UNIT -1

The Literary Heritage: An Anthology of Indian English Prose Ed, Masih& Singh, Motilal Banarsidass

1. H.KABIR : The Unity of Indian Culture

1.1              Introduction:  

The contribution of Pre - independence period political leader - writers to the field of Indian writing in English is immense. Some of the leader - writers multidimensional and multilingual personalities. Sometimes even it is difficult to draw an exact line of demarcation in their commitments. For instance, in the first phase of Indo - Anglican literary history writers like Sarojini Naidu, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, M.K.Gandhi and B. R.Ambedkar are great writers as well as great socio - political and socio - cultural activists. Similarly in the second phase of Indian literary history, Muslim writers like K.A Abbas, Ahmed Ali, and Humayun Kabir had their own political charms.

Humayun Kabir was a famous poet, novelist, essayist and renowned political thinker. He was a cabinet minister for scientific research and cultural affairs during Nehru's Prime Ministership. An Oxford product, he had the proud privilege of being elected president of the Oxford University Student’s Union.

      The theme of "The Unity of Indian culture”:

The present piece is an adapted version of Humayun Kabir’s lecture delivered in Baroda University. The lecture focuses on the glorious past of India’s culture and its rich heritage. It precisely reflects Kabir’s love and faith in the greatness of his motherland.

      The Golden Heritage of India:

Till recently Aryans were regarded as the earliest invaders of the land. It was thought that they came to a country which was uncivilized and barbarian but modern research has proved that there were invaders even before the Aryans poured into this land. They had evolved civilization higher than that of the Aryans hordes who came in their wake.

Theses pre - Aryans had displaced still earlier people and built up new civilization which has astonished modern Scholars by its extent and depth. The Aryan invasion repeated the process and led to fresh infusion of the old with the new. This continued with the successive inroads of fighting races which came to conquer but remained to lose them in the Indian racial cauldron.

The Greek invaders were followed by Sakas and Huns and a hundred other nameless tribes .They all appeared on the scene as victors but was soon absorbed in the ranks of the vanquished. Today whatever is Indians whether it is an idea, a word, a form of art, a political institution or a social custom is a blend of many different strains and elements.

In spite of this derivation from many sources and the consequent variety of forms and types, we find remarkable unity of spirit informing Indian culture throughout the ages. In fact it is this underlying unity which is one of the most remarkable features of Indian culture. In volume and duration no civilization can bear comparison with the civilization of India.

The area of the land, the number of the people, the variety of the races and the length of the India's history are hardly repeated elsewhere. The vitality of Indian culture is equally amazing. In spite of a thousand vicissitudes, it has survived to the modern day. This has been possible only on account of a sense of Indianness which imposed unity on all diversity and wove into one fabric of national life the many strands of different texture, colour and quality which have entered here.

The antique world threw up fine flowers of culture in many lands, with the exemption of India and China; they are all dead and gone. It is only in India and to some extent in China that the old civilization and culture have grown-up and altered but never grown or changed at the expense of a fundamental unity. This has been possible only through the capacity of readjustment exhibited by the Indian society.

One ground of this adjustment is found in the spirit of toleration that has characterized Indian history throughout the ages, "Live and let live has been the strategy of the Indians in all spheres of life. At times this has been approved so far that contrary, if not opposing, attitudes have been permitted to stay alive concurrently. Toleration had led to the sufferance of evil and even to indifference to the values of life. This, however, is at worst the defect of a virtue. Such toleration is perhaps preferable to the fanatic devotion which leads to the denial and persecution of all other values but its own.

Throughout the changes of Indian history we therefore find a spirit of underlying unity which informs the diverse expressions of its life. But the unity was never a dead uniformity. A living unity never is. Harmony and universality must fit in to any culture that is true and very important. Now, culture is an idea which cannot be just or unitarily defined.

There is no single character or mark which can be regarded as the core or characteristic attribute of culture. It is always a complex of many strands of changeable significance and vitality. If we attempt to differentiate between culture and civilisation, we might say that civilisation is the organisation of life which makes civil society possible.

On the other hand, culture is the secondary of such organisation and expresses itself through language and art, through attitude and religious conviction, through communal habits and traditions and through political institutions and economic organization. Not one of them is separately civilization, but communally they comprise the expression of life which we explain as culture. Culture is the efflorescence of civilisation.  

Civilisation is the organisation of society which creates the condition of culture. There can, hence, be no culture without civilisation, but there may be civilisations which have not yet improved their culture. Perhaps what is more often the case is that there are civilised people among whom only a small section has achieved culture. We have therefore had and still have races and nations that are civilised; but except for India, we have not yet had any nation or race that could be regarded as cultured in all its sections and classes, for here in India, culture is almost as extensive as civilisation itself.

The experience of European countries gives us cases of civilisation without culture. In India, on the other hand, even the casual tourist has observed that the difference between the masses and classes is not one of quality and can be explained in terms of information and opportunity. It is often otherwise in Europe. There the difference in quality between the masses and the classes is at times so great that it has shaken the faith of the most fervent of democrats.

