But English, though it served as something highly valuable in the fields of medicine, engineering, law, finance, and business, the children of Vidhya Mandir were required to excel in regional subjects as well. For this was how the ambitious institution kept its future generation tuned to the roots of religion and regional hue, whilst encouraging it to boldly surge toward mastering English, the language that was considered as crisp as mellow, symbolizing refinement, better education, rational uplifting, higher intellect, better employment, better prospects of marriage, and the coveted security of respect and status in society. Jhanvi’s mouthing of Katthe tika in Kannada, no matter how good her English was or how badly she hated her other subjects, had therefore become an issue big enough to tear down the roofs of the school. For even the boys were reprimanded, as with being fined fifty rupees or no PT for a month, had they been caught flinging such sloppy words from streets at their classmates, and bringing shame and disrespect into the progressive spirit of education. So being the girl to have caused such a blunder, Jhanvi could not escape a higher up’s scrutiny when it was the matter of Vidhya Mandir’s sanctity. It was not the regular teachers or her class teacher, however, who countered her often, but the head of the institution itself. Though most teachers loved her, they hated that she carried with her questions that were either intimidating to their shrewdness or ridiculous to their ignorance. She had been called to the chambers of her headmistress who had looked at her with red, round, fiery eyes to say: “Tharle (badly behaved one)! You are the biggest tharle to have ever studied in our school! Now stand still, and tie ... ... middle of paper ... ...r arranged marriages for love, and divorce would no more be a taboo. Thus, and so on, and slowly they would burn the brambles of traditional Indian life, and finger the changing economy with rage. Still, what the fifty-five-year-old woman saw compounded in children like Jhanvi was the same spirit of invention and discovery that every new generation was born with. This was the generation to be seated on corporate thrones, counting competitors and cash, not the number of guests one had to cook for on Sundays. So, by the end of the water in the jug, the headmistress had come to accept that Jhanvi was not the thirteen-year-old to be mended by the societal values that the headmistress had safeguarded her youth with some forty odd years ago. Placing the jug down, amazed by her own capacity of consumption, the headmistress looked at her favorite student again in question.
In A Separate Peace, John Knowles carries the theme of the inevitable loss of innocence throughout the entire novel. Several characters in the novel sustain both positive and negative changes, resulting from the change of the peaceful summer sessions at Devon to the reality of World War II. While some characters embrace their development through their loss of innocence, others are at war with themselves trying to preserve that innocence.
During the time in the 1950’s, the escalation of mass media with the use of television shows had greatly emphasized the idealist family standards: a white nuclear family standard of living within conventional gender roles that stresses on family hierarchy that became a societal norm as a “perfect family” today. In Gary Soto’s “Looking for Work” and Roger Jack’s “An Indian Story”, bother short stories contest against familial customs. Soto describes how the media shapes the idea of a “family” to the young narrator that inspires him to push his family and himself to assimilate into the while culture. Roger conveys a story of a young Indian boy defying against both his Indian and familial ethics. Together, these stories share a common theme. Both
Nectar in a Sieve. New York: J. Day, 1955. Print. In Indian the child marriage is legally and common. In many jurisdictions is bellow 18 years old, especially on girls. Ruku describes her status as the fourth daughter of an important village headman. By the age of 12 years old, Ruku get married. She dreamed with a lover gentle man for her husband, but Nathan her husband was the opposite quiet and reticent. Although she came from a wealthy family, she describe how she was adapt to a humidly life. Nathan always persisted on having the control over his wife. However, Nathan was in loving his wife spite his behavior. By the 20th century, India women were in different standard than men. Indian women were inferior to men. Nathan was always in love with Ruku but it was very difficult to express that you really felt for his wife. She describes her life in this book as despair and poverty for everything that happened. Despite everything Nathan was at his side and together they faced the shortcomings and difficulties of
The average person wants one thing more than anything else, and that thing is to belong. Usha, a young girl from Calcutta, is no different. Already trying the find her place in the world, Usha must now assimilate into cultural society within the United States. Usha’s uncle, Pranab Kaku, came from Calcutta as well having first come to America, his experiences start off worse than Usha’s, which causes him to join the family in an act of social grouping. With the Old World trying to pull them back and the New World just out of reach, both must overcome tradition and develop their own personal values.
“Indian Education” by Sherman Alexie is narrative in which he captures the essence of being an Indian and which the story is told from his perspective and he expresses his personal sentiments of what he endures being an Indian attending school. Alexie maintains a clear narrative order by using headings which are classified by each grade starting from Kindergarten to Senior year. Alexie does not use clear and succinct transitions but he ends each narrative with a sarcastic or thought-provoking statement or thought and it refers or concludes that paragraph for what he is initially talking about in that heading. These food for thought statements that Alexie ends his paragraphs with gives us insight into Alexie’s style as a writer and has a symbolic meaning to the overall narrative and sentiment expressed by Alexie towards
Experience changes one’s outlook on the world. Growing up on an Indian Reservation is a tough thing to do. Everyone is poor, and almost every adult is drunk and unhappy. Junior’s father suffers from alcoholism.
