Rohinton Mistry’s “Such A Long Journey” is the story of turbulent life of Gustad Noble and his family, who lives in Khodadad Building north of Bombay. The story portrays the series of events such as his son Sohrab’s refusal to attend Indian Institution of Technology, hardships faced by his friends and family, political turmoil and chaos caused by the war between India and Pakistan. Gustad transforms from a stubborn, materialistic and awful person to an open-minded and more adaptive to circumstantial changes in his life. Ultimately, Gustad Noble journeys to a greater understanding of his role as a father, friend and citizen of India. In the story, Gustad is shown as a loving and caring father who is passionate about the future of his eldest son, Sohrab. He bears many grievances from past which have limited his possibilities of becoming successful in his life and wishes to fulfill his unaccomplished desires through his son. Sohrab’s intelligence and brilliance at home and school assure his parents that their son is very special and is capable of doing anything in his life. His father starts making predictions that someday his son is going to become an aeronautical engineer, architect or research scientist. In addition, Gustad is glad that his son also shows interest in family tradition of furniture building when he says “it must be in the blood, this love of Carpentry” (Mistry 65). He endures all the hardships and encourages his son to comprehend the idea to study at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT). “And the Indian Institute of Technology became the Promised Land” (Mistry 66) indicates the extent of Gustad’s predetermination and resolution about the future of his son. The attempt made by Gustad to protect and save his s... ... middle of paper ... ...andhi and Shiv Sena. Gustad learns that his friend is a profound thinker “It occurred to Gustad he had been doing his friend a grave injustice all these years, regarding him merely as a joker” (Mistry 74). Gustad plays with sentiments of Dinshawji and motivates his friend to help him in bank deposits as “the worse Gustad felt at having to dupe his sick friend who was now willing to break banking laws and jeopardize his job and pension this close to retirement” (Mistry 144). He blames Dinshawji for his provocative behaviour towards Laurie. He warns Dinshawji that if he doesn’t stop bothering Laurie, he will lose his job and pension but Gustad was more concerned about his deposit. Dinshawji shows great resolve and courage in withdrawing the money five days ahead of schedule, then collapses and dies in hospital. Gustad is apologetic to Dinshawji for exploiting him.
Roy asserts that people’s fears of upsetting the power balance based in the caste system often leads to a blind acceptance of the status quo and a continuous sense of self-deprecation by individuals at the bottom of the hierarchy. When Velutha’s father fears that his son’s affair with a Touchable will have potentially disastrous consequences for him, he serves his own self-interest and is willing to endanger is son. He exposes the affair to the grandmother of the woman his son is having an affair with, revealing the extreme degree to which caste and conforming to societal norms drive the behaviors of individuals in Indian society; “So Vellya Paapen had come to tell Mamamachi himself. As a Paravan and a man with mortgaged body parts he considered it his duty…they had made the unthinkable thinkable and the impossible really happen…Offering to kill his son. To tear him limb from limb” (242). His fear of disrupting the status quo (i.e. the Indian social hierarchy) is so great that he is willing to sacrifice his own son’s life to protect his own. Rather than considering the genuine...
Indulging the plot into the political and social situation of Afghanistan at the time, Hosseini profoundly incorporates a strikingly realistic theme into the novel and expands the outreach of his ideas to the extent that they can be applied to the present-day state of affairs. In A Thousand Splendid Suns, the lives of the women, men, and children presented are derived and driven by the customs and traditions that root from the country’s political and cultural backdrop. Centering the many twists of the story on the political and cultural influences in Afghanistan, Hosseini develops the novel in close parallel to reality and presents a story that motivates to endure and always be optimistic. The influence of the political and cultural backdrop on the novel signifies the harsh reality of life in developing nations that persists even today and presents the hardships that life poses, along with the inequality that accompanies it.
...ind a way to redeem themselves. The relationship between Amir, Hassan and Baba has shown so much neglect and disregard to the fatherly love that Amir and Hassan needed from Baba as it stands in comparison to Amir and Sohrab’s growing relationship. The appreciation of the unselfish actions are demonstrated as they give up their career, life, and pride for the betterment of their sons. The book itself demonstrates the development of the characters as they got more mature to which this bad past they had causes them to reinforce a more effective functioning father and son relationship. A neglect of a father may lead to bad decisions as a father should be there to ensure and reinforce a lesson to his son, acquiring the happiness of the son which is necessary for a fatherly figure.