The remarkable occurrence can be explained only in terms of the union and permanence of Indian culture. Unity is in one sense, the common characteristics of all culture. What specially distinguishes the culture of India Unbroken continuity.. Here, there have been no violent or sudden breaks, on the contrary, a steady growth and expansion of culture which has gradually permeated every class and section of society.

      Conclusion:

The unity and continuity of Indian culture is remarkable. There have been no violent or sudden breaks in the Indian culture. There has been always a steady growth and extension of culture. Indian civilization existed longer because unity in diversity is the main trait of Indian culture. It is based on the principle of live and let live in spheres. This principle means that the different ways of life should be allowed to survive.

2. On With The Work

 Introduction:

Jawaharlal Nehru (1889-1964) an Indian statesman was also a significant writer. He went to Harrow and Cambridge and was well versed with western thought, history, culture and way of life. In the freedom struggle with Gandhi as path-breaker he devoted his life to the cause of nation. Even after Independence in 1947 he went on friendly terms with the British and as the first Prime Minister he joined the Commonwealth nations.

The history of Jawaharlal Nehru's writings and speeches merges his life, and his life likewise merges with the life of the nation-the history of India-during the last forty years. We may approach his Glimpses of World History and The Discovery of India, his Autobiography and his Speeches, merely as a literary student, but we cannot long escape the fascination of the personality of the writer and speaker, nor the force of the currents of the recent Gandhian Age in our national history. A study of Nehru the writer thus becomes by necessary       implication a study also of the man, and of modern India awakening from the stupor of the centuries and taking the first firm steps in the direction of the future. Thus, for anything like a proper assessment of Nehru, one needs critical insight as well as historical training, and even a correct sense of economic and political values.

This extract “On With the Work” is an abridged adaptation of a speech made by Jawaharlal Nehru from the Red Fort on 15th August, 1949. Here he gives a brief outline of the problems facing India and of the foreign policy of the Government and suggest how we can all build the great mansion of a free India. He gave the famous slogan 'Aram Haram Hai'.

The speech given long back is still relevant. The speech was first printed in Jawaharlal Nehru's speeches, 1949-53 published by the Publication Division, Ministry of information and Broadcasting, Govt. Of India.

      Detailed Summary:

Jawaharlal Nehru asked all the people to detach themselves from the problem of the moment and see from a distance, as it were, what is happening in the country, India and in the world. It is right that they forget their little trouble for while and think of the major currents that are flowing in the country.

Nehru insisted that thirty years ago there appeared on the Indian scene a mighty man of destiny who lighted our path. That light illumined our minds and hearts and large numbers of our people, forgetting their own troubles and domestic difficulties, their property and family, responded to this call. It was not for personal gain of any kind. Among these there existed a friendly competition as to who could serve the motherland better and more effectively. Our consuming obsession was the liberation of our country. The star of a free India beckoned us forward. We dreamed of freedom from poverty and distress. We gained our political freedom at last but the other freedom still remains for us to achieve.

Unarmed and peaceful, we faced a proud empire, not looking for aid to any other country and relying only on ourselves. We had faith in our leader, our country and in ourselves. This gave us the strength that sustained us during our struggle for independence.

If we had faith and self-confidence when to outward seeming we were powerless, then surely we are much better off today when we are a free people with the strength of a great country behind us. Why then should our faith and our confidence in ourselves weaken? It is true that we have tremendous economic and other difficulties to face. But we have faced even bigger problems in the past. Why should we not face these in the same way also? We must not let our minds get entangled in petty questions and difficulties and forget the main issues.

We belong to a great country, a country that is great not only physically but in things far more important. If we are to be worth of our country, we must have big minds and big hearts, for small men cannot face big issues or accomplish big tasks. Let each one of us do his duty to his country and to his people and not dwell too much on the duty of others. Some people get into the habit of criticizing other without doing anything themselves Nothing good can come of that type of criticism.

He wants us to think for a moment of the days when we fought the battle of India's freedom without arms and without much by way of resources. We had a great leader who inspired us. We had other leaders, too, but it was the masses of this country that bore the brunt of the struggle. They had faith in their country and their leaders and they relied upon themselves. Today, we have more strength then we ever had. It is, therefore, surprising ms that some people should feel dejected, have no confidence in themselves, and complain all the time.

Let us get back the purposefulness, the enthusiasm, the self-confidence and the faith which moved us at the time of our struggle for freedom. Let us put aside our petty quarrels and fractions and think only of the great objective before us.

A nation's work never ends. Men may come and go, generations may pass but the life of a nation goes on. We must commit to the basic fact that we can attain small unless there is peace in the country, no matter what policy we follow. There are some misguided people who indulge in fighting and try to make disorder. He wonders how anyone with the least intelligence can think in terms of such anti-national activities. Hence, it is the duty of everybody, no matter what his politics, to help in the protection of harmony in the country.

We are not hostile to any country and we do not want to meddle in other people's affiars. Every nation should be free to choose the path it considers best. We do not wish to interfere with the freedom of other nations and we do not want them to interfere with our freedom. We are determined to make every possible effort in the cause of peace, for another world was will spell ruin and we shall not escape the general disaster.

