SHORT STORY 2: THE SQUIRRREL by Ambai (SUMMARY)

SHORT STORY 2:    THE SQUIRRREL  byAmbai    (SUMMARY)

OUTLINE OF THE ESSAY:

·        INTRODUCTION

·        THE LIBRARY

·        NARRATOR’S VIEWS ABOUT THE BOOKS

·        WOMEN IN JOURNALS

·        CONCLUSION

INTRODUCTION:  ‘The Squirrel’ is a famous short story by Ambai.  It was written in Tamil Language titled ‘Anil’ by Ambai and was translated into English by Vasanth Kannabiran and Chudamani Ragavan in 1992.  The author is known for writing about women.  This story also brings out the problems faced by women.  Through this story she makes us understand how women’s writings were not taken care of in those days.  The short story “Squirrel” voices about feminism and male domination. 

THE LIBRARY:  The story “Squirrel” is based on the narrator’s visit to a library, which is full of feminist writing.  She asked the librarian what was there on the top floor of the library. The librarian said that there was nothing but only dust.  The narrator asked about the books there.  The librarian replied that those were the books written by women.  The narrator asked him to allow her to look at those books.  There was a squirrel which has come there to eat the glue found on the covers of the books.  The character of the squirrel in the story stood for the inner world of the narrator.  The transition between dream and reality and vice versa is made through the representation of the squirrel.  The narrator found volumes of PenmadhiBodhini and Jaganmohini and many other books in the third floor of the library.  The narrator touched the spine of a mended, nineteenth-century book and felt as though a shock rose from the sole of her foot. 

NARRATOR’S VIEWS ABOUT THE BOOKS:  The narrator sarcastically says that only she and the squirrel were there to grieve for Anna Sattianandhan who was on her deathbed and asked her husband to pray. She says that the woman who first set out on horseback to spread Christianity broke through the meshed windows of the library.  A Bengali girl set fire to herself when she could not prevent her father selling their only house to meet her marriage expenses.  Thus the books she read made her feel the agony of the women writers.

The narrator says that the books on the third floor of the library were not mere books.  They talked about the whole generations agonizing with life. Our Indian women wore nine yard saris and played  badminton with the white women.   They were addressed as “my girl” trying to sound.  Women were taught the dharma to be followed by them.  Nallathangal pushed her son into a well  and jumped herself into it.  An unshaven dead widow was denied the performance of the last rites.  The devadasis dedicated to the temple underwent a lot of suffering.  Mahatma Gandhi addressed women spinning at the charka. 

WOMEN IN JOURNALS:   The narrator went through the journals.  In the journal ‘Tyagabhumi’ Uma Rani declared that she was not a slave.  “Kasini” gave new patterns for bangles.  The girl on the cover of The Ananda Vikatan walked freely while her husband carried the shopping bag.  Tamarai Kanni Ammaiyar said that we should give up our lives for Tamil.  Ramamrutham Ammaiyar angrily confronted Rajaji who wrote that Gandhi would not come unless people pay him money.  The narrator returned to senses only the squirrel tapped its tail and raised dust.  The squirrel ate the glue found on the covers of the books.

CONCLUSION:   The narrator found the Library a dark and dusty place where the library staff was trying to restore the books that were falling apart. At lunch time the staff indulged in idle conversation and exhibited no interest in the work assigned to them. The librarian used string and mended the books in the library.  He wrote letters to the higher authorities to reimburse the amount he spent for the string but was in vain.  The librarian told the narrator that the books and magazines were waste and they should be burnt one day.  This made the narrator leave the library with a heavy heart.  Thus the story reveals the sufferings of women and women writers in the past.

ONE ACT PLAY 3 :Gray Matter by Jeanettee D.Farr

ONE ACT PLAY 3 : Gray Matter by Jeanettee D.Farr

Introduction- Jeanettee D.Farr is a contemporary American woman playwright. She has produced and directed a variety of plays. It is a short play about an encounter between an elderly White woman and a Black youth in the waiting room of a police station.

The Theme- Russell, a Black youth accuses Marge, a sixty six year old White woman of being racist but she denies it. By the end of the play, the woman realizes that appearances can be deceptive.

The Affected Youth- Russell walks into the police station. Marge is seated inside. Immediately, she moves her purse closer to herself. Russell is taken aback when he notices her quick reaction. He accuses Marge of distrusting him because of his colour.

Troubled Marge- Marge is very upset when Russell blames her. She pretends that she had only wanted to take a piece of gum from her purse. Russell asks for a piece of gum and Marge gets irritated. She had immediately assumed that he was a criminal because of his dark colour.

Russell’s Inquisitive Nature-Marge tries to excuse her actions by saying she was only making room for him by moving her purse away. Russell sits in the chair closest to Marge and notices her reaction. He asks her why she felt nervous by his actions. When she denies it, he tells her that he had come to see his parole officer.  She feels her fears are justified.

