely in the world. This lack of a wife and children haunts him but he goes on with his daily life without much fuss.

He has a strict everyday routine which he follows with diligence. It involves waking up in the morning for school and then going over to the market on his bicycle in the evenings. While returning from the market, he often takes a small detour as a form of refreshment from his dull life. This path is a road through the wild which is always teeming with pine trees and wild life. As the dusk falls very quickly in the hills, it gets dark by the time he comes back to the school. Oliver never allows himself to be afraid of the dark and always carries a torch with him wherever he goes.

On one such evening, when he was simply following his routine and taking a detour while on his way back from the market, he heard the sobs of a child in the dark. He stops on his bicycle and tries to find the source of this sound among the brambles and bushes of the wild. That is when he discovers a small boy sitting crouched in the dark and crying into his palms. Obviously, the kind-hearted school teacher is surprised and overwhelmed to see a young school boy sitting all alone and crying so he asks him questions about his whereabouts. He goes on to advice the child to leave this place immediately as it might be dangerous for him to be out late in the hills after dark.

Even after trying to console him, the boy does not heed to any of the things Oliver says and continues sobbing in a relentless strain. The compassionate man still couldn’t leave the child alone and continues to coax him into talking and telling him his problems. The boy eventually decided to stop his sobbing and look up. As the light from Oliver’s torch reached the boy’s face, he was startled to see that the boy had no eyes or ears or mouth on his face. His face was a featureless mound of bare skin and this revelation scared Oliver beyond expression. Somehow, at that very moment the torch in Oliver’s hand goes off and he is left standing in the dark with the faceless crying boy.

After the initial shock was over, Oliver gathers all his courage and decides to flee from that place. He drops his torch and turns around to run as fast as his legs would allow. His mind was at once both blank and filled with terror, he didn’t even care that he was howling. As he ran towards the school screaming for help he came across the school watch guard at the gate who stops him and asks him what happened. Panting, the poor scared man relates his encounter with the little ghost boy in the jungle to the watchman. Relief washed over him as he felt much better in the presence of the watchman.

However, just as he was regaining his composure, Oliver sees in the light of a swinging lantern the face of the watchman which was as featureless as the face of the ghost boy. The story ends on a peculiar note as the wind blows the lamp out leaving Oliver once again in utter darkness. 

A Face in the Dark: Analysis

As we know, human psychology can be a matter of deep complexity and must not be treated lightly. The mind is powerful enough to make us see things we do not comprehend, drawing images from the subconscious. Some interpret the story in terms of loneliness and despair and their effects on the human mind. Humans associate emotions with people. Individual emotions like anger, love, sympathy, friendship are allocated to individual people who incite these emotions within us. Therefore each emotion has a face. The fact that the main protagonist of the story was a lonely man living without love gives us an insight into his psychology which is empty and deprived of any emotion because he has no one to share them with. Hence, his subconscious mind forces him to face his worst nightmare by making him see people who have no faces or individuality. The lack of face is directly related to the lack of people he can depend on and trust. The actual horror of the story is the fact that these people Oliver sees around him do not exist in reality. 

A Face in the Dark: Themes

The story A face in the dark is a widely popular tale, and many people have read it and commented upon it. One thing that remains common in every critic’s perception is the basic theme of the story, which connects the entire plot. This theme is said to be the human instinct for love and companionship. In certain ways, the ghost of the boy reflects the primal character of Oliver. It’s like the little boy lost in the dark wood is the ghost of Oliver himself. Just like the little boy, all Oliver wants is to be consoled and treated with love while he cries for some shred of familiarity on the inside. He, too, feels alienated and scared in this country that is not his own. The faceless boy is a symbol of lost individuality, and it represents Oliver’s inner conflict that he has lost his own individuality, living away from home for so long.

It might also be important to remember that the story in its raw essence is supernatural in context, and themes of fear of the dark and spooky appearances are appealing to the reader. The twist at the end of the story is particularly chilling and can induce goosebumps if read alone in the silence of the night. 