Let us, therefore, learn to study our country's problems in the large Perspective of the world and let us not permit the minor questions of the day to overwhelm us. Nehru claims that he has faith in India and her great destiny. A country must have military strength, but equipped power does not by itself comprise a country's genuine force. Her actual potency lies in the capability of her people for disciplined work. Only hard work can create wealth for us and free us of our scarcity.

Every one of us, man or woman, young or old, must consequently, labor and toil. Relaxation is not for us. We did not win freedom so that we might rest afterwards, but in order to work harder to hold and strengthen that freedom. There is a great difference between the voluntary labour of a free man for an objective of his choice and the drudgery of a save. Our labours as free men and women will lay the foundations for a great future and our love of labour for the cause of India and her people will endure so will the fact that we are building, brick by brick, the great mansion of a free India. There is delight in such work and, even when we have departed, that work will be there for future generations to see. What is very important for us is to carry on before us the portrait of a great India. India is durable and will persist to be there long after we are gone.

      Conclusion:

Jawaharlal Nehru’s speeches had the redeeming grace of sincerity and integrity. His bona fides could never be questioned; nor his sense of commitment that had the colour and intensity of love, Rajaji once remarked that love cannot be demanded, it can only be deserved; to those, shall it be given who deserve it most. It is because Jawaharlal Nehru deserved it that love was given to him in such abundant measure. "The Flute of Krishna"-SO Bal Gangadhar Kher described Jawaharlal the public speaker. And Shankar's Weekly once carried a cartoon showing the Niagara feeling small by the side of Jawaharlal in America, for he had apparently spoken almost without end! A tireless speaker, he was often on his feet for hours.

On one occasion, with sage-like Rajaji (he was then Premier) by his side, Jawaharlal addressed a mammoth gathering on the Madras speech, and the AIR broadcast it in its entirety. I sat before my receiver in far-off Waltair and listened in the quiet of the night. The whole man- leader, fighter, statesman, patriot, the great commoner, the warm-hearted human being—was revealed in that extraordinary speech that went on and on for hours. No doubt the Prime Minister was making a policy speech; but the Prime Minister was also a man; and the man was Jawaharlal. He was talking, but he was also thinking aloud. He was reminiscing, arguing, philosophizing; he was now hitting hard, he was now cracking jokes. It was an unending speech almost, and still when it ended at last, one felt rather sad it was over.

What was the secret of the fascination that Jawaharlal,the speaker exercised on the mass of Indian humanity? No doubt it was because the speaker as Jawaharlal; but an even greater reason was this-his theme India, or India and the World, or humanity's trials and defeats and hopes and achievements. As he faced the multitudes and spoke through the mike, he seemed alternately to shudder and to glow, and he always managed to communicate something of both to the rapt congregations. There was always rapport between him and his audience, and here really was the secret of Jawaharlal Nehru’s success as a speaker.

3. A Golden Deer from the Ramayana 

      Introduction:

The story Golden Deer has been taken from Valmiki's Sanskrit Ramayana, a romantic epic depicting the life and deeds of Lord Rama. The style and language of The Ramayana are less rugged than those of The Mahabharata. The central scene of the epic is of course, Ayodhya, the capital of the old kingdom of Koshala. Other incidents of importance do take place sometimes in the midst of dense forest of Lanka, supposedly the kingdom of the demon king Ravana. The scene of the present story is the dense forest where Rama along with his younger brother Lakshman and Sita lived in banishment. It is the story of the days of exile of Rama.

Maricha plays the most prominent role in kidnapping of Sita by Ravana. Once, demon Sunda  attacked the hermitage of Agasthya Rishi. The annoyed sage burnt him by his contemplative powers. On Sunda’s death, his wife Yaksha Thataka and his sons Mareecha and Subahu attacked Agastya. The sage cursed them to turn into demons.

      Vishwamitra’s Yajna:

Sage Vishwamitra was performing a forfeit. He was besieged by Tataka and her sons. Visvamitra met Dasaratha, the king of Ayodhya, and pleaded him to send his eldest son, Rama to guard his forfeit. Although with unwillingness, Dasaratha sent 13-year old Rama and his younger brother Lakshmana with Visvamitra. Next to the forest of Tataka, the demoness attacked them. Rama, helped by Lakshamana, slew her with his arrow.

Vishvamitra reached his ashram and started his forfeit. On the sixth day, Maricha and his brother Subahu, appeared and attempted to demolish the sacrificial fire. Rama fired his arrow and Maricha was thrown hundred leagues away. The forfeit was finished productively. Under the leadership of Visvamitra, Rama wed Sita, the adopted daughter of Janaka and the princess of Mithila.

      Maricha fight with Rama in Dandakaranya:

Later, Dasaratha directed Rama for an exile in forest for 14 years, at the request of Rama's step mother Kaikeyi. Rama proceeded to forest. Lakshmana and Sita followed him. The trio travelled through the Dandaka forest to the banks of the river Godavari, where they built a hermitage at Panchavati. On one occasion, Maricha saw them and attacked them to cause revenge. Rama murdered Maricha's allies, but his arrow hardly missed Maricha, who ran away.