Tactful Russell- Russell tries to know Marge’s name. First, she refuses to tell him. Then she lies to him that her name is Sheila. Russell is sarcastic and calls her a liar. He adds that only a beautiful, young woman could have such a name. Marge says that she was named “Sheila” but had grown old.

Russell reveals the truth- Suddenly, Russell says he wasn’t truthful to Marge a minute before. He adds that he hadn’t come there to see the parole officer. He didn’t have a police record. He adds he was on his lunch break and had to return to his office. He then shows her his hands. He makes her admit her distrustful nature. She had thought him a criminal the moment he walked in, even though she knew nothing about him. She tells him that was her gut instinct. It is then that Marge suggests that Russell should get himself a nice suit and groom himself well.

Marge’s comments on Russell’s looks- When Marge asks Russell how he had come to the police station, he says he came by car. He adds that he had got it by his hard earned money. He accuses her of judging him only by his looks. He says she wouldn’t have been worried if it had been someone of a different colour.   In order to pacify him she is willing to share a secret recipe `pot roast’ with him. She adds she wouldn’t share it even with her sister.

Marge’s reason for visiting the police station: Hesitantly, she begins complaining that she has been waiting for a long time to file a complaint. Unwillingly, Marge tells Russell that she wasn’t upset because of the colour of his skin. She is not willing to trust anyone at that moment as she had lost her wallet on the road. She was upset as the wallet had lots of money, her driver’s license and the photos of her grandchildren. She adds with a touch of irritation that someone would have swiped her gold card and taken all her money by then. After a moment she says that, that was not the main reason she was upset. The fact that someone on the street knew her identity and details about her was frightening. So, she wanted to file a complaint at the police station. She was hoping that there might be someone truthful who would actually return her purse if they found it.  But, she says in a dejected tone that such a thing is not likely to happen. She gets ready to leave. Russell asks her to wait for a minute and adds maybe there were still truthful people in the world. 

Truthful Russell- Russell calls her “Marge”. She is startled. He adds that she looks like “Marge”. He admits he has seen her name on her license. He had found her wallet and had brought it to hand it over at the police station. He returns her wallet. He assures her that he hasn’t taken anything from it.

Marge is overwhelmed- She accepts the truth and says her name is “Marge”. To make amends for her behavior, she shows him, her granddaughter Sheila’s photo. Russell remarks that there is a resemblance to Marge.

Conclusion- Both Marge and Russell realize that they don’t have to wait for anyone. Then, both of them cross out their name from the signed list at the counter. As they leave, Russell reminds Marge to take the purse which she has forgotten again. The playwright brings out the message that looks are deceptive. “We should never judge a book by its cover”.

One Act Play 2: A Sunny Morning

One Act Play 2: A Sunny Morning

Introduction: ‘A Sunny Morning’ is a comedy in one act. It is written by Serafin and Joaquin Alveraz Quintero, known as the ‘Golden Boys of Madrid Theater’. The play revolves around two characters Don Gonzalo and Dona Laura, who in their youth were passionate lovers but torn apart by the cruelty of fate.

The meeting in the Park: The play begins on a sunny autumn morning in a quiet corner of a park in Madrid, Spain. Dona Laura, a handsome, white-haired lady of about seventy, refined in appearance, is feeding pigeons.  Don Gonzalo, a gentleman of seventy, gouty and impatient enters. He shares the same bench on which Dona Laura is sitting. Both of them annoy each other at first. Laura is angry because Gonzalo scared her pigeons. Gonzalo feels irritated as Laura is annoying him.

Snuff unites Gonzalo and Laura: Gonzalo takes out his snuff box and offers a pinch of snuff to her. Both of them say that they will sneeze three times after taking a pinch of snuff and finds it to be a strange coincidence. This unites Laura and Gonzalo after the disagreement. Then they start talking of their hometowns and other things. Now Laura reveals that she lived in a villa at Maricela, near Valencia-one of the largest cities in Spain. Gonzalo is startled to hear the name “ Maricela”. He then tells that he knows a girl who lived in that villa, who was perhaps the most beautiful woman he has ever seen. He also reveals that the girl’s name was Laura Llorentee. Both of them realize that they were formerly lovers.      

The love episode of young Gonzalo and Laura: In her youthful days, Dona Laura was known in her locality as ‘The Silver Maiden’. She was fair as lily, with jet black hair and black eyes. She was in love with Gonzalo. He used to pass by on horseback every morning through the rose garden and tossed up a bunch of flowers to her balcony which she caught. On his way back in the afternoon she would toss the flowers back to him. But Laura’s parents wanted to marry her off to a merchant whom she disliked. One day there was a quarrel between Gonzalo and the merchant, the suitor. As the merchant was wounded, Gonzalo fled from his hometown to Seville and then to Madrid. Even though he tried to communicate with Laura through letters, all attempts failed. He then joined Army and went to Africa. Both of them realize that they were in deep love once they were young but never ever reveal it now.