A Face in the Dark: Character Sketch

The story revolves around the character of Oliver, who, at the beginning, seems like a well-educated and rational man. He is a teacher at a boarding school and deals with his students in a kind and just manner. Though he is a compassionate person, his character has been shown to have a certain amount of control and restrain. The man adheres to a strict routine and lives his life without any excitement or exceptions. He is often lonely and misses the warmth of a family, but he seldom expresses these feelings to anyone. Oliver had perhaps stored all these emotions within him and did not give them much thought, which is why his mind played tricks on him in the woods and showed him exactly what he was trying so hard to suppress. In the act of simply existing and surviving in life, he had forgotten to find the courage to be true to himself – even if it meant carving out his own identity in a land of strangers.

When Oliver sees the featureless face of the boy without eyes and nose and ears, he loses all his calm and composure and runs away like a cowardly child, screaming for help. All of a sudden, he had lost control over his rational senses, and his mind had given in to the terrors of the night. The once wise and sensible teacher felt paralyzed with fear and shock. An important clue about his character is the event upon which he meets the watchman. Only in the company of another person does Oliver feel a little better and hopeful. He was almost filled with joy at the sight of the watchman, but he loses this hope when he sees the blank face of the watchman. He is once again reminded that he is isolated in the world and is only surrounded by other lost, lonely souls like him.

Ruskin Bond writes poignantly beautiful tales which are often based in the northern regions of India, like Shimla and Dehradun. These places are anyways popular for their scenic beauty, and the author adds a mystical element while writing about these places in his stories to add the charm of the unknown. He has a real talent for creating an illustrious picture about the feel and the atmosphere of the setting through his words which fascinates the reader. Once the reader gets comfortable with the tale’s theme, he introduces seemingly ordinary characters with ordinary lives.

Slowly, and carefully the author then proceeds to bring up interesting plot twists, which reveals the extraordinary side of his character’s personality, making it a thrilling experience. The supernatural elements in this short story are inspired by the eeriness of undisturbed nature, and it evokes the reader to believe in strange happenings. According to Bond, he considers himself a visual writer. The trick is to imagine the story like a film before penning it down, and this technique makes all the difference.

Hearts and Hands Summary by O. Henry

The story Hearts and Hands is rife with plot twists and surprise happenings. In the city of Denver, the people always seem to be travelling in train coaches. The eastbound B. & M. Express is also one such mode of transport where in one of the compartments a beautiful young woman sat prettily dressed in a manner reeking of sophistication and rich taste. She appeared to be a well-seasoned traveler because she had already made use of all the luxurious travel assets. When a new set of passengers boarded the train at the next stop, two young men also boarded with them. One was quiet handsome and had the bold airs of a frank, confident person. But the other man accompanying him, looked quiet glum and disturbed about something. He was heavily built and casually dressed with his shirts untucked and dirty. They were both handcuffed to each other.

As these men walked down the aisle of the train, looking for a place to sit, they came across the pretty woman in the coach. In fact, the only available seat in the entire coach was the seat opposite to the attractive lady and the two linked men decided to sit there. The young woman gave them a quick passing gaze and she seemed uninterested for a moment. After she looked away, a slow smile crept up her pretty face as she blushed. With a fresh and radiant countenance she extended a gloved little hand towards them. She even started a conversation with them, her sweet assertive voice, insinuating that she was used to people listening to her. She addressed to one of them as Mr. Easton and asked him if he could recognize her as she was an old friend to him. At this, the young handsome man turned his face sharply and looked at her piercingly before replying. He appeared to be bashfully shy at the young woman’s direct question. His smooth confidence gone he looked startled at seeing the woman.

He too extended his hand with an embarrassed smile and indulged in a brief handshake before pulling off. Here, the readers come to know that these two young people were indeed old acquaintances and Easton identifies her to be a Ms. Fairchild. She then begins questioning him about the handcuffs which had her little worried. She wondered if he had gotten into some kind of a legal trouble. Hearing this question and sensing Easton’s discomfort, the second man interrupts the conversation and explains to Ms. Fairchild that Mr. Easton is a marshal and he was within his legal rights to transfer him to the Leavenworth prison since he had just been ordered seven years of imprisonment for counterfeiting by the court. This provides the worried Ms. Fairchild some relief as she didn’t want to think anything bad about her dear old friend. Thus, the conversation flowed between the two lost young souls as they had a lot to catch up with. Mr. Easton told Ms. Fairchild about his new job as a marshal in the west.

