Ecocriticism/Green Studies

INTRODUCTION TO ECOCRITICISM/GREEN STUDIES 

Ecocriticism is the latest and the newest type of theory in criticism which has evolved in the 21st century. Modern scientists are much worried about the very existence of the earth and its resources. Modern science and technology have created dangers for the future generation of mankind. Breaking of the layers of Ozone due to too much carbon dioxide and too much consumption of natural gas, crude oil, etc. have made us think seriously on how we can protect the earth and the environment in order to survive ourselves and our future generation.The gap between man and nature has been increasing by heaps and bounds in the modern world of science and technology. Hence, to bring about a balance between man and nature and ecology has been the dire need of today's time.

DEFINITION OF ECOCRITICISM:

True literature gives expression to the most urgent and important challenges of the time. The challenge of modern times is to save our mother earth and to save nature. Ecocriticism is a new branch of criticism in which the critics try to find out to what extent modern literature discusses these issues of ecology. Modern eco-critics try to examine to what extent literature leads mankind to bring about the balance between man and the earth. Ecocriticism is the study of literature and environment from an interdisciplinary point of view. 

Ecocriticism investigates the relation between human and the natural world in literature.It deals with how environmental issues,cultural issues concerning the environment and attitudes towards nature are presented and analyzed.One of the main goals in Ecocriticism is to study how individuals in society behave and react in relation to nature and ecological aspects. This new study is often termed as “green (cultural) studies”, “eco- poetics”, and “environmental literary criticism.”

ORIGIN OF ECOCRITICISM:

The idea of the relationship between ecology and literature was first heralded by Joseph Meeker as an idea called "literary ecology" in his work 'The Comedy of Survival: Studies in Literary Ecology' published in 1972.Later on, the term Ecocriticism was coined in 1978 by William Rueckert in his essay 'Literature and Ecology: An Experiment in Ecocriticism. Ecocriticism as a separate approach became popular in the USA in the 1980s. It became widespread in Europe as ‘Green Studies’ in 1990s.But Ecocriticism as a new style or method of understanding literature officially began with the publication of work, both published in mid-1990s:

1. 'The Ecocriticism Reader, edited by Cheryll Glotfelty and Harold Fromm

2. 'The Environmental Imagination', by Lawrence Buell.

MAJOR FOLLOWERS OF ECOCRITICISM:

1. Jonathan Bate (considered as the father of Ecocriticism in England)

2. Cheryll Glotfelty (father of Ecocriticism in the USA)

3. Laurence Coupe

4. Patrick D Murphy

5. Raymond Williams 

IMPORTANT BOOKS ON ECOCRITICISM:

1. 'The Green Studies Reader: From Romanticism to Ecocriticism' by Laurence Coupe

2. 'The Song of the Earth' by Jonathan Bate 

3. 'The Ecocriticism Reader: Landmarks in Literary Ecology' by Cheryll Glotfelty

4. 'Literature of Nature: An International Source-book’ by Patrick D.Murphy

5. ‘What is Nature?Culture, Politics, and the Non-Human’ by Kate Soper

What is ecocriticism ?

Ecocriticism can be defined as the study of the relationship between literature and the physical environment.It is also referred as Green Studies which began in USA in 1980s which was founded by Cheryll Glotfelty.Cheryll and Harold Fromm edited a collection of essays entitled The Ecocriticism Reader: Landmarks in Literary Ecology in 1996. Co-founder of ASLE (Association for the study of literature and environment) in 1992. At the WLA (Western Literature Association) conference she insisted on using the term ‘Ecocriticism’ instead of 'the study of nature writing. Ecocriticism as a concept was introduced by Michael P who traces the word Ecocriticism from William Rueckert's essay 'Literature and ecology: an experiment in Ecocriticism (1978).

The literary bearings of Ecocriticism can be seen in the 19th century American transcendentalists whose works celebrated nature, the life force and the wilderness.Ralph Waldo Emerson, Margaret Fuller and Henry David were the prominent writers who dealt with those themes.Ralph Waldo Emerson's book Nature, published in 1836 exposed the cultural independence and the impact upon him of the natural world. Fuller's first book Summer on the Lakes During 1843 expresses that it is a journal of her encounter with the American landscape as the first woman student at Harvard(is about her experiences exploring the American landscape. It mentions her being the first woman student at Harvard, which influenced her perspective on the environment). Thoreau Walden expresses his two year stay from 1845 in a hut he had built on the shore of Walden Pond. All these writings depicted the dropping out of modern life and seeking to renew the self by a 'return to nature The Ecocriticism in UK took its bearing from the British Romanticism of the1790s.

The active proponents of Ecocriticism in Britain is based on certain institutions and a collection of essays was published in Laurence Coupe's The Green Studies: from Romanticism to Ecocriticism.The preferred American term is 'Ecocriticism' and 'green studies' is used in England. The American writings were celebratory in tone whereas the British writings warned of environmental threats. Ecocriticism concerned the matter of the relationship between culture and nature.Theory in general stated that everything is socially and linguistically constructed, which was rejected by the ecocritics.(This line means that some theories say our understanding of the world is shaped by society and language. But ecocritics disagree. They think nature also plays a big role, not just society and language.)

For example the outdoor environment gradually moves from wilderness to the scenic sublime(when you feel amazed by the beauty and power of nature, like when you see a breathtaking mountain or a vast ocean), the countryside and then the culture.All these environmental areas acted as the basis of the writings. The American transcendentalists preferred the wilderness,Wordsworth- the scenic sublime, Thomas Gray and James Johnson - the countryside and the domestic fiction in countryside and culture.The ecocritics argue that there is no true wilderness as every region is affected by global warming and other anthropocentric problems.(This line means ecocritics believe there's no untouched wilderness left because things like global warming and human-related issues affect every part of the world. So, even remote areas aren't completely natural anymore)

WHAT DO THE ECOCRITICS DO?

• The ecocritics examine the works of literature from the ecological point of view.

• They try to see how human life is presented in proportion to nature.

• They examine human civilization along with nature.

• The ecocritics study literature to see how it shows the importance of natural resources in our lives, our deeds which harm the ecological balance, wars and their adverse effect on our society and so on.

EXAMPLES OF ECOCRITICISM:

1. One may study Wordsworth's ‘Daffodils' from ecological perspectives where the poet gives importance to nature in his life.

2. We may study 'Ode on Solitude' by Alexander Pope from an ecological point of view. Here too the poet talks of the importance of solace of nature in the hustle and bustle of modern life of industry and technology.

London by William Blake

 London by William Blake 

Introduction of Author

William Blake (1757–1827) was an English poet, painter, and printmaker, best known for his visionary poetry and unique artistic style. He was a prominent figure of the Romantic movement and is often considered one of the greatest poets in the English language. Blake's works are characterized by their exploration of spirituality, social justice, and the imagination, often challenging the conventions of his time.

"London" is one of Blake's most famous poems, published in 1794 as part of his collection "Songs of Experience." The poem reflects Blake's deep concern for the social and political conditions of his era, particularly the hardships faced by the urban poor in London during the late 18th century. Through vivid imagery and powerful language, Blake critiques the oppressive forces that dehumanize individuals and stifle their freedom in the city. "London" serves as both a protest against societal injustices and a call for greater empathy and compassion towards the marginalized members of society.

Stanza 1:

"I wander thro' each charter'd street,

Near where the charter'd Thames does flow,

And mark in every face I meet

Marks of weakness, marks of woe."

In this opening stanza, the speaker describes walking through the streets of London, emphasizing the sense of confinement and restriction implied by the term "charter'd." The Thames River, which flows through London, is also depicted as bound by man-made laws. The speaker observes the faces of the people he encounters, noting the physical and emotional toll of their suffering.

Stanza 2:

"In every cry of every Man,

In every Infants cry of fear,

In every voice: in every ban,

The mind-forg'd manacles I hear"

Here, the speaker hears the collective cries of the people, from men to infants, expressing fear and suffering. The phrase "mind-forg'd manacles" suggests that the constraints and limitations experienced by individuals are not just physical but also mental, imposed by societal norms and expectations.

Stanza 3:

"How the Chimney-sweepers cry

Every blackning Church appalls,

And the hapless Soldiers sigh

Runs in blood down Palace walls"

This stanza highlights the plight of different segments of society. The cries of the chimney-sweepers evoke the harsh labor conditions they endure, while the "blackning Church" symbolizes moral corruption. The soldiers' sighs, contrasted with the imagery of blood running down palace walls, suggest the violence and exploitation perpetuated by those in power.

Stanza 4:

"But most thro' midnight streets I hear

How the youthful Harlots curse

Blasts the new-born Infants tear

And blights with plagues the Marriage hearse".

The speaker continues to describe the sounds of suffering that pervade the city, particularly focusing on the curses of young prostitutes and the tears of newborn infants. The phrase "Marriage hearse" conveys the idea of marital relationships being tainted by societal ills and unhappiness.

Let's explore further the themes, imagery, and language used in the poem:

Oppression and Repression: Blake's London is depicted as a city burdened by oppression and repression. The repeated references to "charter'd" streets and "charter'd Thames" suggest that even nature itself is bound by man-made laws and restrictions. This conveys a sense of confinement and control over the people, stifling their freedom and individuality.