During the commencing chapters of the novel, Amir's life is fortunate. He lives in an extravagant home, has servants and does not lack prerequisites. However, it becomes apparent that these luxuries do not make his life easier, but only function to make the early years of his life more complex. Amir’s mother deceases of a maternal death, and he appears to have the characteristics of his mother than his father. His father is dismissive and ashamed of Amir. Amir develops a series of relationships with a young servant Hazara named Hassan, Hassan's father Ali and his father's business partner Rahim Khan to make up for his lack of connection to his parent. Nonetheless these interactions fill the void in his life. He becomes somewhat acrimonious and trials his most significant relationship, that with Hassan, often.
The book’s opening chapter focuses on Amir's conversation with Rahim and Amir’s "way to be good again” (Hosseini 1). The reason Amir flies all the way to Pakistan leaving behind his wife and life in America is Rahim Khan. Amir desires to make up for what he did to Hassan, so he answers Rahim's quest to “be good again” (Hosseini 1). This meeting allows Rahim to tell Amir what he must do to make up for his past. Rahim tells him he must put his own life in danger to save Hassan’s son, Sohrab. At first, Amir wants to refuse Rahim Khan’s wish, thinking of his life back home. He also thinks about how Hassan’s life may have been different if Hassan had the same opportunities he had. Then he realizes, “ But how can I pack up and go home when my actions may have cost Hassan a chance at those very same things?” (Hosseini 226). Rahim Khan warns Amir that it cannot be anyone else; Amir must make up for his own sins. Although he knows it's dangerous, Amir agrees to get Hassan’s son for Rahim as his dying wish. Amir believes that saving Sohrab is “A way to end the cycle” (Hosseini 227). Amir’s commitment in the face of danger proves his determination to be better and finally atone for his sins. Amir realizes his mistake and knows he can't change what he’d done. Eventually, with Rahim's help, he begins to see saving Sohrab as a “way to be
Amir is, to be put bluntly, a coward. He is led by his unstable emotions towards what he thinks will plug his emotional holes and steps over his friends and family in the process. When he sought after Baba’s invisible love, Amir allowed Hassan to be raped in an alleyway just so that the blue kite, his trophy that would win his father’s heart, could be left untouched. In the end, he felt empty and unfulfilled with the weight of his conscience on his shoulders comparable to Atlas’ burden. Unable to get over his fruitless betrayal, he lashes out and throws pomegranates at Hassan before stuffing money and a watch under his loyal friend’s pathetic excuse for a bed, framing Hassan for theft and directly causing the departure of both servants from his household. Even after moving to America, finding a loving wife, and creating a career for himself in writing, he still feels hollow when thinking of his childhood in Afghanistan. Many years later, he is alerted of Hassan’s death and sets out on a frenzied chase to find his friend’s orphaned son. He feels that he can somehow ease his regrets from all of those years ago if he takes in Hassan’s son, Sohrab. He finds Sohrab as a child sex slave for Assef, who coincidentally was the one to rape Hassan all of those years ago. After nearly dying in his attempt to take back Sohrab, he learns that he can take the damaged child back to the states with him. Sadly, Hassan’s son is so
Amir begins his life as a meek boy who desperately clambered to earn his father's’ affection. He was a cowardly, selfish, short minded boy who would even stab his childhood friend in the back for a slim chance at bonding with his dad. He was outshone by his best friend, who would stand between the bullies and Amir, and fight Amir’s battles for him. His father noticed this, and told Rahim Khan “A
...ir and Hassan share is unique. They share a bond as brothers, but Amir at times considers them enemies. Their friendship is very diverse because of Amir’s selfishness, jealously, and cowardly actions. From childhood, they boys grew up together. Hassan had always been there for Amir; his first words were even “Amir”. This shows the loyalty that Hassan has for him. Amir is caught in a difficult situation in which he is trying to win his father’s attention, but Baba keeps a secret from the boys which could have totally alter their lives. Because of that and Amir’s cowardly actions the relationship crumbles, but Amir’s true feelings for Hassan come about when he travels back to Afghanistan to save Sohrab. He loved Hassan his whole life; it just took age for Amir to realize that he did.