Surpanakha, the sister of Ravana, pleaded Rama to get married her. Rama hesitated and left her to Lakshmana. Lakshmana ridiculed her. Surpanakha attacked Sita. Lakshmana cut out her ears and nose. Surpanakha went to Lanka and provoked Ravana to take Sita. Ravana met his uncle, Maricha. He asked Maricha to turn into a golden deer with silver spots and crop close to Rama's ashram.

On watching the deer, Sita would certainly tell Rama and Lakshamana to take it. When they would depart Sita alone, Ravana would kidnap her. Rama became upset by Sita's partition, would be easily destroyed by Ravana. Maricha appreciated the great character of Rama and asked Ravana not to get into a clash with Rama. Ravana was not pleased with his uncle Maricha and required his plan to be implemented. Ravana warned him that he would kill Maricha if he could not fulfill his plan and lastly Maricha approved.

      Maricha’s disguise as Golden Deer:

Maricha and Ravana went to Panchavati. Maricha assumed the form of a beautiful golden deer with silver spots. It appeared in the surrounding area of Rama's ashram. Sita was gathering flowers. The golden deer attracted Sita, who called Rama and Lakshmana to see it. Lakshmana doubted that it might be a foul play and suggested that the deer was Maricha. Sita convinced Rama to get her the deer.

Sita told Ram if the golden deer were caught alive, she would take it back to Ayodhya as a pet and if dead, they would rule the kingdom sitting on its golden hide. The graceful creature with his golden skin, his horns set with precious gems, shining like the rising sun, captivated Rama himself. He yielded to Sita's wish and made ready to capture the creature alive. Before he left, he asked his worried brother to guard the hermitage against any unsuspected danger nor leave it for a moment until he returned from the hunt.

Bearing his bow in his hand, Rama ran in the direction of the matchless deer and saw his golden prey in all his beauty, close to him. Fixing his eyes on the woodland creature as he fled into the forest, he saw him sometimes taking a single leap, and then, in order to lure him on, allowing him to draw closer Timid and fearful, the deer would leap into the air, at times in full view, and then disappear into the depth of the forest.

Rama finally stopped to rest in a shadow, ready to give up the fruitless chase. Suddenly, in a clearing within his arrow's reach, he saw the golden deer move slowly, feeding on the grass. He raised his bow and drew out a death-dealing arrow more brilliant than the sun's rays, placing it firmly on bow, he let fly that arrow which resembled a fiery serpent. It pierced the heart of the deer and the quivering creature fell, mortally wounded.

Maricha turned into his real form and shouted mimicking Rama's voice "Oh Sita! Oh Lakshmana!”  Sita pleaded Lakshmana to search for Rama. Lakshmana told her that no one could harm Rama. Worried Sita compelled Lakshmana to go. Lakshmana unwillingly left. Right away, Ravana came there as a sage. Sita came forward to give him some food and he kidnapped her.

      Conclusion:

Maricha is an important character in Ramayana, who turned the story by helping Ravana to kidnap Sita and so began Ram’s fight for truth, justice and his beloved wife. It is not easy to dismiss the glitter of worldly attractions. It was the dazzle of the golden deer in the vicinity of their hermitage that tempted Sita’s desire and she wished to possess it at all costs. This became the root cause of the chain of action that brought the end of Ravana. But Sita had to face much trauma before that could happen. Rama willed himself to be attracted by the golden deer though aware of the impossibility of a golden deer. So Rama yields to Sita’s pleas and Maricha leads him to a sufficient distance and dissembling Rama’s voice, calls out to Sita and Lakshmana. Sita speaks harsh words to Lakshmana to send him away and is then abducted by Ravana.

4. The Monkeys paw:

      Introduction:

William Waymark Jacob was born in Wapping, East London, in 1863. His father was a warf manager and the boy grew up among the Longshoremen and other dockland characters who were to figure so prominently in his short stories. In 1883 he entered the Savings Bank Department of the Civil Service, where he remained as a clerk until 1899.

Long before then he had begun to make his mark as a humorous writer under the wing of Jerome K. Jerome in the pages of The Idler and Today and Later in the Strand Magazine. Many Cargoes, his first volume of short stories, was published in 1896, but it was not until the publication of his third book, three years later, that Jacob decided to adopt writing as a profession and success followed successes as he published, more than twenty volumes, most of them collection of short stories, until his death in 1943.

The humour of W. W. Jacob is in the masculine English tradition which immortalized the comic characters of Shakespeare, Dickens and the Grossmiths. Almost all his short stories are concerned with the warf life he knew so well in the London of four-wheelers, music halls, magic lantern shows and Three penny beer in the Mile End Road, night watchman had a fund of tales about the adventure of Sam small, Ginger Dick, and Peter Russet, who generally share a room in a seamen's Lodging house when they come ashore with pockets full of money.

W. W. Jacobs' short story "The Monkey's Paw" brightly describes the elderly saying, "Be careful what you wish for." It shows common Mr. White with a magical item and allows his own character traits (curiosity, the desire to be free of debt) to destroy him. The monkey's paw grants his wishes, but never the way he envisioned.