Poverty and Suffering: 

The poem vividly describes the poverty and suffering endured by the lower classes. Blake highlights the "marks of weakness, marks of woe" etched on the faces of the inhabitants, emphasizing the physical and emotional toll of their hardships. The imagery of "black'ning Church" and "black'ning" walls suggests a pervasive atmosphere of despair and decay.

Corruption and Moral Degradation: 

Blake critiques the moral degradation prevalent in society, symbolized by the "mind-forg'd manacles" that imprison the minds of the people. The "hapless Soldier's sigh" and the "youthful Harlot's curse" reflect the disillusionment and despair experienced by individuals from various walks of life. The reference to the "Marriage hearse" suggests a bleak view of marital relationships, tainted by societal constraints and unhappiness.

Industrialization and Urbanization:

Blake explores the adverse effects of industrialization and urbanization on society. The "chimney-sweeper's cry" and the "hapless Soldier's sigh" represent the exploitation and dehumanization of laborers and soldiers within the industrial and military complexes of the city. The image of the "blood down palace walls" evokes a sense of violence and injustice perpetuated by those in power.

Rebellion and Resistance: Despite the pervasive despair depicted in the poem, there are elements of rebellion and resistance. The speaker's observation of the "every cry of every -born Infant's tear,And blights with plagues the Marriage hearse".

The speaker continues to describe the sounds of suffering that pervade the city, particularly focusing on the curses of young prostitutes and the tears of newborn infants. The phrase "Marriage hearse" conveys the idea of marital relationships being tainted by societal ills and unhappiness.

Conclusion 

"London" by William Blake paints a bleak picture of life in the city during his time. It talks about how people suffered, how poverty was everywhere, and how even children and soldiers faced hardships. Blake criticizes the society of his time for its injustice and lack of compassion. He wants people to notice these problems and work together to make society fairer and more caring for everyone.

Assigments for African Literature

The Intersection of Gender, Class, and Marginalization in Petals of Blood

Introduction of Ngugi wa Thiong’o 

Ngugi wa Thiong’o, original name James Thiong’o Ngugi, (born January 5, 1938, Limuru, Kenya), Kenyan writer who was considered East Africa's leading novelist. His popular Weep Not, Child (1964) was the first major novel in English by an East African. As he became sensitized to the effects of colonialism in Africa, Ngugi adopted his traditional name and wrote in the Bantu language of Kenya's Kikuyu people.

Ngugi received bachelor’s degrees from Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda, in 1963 and from Leeds University, Yorkshire, England, in 1964. After doing graduate work at Leeds, he served as a lecturer in English at University College, Nairobi, Kenya, and as a visiting professor of English at Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, U.S. From 1972 to 1977 he was senior lecturer and chairman of the department of literature at the University of Nairobi.

Major Works 

Short Stories 

The Fig Tree

The Wind The SecretLives(1976)

Plays 

The Black Hermit

Ngaahika Ndeenda (1977) Gikuyu.

Novels

Weep Not Child (1964)

The River Between (1965)

A Grain of Wheat (1967)

The Wound in the Heart (1976)

Petals of Blood published (1977)

Caitaani Hultharaba Ini appeared in Gikuyu (translation Devil on the Cross)

Wizard of the Crow, is written in Gikuyu.

Essays 

A Barrel of Pen (1984)

Decolonizing the Mind appeared in 1986

Brief summary on Petals of Blood 

Petals of Blood (1977) deals with social and economic problems in East Africa after independence,particularly the continued exploitation of peasants and workers by foreign business interests and a greedy indigenous bourgeoisie.

Set in Kenya just after independence. The story follows four characters; Munira Abdullah, Wanja and Karega. In order to escape city life, each retreats to the small, post colonial village of Ilmorog It is the dramatization and condemnation of the ruthless capitalist exploitation of the masses by those in privileged positions.

The novel progresses, the characters deal with the repercussions of the Mau Mau rebellion as well as with a new, rapidly westernizing Kenya.The novel largely deals with the skepticism of change after Kenya's independence from colonial rule, questioning to what extent free Kenya merely emulates, and subsequently perpetuates, the oppression found during its time as a colony.

Other themes include the challenges of capitalism, politics, and the effects of westernization.Education, schools, and the Mau Mau rebellion are also used to unite the characters, who share a common history with one another.

Marginalization in Petals of Blood

Petals of Blood, a highly political novel, takes the form of what Killam calls a "detective" ("Grain of Wheat" 97). Set to small the remote village of Illmorog - a microcosm of Kenya, a metaphor for Kenya's development in the post-colonial era. Four of the main characters - Munira, Abdulla, Karega and Wanja - each from Limuru town, travel to the village. Every character comes to visit and is largely motivated by a desire to avoid the widespread malaise that plagues Kenya under Uhuru, at independence.Moreover, each illustrates a different strategy for coping with the oppressive conditions of the new black-led state. The four main characters are suspected to be three directors of Theng'eta Breweries and Enterprises - Chui, Kimeria andMzigo - who were burned alive. Police Inspector Godfrey of Nairobi was called in to solve the case. In the structure of the detective the interconnected lives of the novel's protagonists and the people around them are told through Kenya's past andpresentPetals of Blood begins with Muinra being taken to the Ilmorog police station for routine questioning. He is the man who talked about all the important events and happenings and is asked to record all those moments since the day he came to Illmorog. Then Abdullaand Karega comes to the police station, while Wanja is taken to the hospital for treatment of severe burns. A newspaper report reveals reason to call these people to the police station.Mzigo , Chui, Kimeria murdered [Capitals Original] Man believed to be union agitator arrested after a leading industrialist and two educators known as leaders of African international fameTheng'eta Breweries and Enterprises Ltd burned to death in Illmorg last night, just hours after it was discovered a decision without a salary increase. (4-5)Munira, a declassified bourgeois, the "black sheep" of an otherwise successful Christian family, remembers the day she arrived in Ilmorog twelve years ago. At that time, Illmorog was just a wasteland that was in the grip of a severe famine. The common mass seems to be hostile outsiders and young people are not at all interested in school and books. Munira's father - Brother Ezekiel Waweru - is a rich and pious landlord, a white worker, who is attacked by Mau Mau rebels. A change of government has little effect on his wealth; indeed he has several possibilities. Ezekiel is very proud of his children's success, except for Munira, who continues down the path of failure.

Munira is expelled after participating in a strike by students at Siriana Elite High School [modeled after Ngugi Alliance High School] of the institute. Later, after several years as a wanderer, he marries Julia, a Kenyan pagan who converts Christianity to ingratiate herself to her powerful in-laws.

Munira escapes to Illmorog to become the principal of Ilmorog Elementary School only to fall in love with her powerful in-laws. the shame of her father's collaboration with the whites in exploiting the poor in the name of God and Julia's mockery hurt Munira .Torn from family loyalty to breed loyalty [Mau Mau] Munira is ashamed of her past and longs to participate Kenya in the present, but is paralyzed by alienation because she refused to acknowledge any symbiosis Reprimanding her for her silence, the novel reveals... what Munira must face for herself: In this brutal new Kenya, Munira has made keeping one's head down, or "keeping calm," an inevitable form of survival. preceded by Abdulla - an outsider - in Ilmorog. He says: "I wanted to go to a deep country, where I would not remember such a bitter betrayal." Munira doesn't want to share her past life with anyone, so she gives Abdulla a false reason to take refuge in Ilmorog. Abdullah, who comes to that remote village with his brother Joseph and a donkey, has a psychological advantage over Munira. Soon another Wanja will join Munira and Abdulla She is the granddaughter of Nyakinyua, one of the oldest matriarchs of Illmorog. Munira remembers the moments of her arrest Wanja shares her childhood memories, especially her love affair that leads to her pregnancy with an old man who refuses to have a child of his own. Wanja convinces Abdulla to hire her as a bartender, turning the sleepy shop into a lively bar. Student Wanja is shocked by her pitiful situation and her interrupted school life. Wanting to conceive again, Wanja contacts the soothsayer Mwathi wa Mugo, who advises her on the night of the new moon. plans to celebrate several times in the same day - the beginning of the harvest, the return of Joseph to school, and his own expectations. A single incident turns out the way he wants and he feels disappointed. The last to arrive at Ilmorog is Karega, another student rebel and former student expelled from Siriana after the second strike. 

He is the son of Mariamu Ahoi - a wage laborer in Munira's father's farms. The word strike worries Munira to the absurd feeling of his dead past suddenly reviving, from which he is trying to escape. Munira remembers her own school days' strike against discrimination between blacks and whites, led by student leader Chui, who along with five other students including Munira, were expelled from the school by a very ruthless headmaster, Cambridge Frodsham, who firmly believed in "God and Empire". Like others, Karega comes to Illmorog looking for answers to his situation amid the national turmoil that prevails everywhere. on the same day that Wanja had chosen for his party. Karega remembers her acquaintance with Munira Mukami's sister. Karega's brother Ndinguri witnesses Ezekiel's negative intentions towards his mother and convinces him to safely remove himself from the situation, he advises her to reconcile with her husband and the result of their brief union with Kare. Munira later introduces Karega to Abdulla and Wanja, who takes her to Abdulla's duka, where Abdulla makes them chirp. past: "My real name is not Abdulla. On this Wanja.

