class notes and summary English literature, grade 12 rhapsody and prism ISC
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Module
English Literature
Institution
in depth knowledge of prose and poetry , Atithi/Guest by Rabindranath Tagore , The Cookie Lady by Philip K. Dick, There Will Come Soft Rains by Ray Bradbury, Indigo by Satyajit Ray, Telephone Conversation by Wole Soyinka, Tithonus by Alfred Lord Tennyson, Beethoven bye Shane Koyczan. Summary of all...
In his short story, “Atithi”-The Guest, Tagore in his inexplicable (which cannot
be explained) poetic manner portrays the character of the protagonist
Tarapada, a boy of around fifteen years of age. Tarapada has been constantly
intrigued by the beauty and bounty of nature. In fact it can be said that he
himself becomes one and unified with nature. He is in constant pursuit of
knowledge with undaunted zeal to learn and explore the world and his lust
for wander compels him to repeatedly run away from home leaving his family
in despair. The group of acrobats that he initially joins fails to quench his thirst
for knowing the unknown. So he moves on.
One day he comes across the zamindar of Kathaliya village. His natural
virtuousness, innocence and spontaneity attract the zamindar and his wife.
His pleasant voice and charming presence casts a sweet spell on everyone
except their envious daughter Charusashi who fails to endure Tarapada out of
sheer jealousy. Charu is found to hover between feelings of love and hatred,
possessiveness and gentle behaviour. Tarapada settles with the Zamindar
family in their village for two years and wins the hearts of the villagers by his
charisma, empathy and perspective taking towards others. Charushashi's
erratic tantrums enchant Tarapada. Love starts to bloom spreading its shy
petals. Zamindar Motilalbabu fixes Charu's marriage with Tarapada. But, the
day before the wedding night the call of clouds ushering in intoxicating
fragrance of the first monsoon rain fills nature. Ever restless Tarapada,
breaking all the shackles of security, comfort and attachment disappears
again with an opera band. Endowed with the spirit of self-actualization and
often transcendental (divine), Tarapada somewhere also appears to be a
narcissist engrossed in his own self.
The living self has one purpose only:
To come into its own fullest of being,
As a tree comes into full blossom, or a bird into spring beauty, or a tiger into
lustre.
D. H. Lawrence :-
,“Atithi” is an astonishing narrative of the eternal journey of a human soul
resting at a while and taking a stride to the road at the next probable
opportunity –a deep sensitive thought of Rabindranath Tagore characterizing
the polarity of life and death.
Themes:
Unconventionality and restlessness
In his short story, Atithi (Guest), Tagore spins the thread of the narrative
centring on the restlessness of a teenage boy, Tarapada, who never wants to
settle down in any place. Tarapada, signifies life. Steeped heavily in Maslow‟s
conceptualization of Self-actualization, he possesses a character, very unusual,
as compared to his other age mates. Tagore‟s pen picture of Tarapada reveals
marked simplicity and naturalness endowed with lack of artificiality. His
unconventionality is not external but essential, internal and spontaneous. His
passion for nature, love for human beings, celebration of humanity, perception
of beauty makes him akin to life-full of exuberance, lust and joy. Yet, Tara
stops nowhere; he does not bind himself in the labyrinth of close relationships.
His only aim is to move on. He is like an ever flowing river carrying life along
with it, flowing continuously.
Eternal Wanderer and Offspring of Nature
This offspring of Nature cannot be tied down by human relationships. Ties,
even the ties of love are incapable of holding onto him; his stars have made
him an eternal homeless wanderer. He is generally unthreatened and
unfrightened by the unknown. Relationship with the unknown seems to be the
only stable relationship that he is capable of maintaining. Exploring the
unexplored seems to be of exceptional promise to him. Tarapada accepts it, is
more comfortable with it and is more drawn towards the unknown than the
known. Quite characteristic is Einstein‟s statement (1938), “The most beautiful
thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all art And
Science”. Tara, as Tagore calls him, lives more in the real world of nature than
the human. He , therefore is far more apt to perceive what is there rather than
his own wishes, hopes, fears, anxieties, “The innocent Eye” Herbert Read
(1960) has called it.