The monkey's paw itself is a sign of destiny. It's said that the Indian holy man who enchanted the monkey's paw intended the artifact to teach people a lesson about fate: that those who interfere with fate will suffer the consequences. All three of the paw's owners end up regretting their wishes.

In his time, Jacobs was primarily known as the author of several humorous novels. That sense of humor leaks through in "The Monkey's Paw," which makes use of what's now called black humor or gallows humor. One example of this is Mrs. White's pleading for additional hands—a potentially ghastly appeal, in retrospect.

      Summary:

Part I opens on a dark and stormy night as the three members of the White family relax inside their cozy house. While Mrs. White knits near the fire, Herbert White and his father are playing a game of chess. After that, Mr. White grumbles about the dreadful weather and nearly abandoned road they live near.

Sergeant-Major Morris, a family friend, came for a visit. In excess of whisky, he narrates stories of his exploits in a foreign country. Mr. White shows attention in going to India, but the sergeant-major says he would be better off being at home. At Mr. And Mrs. Whites’ influence, Sergeant-Major Morris takes a little, mummified paw out of his pocket. He describes that a fakir placed a magic charm on the paw to prove that people’s lives are governed by fate and that it is hazardous to interfere with fate.

Along with the sergeant-major, three men can desire on the paw three times each. The sergeant-major himself has previously had his three wishes, as has another man, who used his third wish to ask for death. The sergeant-major has considered advertising the paw, but he doesn’t want it to cause any more problem than it previously has. Furthermore, no one will buy the paw without first seeing evidence of its consequence.

The sergeant-major throws the paw into the fire, and Mr. White rapidly saves it. The sergeant-major warns him three times to put down the paw alone, but he finally describes how to make a desire on the paw.

Mrs. White says the story reminds her of the Arabian Nights and teasingly suggests that her husband wish her a pair of extra hands to help her with all her work. The sergeant-major doesn’t find this joke funny, on the other hand, and urges Mr. White to use common sense if he insists on wishing. Later than dinner and more tales of India, the sergeant-major departs.

Herbert says that he thinks the sergeant-major is full of senseless and comments that his father should make himself an monarch so that he doesn’t have to listen to Mrs. White’s niggling. In ridicule anger, Mrs. White humorously chases her son. Mr.White says he has the whole thing he wants and isn’t certain what to wish for. Herbert says that two hundred pounds would allow them to pay off the money owed for the house.

Mr. White desires aloud for two hundred pounds as Herbert accompanies him with overdramatic chords played on the piano. Mr. White abruptly cries out and says that the paw moved like a snake in his hand. After Mr. And Mrs. White go to bed, Herbert sits by the fire and sees a vividly realistic monkey face in the flames. He puts out the fire, takes the monkey’s paw, and goes to bed.

Part II starts on the next morning, a sunlit winter day. The room seems joyful and usual in difference to the preceding evening’s depressing impression and the mummified paw now looks harmless. Mrs. White jokes on how ludicrous the sergeant-major’s story was but remarks that two hundred pounds couldn’t do any harm. They could, Herbert comments, if the money fell out of the sky onto his father’s head. Mr. White answers that people often mistake concurrence for decided wishes. Herbert then went for work.

Later on that day, Mrs. White notices a stranger outside dressed in pleasant clothes. The stranger undecidedly approaches their gate three times before opening it and coming up to the door. Mrs. White allows him in. He anxiously informs that he is a ambassador of Maw and Meggins, Herbert’s employer. Mrs. White enquires whether Herbert is all right, and the delegate reports that he is hurt, but in no pain. For a moment, Mrs. White feels reassured, until she understands that Herbert feels no pain as he’s dead.

The delegate reports that Herbert was “caught in the machinery.” After a silence, Mr. White says that Herbert was the only child they had left. Uncomfortable, the spokesperson stresses that he is just obeying Maw and Meggins’s orders. He describes that the company will not take any accountability for the death but will pay the Whites two hundred pounds. Mrs. White shrieks, and Mr. White became unconcious.

In Part III, the Whites bury Herbert. So many days passed and the couple experiences exhausting. A week after the burial, Mr. White wakes up and listens his wife crying by the window. He quietly forces her to come back to bed, but she hesitates. He dozes off again until Mrs. White rapidly cries out that she wants the monkey’s paw. In hysteria, she asks him to go downstairs and wish Herbert back to life.

Mr. White opposes and explains her that Herbert’s death and the two hundred pounds they had got had nothing to do with his desire the preceding night. Mr. White says that he didn’t want to tell her before, but Herbert was so mangled that he had to identify the body by looking at the clothes. Mrs. White doesn’t listen, however, and continues to stress on wishing Herbert back to life with the monkey’s paw.

Mr. White retrieves the paw from its place downstairs. Mrs. White compels him to make the wish two more times until he lastly complies. He makes the wish, and as they wait, the candle goes out. They hear the clock, the creak of a stair, and the sound of a mouse. Finally Mr. White reaches downstairs. His match goes out, and before he can hit another, he hears a knock at the door.

Another knock sounds, and Mr. White dashes upstairs. Mrs. White hears the third knock and says it’s Herbert. She feels that he hadn’t returned right after the wish had been made as he’d had to walk two miles from the graveyard to their house.