 Munira always feels anxious in front of situations related to life and society. Munira feels guilty for mentioning forest fighters but he is saved by Wanja, who walks him on the ridge; seeing the moon, Wanja invites Munira to spend that fateful night with her in the cabin and "murder the moon on him." Munira accepts her invitation, but Wanja feels that she has completely failed after the union. At first, Karega settles in Ilmorog as an assistant teacher in Munira's future school, a post about Munira's jealous plot, studying and traveling with Kare, and then becoming a union organizer in the new Ilmorog proposal All three main characters return to Illmorog again. Continued drought threatens the survival of residents; suggests Karega . A delegation of villagers visited M.P. in Nderi town to present their plight and seek government compensation. Karega, worried about the implementation of this plan, begins his "long journey" a A delegation representing Nyakinyu, Wanja, Joseph, Abdulla and Munira towards the city. The details of this "Long March" allow Ngugi to present the glorious past of Illmorog, Limuru and Kenya. 

 Picking up threads from young people moving to cities, Wanja talks about his own experiences as a bartender in cities. brings to mind residual memories of the village's former glory, once a thriving commercial center now inhabited only by the elderly, combining the present scenario of Kenya with the beautiful past. Four former townspeople lead a motley crew of peasants on this momentous journey that will change the fortunes of Ilmorog forever, the hypocrisy of various elite-led institutions in independent Kenya. Ngugi takes advantage of this situation to critically examine the characters Pastor Jerrod Brown - a wealthy pastor and church leader - who offers only spiritual food to the sick group instead of elite groups instead of the sick poor with the arrival of Kimeria, a rich businessman and friend of Nderi wa Riera, M.P. He threatens to imprison the group if they don'tDespite the objections of Karega and the others, she agrees to give herself to Kimeria for the greater good.Hawkins, a lawyer whose kind help once saved Wanja from the clutches of a German madman, saves the delegation.

According to Cook and Okenimkpe, the character of Hawkins is based on a real-life Kenyan

The most auspicious event of the villagers' journey to town is their connection with Hawkins.

from the public that followed the visit of the delegation to Illmorog, and finally he himself is a candidate in the parliamentary elections andAfter the arrival of the delegation, protests and demonstrations were raised that landed Munira, Abdulla and Karega in prison.This long march and publicity is destroying the culturally rich Ilmorog.The village feels like it's growing the new Illmorog becomes a better city through so-called "progress" with all the city's evils ruled by the most despicable egoists.exploiters like Chui, Mzigo, Kimeria and Nderi wa Riera who set up a private company called Illmorog (KCO) Investment and Holdings Ltd. ThursdayThis leads to the exploitation of the village through the combined forces of dependent private and political institutions.The lawyer directs Karega to class-conscious political activism verbally and not.

Hawkins was later assassinated for his reformist efforts in Parliament.

This makes Karega an elite studyInstitutions like parliament offer no help to anyone from neo-colonial exploitation.After the delegation returns, the rains and optimism return to Illmorog for a while.end the party by making the traditional party drink, Theng'eta.Drinking refers to remembering the dreams and longings of the person participating in it the future of the country; Munira wants Wanja to be with her, but she doesn't have the courage to ask; Karega tells them about her mother Mariamu,his brother Ndinguri and his association with the Mau Mau movement and his responsibility for cutting off Ezekiel's ear.This puts Karega in a different relationship with Munira because he is Mukami's brother and Abdulla, who was his brother Ndinguri comrade in arms.Abdulla speaks of "Ndinguri, the bravest of all ...However, Theng'eta has many effects on different people.Wanja and Karega find aHowever, Munira is furious and further estranged from the truth with Karega.He accused Karega of forcing Mukami to commit suicideand being the brother of Ndung'u, who cuts off his father's ear.He calls Wanja , which provokes Karega, who in turn declares the sameAccording to Munira, Karega is resigning from his position because he wants to be with the clubResidents of Illmorog are struggling against a new attack by priests, politicians and police.The reason behind Karega's dismissal is his closeness to Wanja, which angers Munira, who fires Karega on false accusations of political persecution.

Karega's dismissal from the institute makes Wanja angry and worried: "It's different with him.For the first time I feel wanted...no longer humiliated...humiliated...Karega leaves despite the pleas of Abdulla and Wanja when he accidentally discovers that Kimeria is guilty.The Seduction of Wanja and the Betrayal and Death of Ndung'u.After leaving with Kare, Theng'eta markets the drink to Wanja.The government launches Abdulla and plans to turn Illmorog into a tourist destination.Edistys and Nyakinyua destroy old Ilmorog laments the glorious past of old Ilmorog.Roads, banks, factories, distilleries and residential areas that are rapidly destroying the traditional fabric of Ilmorog.failure to pay this will result in the confiscation of the land and thus Wanja will have to sacrifice his thriving business.Later Nyakinyua dies; Wanja sets up the brothel "Sunshine Lodge" (281) near his shamba; Abdulla starts selling sheepskin to tourists; as Munira moves back and forth Wanja is now a successful woman of the place.After a long gap of years, Munira and Karegacall Wanja.The last five years were with Karega Later moving to Mombasa, he sees how the Europeans continue to keep Kenya's economy strong through technical expertise. Gives whites high privilege over blacks, so he is fired and Karega later decides to move back.Wanja recalls her own moments when, tempted by Western values, she embraces prostitution to achieve human dignity and health.

The Chui, Cimmerians and Mbozos, agents of imperialism, control important areas in order to redeem the land mortgaged by her grandmother, Wanja has to sell her business.Theng'eta Breweries and Enterprises Ltd. took possession of Nderi wa Riera.The degradation of Wanja, a barmaid who has grown from prostitution to economic Independence and womanhood, but who is forced back.The humiliating position of a prostitute who sells her body because nothing comes for free and the slogan "Eat or be eaten" comes true Wanja now opens a brothel to regain her sexual powers: "It's the only way to get mine back.Chui, Mzigo and Kimeria.Governments and global financial institutions claim that globalization will surely improve the lives of people everywhere world; developing countries in particular are marching towards prosperity.It promises a better tomorrow and harmony people of the world who will benefit from this greater financial sufficiency.All these valuable assumptions are dismissed as promising Most of the farmers are unable to pay their loans, which leads to their foreclosure .

Karega reminisces about his previous encounters, especially with lawyer Hawkins, who tells him about the betrayal of the Kenyans themselves.Political masters He remembers the days when he worked as an accountant at Riera's Theng'eta Breweries, which he founded.Theng'eta Brewery Workers Union.After being fired from the brewery, Karega becomes the general secretary of the union and raises his own He also remembers the moment when Munira introduces the religious with a woman named Lillian .He remembers the events when he came to Illmorog with his adopted brother Joseph, whom he rescued from the streets of Limuru; Joseph's schooling in Siriana, happy collaboration with Wanja, their business and On the fateful Saturday, he remembers that Wanja invited him to a new place in the cabin.Seeing the cars of the demonic trio - Kimeria, Mzigo and Chui - Abdulla discovers At a board meeting of Theng'eta Breweries when they planned their response to Karega's successful union agitation.Abdulla wants Kimeria to go to Wanja so Abdulla can get a chance to kill him.He later arrives at Wanja to find it set on fire and all burned to ashes.Now it's Wanja's turn, recovering in the hospital to relive the events of that fateful day.On Saturday, he called both Abdulla and Karega, but at different times.He warns Karega about being fired from the brewery.Don't you see: we the workers, the poor peasants, the common people, the masses are now too awake it's too late, Wanja...Kenya is awake.

Petals of Blood exposes the unfavorable aspects of society and highlights the collective struggle of the exploited.After meeting Munira in prison, her father Waweru feels responsible for his son's suffering.He feels it is because his sin was trying to commit adultery with Mariamu and abused many villagers that God punished his son in this way.soon he rejects such thoughts, realizing that he cannot question God's wisdom.Petals of Blood presents the most comprehensive analysis to date of the evils committed by "black imperialists" in an independent African society.

Poem:-La Belle Dame sans Merci by John Keats

La Belle Dame sans Merci by John Keats

La Belle Dame sans Merci.’ ‘The woman is beautiful, but merciless.’ Keats’s title, which he got from a 15th-century courtly love poem by Alain Chartier (La Belle Dame sans Mercy), provides a clue to the poem’s plot: in summary,the poem begins with the speaker asking a knight what’s wrong – this knight-at-arms is on his own, looking pale as he loiters on a hillside. This knight-at-arms has a lily-white forehead (i.e. he’s pale), and a rose-coloured cheek. But symbolically, this rose is withering: love has gone rotten.

It’s at this point that the voice in the poem shifts from this first speaker – the one questioning the knight about what’s up with him – to the knight-at-arms himself. The knight then tells us his story: he met a beautiful lady in the meadows, who the knight believes was the child of a faery – there was something fey or supernatural and otherworldly about this woman. She had wild eyes, which imply an unpredictability in her nature.

The knight tells his interlocutor how he was inspired to shower this ‘faery’s child’ with gifts: a garland or wreath for her head, bracelets for her wrists, and a sweet-smelling girdle for her waist. The woman looks as though she loves these gifts, and moans sweetly. The knight puts the lady up on his horse and rides all day without taking his eyes off her – not a pursuit we’d recommend when riding a horse. As the lady delicately rides his horse side-saddle, as befits a lady, she sings a ‘faery’s song’.