To start of, the awkward relationship betwixt the protagonist, Amir, and Baba,his father as well as the circumstances
However there are some characters that become better people and change becoming a better, stronger, more loyal individual in the end. The individual that demonstrates this development within this novel is Amir himself. All of the guilt Amir holds with him as a child allow him to realize his duty to be loyal to his brother Hassan ion the end. An example of this is when Amir goes back to Kabul, Afghanistan to retrieve his nephew Sohrab. Amir says, “I remembered Wahid’s boys and… I realized something. I would not leave Afghanistan without finding Sohrab.’ tell me where he is,’ I said” (Hosseini 255). Here, Amir is at the orphanage waiting to find out where Taliban has taken his nephew. Amir remembers the three young starving sons of Wahid, a man whose home he had been in earlier, and realized that Afghanistan is not a safe place for Sohrab. Amir is finally aware of one thing, Hassan has always been there to protect Amir like a loyal friend and brother would and now Amir knows that it is his turn to return that loyalty to Hassan by protecting Hassan’s flesh and blood. A second example of Amir’s loyalty to Hassan near the ending of the book is during Amir’s confrontation with General Sahib and the dinner table after Sohrab is safe in America with him. Amir proclaims to General Sahib, “…That boy sleeping on the couch
Samad and Alsana’s relationship is of a completely different breed. Their marriage is arranged. They meet for the first time on their wedding day and Alsana does not seem to mind. She clearly ...
Salman Rushdie’s novel Midnight’s Children employs strategies which engage in an exploration of History, Nationalism and Hybridity. This essay will examine three passages from the novel which demonstrate these issues. Furthermore, it will explore why each passage is a good demonstration of these issues, how these issues apply to India in the novel, and how the novel critiques these concepts.
Malak, Amin. "The Shahrazadic Tradition: Rohinton Mistry's Such a Long Journey and the Art of Storytelling." Journal of Commonwealth Literature 28.2 (1993): 108-118.
Guilt prompts Amir to go back to Afghanistan and drives Baba to care for Hassan. In the beginning of the book, Amir expresses that “it’s wrong what they say about the past… about how you can bury it. Because the past claws its way out(Hosseini 1).” Amir realizes this when the guilt never goes away from when he ignored Hassan when Hassan needed help. Amir constantly tries to forget about the past and how the rape impacted his relationship with Hassan and Ali. However, even with Amir’s efforts to obliterate the memory of the event, it resurfaces with Rahim Khan’s request to find Sohrab. Initially, Amir is reluctant to go to Kabul to look for Sohrab, but he remembers Rahim Khan saying, “There is a way to be good again(Hosseini 226).” Desperate for the chance to redeem himself, Amir returns to Kabul with the intention of transporting Sohrab to a better place. Amir understands that the only way for him to stop feeling guilty about the winter of 1975 is that he finds Sohrab and verifies that he lives a more secure life. In Baba’s case, he was able to care for Hassan as an uncle and the guilt he has inclined him to help others by building an orphanage. Also, with Ali’s permission, Baba is able to “[hire] Dr. Kumar to fix Hassan’s harelip(Hosseini 225)” and give Hassan birthday presents to show his affection. Caring for Hassan helps Baba get rid of the guilt he feels from the affair. Even though Baba could only show his love as a friend and not as a father, he embraces the opportunity with open arms. The guilt that both Amir and Baba experiences motivate them to do whatever they can to make up for their
...shown through Lenny’s point of view. Prior the partition, Lahore was a place of tolerance that enjoyed a secular state. Tension before the partition suggested the division of India was imminent, and that this would result in a religious. 1947 is a year marked by human convulsion, as 1 million people are reported dead because of the partition. Moreover, the children of Lahore elucidate the silences Butalia seeks in her novel. The silence of survivors is rooted to the nature of the partition itself; there is no clear distinction as to who were the antagonists. The distinction is ambiguous, the victims were Sikhs, Hindus, and Muslims, and moreover these groups were the aggressors, the violent. The minority in this communal violence amongst these groups was the one out-numbered. This epiphany of blame is embarked in silence, and roots from the embodiment of violence.