Mr. White requests her not to open the door, but she feels free and runs down the stairs. As she struggles to reach the bolt, the knocking becomes more persistent. Mr. White searches anxiously for the paw, which had dropped to the floor. As Mrs. White pulls back the bolt, Mr. White finds the paw and makes a final wish. The knocking stops, and Mrs. White cries out. Mr. White dashes below and sees that beyond the door, the street is empty.

      Conclusion:

W. W. Jacob was well known during his lifetime for his light, humorous novels and stories about England’s dockyards but is now remembered only for “The Monkey’s Paw.” Although this story exhibits traces of Jacobs’s characteristic humor and insight into the prosaic lives of his subjects, it seems to have been rejected by The Strand, which regularly published his work. Whatever that magazine’s reservations about its unpleasant content, it is recognized today as one of the best supernatural stories ever written and is frequently anthologized.

“The Monkey’s Paw” is effectual not only for what Jacobs does but for what he refrains from doing. A master of inexpensive, inconspicuous prose, he sets a comfortable scene—a chess game in front of a fire, a chilly and stormy night outside—in a few strokes. Only afterward does one realize how intimately the rest of the story recapitulates the rudiments of this first short scene, as the Whites make their moves in a critical and fatal game while the forces of darkness swirl just beyond the contented sphere of their lives.

Alongside Jacobs’s quietly funny touches are macabre illustrations of what since has come to be known as black humor. One such moment occurs when the sergeant-major panics at Mrs. White’s suggestion that she be given extra hands—a wish that the reader later realizes might have had a grotesque fulfillment. Another such moment occurs immediately after Mr. White’s first wish, as his son, having set up the situation, tries to relieve the ensuing tension: “Well, I don’t see the money, and I bet I never shall.” These words turn out to be literally and bitterly accurate.

Jacobs brought to notice that the paw into the story through a device familiar from myths—the outline of the traveler who has came back from far-away and alien lands with a odd story to narrate. He also uses the number three, a number traditionally associated with mystery in superstition and folklore. As part of his curse, the holy man has specified that three men shall have three wishes each, as if to intensify the number’s troubling power.

In addition, there are three visitors to the Whites’ home: Morris, the man from the factory, and the final visitor.“The Monkey’s Paw” is most effective for what Jacobs leaves unsaid and accomplishes offstage. Nothing is known of the first man to utilize the paw, except that his third wish was for death. Morris admits that he, too, made three wishes, and his grim manner implies that he regrets his choices, but the details are never explained.

The reader learns what the Whites wish for but never witnesses the gruesome results. A diffident lawyer for the factory brings news of Herbert’s death, but Herbert’s condition is only implied by Mr. White’s reluctant admission that he could only recognize him by his clothing. Of the condition of the being—several days dead—that knocks at the Whites’ door, the reader can only guess. In each case, Jacobs leaves the reader to imagine something much worse than he can effectively describe.

5. The Purloined Letter:

Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849) was the son of actors, and was born at Boston in United States of America. He went to University of Virginia and later become a journalist, finally moving to become an editor. His achievements as a writer of tales are significant to the art of story writing. The sense of horror and surprise is unique to his tales. His play with the idea of death makes his stories wonderful and special.

Edgar Allan Poe frequently gets the praise for inventing the detective story. Even though some previous candidates have been anticipated – such as E. T. A. Hoffmann’s ‘Das Fräulein von Scuderi’ (1819), and ‘The Secret Cell’ (1837), written by Poe’s own publisher, William Evans Burton – it was Poe who actually showed what could be done with the detective story form.

‘The Purloined Letter’ (1844) is one of three ground-breaking stories written by Poe featuring C. Auguste Dupin, his recreational sleuth without whom the world would never have had Sherlock Holmes or, one suspects, practically any other fictional detective.

This story, like "The Murders in the Rue-Morgue," concerns Dupin, and the phase of time that the storyteller of "The Purloined Letter" tired with him in Paris. One sunset, the Prefect of the police calls at their apartment. The pair invites him in. The storyteller admits the Prefect is as amusing as he is frustrating.

They glow a candle but when the Prefect describes that he comes on official business and needs assist with a case, Dupin extinguishes the light. It’s another of his fancies that good thinking is better done in the dim. The Prefect explains that, while the case he comes to them about is very simple, it is also very strange, that is why it might interest Dupin.

In fact the case is so easy that its confrontation to answer has the police very perplexed. Dupin suggests that its very ease might be what’s causing their difficulty. The Prefect finds this thought very funny. When he stops smiling he accepts to tell them the circumstances, if they swear confidentiality. He goes on to give details that an important text has been “purloined” from the majestic apartments.

The Prefect then cryptically suggests that he finds out that the person who stole the letter still has it, On account of a sure need of fallout that would absolutely occur had the letter approved out of the robber’s hands. The letter, he says, has the authority to bring disgrace to a definite person of high respect and give the person with the letter great power.