The knight gave her, the belle dame sans merci gives the knight three sweet gifts: sweet relish, wild honey, and manna-dew (implying something almost divine: ‘manna’ was the foodstuff that fell from heaven in the Old Testament). In a strange language, the lady tells the knight she loves him. She takes him to her Elfin grotto, where she proceeds to weep and sigh; the knight silences her with four kisses. The lady, in turn, silences the knight by lulling him to sleep – presumably with another ‘faery’s song’ – and the knight dreams of men, pale kings and princes, crying that ‘La belle dame sans merci’ has him enthralled or enslaved.

In the evening twilight, the knight sees the starved lips of these men – men who have presumably also been enthralled or bewitched by such a belle dame sans merci – as they try to warn him, and then the knight awakens and finds himself alone on the hillside where the poem’s original speaker encountered him. And that’s how he ended up here, alone and palely loitering.

Poem:- The Soldier by Rupert Brooke

The Soldier by Rupert Brooke 

The Soldier is a sonnet in which Brooke glorifies England during the First World War. He speaks in the guise of an English soldier as he is leaving home to go to war. The poem represents the patriotic ideals that characterized pre-war England. It portrays death for one’s country as a noble end and England as the noblest country for which to die.

In the first stanza (the octave of the sonnet) stanza, he talks about how his grave will be England herself, and what it should remind the listeners of England when they see the grave. In the second stanza, the sestet, he talks about this death (sacrifice for England) as redemption; he will become “a pulse in the eternal mind”. He concludes that only life will be the appropriate thing to give to his great motherland in return for all the beautiful and the great things she has given to him, and made him what he is. The soldier-speaker of the poem seeks to find redemption through sacrifice in the name of the country.

The speaker begins by addressing the reader, and speaking to them in the imperative: “think only this of me.” This sense of immediacy establishes the speaker’s romantic attitude towards death in duty. He suggests that the reader should not mourn. Whichever “corner of a foreign field” becomes his grave; it will also become “forever England”. He will have left a monument of England in a forever England”. He will have left a monument in England in a foreign land, figuratively transforming a foreign soil to England. The suggestion that English “dust” must be “richer” represents a real attitude that the people of the Victorian age actually had.

The speaker implies that England is mother to him. His love for England and his willingness to sacrifice is equivalent to a son’s love for his mother; but more than an ordinary son, he can give his life to her. The imagery in the poem is typically Georgina. The Georgian poets were known for their frequent mediations in the English countryside. England’s “flowers”, “her ways to roam”, and “English air” all represent the attitude and pride of the youth of the pre-industrial England; many readers would excuse the jingoistic them of this poem if they remember that this soldier’s bravery and sense of sacrifice is far better than the modern soldier and warfare in which there is nothing grand about killing people with automated machine guns! The soldier also has a sense of beauty of his country that is in fact a part of his identity. In the final line of the first stanza, nature takes on a religious significance for the speaker. He is “washed by the rivers”, suggesting the purification of baptism, and “blest by the sun of home.” In the second stanza, the sestet, the physical is left behind in favor of the spiritual. If the first stanza is about the soldier’s thought of this world and England, the second is about his thoughts of heaven and England (in fact, and English heaven).

In the sestet, the soldier goes on to tell the listener what to think of him if he dies at war, but he presents a more imaginative picture of himself. He forgets the grave in the foreign country where he might die, and he begins to talk about how he will have transformed into an eternal spirit. This means that to die for England is the surest way to get a salvation: as implied in the last line, he even thinks that he will become a part of an English heaven. The heart will be transformed by death. All earthly “evil” will be shed away. Once the speaker has died, his soul will give back to England everything England has given to him- in other words, everything that the speaker has become. In the octave, the speaker describes his future grave in some far off land as a part of England; and in the sestet England takes on the role of a heavenly creator, a part of the “eternal mind” of God. In this way, dying for England gains the status of religious salvation, wherever he dies. Wherever he dies, his death for England will be a salvation of his soul. It is therefore the most desirable of all fates.

The images and praises of England run through both the stanzas. In the first stanza Brooke describes the soldier’s grave in a foreign land as a part of England; in the second, that actual English images abound. The sights, sounds, dreams, laughter, friends, and gentleness that England offered him during his life till this time are more than enough for him to thank England and satisfactorily go and die for her. The poet elaborates on what England has granted in the second stanza; ‘sights and sounds’ and all of his “dreams.” A “happy” England filled his life with “laughter” and “friends”, and England characterized by “peace” and “gentleness”. It is what makes English dust “richer” and what in the end guarantees “hearts at peace, under an English Heaven.”

Poem:-To His Coy Mistress by Andrew Marvell

To His Coy Mistress by Andrew Marvell

The speaker of the poem starts by addressing a woman who has been slow to respond to his romantic advances. In the first stanza he describes how he would pay court to her if he were to be unencumbered by the constraints of a normal lifespan. He could spend centuries admiring each part of her body and her resistance to his advances (i.e., coyness) would not discourage him. In the second stanza, he laments how short human life is. Once life is over, the speaker contends, the opportunity to enjoy one another is gone, as no one embraces in death. In the last stanza, the speaker urges the woman to requite his efforts, and argues that in loving one another with passion they will both make the most of the brief time they have to live.

Poem:- Ozymandias by Percy Bysshe Shelley

Ozymandias by Percy Bysshe Shelley

The speaker of the poem meets a traveller who came from an ancient land. The traveller describes two large stone legs of a statue, which lack a torso to connect them and which stand upright in the desert. Near the legs, half-buried in sand, is the broken face of the statue. The statue's facial expression—a frown and a wrinkled lip—form a commanding, haughty sneer. The expression shows that the sculptor understood the emotions of the person the statue is based on, and now those emotions live on, carved forever on inanimate stone. In making the face, the sculptor’s skilled hands mocked up a perfect recreation of those feelings and of the heart that fed those feelings (and, in the process, so perfectly conveyed the subject’s cruelty that the statue itself seems to be mocking its subject). The traveller next describes the words inscribed on the pedestal of the statue, which say: "My name is Ozymandias, the King who rules over even other Kings. Behold what I have built, all you who think of yourselves as powerful, and despair at the magnificence and superiority of my accomplishments." There is nothing else in the area. Surrounding the remnants of the large statue is a never-ending and barren desert, with empty and flat sands stretching into the distance.

Poem:-Fear No More by William Shakespeare

Fear No More by William Shakespeare 

This poem is taken from the play Cymbeline written by William Shakespeare. The poem does not portray death as misery or gloom as we traditionally believe. Instead, he considers it is the ultimate destination of every human being. It brings peace for the humans from worldly problems and sorrows.

The poem has been divided into four stanzas having six lines each. It is written for the consolation of the dead. The poet wants to say that a dead person becomes free from all kinds of worldly anxieties. It is full of moral lessons.

A dead person cannot feel the heat of the sun. A living person has to face the scorching sun and bitter coldness of the winter season. But after death, he gets rid of them. After death a person goes to heaven, which is his permanent home. As a laborer works and goes home after taking his wages, so a dead person goes home with his success and failures. The poet further advises a dead person not to be disappointed from death because death is the fate of every person. It lays its icy hands over all whether he is a handsome fellow, a beautiful girl or a chimney sweeper. All must die one day.

A dead person is immune from the anger of his master. In his lifetime, he is in financial trouble. He has no sufficient money for buying necessary cloth and proper fund. Consequently, he has no proper cloth to cover his body and proper food to satisfy his hunger. But after death, he does not feel any necessity of these things. Death is very impartial. It does not distinguish between the poor and rich. Kings, learned men, physicians and doctors must die one day.

A dead man does not fear the lightening flash nor thunder-storm. He is free from public criticism. Joy and sorrow are the same for him. In his life time sometime he is happy and sometimes sad. But after death, he does not feel anything. At last the poet says that death should not be the cause of sorrow because all persons, whether they are young lover or old one, must die and meet the dust. It is lyrical and follows a systematic pattern, example 'the sun' 'done', 'rages', 'wages' 'must' 'dust' etc.

Play:-Othello by William Shakespeare

Othello by William Shakespeare

Othello, in full Othello, the Moor of Venice, tragedy in five acts by William Shakespeare, written in 1603–04 and published in 1622 in a quarto edition from a transcript of an authorial manuscript. The text published in the First Folio of 1623 seems to have been based on a version revised by Shakespeare himself that sticks close to the original almost line by line but introduces numerous substitutions of words and phrases, as though Shakespeare copied it over himself and rewrote as he copied. The play derives its plot from Giambattista Giraldi’s De gli Hecatommithi (1565), which Shakespeare appears to have known in the Italian original; it was available to him in French but had not been translated into English.

The play is set in motion when Othello, a heroic black general in the service of Venice, appoints Cassio and not Iago as his chief lieutenant. Jealous of Othello’s success and envious of Cassio, Iago plots Othello’s downfall by falsely implicating Othello’s wife, Desdemona, and Cassio in a love affair. With the unwitting aid of Emilia, his wife, and the willing help of Roderigo, a fellow malcontent, Iago carries out his plan.