Tarapada, the fourth son of his parents was still a baby when his father
expired. He is loved dearly by his family members as well as the entire
neighbourhood.
,Wary of Ties:
In his childhood, Tara joins a touring yatra (drama)-troupe and leaves his
village without a thought. When the master of the company grows an affinity
towards him like a son and other members of the troupe show their love for
him, he leaves the company one day without prior intimation. “But his stars
have made him a wanderer”. If he sees strange boats on the river, or sanyasi
(Saint) from a distant region under the local peepul tree or gypsies sitting by
the river, making mats or baskets, his heart would stir with longing to be free,
to explore the outside world. And after he has run away two or three times,
family and villagers gave up hope of him.
Passion for Music
The narrator speaks of Tarapada's restlessness as a young fawn, and his love
for music is comparable to a deer. Tarapada is not only intrigued by the
harmony of formal music rather he can sense and feel the resonance of
harmony when the raindrops fall on the leaves and when the clouds rattle.
Moaning of the winds as they blow through the woods, cry of birds breaking
tranquility of the surrounding during the lonely afternoons, call of wild foxes
and croaking of frogs in the rainy evenings make him throng with emotions. He
exhibits a wonderful capacity to appreciate again and again freshly and as
naively the basic goods of life, with awe, with pleasure, wonder and even
ecstasy-that C. Wilson (1972) has called “Newness”. These intense feelings
come occasionally rather than mostly in most unexpected moments.
His passion for music compels him to join a group of ‘panchali’ singers next.
The master of the group likes him and under his guidance, Tarapada learns to
recite panchali. But when the relationship matures, he vanishes from the group
once again. Finally, he joins a group of gymnasts. He learns to play the flute
very well. He even plays ‘ Lucknow Thumris’ in his flute during gymnastic
display. But, again, one day he flies away from the group.
The fifteen year old Brahmin boy then, comes to know that the zamindars at
Nandigram have started an amateur yatra-group. So he sets for Nandigram to
join the group and on the way he meets Motilal Babu , a zamindar of Kathaliya
and his family with their household on a boat. Knowing that the boat is
heading towards Kathaliya, the boy asks him if he can be dropped at
Nandigram on the way. Motilal Babu agrees and invites Tarapada. Both Motilal
, Babu and his wife Annapurna show great concern for this boy. Specially,
Annapurna takes great care to feed the boy and inquires him about his
whereabouts. Both the husband and the wife are really impressed by him and
start loving him like their son. However, the boy’s detachment from her
maternal affection evokes a sense of despair in her. But their love for Tarapada
hurt their only little daughter Charushashi. The little girl is filled with jealousy
and hatred. Being the only child, Charushashi is the sole claimant of her
parents love. Being whimsical and headstrong, Charu is always inclined to give
opinions about every little thing concerning her like eating, dressing or doing
hair-styles. Her parents' affection for Tarapada agonizes her thus making her
more and more hostile towards him. Annapurna realizes her daughter's
jealousy and stops showing her affection overtly for Tarapada in her presence.
Affinity towards the elements of Nature
As the boat passes by, Tarapada feels a strong emotional tie binding him
closely with the water, land and the horizon as if they are his close relatives.
Their existence, full of life, limitless and impregnated with versatility and
novelty intrigues him but they fail to hold back the boy with their strong bond
of affection. Tara very easily becomes friends with the boatmen. He at times
helps them in their hard work and at others entertains them by chanting
verses from the Ramayana.
Individualistic/ No real ties
However, Tara takes no notice of Nandigram when they pass by it. The boat
arrives at Kathaliya after ten days where the Babu is given a ceremonial
welcome. Tarapada at once surveys the village and is spellbound by its
exquisite beauty. He is also able to establish friendly relations with everyone in
the village addressing them Dada or „Khura‟ or‟ Didi‟ or‟ Mashi‟ (brother or
uncle or elder sister or aunt) as appropriate. A deep feeling of identification,
sympathy and affection for human beings in general characterizes Tarapada.
His relations apparently display more warmth. He can be and is friendly with
anyone of suitable character regardless of class, caste or age. In spite of his
easy going temperament and his ability to win over the hearts of many people,
Tarapada is most individualistic and most altruistic -social and having a deep
love for all human beings. At one moment the individuality seems to be
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