The author and her friends, Judewin and Thowin, alone with other children got excited about an adventure in to a new land. Their excitement was short because of their painful experiences from the white’s ignorance of the Indian culture. When a white women saw her arrived the school, she tossed her up in the air several times. It was insulting for her because of against the Indian culture. Her stay at the school was other painful experience.
D.H Lawrence’s The Rocking Horse Winner and William Golding’s Lord of the Flies view children as easily manipulated figures. D.H. Lawrence’s short story demonstrates how easily children, Paul, can be influenced into believing that money and luck indicate one’s level of happiness. William Golding’s novel tries to show that all children are evil and have savage impulses. A common theme in both of these works is that children create their own downfall and loss of innocence.
Indian society was patriarchal, centered on villages and extended families dominated by males (Connections, Pg. 4). The villages, in which most people lived, were admini...
Adolescence is undoubtedly the hardest time of one’s life and during these years many face an abundance of pressure and want nothing more than to fit in with their peers. In Sherman Alexie’s novel The Absolutely True Diary of a Part – Time Indian, Junior is no exception to this. In addition to the stereotypical teenager issues that everybody faces, he deals with hydrocephalus, speech impediments that result in bullying, and discrimination against his culture. Throughout the novel Junior is constantly conflicted between staying true to his roots by living out reservation life, and breaking the cycle of poverty by doing what few others dare to and leave the reservation. Junior manages to escape from the cycle of “reservation life” due to both
Innocence is usually associated with youth and ignorance. The loss of one’s innocence is associated with the evils of the world. However, the term “innocence” can be interpreted in a variety of ways. Similarly, the loss of one’s innocence can be interpreted in more than one way, and, depending on the interpretation, it may happen numerous times. The loss of innocence is culture specific and involves something that society holds sacrosanct. It is also bounded by different religious beliefs. Still, no matter which culture or religion is at hand, there is always more than one way to lose one’s innocence, and every member of that particular culture or religion experiences a loss of innocence at least once in their lives. In addition, the individual’s loss of innocence will impair him or her emotionally and/or physically.
The loss of innocence is an occurrence that happens in every life, and it is so easily taken. A traumatic moment is often the thief of innocence, leaving the victim scarred from the experience. Events like these are often the process of paving the road into adulthood, and aid in the metamorphosis of a child to an adult. In “My Father’s Noose” by Grace Talusan, “Dothead” by Amit Majmudar, and The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls, each of the characters do not understand the concept of negligent personages. Once the protagonist knows that society is not composed of perfect people, their character and personality changes, as it forces them to take a look at their own morals. This prepares the protagonist for the lives
Abstract In this essay, I intend to explain how everyday lives challenge the construction of childhood as a time of innocence. In the main part of my assignment, I will explain the idea of innocence, which started with Romantic discourse of childhood and how it shaped our view of childhood. I will also look at two contradictory ideas of childhood innocence and guilt in Blake’s poems and extract from Mayhew’s book. Next, I will compare the images of innocence in TV adverts and Barnardo’s posters. After that, I will look at the representation of childhood innocence in sexuality and criminality, and the roles the age and the gender play in portraying children as innocent or guilty. I will include some cross-cultural and contemporary descriptions on the key topics. At the end of my assignment, I will summarize the main points of the arguments.
Although the author presents the English prejudice in the novel in many situations, he also presents the Indian reaction and behavior. The author demonstration of British behavior vs. Indian behavior gives the readers the field of free thinking and association to decide for themselves which side they would favor. It also questions the validity of criticisms that think of this book as a bias novel that offends British people. However, the author does indicate his favoritism towards Indians throughout the novel by presenting them as the weak and helpless characters that do not have any authority in their own country, but they poses scientific and spiritual knowledge that earns them respect among their society.
The Das parents’ negligent relationship with their children in Clear Light of Day mirrors India’s independence from Britain. Before their deaths, Mr. and Mrs. Das were preoccupied and inattentive to their four children, Raja, Tara, Bim, and Baba. They spent most of their time at the club, playing “their daily game of bridge” (Desai 50). This pastime is so important to them that they neglect to take care of their kids. For example, Mrs. Das tires of “washing and powdering” Baba, her mentally disabled baby, and she complains, “My bridge is suffering” (103). Mr. Das also does not focus on his children and “he [goes] through the day without addressing a word to them” (53). Unfortunately, Mr. and Mrs. Das are unable to ever form a loving relationship with their children because they both pass away. After Mrs. Das falls into a...