Making use of a handkerchief belonging to Desdemona and found by Emilia when Othello has unwittingly dropped it, Iago persuades Othello that Desdemona has given the handkerchief to Cassio as a love token. Iago also induces Othello to eavesdrop on a conversation between himself and Cassio that is in fact about Cassio’s mistress, Bianca, but which Othello is led to believe concerns Cassio’s infatuation with Desdemona. These slender “proofs” confirm what Othello has been all too inclined to believe—that, as an older black man, he is no longer attractive to his young white Venetian wife. Overcome with jealousy, Othello kills Desdemona. When he learns from Emilia, too late, that his wife is blameless, he asks to be remembered as one who “loved not wisely but too well” and kills himself.

Play:- Ghashiram Kotwal by Vijay Tendulkar

Ghashiram Kotwal by Vijay Tendulkar

Vijay Dhondopant Tendulkar (6 January 1928 – 19 May 2008) was a leading Indian playwright, movie and television writer, literary essayist, political journalist, and social commentator primarily in Marāthi. His Marathi plays established him as a writer of plays with contemporary, unconventional themes.[1] He is best known for his plays Shantata! Court Chalu Aahe (1967), Ghāshirām Kotwāl (1972), and Sakhārām Binder (1972). Many of Tendulkar's plays derived inspiration from real-life incidents or social upheavals, which provide clear light on harsh realities. He has provided guidance to students studying "play writing" in US universities. Tendulkar was a dramatist and theatre personality in Mahārāshtra for over five decades.

Ghashiram Kotwal is a Marathi play written by playwright Vijay Tendulkar in 1972 as a response to the rise of a local political party, in Maharashtra.The play is a political satire, written as historical drama. It is based on the life of Nana Phadnavis (1741–1800), one of the prominent ministers in the court of the Peshwa of Pune and Ghashiram Kotwal, the police chief of the city. Its theme is how men in power give rise to ideologies to serve their purposes, and later destroy them when they become useless. It was first performed on 16 December 1972, by the Progressive Dramatic Association[3] in Pune. Jabbar Patel's production of the play in 1973 is considered a classic in Modern Indian Theatre.

Play:-Tughlaq by Girish Karnad

Tughlaq by Girish Karnad 

Girish Karnad (19 May 1938 – 10 June 2019) was an Indian actor, film director, Kannada writer, playwright and a Jnanpith awardee, who predominantly worked in South Indian cinema and Bollywood. His rise as a playwright in the 1960s marked the coming of age of modern Indian playwriting in Kannada, just as Badal Sarkar did in Bengali, Vijay Tendulkar in Marathi, and Mohan Rakesh in Hindi.He was a recipient of the 1998 Jnanpith Award, the highest literary honour conferred in India.

Tughlaq is a 1964 Indian Kannada language play written by Girish .The thirteen-scene play is set during the reign of Muhammad bin Tughlaq. It was first staged in Urdu in 1966, as a student production at National School of Drama. Most famously, it was staged at Purana Qila, Delhi in 1972. In 1970, it was enacted in English in Mumbai.Tughlaq, a 13-scene play by Girish Karnad, focuses on the 14th century Turko-Indian ruler. It is both a historical play as well as a commentary on the contemporary politics of the 1960s. The Times of India comments: "In the play, the protagonist, Tughlaq, is portrayed as having great ideas and a grand vision, but his reign was an abject failure. He started his rule with great ideals of a unified India, but his degenerated into anarchy and his kingdom."

Play:-The Hairy Ape by Eugene O'Neill

The Hairy Ape is a 1922 expressionist play by American playwright Eugene O'Neill. It is about a beastly, unthinking laborer known as Yank, the protagonist of the play, as he searches for a sense of belonging in a world controlled by the rich. At first, Yank feels secure as he stokes the engines of an ocean liner, and is highly confident in his physical power over the ship's engines and his men.

However, when the rich daughter of an industrialist in the steel business refers to him as a "filthy beast", Yank undergoes a crisis of identity and so starts his mental and physical deterioration. He leaves the ship and wanders into Manhattan, only to find he does not belong anywhere—neither with the socialites on Fifth Avenue, nor with the labor organizers on the waterfront. In a fight for social belonging, Yank's mental state disintegrates into animalistic, and in the end he is defeated by an ape in which Yank's character has been reflected. The Hairy Ape is a portrayal of the impact industrialization and social class has on the dynamic character Yank.

Play:-All My Sons by Arthur Miller

All My Sons by Arthur Miller

All My Sons is a three-act play written in 1946 by Arthur Miller.It opened on Broadway at the Coronet Theatre in New York City on January 29, 1947, closed on November 8, 1947, and ran for 328 performances. It was directed by Elia Kazan (to whom it is dedicated), produced by Kazan and Harold Clurman, and won the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award. It starred Ed Begley, Beth Merrill, Arthur Kennedy, and Karl Malden and won both the Tony Award for Best Author and the Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play. The play was adapted for films in 1948 and 1987.

Act I

In August 1946, Joe Keller, a self-made businessman, and his wife Kate are visited by a neighbor, Frank. At Kate's request, Frank is trying to figure out the horoscope of the Kellers' missing son Larry, who disappeared in 1943 while serving in the military during World War II. There has been a storm and the tree planted in Larry's honor has blown down during the month of his birth, strengthening Kate’s belief that Larry is coming back, while Joe and Chris, the Kellers' other son, believe differently. Furthermore, Chris wishes to propose to Ann Deever, who was Larry's girlfriend at the time he went missing and who has been corresponding with Chris for two years. Joe and Kate react to this news with shock. When Ann arrives, it is revealed that her father, Steve Deever, is in prison for selling cracked cylinder heads to the Air Force, causing the deaths of twenty-one pilots in 1943. Joe was his partner but was exonerated of the crime. Ann admits that neither she nor her brother are in touch with their father anymore. After a heated argument, Chris proposes alone to Ann, who accepts. Chris also reveals that he has survivor's guilt from losing all his men in a company he led. Meanwhile, Joe receives a phone call from George, Ann's brother, who is coming there to settle something.

Act II

Chris avoids telling his mother about his engagement with Ann. Their next-door neighbor Sue emerges and reveals to Ann that everyone on the block thinks Joe is equally guilty of the crime of supplying faulty aircraft engines. Shortly afterward, George Deever arrives and reveals that he has just visited the prison to see his father, Steve.The latter claimed that Joe told him by phone to "weld up and paint over" the cracked cylinders and send them out, and later gave a false promise that Joe would take the blame. George insists his sister Ann cannot marry Chris Keller, son of the man who destroyed the Deevers. Frank reveals his horoscope, which implies that Larry is alive, to Kate's pleasure. Joe maintains that he was bedridden with the flu on the fateful day of dispatch. They manage to settle George, but Kate lets slip that Joe has not been sick in fifteen years. Despite George's protests, Chris and Ann send him away.

After Kate claims to Joe and Chris that moving on from Larry would forsake Joe as a murderer, Chris concludes that George was right. Joe, out of excuses, confesses that he sent out the cracked airheads to avoid closure of the business, intending to notify the base later that they needed repairs. However, when the fleet crashed and made headlines, Joe lied to Steve and abandoned him at the factory to be arrested. Chris cannot accept his explanation that it was done for the family and exclaims in despair that he doesn't know what to do about his father.

Act III

Chris has left home. At 2 am, Kate advises Joe to express willingness to go to prison and make Chris relent, should he return. As he only sought to make money for his family, Joe is adamant that their relationship is above the law. Soon after, Ann emerges and expresses her intention to leave with Chris regardless of Kate's disdain. When Kate angrily refuses again, Ann sends Joe away and reluctantly provides Kate with a letter from Larry. Chris returns and remains torn on whether to turn Joe over to the authorities, knowing it doesn't erase the death of his fellow soldiers or absolve the world of its natural merciless state.

Joe returns and excuses his guilt on account of the abundance of profiteers in the world. Chris wearily responds that he knew but believed that Joe was better than the others. Ann takes the letter and provides it to Chris while Kate desperately tries to push Joe away. Chris reads the letter to Joe out loud. It implies that Larry committed suicide because of his father's guilt. Joe agrees to turn himself in. He goes inside to get his coat and kills himself with a gunshot off-stage. The play ends with Chris, in tears, being consoled by Kate to not take Joe's death on himself.

Play:-All My Sons by Arthur Miller

All My Sons by Arthur Miller

All My Sons is a three-act play written in 1946 by Arthur Miller.[1] It opened on Broadway at the Coronet Theatre in New York City on January 29, 1947, closed on November 8, 1947, and ran for 328 performances.[2] It was directed by Elia Kazan (to whom it is dedicated), produced by Kazan and Harold Clurman, and won the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award. It starred Ed Begley, Beth Merrill, Arthur Kennedy, and Karl Malden and won both the Tony Award for Best Author and the Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play. The play was adapted for films in 1948 and 1987.