Apparently, he had sacrificed his previously luxurious life in Washington for this new job because he wanted to serve. At this, the young Ms. Fairchild exclaimed in surprise that she herself had always dreamed of living in the West. The second man speaks up in that very moment and demands to be taken to the smoking room as he had not smoked the entire day. Thus, Mr. Easton had to break away from his camaraderie with the beautiful young woman and he gets up to leave with the other man, bidding goodbye to the woman. A couple of other passengers had overheard the entire conversation and they started discussing how at such a young age the person had achieved the rank of a marshal. Then this discussion lead to a new perspective when one of them observed that they had never seen a marshal and a criminal handcuffed together like that. At this point the obvious conclusion dawned upon them that the glum-faced person was the marshal in reality and the young bashful man was the criminal offender. The kind marshal had actually presented the reverse story to save the young man’s face in front of the pretty lady.

Conclusion: Hearts and Hands by O. Henry

The author O. Henry has created a unique place for himself in the field of literature and the charming personality which he brings to his writing is irresistible. His stories are both at once predictable and unpredictable. Predictable when, if the reader knows anything about the author, then they are definitely expecting a surprise ending and unpredictable because of the way he twists the tale at the very end, just when you are least expecting it. All in in all, his stories provide an interesting read and the story, Hearts and Hands is no exception.

A Horse and Two Goats Plot & Setting

The fictional town of Malgudi, is often depicted in his novels as the quaint quintessential rural town of India. Somehow, this story does not include the glorious town of Malgudi and is instead based in the tiny village of Kritam. In the very beginning of the story itself, the reader gets quickly acquainted to the village which is struck by poverty and hardship. This story is a factual portrayal of the average lifestyle in India, with its ancient societal systems like the caste system which corrupts the mind of the people.

A Horse and Two Goats Summary

The short story of A Horse and Two goats has a rustic plotline which revolves around the central character of Muni. He lives in the small village of Kritam with his wifeand is quiet obedient to her. Their house is one of the thirty odd houses present in the village and it is made out of easily available and basic housing materials like bamboo, thatch and mud. Since it is the typical idyllic village of India, fundamental necessities like running water and electricity are not available for use and the wife Muni has to do all the extra chores by herself which makes her grumpy most of the time.

In the very start of the story we see Muniwaking up one morning with an urgency to eat something more delectable than the usual meal of raw onion and little balls of cooked millet. So he goes to collect a few drumsticks from a nearby tree which he gives to his wife so that she can put the vegetables in a pot of curry. The wife readily agrees to complete this task but only if he could fetch the other ingredients like rice, dal, oil and spices. The family had become so poor that such basic groceries were also not available in their kitchen. However, in the past, they were better off and even considered themselves affluent. Muni used to be in possession of a large flock which consisted of forty sheep and goats. He dearly cared for his flock and would take them out to graze every day. That was a time of content and prosperity for Muni but it was now long gone. Calamities like repeated droughts and a year of great famine starved his animals and depleted his stock of granary. In addition to these calamities, the remaining animals also suffered from a bad epidemic resulting in complete catastrophe.

Since Muni belonged to a low caste among the members of the village he was not allowed to go to school with the kids of other castes. Lack of education had made him dependent only on his animals. He knew no other skills or trade and had thus been reduced to such a meagre livelihood. The destitute couple didn’t even have any offspring to depend upon in the future when they would grow older and have nobody to look after them. Mostly, they get by through taking odd jobs here and there and so the family income is perpetually non-existent. Muni’s wife sometimes earns a bit of money through extra work at the Big House where the only rich and affluent family of the village live. Their situation is so bad, that Muni had had to take credit from every store of the village and now all the shopkeepers simply refuse to give him any credit and send him away with insults.

As the story unfolds we sympathise with Muni and his circumstances but also understand his wife’s frustration with him. Their actions and behaviour are mainly driven by hunger and want. When Muni’s wife realises that there is no more food in the house she sends her husband away to fast with the goats till evening as if to punish him and make him repent upon their present crisis.The hapless Muni obediently took his goats to graze at his regular grassy patch a few miles off the highway. This spot had become quite a favourite for him because it had a huge clay statue of a horse and a warrior and he could spend idle time there, just relaxing while the goats grazed. Looking at the passing vehicles on the highway was an enjoyable pastime for Muni. As the old man sat gazing at the road, waiting for the right time to head back home, a yellow station wagon appears on the road and makes a stop in front of him. A strange looking foreigner peeks out of the wagon and asks him where the nearest gas station is. Muni is stunned by the appearance of this white man and he wishes to run away from the spot because he assumes the foreigner to be a policeman or soldier, come to assault him. The reason for such an assumption was the American’s khaki coloured uniform.