Laura and Gonzalo devise stories of their own deaths: The old Laura says that she knows the woman named Laura; known as ‘The Silver Maiden’ and that she was her friend during her young age. She also lies that, she knows the tragic story of her love affair with a gallant young man named Gonzalo. The old Gonzalo says that he is the cousin of the young man. According to him the young Gonzalo had to leave his place as he was involved in a fight with a merchant, the suitor of Laura. Then he joined Army, went to Africa where he met with a glorious death. The old Laura reveals that without finding her lover her friend went to the sea shore, wrote her lover’s name on the sand and sat upon a rock. The tides rose to the rock and swept her out to sea. But in reality after three months Gonzalo ran off to Paris with a ballet dancer. Laura got married after two years. Both know that they are still lying.

Conclusion: At the end of the play they agree to meet at the park again, still not acknowledging what they both know to be true. However, the whole play can be viewed as a satire of a mockery over those who pretend to be true Romeo and Juliet. It leaves a message that nothing is stable and people are not ready to reveal their bitter truths.

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One Act Play 1:THE NEVER-NEVER NEST – CEDRIC MOUNT

One Act Play 1: THE NEVER-NEVER NEST – CEDRIC MOUNT

OUTLINE OF THE ESSAY:

*INTRODUCTION

*JACK AND JILL

*OWNER BY INSTALMENT

*CONCERVATIVE AUNT JANE

*COMPLETE OWNERS

*NEVER NEVER NEST

*CONCLUSION

INTRODUCTION: The One Act Play ‘ The Never-Never Nest’ is a comedy about a young, naive couple, Jack and Jill. They believe in buying things in installments. When Aunt Jane visits the couple, she finds them leading a luxurious lifestyle. The play brings out the buy-now-pay-later marketing system which enables the low-income group to own things, which they cannot buy easily on their own. On the other hand, the system also makes people extravagant and makes them fall into the habit of borrowing.

 JACK AND JILL: Jack and Jill were a young married couple who had a small baby. Jill was a housewife. Jack and Jill had purchased a villa in New Hampstead, a car, furniture, a radiogram, a piano and a refrigerator. Aunt Jane is a relative of Jack and Jill. She visited their new house. She was surprised to find that they lived in a beautiful house with all comforts. She finds it hard to believe that Jack could afford to buy all these things. She was worried that she had given them 2000 pounds as a wedding gift instead of 200 pounds. At this point, Jack informed her that they had bought their house and all the expensive things in installment basis.

OWNER BY INSTALMENT: Aunt Jane understood that though Jack and Jill had everything, they did not own anything. Only a steering wheel of the car, a wheel and two cylinders had been paid for. And only one leg of the sofa that Aunt Jane sat on, belonged to them. Jack’s salary was six pounds a week but the total amount of installments he had to pay was seven pounds and eighty eight pence. When Aunt Jane asked how he could pay the extra money, Jack said that they could always take a loan from Thrift and Providence Trust Corporation. Again, the loan had to be paid back in installments. Aunt Jane was glad that Jack and Jill had everything but she didn’t like the idea of borrowing money to pay the installments.

CONSERVATIVE AUNT JANE: Aunt Jane was shocked at the way Jack and Jill lived in debt. Aunt Jane believes that one should not owe money to anyone in life. She believed that one should spend less than what he earned. She refused to sit on Jack’s sofa and travel in his car because the sofa and car was only partly owned by Jack and Jill. She scolded them severely and asked Jack to take her to the bus station. Before she left, she gave them a cheque for ten pounds and told them to use it to make at least one thing completely their own.

COMPLETE OWNERS: While Jack went with Aunt Jane, Jill sent the money to Dr.Martin. Jack came back and said that they should use the money given by Aunt Jane to pay the installments on the car. But Jill said that she had already used it to pay the last installment to the doctor. According to them, they had purchased their own baby from Dr. Martin in installment. Finally, Jack and Jill become complete owners of their own baby. The end of the play is ironical. The play is really a satire on the materialistic bent of modern man.

NEVER NEVER NEST:   The ‘nest’ in the title literally refers to the home of birds. Birds take a lot of time and work very hard to build their nest. But, in this play, both Jack and Jill have instant gratification for luxuries by installments without saving any money. The double negative in the title emphasizes the impossibility of home.

       CONCLUSION:  The play criticizes the new trend of young middle-class couples who have the habit of buying many household items and houses in easy installments. The playwright feels that such couples would make a nest easily but they will never settle happily.