Act I

In August 1946, Joe Keller, a self-made businessman, and his wife Kate are visited by a neighbor, Frank. At Kate's request, Frank is trying to figure out the horoscope of the Kellers' missing son Larry, who disappeared in 1943 while serving in the military during World War II. There has been a storm and the tree planted in Larry's honor has blown down during the month of his birth, strengthening Kate’s belief that Larry is coming back, while Joe and Chris, the Kellers' other son, believe differently. Furthermore, Chris wishes to propose to Ann Deever, who was Larry's girlfriend at the time he went missing and who has been corresponding with Chris for two years. Joe and Kate react to this news with shock. When Ann arrives, it is revealed that her father, Steve Deever, is in prison for selling cracked cylinder heads to the Air Force, causing the deaths of twenty-one pilots in 1943. Joe was his partner but was exonerated of the crime. Ann admits that neither she nor her brother are in touch with their father anymore. After a heated argument, Chris proposes alone to Ann, who accepts. Chris also reveals that he has survivor's guilt from losing all his men in a company he led. Meanwhile, Joe receives a phone call from George, Ann's brother, who is coming there to settle something.

Act II

Chris avoids telling his mother about his engagement with Ann. Their next-door neighbor Sue emerges and reveals to Ann that everyone on the block thinks Joe is equally guilty of the crime of supplying faulty aircraft engines. Shortly afterward, George Deever arrives and reveals that he has just visited the prison to see his father, Steve.The latter claimed that Joe told him by phone to "weld up and paint over" the cracked cylinders and send them out, and later gave a false promise that Joe would take the blame. George insists his sister Ann cannot marry Chris Keller, son of the man who destroyed the Deevers. Frank reveals his horoscope, which implies that Larry is alive, to Kate's pleasure. Joe maintains that he was bedridden with the flu on the fateful day of dispatch. They manage to settle George, but Kate lets slip that Joe has not been sick in fifteen years. Despite George's protests, Chris and Ann send him away.

After Kate claims to Joe and Chris that moving on from Larry would forsake Joe as a murderer, Chris concludes that George was right. Joe, out of excuses, confesses that he sent out the cracked airheads to avoid closure of the business, intending to notify the base later that they needed repairs. However, when the fleet crashed and made headlines, Joe lied to Steve and abandoned him at the factory to be arrested. Chris cannot accept his explanation that it was done for the family and exclaims in despair that he doesn't know what to do about his father.

Act III

Chris has left home. At 2 am, Kate advises Joe to express willingness to go to prison and make Chris relent, should he return. As he only sought to make money for his family, Joe is adamant that their relationship is above the law. Soon after, Ann emerges and expresses her intention to leave with Chris regardless of Kate's disdain. When Kate angrily refuses again, Ann sends Joe away and reluctantly provides Kate with a letter from Larry. Chris returns and remains torn on whether to turn Joe over to the authorities, knowing it doesn't erase the death of his fellow soldiers or absolve the world of its natural merciless state.

Joe returns and excuses his guilt on account of the abundance of profiteers in the world. Chris wearily responds that he knew but believed that Joe was better than the others. Ann takes the letter and provides it to Chris while Kate desperately tries to push Joe away. Chris reads the letter to Joe out loud. It implies that Larry committed suicide because of his father's guilt. Joe agrees to turn himself in. He goes inside to get his coat and kills himself with a gunshot off-stage. The play ends with Chris, in tears, being consoled by Kate to not take Joe's death on himself.

Novel:-Far from the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy

Far from the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy 

Far from the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy  (1874) is Thomas Hardy's fourth novel and his first major literary success. It originally appeared anonymously as a monthly serial in Cornhill Magazine, where it gained a wide readership.

At the beginning of the novel, Bathsheba Everdene is a beautiful young woman without a fortune. She meets Gabriel Oak, a young farmer, and saves his life one evening. He asks her to marry him, but she refuses because she does not love him. Upon inheriting her uncle's prosperous farm she moves away to the town of Weatherbury.

A disaster befalls Gabriel's farm and he loses his sheep; he is forced to give up farming. He goes looking for work, and in his travels finds himself in Weatherbury. After rescuing a local farm from fire he asks the mistress if she needs a shepherd. It is Bathsheba, and she hires him. As Bathsheba learns to manage her farm she becomes acquainted with her neighbor, Mr. Boldwood, and on a whim sends him a valentine with the words "Marry me." Boldwood becomes obsessed with her and becomes her second suitor. Rich and handsome, he has been sought after by many women. Bathsheba refuses him because she does not love him, but she then agrees to reconsider her decision.

That very night, Bathsheba meets a handsome soldier, Sergeant Troy. Unbeknownst to Bathsheba, he has recently impregnated a local girl, Fanny Robin, and almost married her. Troy falls in love with Bathsheba, enraging Boldwood. Bathsheba travels to Bath to warn Troy of Boldwood's anger, and while she is there, Troy convinces her to marry him. Gabriel has remained her friend throughout and does not approve of the marriage. A few weeks after his marriage to Bathsheba, Troy sees Fanny, poor and sick; she later dies giving birth to her child. Bathsheba discovers that Troy is the father. Grief-stricken at Fanny's death and riddled with shame, Troy runs away and is thought to have drowned.

With Troy supposedly dead, Boldwood becomes more and more emphatic about Bathsheba marrying him. Troy sees Bathsheba at a fair and decides to return to her. Boldwood holds a Christmas, to which he invites Bathsheba and again proposes marriage; just after she has agreed, Troy arrives to claim her. Bathsheba screams, and Boldwood shoots Troy dead. He is sentenced to life in prison. A few months later, Bathsheba marries Gabriel, now a prosperous bailiff.

Novella:-Animal Farm by George Orwell

Animal Farm by George Orwell

Animal Farm is a beast fable, in the form of a satirical allegorical novella, by George Orwell, first published in England on 17 August 1945. It tells the story of a group of farm animals who rebel against their human farmer, hoping to create a society where the animals can be equal, free, and happy. Ultimately, the rebellion is betrayed, and under the dictatorship of a pig named Napoleon, the farm ends up in a state as bad as it was before.

Mr. Jones, a harsh and drunken farmer, manages Manor Farm. The animals gather one day to hear Old Major, a wise old pig, speak. Old Major delivers a speech in which he urges animals to revolt against their farmers. The proposition enthralled the animals. A few days later, Old Major passes away. The most intelligent creatures of the farm, the pigs, begin plotting a revolt. Snowball and Napoleon are in charge.

The animals revolt against Mr. Jones and take over the farm three months later. The name of the farm is changed to "Animal Farm." They agree that the farm will now be run entirely by animals, a system they refer to as "animalism." They decide to run the farm according to seven commandments, the most important of which is "All animals are equal." The phrase "four legs good, two legs bad" becomes a popular sheep song. Mr. Jones and his friends attack the farm in an attempt to reclaim it, but the animals drive them away in the "Battle of the Cowshed." Mr. Jones flees. They never see him again.

Snowball and Napoleon had a falling out because they have opposing viewpoints on how Animal Farm should be run. Napoleon disagrees with Snowball's ideas to build a windmill. Napoleon trains nine puppies into ferocious dogs. They will be his servants and plans to employ them to chase Snowball off the land once they are fully grown. He eventually seizes control of the farm and runs it alone (as a dictator). While a pig named Squealer constantly persuades the animals that everything is OK and that they should support Napoleon. At the same time, Napoleon uses the dogs to kill any animal that does not agree with him.

Napoleon reconsiders his position and chooses to construct a windmill, claiming that it was his idea all along. The first windmill they built failed. Napoleon accuses Snowball of this (and other issues). Snowball, he claims, is snooping around Animal Farm and destroying everything. For "being in contact with Snowball," many animals are murdered mercilessly. Napoleon begins working with humans outside, despite the fact that this was previously forbidden. One of them is their next-door neighbor, Mr. Frederick, a farmer. He sends a group of men to the farm. They destroy the second windmill. In the "Battle of the Windmill," the animals fight them off at considerable cost.

Boxer, their strongest horse, loses his power due to old age and collapses as the animals were building the third windmill. Despite the fact that Boxer was faithful to Napoleon, he is sent to be killed. The pigs continue to cooperate with people and begin to adopt human characteristics, such as living in the farmhouse and walking on two legs. The sheep are taught a new chant: "Four legs are good, two legs better." "All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others," replaces the previously set commandments. Eventually, some animals observe the pigs conversing with a group of people and conclude that they cannot identify which is which.

Novel:- Moby-Dick by Herman Melville

Moby-Dick by Herman Melville

Moby Dick, novel by Herman Melville, published in London in October 1851 as The Whale and a month later in New York City as Moby-Dick; or, The Whale. It is dedicated to Nathaniel Hawthorne. Moby Dick is generally regarded as Melville’s magnum opus and one of the greatest American novels.

Moby Dick famously begins with the narratorial invocation “Call me Ishmael.” The narrator, like his biblical counterpart, is an outcast. Ishmael, who turns to the sea for meaning, relays to the audience the final voyage of the Pequod, a whaling vessel. Amid a story of tribulation, beauty, and madness, the reader is introduced to a number of characters, many of whom have names with religious resonance. The ship’s captain is Ahab, who Ishmael and his friend Queequeg soon learn is losing his mind. Starbuck, Ahab’s first-mate, recognizes this problem too, and is the only one throughout the novel to voice his disapproval of Ahab’s increasingly obsessive behavior. This nature of Ahab’s obsession is first revealed to Ishmael and Queequeg after the Pequod’s owners, Peleg and Bildad, explain to them that Ahab is still recovering from an encounter with a large whale that resulted in the loss of his leg. That whale’s name is Moby Dick. The Pequod sets sail, and the crew is soon informed that this journey will be unlike their other whaling missions: this time, despite the reluctance of Starbuck, Ahab intends to hunt and kill the beastly Moby Dick no matter the cost.