However, Muni was too tired and old to move away from the place in a hurry and moreover he couldn’t leave his last two goats alone next to the highway. The two people who werenow feeling awkward in the presence of each other began to have a fragmented conversation. Obviously, the communication was not effective at all as neither of them understood each other’s dialect but they waved their hands a lot to express what they were trying to say. The American could utter only one Indian word which was “Namaste” and Muni replied to him by saying only “Yes” or “No” which were the only two words he knew in English. If observed from a third person perspective the scene would appear quiet comic to the observer.

The American points and shows great interest in the statue of the clay horse. Asthe two men light a cigarette between them while conversing about it, Muni tells the foreigner about the history of the statue and what the symbol represents in Indian heritage. The American does not understand much what Muni says but becomes utterly mesmerized by it and decides to buy the statue to take it back home. Following this decision the dim-witted American pays a full hundred rupees to Muni and believes that he has just bought the statue of the horse from him. Muni, from his point of view, believes that the white gentleman has bought his goats from him. His happiness knew no bounds as he realised that the money he has just come into possession is twenty times more than what he owes as credit to the storekeepers. He rushes back home to relate this wonderful incident to his wife but his wife fails to believe him and is not convinced regarding the story of the goats. She thinks he has obtained the money through some illegal means and starts shouting at him when the goats find their way back home. Hence, it was not a very happy ending for Muni after all. 

A Horse and Two Goats Character Sketch

The central protagonist of the story is Muni and he displays no heroics traits in the story whatsoever. This impoverished, belittled old man is a goat-herder who spends his days recounting his past glory and sitting under a statue of a clay horse, watching the vehicles pass by. He could be considered as an idle good for nothing fellow, but the miserable incidents in his life and the oppression meted out to him by the people from upper castes is enough to drive anybody into a resigned stupor. He comes across a bit of luck when he meets a foreign stranger on the highway and earns some money but even this is short-lived as his forever grumbling wife does not share in his happiness and suspects his integrity.

The character of the red-faced American adds quiet twist to the story as he is just the opposite of Muni. This gentleman arrives in a wagon and is decidedly rich. He can afford everything Muni cannot and even shows off his wealth and vanity. But these two men from completely different worlds meet on the fated day to share their stories and it can be seen that they are not that different from each other after all. They both have nagging wives and household worries which they relate over a shared cigarette and at the end of the story the readers realise that they are both also very foolish and susceptible. 

A Horse and Two Goats Theme

The story from the very beginning has a stifling atmosphere. The mud huts are small, the wife is constantly screaming, there is no food to eat and there is no way of escape from the hardships of life for our central character Muni. The requirement for a little of space to breathe and relax is very evident in this story. Muni enjoys this freedom in the open pastures next to the highway. His wife sends him away to get rid of his annoying presence but for Muni this was his escape. Good luck and opportunity also comes to him while sitting next to this highway and the chance meeting with the American is also a symbol of hope and freedom from poverty. Thus, the main theme of the story is the need for freedom from the shackles of mundane life.

A Horse and Two Goats: Conclusion

It is important to note how even after the achievement of Independence in the year 1947, the Indians still had a certain amount of fear as far the proverbial “White man” is considered. This and the problems of basic sustenance and caste-system are the important clues present in the story. It has been rightly said that the author had a great flair for portraying everyday life in India with great accuracy in the English language which was considered quite a feat in those days. In a manner of speaking, we can even say that R.K. Narayan created a solid and achievable platform for Indian writers to gain International exposure through his sweet and relatable stories.