The Prefect reveals that the thief is a Minister, who snuck into the regal bedroom and accosted the majestic lady and seeing the contents of the letter, blackmailed her. He then stole the letter, in her full view, and replaced it with his own model document. Dupin notes that since the noble lady is conscious of the robbery it gives the robber power over her. The Prefect confirms that the robber has been using this power. Helpless, the lady has come to the Prefect distressed for help.

The perfect describes what has been done so far in the examination, and Dupin comments on the police’s customary thorough investigations. The prefect says it was essential to search the Minister’s apartment, and this could be quite suitably done on account of the Minister’s recurrent absence at night, and as the prefect is in control of a master set of keys for the city’s properties. He has consequently been occupied in this search for three months, refusing to give up – an attractive reward awaits the finder of the letter.

The storyteller of "The Purloined Letter" states that it might be probable for the letter to be concealed somewhere other than the Minister’s apartment but the prefect is certain that it is not, as the letter holder’s authority depends on being able to destroy it at a moment’s notice. The storyteller assumes that the minister is not carrying it with him, and the prefect admits that the police have previously stopped and searched him.

Dupin thinks they should have known that the Minister would be too intelligent not to expect to be stopped and searched. The prefect says that although the minister is not a fool, he is a poet, which is a related thing. Dupin admits that he too is a speck of a poet.

The prefect describes his method of examination, how he looked over each inch of the apartment building. He knows very well how to expose “secret” spaces, like parts of drawers blocked off, and chair legs that have been hallowed and distended with padding so that the wood seems to have the similar solidity. They learned every step in the hotel with a microscope to discover any clue of dust, and then the bedcovers and every item of furniture, and then examined closely the walls and surfaces of the house in the same way. They did this not just to the minister’s building but to the two adjacent buildings too, and the cemented grounds.

The narrator of "The Purloined Letter" is surprised, but the prefect again remembers him of the big prize. The storyteller asks if he checked every single document in the minister’s library, and the prefect assures him that they did, and not only that, they checked between every single page of every volume. When the prefect is done with his exhaustive list of investigated areas, the narrator thinks that it must track that the letter is not after all within the apartment. The prefect agrees. He now asks Dupin for advice but all Dupin can say is to search the apartment again. He asks if the prefect has a depiction of the letter itself, and the prefect excitedly gives one in minute detail from a notebook. He then leaves, feeling at a loss about the entire case.

The prefect  returns the following month and, when enquired about the following month about the purloined letter, is dissatisfied to confess no advance improvements. He made another methodical search but found nothing. Dupin enquires how much the remuneration is and the prefect replies that he will pay in person fifty thousand francs to anybody who can bring him the letter. Dupin suggests that there are still advance avenues of examination to go down, and denotes a man called Abernathy, a physician, who, when enquired by a miser what to take for a theoretical situation, told him to “take advice”.

The prefect disregards Dupin’s story but states that he is serious about the reward. Dupin then peacefully asks the prefect to sign him a check, and when he has it, he will give away the letter. The story teller of "The Purloined Letter" and the prefect are in surprise at this twist of events. The prefect gives the check for fifty thousand francs, and Dupin, true to his word, produces the letter. The prefect is delighted and went off immediately.

Dupin then describes himself to the story teller of "The Purloined Letter". He states that he had confidence that the police would do a totally careful search of the apartment as far as their methods permissible. But this method is not suitable to the illegal in query – the prefect has been both too low and too deep in his investigation. Dupin gives an illustration to exemplify his point. He remembers the speaker of a schoolboy game, where one boy hides marbles in his hand, and the other must estimate whether it is an even or odd number of marbles.

Dubin was familiar with a boy who was a master of this game since he knew how to forecast the other boys’ performance according to their intelligence. The boy stated that he mimicked the other boy’s appearance and in doing so, establish a usual kind of understanding for the boy’s view and intentions. Dupin compares the schoolboy to well-known thinkers like Machiavelli.

So, the accurateness of the presumption belongs on the correctness with which the adversary is judged. Dupin says that the police only think about what they would have done in the circumstances, where they would have concealed the letter, and this is only precise of a kind of standard, Prefect-like cleverness and not of the more strange kind of the Minister. Their problem is they never regulate their approach; they only overstress it, as they did by probing the house over again. By assuming that the letter can be found by something as basic as searching, they are completely disregarding the acumen of the illegal.

The prefect’s short sightedness is also down to his insight of the Minister as a fool, since he is a poet. All fools are poets, says Dupin, but it does not essentially follow that all poets are fools. The storyteller reminds that the minister is a famous mathematician and surprises if Dupin has misreported the title of poet, but Dupin claims he knows the man well, and he is both mathematician and poet. If he were only a mathematician, he wouldn’t have been able to reason so well, says Dupin. 

The storyteller of "The Purloined Letter" thinks this is an odd theory. It is totally opposing to admired view about mathematics. But Dupin responds with a French expression about how unimportant an idea’s fame is.

Dupin describes that he finds fault with forms of thinking that are not theoretically rational. He thinks math is only concerned with shapes and quantities, which are truths of the relation of one thing to another, rather than the true quality of things. In a book called ‘Mythology’, the author analyses the occurrence where myths are remembered and referred to as if they are genuine. And the mathematician does this with the does this with the theories and equations he holds true, and will pay attention to no other mode of thinking. Theories and equations he holds true, and will pay attention to no other mode of thinking.