Ahab and the crew continue their eventful journey and encounter a number of obstacles along the way. Queequeg falls ill, which prompts a coffin to be built in anticipation of the worst. After he recovers, the coffin becomes a replacement lifeboat that eventually saves Ishmael’s life. Ahab receives a prophecy from a crew member informing him of his future death, which he ignores. Moby Dick is spotted and, over the course of three days, engages violently with Ahab and the Pequod until the whale destroys the ship, killing everyone except Ishmael. Ishmael survives by floating on Queequeg’s coffin until he is picked up by another ship, the Rachel. The novel consists of 135 chapters, in which narrative and essayistic portions intermingle, as well as an epilogue and front matter.

Novel :-The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison

The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison 

The Bluest Eye, published in 1970, is the first novel written by Toni Morrison. The novel takes place in Lorain, Ohio (Morrison's hometown), and tells the story of a young African-American girl named Pecola who grew up following the Great Depression. Set in 1941, the story is about how she is consistently regarded as "ugly" due to her mannerisms and dark skin. As a result, she develops an inferiority complex, which fuels her desire for the blue eyes she equates with "whiteness".

In Lorain, Ohio, nine-year-old Claudia MacTeer and her 10-year-old sister Frieda live with their parents, a tenant named Mr. Henry, and Pecola Breedlove, a temporary foster child whose house was burned down by her unstable, alcoholic, and sexually abusive father. Pecola is a quiet, passive young girl who grows up with little money and whose parents are constantly fighting, both verbally and physically. Pecola is continually reminded of what an "ugly" girl she is by members of her neighborhood and school community. In an attempt to beautify herself, Pecola wishes for blue eyes. Additionally, most chapters' titles are extracts from the Dick and Jane paragraph in the novel's prologue, presenting a white family that may be contrasted with Pecola's. The chapter titles contain sudden repetition of words or phrases, many cut-off words, and no interword separations.

The novel, through flashbacks, explores the younger years of both of Pecola's parents, Cholly and Pauline, and their struggles as African Americans in a largely White Anglo-Saxon Protestant community. Pauline now works as a servant for a wealthier white family. One day in the novel's present time, while Pecola is doing dishes, drunk Cholly rapes her. His motives are largely confusing, seemingly a combination of both love and hate. After raping her a second time, he flees, leaving her pregnant.

Claudia and Frieda are the only two in the community who hope for Pecola's child to survive in the coming months. Consequently, they give up the money they had been saving to buy a bicycle, instead planting marigold seeds with the superstitious belief that if the flowers bloom, Pecola's baby will survive. The marigolds never bloom, and Pecola's child, who is born prematurely, dies. In the aftermath, a dialogue is presented between two sides of Pecola's deluded imagination, in which she indicates conflicting feelings about her rape by her father. In this internal conversation, Pecola speaks as though her wish for blue eyes has been granted, and believes that the changed behavior of those around her is due to her new eyes, rather than the news of her rape or her increasingly strange behavior.

Claudia, as narrator a final time, describes the recent phenomenon of Pecola's insanity and suggests that Cholly (who has since died) may have shown Pecola the only love he could by raping her. Claudia laments her belief that the whole community, herself included, has used Pecola as a scapegoat to make themselves feel prettier and happier.

Novella:-Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad

Heart of  Darkness by Joseph Conrad 

Heart of Darkness tells a story within a story. The novella begins with a group of passengers aboard a boat floating on the River Thames. One of them, Charlie Marlow, relates to his fellow seafarers an experience of his that took place on another river altogether—the Congo River in Africa. Marlow’s story begins in what he calls the “sepulchral city,” somewhere in Europe. There “the Company”—an unnamed organization running a colonial enterprise in the Belgian Congo —appoints him captain of a river steamer. He sets out for Africa optimistic of what he will find.

But his expectations are quickly soured. From the moment he arrives, he is exposed to the evil of imperialism, witnessing the violence it inflicts upon the African people it exploits. As he proceeds, he begins to hear tell of a man named Kurtz —a colonial agent who is supposedly unmatched in his ability to procure ivory from the continent’s interior. According to rumour Kurtz has fallen ill (and perhaps mad as well), thereby jeopardizing the Company’s entire venture in the Congo.

Marlow is given command of his steamer and a crew of Europeans and Africans to man it, the latter of whom Conrad shamelessly stereotypes as “cannibals.” As he penetrates deeper into the jungle, it becomes clear that his surroundings are impacting him psychologically: his journey is not only into a geographical “heart of darkness” but into his own psychic interior—and perhaps into the darkened psychic interior of Western civilization as well.

After encountering many obstacles along the way, Marlow’s steamer finally makes it to Kurtz. Kurtz has taken command over a tribe of natives who he now employs to conduct raids on the surrounding regions. The man is clearly ill, physically and psychologically. Marlow has to threaten him to go along with them, so intent is Kurtz on executing his “immense plans.” As the steamer turns back the way it came, Marlow’s crew fires upon the group of indigenous people previously under Kurtz’s sway, which includes a queen-figure described by Conrad with much eroticism and as exoticism.

Kurtz dies on the journey back up the river but not before revealing to Marlow the terrifying glimpse of human evil he’d been exposed to. “The horror! The horror!” he tells Marlow before dying. Marlow almost dies as well, but he makes it back to the sepulchral city to recuperate. He is disdainful of the petty tribulations of Western civilization that seem to occupy everyone around him. As he heals, he is visited by various characters from Kurtz’s former life—the life he led before finding the dark interior of himself in Africa.

A year after his return to Europe, Marlow pays Kurtz’s partner a visit. She is represented—as several of Heart of Darkness’s female characters are—as naively sheltered from the awfulness of the world, a state that Marlow hopes to preserve. When she asks about Kurtz’s final words, Marlow lies: “your name,” he tells her. Marlow’s story ends there. Heart of Darkness itself ends as the narrator, one of Marlow’s audience, sees a mass of brooding clouds gathering on the horizon—what seems to him to be “heart of an immense darkness.”

Short Story:- Quality by John Galsworthy

'Quality' by John Galsworthy

Short story Quality by John Galsworthy The narrator has been acquainted with the Gessler brothers from the time of his youth, for his father was a patron of the shoemakers. The two brothers occupied a no-frills store in the once fashionable West End area. It was a simple store without any great signage or advertising, and they only took custom orders – making unique boots according to each client’s feet. Their storefront was humble, displaying only a few pairs of boots as if to declare to the world that they did not subscribe to mass production. As the narrator grows older, he realizes that the Gessler brothers were not just shoemakers but expert craftsmen and that their shoes were nothing short of a work of art.

While describing the younger Gessler brother, the narrator said that his yellow face and the neat folds of skin slanting down his cheek, along with his sardonic voice, made it seem as if he were himself made of leather. His brother looked just like him, only paler. The narrator then describes how entering the Gessler brother’s shop was akin to entering a church, where the client had to wait patiently on a wooden chair for the masters to do their work. Boots would be ordered, the foot size would be carefully measured and gleaned through touch, and then the client would be shown the leather piece that would go into the making of a perfectly fitted boot.

On one memorable visit, the narrator complained to the younger Gessler brother that his boots had creaked. This complaint bewildered the skilled craftsman as if it were impossible for any of his products to have imperfections. However, with great ingenuity, Mr. Gessler asked the narrator to send back the shoes for repair, failing which he said he’d refund the amount charged.

Another memorable visit of the narrator was when he entered the shop wearing boots purchased by one of the more prominent companies. During this visit, the narrator got to know about Mr. Gessler’s contempt for the larger boot-making companies that did away with the craftsmanship of the trade, in the name of mass production, trading quality with an array of advertising gimmicks to win clients. During this meeting, the narrator became aware of the Gessler brother’s travails of sustaining a small bespoke business of handmade artisanal boots when the more prominent companies were luring away their clients on the dint of shallow advertising. The ice-cold contempt in Mr. Gessler’s voice made the narrator order multiple pairs of boots, so much so that he had no occasion to visit their store for the next two years.

After two years, the narrator goes back to the store and finds that another company had occupied one-half of the store. The narrator later learns that this downsizing had to happen because running the shop was turning out to be too expensive. The next time the narrator goes to the shop, an older-looking Mr. Gessler informs him that, unable to handle the losses their business was incurring, the elder brother had died. The ordered boots took a long time to come this time, but their quality was better than before.

After a year, the narrator visited the Gessler shop to find that Mr. Gessler had aged rapidly, looking frail. However, despite the aging, the man still knew his trade well and went about the task of measuring the narrator’s foot for a fresh piece. This time the boots took even longer to come, but their quality was better than ever.

A week later, the narrator decided to visit Mr. Gessler to compliment him on how wonderful his latest set of boots had turned out. However, upon reaching the store, the narrator was bewildered to see that some other company had occupied the store of the Gessler brothers. The new owner tried to assure the narrator that they were equipped to offer him any boots he wanted, but the narrator insisted on knowing what had happened to Mr. Gessler. Upon further inquiry, the narrator found out that Mr. Gessler had died of slow starvation. The new company owner disclosed to the narrator how Mr. Gessler barely did anything apart from making boots, not even setting aside time to eat. All his money went into rent and to purchase fine leather, leaving very little for basic sustenance. It was tough business conditions that had finally drawn the life out of Mr. Gessler – an expert craftsman of boots. Both men agreed that Mr. Gessler was one of a kind when it came to boot-making artistry. And the narrator left the store deeply saddened by the loss of such a great individual, who strived for quality when the world was scrambling for profits and gains.