The Old Man at the Bridge Summary by Ernest Hemingway

The story is compelling from the very start, as the readers are introduced to the character of an old man sitting alongside a pathway with his clothes covered in dust. There are people of all ages shuffling around him with carts and trucks. Men, women and children, all seemed to be moving across the bridge and a few soldiers were helping the people push their carts up the banks of the river. The solitary old man, too tired to move, sits silently on a side of the road watching the passer byes. Here, our narrator makes an entry and tries to assess the progress of the enemy forces. By the time he completes his patrolling most of the citizens have been evacuated from that area, except for that old man who hasn’t moved at all. He walks over the bridge and picks up a conversation with the old man. As they talk, the soldier comes to know that the old man was from the city of San Carlos where he was apparently engaged in the caring of certain animals.Upon further questioning, the old man mentions that there was a cat, a couple of goats and some pigeons under his care and that he was worried how they were going to fare with the invasion coming. The narrator gradually engages the old man in a personal conversation and asks him about his family. To this the old man replies that he has no family and depends only on the animals for companionship. He then proceeds to share his thoughts about their safety. According to him, the cat can take care of itself and will be alright but the others can get into trouble. 

The Old Man at the Bridge: Analysis

Critics have always found the basic plot line of this story to be highly intriguing and thought-provoking. The unprecedented violence of war had forced an old man of seventy-six years to flee his native town, leaving behind his home and animals that were apparently his only source of companionship and comfort. He was all alone in the world with nowhere to go and nobody to go to, just sitting by a dusty old bridge trying to contemplate what will happen to his animals. The unjustness of the world and its general cruelty has been highlighted by Hemingway in this story. The narration talks about having faith and about moving on with the tides of time, but it also illustrates the uselessness of religion and moral practices in the face of War. There is a subtle hint of bitter irony in the story as the narrator speaks to the old man and urges him to escape but fails to help him. In the same way, the old man can be seen in the light of the Good Shepherd as he cares for his flock but ultimately fails to protect them. It’s like assuming the role of a savior through ornamental words but becoming powerless to do anything fruitful in the face of adversity. Here, the savior blames the old man’s luck for his situation and leaves him to the chances of fate. 

The Old Man at the Bridge: Character Sketch

It can be said that the story revolves around the character of an old man who is also the central protagonist. He has escaped from his hometown to avoid the ruthless violence of the Spanish Civil War. We can discern from his conversation with the narrator that this sudden incident has deeply affected his composure. In his nervous state of mind, he could only focus upon the safety of the animals that he left behind. He is tired from the journey but also very confused because the reality of his own safety has not yet dawned upon him. He has no sense of his present situation, and his thoughts keep going back to how the cat, goat, and birds shall escape.

The narrator of the story, who is also a soldier of the Spanish Republicans, notices the old man sitting alone on the bridge and walks up to talk to him. This sets him aside from the other soldiers who are simply busy carrying out their orders through unseeing, inhumane eyes. This soldier, too, has a sense of urgency in his mannerisms as he has to gauge the extent of the enemy’s advances but sets aside his duties to speak to the old man. However, his kindness is short-lived and futile as he moves on when he discovers that the old man is too tired to walk any further. 

The Old Man at the Bridge: Themes

The typical Hemingway themes of impending calamity, perplexed darkness, and loss in faith invade the entire story making it a bleak recollection of one destitute old man’s misery. Among the thousands of war casualties, including entire families of men, women, and children, this old man’s story is almost negligible.

Reflecting the author’s general style of writing, the considerate narrator of the story, who takes on the role of a protector, seems to be more preoccupied with the old man’s fate than the old man himself. It’s like, with the war coming and with the nerves on end, the old man could think of only his animals who depended upon him, while the soldier thought of his vulnerable old native whom he was supposed to escort to safety. The feeling of natural responsibility and care between the biblical shepherd and his herd has been explored in this story. In fact, we can even trace certain spiritual aspects from the Holy books in this story. Just like God’s words are meant to give only wisdom and guidance to humankind, the narrator’s words could also only encourage the old man to cross over the bridge before calamity strikes. God never physically helps his subjects in distress but can only show them the path. Similarly, the narrator gives hope and words of comfort to the old man but did not actually help him to get up and walk towards the waiting trucks. Just like God, the soldier could not give his complete attention to the problems of only one subject (the old man) when he had so many others to protect.

The Old Man at the Bridge: Conclusion

The prose is written in true Hemingway style with complete disregard to form and elaboration of any kind. It begins with a description of an old man sitting idly on a bridge when people all around are rushing about. The initial passage illustrates a war-like situation as the Fascist forces advance towards a town called the Ebro. The contrast between the rushing crowds who are all trying to move forward and get away from the place as soon as they can and the lone old man sitting all by himself strikes the reader as absurd. This level of detachment and vulnerability displayed by the old man as the deadly war approaches is the actual intent of this story.