Dupin comes back to the Minister. He knows that, since the minister has deceived the Prefect, he has the capabilities of a poet as well as a mathematician, and comprehended all that the police were expected to do in reply to his crime. Dupin considers that his absences from the apartment were purposeful, and that he knew the prefect’s train of thinking and knew to keep away from any kind of cover up of the letter.

Dupin remembers the speaker of "The Purloined Letter" what he reported to the prefect when he visited, about the puzzle being too self-evident. He considers that the material world and the figurative world are powerfully associated. He uses two illustrations. The first is the principle of inactivity being the equivalent in physics and metaphysics.

The second is a game where one player asks another player to find a name on a map, and the intelligent player will select an overarching county name or some other wide expression that is extended across the map or located high up on a sign. Most people anticipate that the many- lettered, or incomprehensible names will be most hard to discover, but it is often the simplest answer that can be unnoticed, just like the case of the purloined letter.

The further Dupin considered the intelligence of the Minister, the more he thought that the most excellent way he could create of concealing the object beyond the scope of the prefect’s common search, but also to remain it handy so he could demolish it at a moment’s discern, was to not hide it at all. With this thought, Dupin says that he went to the Minister’s apartment himself, and executed his own investigation.

Dupin commented that if you saw the Minister at home, you’d think him one of the idle men in the world, in spite of his status for being active. Dupin, wearing dark glasses so that he could look liberally about the apartment, looked for the documents deceitful about, and then observed a card rack, with some letters in, one of which was very wrinkled and used, with the Minister’s seal on it.

Dupin came to know that this was the well-known letter, although it varied so completely from the one the Prefect outlined. In reality, it looked so much like a purposeful trick to misinform, that Dupin knew surely that the Minister had twisted it to fool the police, whose methods he knew to be both low and meticulous enough to ignore such a sign. Dupin stayed for a long time acting to be engaged in discussion, and saw that the letter’s ends were chafed – he could tell that the letter had been twisted inside out, and resealed.

Dupin intentionally left a gold snuff box on the Minister’s table so that he could come back to get back it the next day. During this second meet, their discussion is episodic by the sound of a gunshot and terrified voices, which certainly draws the Minister to the window. Dupin takes his chance to take the letter and put back it with an imitation he had equipped. He describes that he had planted the gunman outside to make an interruption for just this reason.

The speaker of "The Purloined Letter" is uncertain why Dupin replaced the letter, rather than just theft it. Dupin describes that the Minister is a brave man with a lot of help around him, so he may have murdered him if he well-read the truth. Also, Dupin is keen to get vengeance for the noble lady, by transferring the political power to her – this can only be done if the Minister is uninformed that he no longer has it. Dupin remarks that it’s a well-liked view to think that it is simple to fall into ethical ruin, but he has no sympathy for the fallen.

Dupin is, however, interested to know how the Minister will respond to the substitute letter, which he filled with a communication. He describes now that the minister once personally wronged him and he had warned him at the time that he would remember it. So, wanting to give the minister a sign as to his identity, he wrote a single saying on the letter, “Un dessein si funeste, S'il n'est digne d'Atree, est digne de Thyeste,” which translates to “So baneful a scheme, if not worthy of Atreus, is worthy of Thyestes.” This is from a story by Crebillon about a pair of brothers, who both mistaken each other.

      Conclusion:

"The Purloined letter" considers a luminous mind at work. In it Dupin masterfully succeeds in restoring the stolen letter to its owner. At first fleeting look, the story line appears simple, but it is full of adventure. It shows Poe's cleverness in story writing and moving rationally to attain the target.

      Main References: chapter :1

1. Dipankar Dutta, Humayun Kabir: A Political Biography, (Bombay: Asia Publishing House, 1969).

2. Uma Parmeswaran: A Study of Representative lndo-English Novelists.

3.  Humayun Kabir: The Indian Heritage.

4. Ed.Prasad, Masih& Singh, Motilal Banarsidass: The Literary Heritage: A New Anthology of                                                                        Indian English Prose.

      Main References: Chapter :2

1. Ed.Prasad, Masih& Singh, Motilal Banarsidass: The Literary Heritage: A New Anthology of                                                                        Indian English Pāṇḍuraṅgārāva Prose.

2. K.R. Srinivasa Iyengar: Indian writing in English

  Main References: Chapter :3

1. Valmiki: Makers of Indian Literature. Sahitya Akademi. p. 72. ISBN 

      Main References:Chapter:4

1. Ed.Prasad, Masih& Singh, Motilal Banarsidass: The Literary Heritage: A New Anthology of                                                                        Indian English Prose.

2. Koger, Grove. "The Monkey's Paw." Master plots II: Short Story Series, Revised Edition (January 2004).

Main References: Chapter: 5

1. Muller, John P.; Richardson, William J. (1988). The Purloined Poe: Lacan, Derrida, and Psychoanalytic Reading. ISBN 978-0801832932.

2. The Purloined Poe, ed. John P. Muller and William J. Richardson. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1988