Assignment for Contemporary Literature in English

Uncovering the Dark Realities of Contemporary India: Chetan Bhagat's Revolution 2020 and the Plight of Youth in a Corrupt Society

Introduction of Chetan Bhagat 

Chetan Bhagat was born in New Delhi in a middle class Punjabi Family on the 22nd day of April, 1974. His father was an Army man and his mother, a government employee. The major part of his education was done at Delhi. He studied in the Army Public School, Dhaula Kuan, New Delhi during the years 1978 to 199 after which he chose to do Mechanical Engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi. After pursuing engineering he took up a management program offered at the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Ahmedabad. Being an outstanding student, it was no wonder when he was recognized as the "Best Outgoing Student" of his batch by IIM Ahmedabad. He later got married to Anusha Suryanarayanan in 1998; she was his fellow student at IIM-A. Chetan then went to Hong Kong along with his family and worked as an investment banker with Goldman Sachs. He worked in Hong Kong for eleven years and then shifted to Mumbai and started writing. It was his passion. He has four novels against his name: Five Point Someone (2004), One Night @ The Call Center (2005), The Three Mistakes Of My Life (2008) & Two States (2009). By chance or by choice, titles of all his novels had numbers associated with them. He now leads a happy life with his wife and twin sons Ishaan and Shyam. Chetan loves to live a simple life watching cartoons with his children who wish to become super heroes. He is a health conscious person and practices yoga regularly.

Chetan Bhagat is a famous Indian author who penned down novels that hit the market with great success. All of them were bestsellers since their release and have been filmed by famous Bollywood directors. Chetan Bhagat is considered a youth icon rather than as just an author. With his vivid and humorous way of depicting stories, he has inspired reading habits in many young Indians. He is also a good columnist and writes columns for many leading newspapers. According to him, novels are entertainment tools through which he expresses his views and opinions about society and the youth. Development issues and national issues are addressed through columns. Chetan's columns are written in a way that directly points out the issues within our country and in many times it has even triggered discussions in the parliament. He is not only a good writer but also a motivational speaker and has given many motivational speeches at many colleges, organizations and companies.

Summary 

Revolution 2020: Love, Corruption, Ambition (2011) is the story of the successes and failures of three  young people - Gopal Mishra, Raghav Kashyap and Aarti Pradhan - in a small and  traditional city called Varanasi. The subtitle of the novel is called Love, Corruption, Ambition  and each word of the subtitle sticks to a specific character. Aarti is a sensitive girl and   cares a lot about her love. When she knows that Raghav has no time to spare  with her, she comes to Gopal, who happens to be her childhood friend. Gopal Mishra allows corruption by joining hands with MLA Shuklaji. Although he is not an engineer, he  becomes the owner of engineering. Raghav Kashyap is a bright boy who clears entrance exams  and is pursuing an engineering degree. However, he leaves the job  offered by Infosys and takes a job as a journalist to eradicate corruption from society. 

 The novel begins with the author's visit to the Ganges College of Engineering in Varanasi. The author was invited to  a fun talk in this college and after giving the talk he went to Gopal  Mishra's house for a drink. Due to excessive drinking, Gopal Mishra, a young manager of Ganga  Technical College, was seriously injured and hospitalized. When the writer went to hospital to inquire about his health, he started telling his story of broken love relationships, failure  in IIT entrance exams, age old land dispute, father's ambition and struggle's school day experiences, his ship journey of Aarti, etc. His father sent him to Kota to prepare for the IIT entrance exam . There he proved worthless and returned home   unsuccessful. His father died and after that Gopal was introduced to MLA Shuklaj who  was a corrupt political leader. With Shuklaji's support, Gopal settled the land dispute and built a huge building and named it Ganga College of Engineering. Thus, the first story   tells the story of Gopal Mishra's struggle and ambition, failure and success. 

 Raghav Kashyap is one  important character in the novel and he performs  heroic deeds to eradicate corruption from society. He is a graduate of  Banaras Hindu University in Engineering. He left the  Infosys offer and started working as a journalist.  He was the man whose article on the Ganga scam forced Shukla to resign. Being   too ambitious, Raghav neglected his girlfriend Aarti and this forced him to leave Gopal. Aarti  is the only female character who wanted to be a flight attendant. She could not be a flight attendant  and preferred to work as a customer service manager in a large hotel. There she met  Gopal, drank and made love with him. In short, novels represent youth with  social stratification. Gopal belongs to a middle-class family ruled by parental ambition. His father is a teacher who could not afford   private tuition and therefore sells his land and sends his son to Kota to take the IIT  entrance tests. Raghav and Aarti come from a rich and well-to-do family. Raghav's father is an engineer and he supports his son very strongly in his career. Aarti's grandfather was a  politician and his father  an IAS officer. Since he is an IAS,  private tuition centers never pay him tuition fees. In the novel and under this love story there is a love triangle ; it is the story of eradicating corruption from Indian society. In short, the plot of the novel   revolves around  three young men  who want to be  rich regardless of moral,  ethical values. Another wants to be a champion of  social revolution and a third loses  moral values ​​for physical satisfaction.

Uncovering the Dark Realities of Contemporary India: Chetan Bhagat's Revolution 2020 and the Plight of Youth in a Corrupt Society

Revolution 2020: Love, Corruption, Ambition (2011), Chetan Bhagat portrays the social evils, corruption and problems of the  youth generation. He illustrated the love theme with different tones and attitudes. Reading the relationship between Gopal and Aarti  readers will feel that they are a good partner. But due to  academic failure, Aarti leaves him and goes with the brilliant IIT student Raghav. So at the beginning of , the author shows a love triangle. As time passes, Aarti realizes that  Raghav is too ambitious and has no time for her. Desperate, the woman returns to her friend Gopal from  school days and has sex with him. However, Gopal feels bad  and decides to help Raghav in his mission. He also realizes that Aarti is the best  partner only for Raghav. Therefore, he plays a drama where a prostitute reveals her infidelity to Aarti . Finally, Aarti returns to Raghavi. Here, the author introduced the theme of platonic love in . The ambition or aspiration of youth is another important theme that the author dealt with in the novel The novel is basically about the desires of three young IIT  students. Gopal wants to become a rich man. Raghav aspires to become a social reformer and an Aarti steward. Chetan Bhagat has deliberately chosen two cities - Varanasi and Kota . He wants to show that times have changed and students of Varanasi  are also eager to pursue higher/technical education in Kota. Gopal Mishra comes from a middle  class family. His father wants to make him an engineer and also works hard.  However, Gopal is not interested in engineering. Instead, he wants to become a  rich and powerful person. To fulfill his ambition, he joins hands with MLA Shuklaji  and becomes rich by applying dishonest practices. Raghav Kashyap, another character in the novel , is from a wealthy and also brilliant family. He clears all the  exams and becomes an engineer. However, he is not interested in working as an engineer. He quits  Jobs and takes a job as a newspaper reporter. His goal is to change the world through social movements and reforms. He wants to create a corruption-free society. 

 His article on the Ganga cleaning scam brings some changes to the system. Aarti is the only female character in and the only person who does not fulfill her ambition to become a flight attendant . He works hard and finally changes his dream.  The degradation of morals and ethical values ​​is another theme of the novel. In What Young India Wants, Chetan Bhagat answers that the young generation has been drinking, smoking and  doing illegal activities. Gopal's heavy drinking and hospitalization, Aarti's involvement in drinking and sex, and MLA Shuklaj's dishonest practices show the decay of moral and ethical values ​​in our society. 

Chetan Bhagat dealt very seriously with the issue of corruption in the novel  Revolution 2020. The novel presents a picture of a dishonest society where the youth of India  struggle to achieve their goals. The novel sheds light on a hot topic - corruption in education . The author criticizes the development of educational institutions into commercial centers.  Gopal's journey from poor middle class to young rich shows the corruption of the  education system. He observed malpractices from the beginning of land acquisition  to the construction of the building and filling of acceptance quota. With the support of  MLA Shukla, he kidnapped Ghanshyam's -year-old grandson and demanded  to leave the land in his possession. So they forcibly acquired the land and converted agricultural lands into commercial use ie. for running an educational institution by paying bribes amounting to twelve and a half thousand rupees to sub traders. Gopal offered two lakh  rupees to the head of the AICTE admission committee and 25 thousand rupees to each of the committee members. Fake demolition of illegal construction is the best example of a corruption chain. In connection with Raghav's article on illegal construction, VNN officials started demolishing the building using bulldozers. Gopal called  Shuklaji and asked for help. MLA Shuklaji settled the matter by paying a bribe of  rupees to the VNN authorities and organized a fake demolition work to deceive people. After all, the building was built. In addition, the administration directed school principals to recommend Ganga Tech College to their students and for this they gave  a reward of ten thousand rupees per admission. Professor Shrivastav's way of evading income tax, missing lectures and getting salary, Ganga cleaning scam etc are  examples that show various forms of corruption.