a hero presentation

7/29/2019 A Hero Presentation

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A Hero

By R K Naryan


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Context

R.K.Marayan Born 1906 (Madras). Died 2001

An Indian man and writing in English

He looked at human relationships & ironies of daily lifein India

He often concerned himself with the tensions between

traditions + modernity A hero comes from a collection of short stories calledMalgudi Days


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Lines 1-26 For Swami events took an unexpected turn- This tells us that

Swami wasnt expecting this. It also takes us right into the story

and the characters are introduced as the story goes along. The fight the boy had with the tiger and his flight up a tree,

where he stayed for half a day till some people came that way andkilled the tiger-This is the catalyst of Swamis problem. Also hasthis tale been exaggerated?

Father looked at Swami fixedly- This tells us of his fathers

behavior or characteristics because he comes across as beingstern and overbearing.

How could a boy fight a tiger?- This tells us Swamis characteras well. He comes across as being more sensible than his fatherand not easily gullible. Also even though hes scared of his fatherhe has the guts to talk back to his father and doesnt meeklyaccept everything said.

You think you are wiser than the newspaper? Father sneered-This tells us that his father blindly accepts everything said in thenewspaper and also tells us that he doesnt respect his sonsopinions.


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Lines 11-26 Strength and age are not important- Tells us how narrow minded his

father is because that fact is not effective.

Swami disputed the theory- Portrays Swami as a bold and morepractical. Also what he says makes more sense.

Let me see if you can sleep alone tonight in my office room-Thereason why his father started the conversation.

A frightful proposition- shows that hes timid and slightly scared.

You must sleep alone hereafter- Shows the tone of command in hisfather voice. It was a order from the head of the family and he was meant

to obey it.

He knew his fathers tenacity at such moments- Shows that hisfather pulled this tone quite often and also shows how well Swami knows

his father.


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Lines 28-35

From the first of next month Ill sleep alone Father here shows

one of Swamis characteristics; he is opportunistic accepts praise for hisbravery

it is disgraceful sleeping beside granny or mother like a babythe father is quite cruel and tries to find a way to humiliate swami

why do you look at me while you say it?the mother is quite

defensive for her side. She doesnt believe that she has anything to dowith it.

I hardly know anything about the boy the mother is also quite

distant and dismissive. She doesnt have a great deal to do with

Swami.

If you mean that your mother is spoiling him, tell her so; and dontlook at meshe blames Granny; doesnt seem to have a very

close relationship with her too.


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Lines 37-43

Swami rose silently and tiptoed away to his bed in the passageit shows that swami is cunning and attempts to outwit his father bypretending to sleep

Swami made wild gesticulations to silence his granny, but that

good lady saw nothing/ Dont cover your face, are you really very

sleepy?Grannys characteristic is that she does the wrongthings at the wrong times and this causes humor.


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Lines 50 75

Presentation of FatherPositive Little fellowthis shows Father in a good light, because it sounds

affectionate and caring

You must learn not to be afraid of darkness. It is only a

question of habitthis makes Father sound less commanding andarrogant and more of a good parent, trying to teach his child an important

lesson. He doesnt sound like hes preaching, but more like hes

explaining.

All right (consents to leaving the door open) this shows that he isready to make some minor allowances if it will make Swami happy and

shows that he does not have the iron grip he seems to have.


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Presentation of Father - negative

I will make you the laughing stock of your school this

makes Father seem cruel and horrid and uncaring. He doesntseem to care how his son feels, and what others will think of him.

Come with methis shows Fathers commanding tone and

shows that he is not requesting, but ordering


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Reactions of Mother and Granny

Granny pleaded, Why do you disturb him?this shows that

Granny dotes on Swami and defends him. It also shows that she is notvery successful.

He threw a look of appeal at his mother and she said, Why

do you take him into the office room? He can sleep in the hall,I thinkthis shows that Swami clearly has more influence with Motherthan with Father. She also feels sorry for him, and tries to defend him, but

it again doesnt work.


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Swamis reactions

Hesitated for a moment, and followed his father into theoffice roomthis shows Swamis submission, after a moments

hesitation. He follows his Fathers orders, but not so meekly Threw a look of appeal at his motherhe doesnt take the

orders lying down; he tries to get the support of his mother to get himout of the situation

Can I have a lamp burning in the room? Will you atleastleave the door open?this shows that Swami tries very hard to

negotiate with his father to better his position. Although he is tooscared to stand up directly to him, he subtly tries to get his way too.

Swami felt cut off from humanitythis short sentence isparticularly effective in showing how Swami feels. This raises thetension of the piece.

but a monster the ellipsis at the end of the paragraph showsthe trail of Swamis thoughts and shows his pondering over thedifferent things he wishes had happen.

His heart beat fasterthis again increases tension and terror


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Lines 75-100

These lines consist of the RisingTerror and the Climax of the

story.


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And what about poor Munisami's father, who spat out blood

because the devil near the river's edge slapped his cheek

when he was returning home late one night Lines 75-77: It is

successful in creating humour. Reader is amused by Swamis wild

imagination and naiveness.

Through the stillness all kinds of noises reached his ears- the

clicking of the clock, rustle of trees, snoring sounds and

some vague night insects humming. Lines 76-77:Highlights

the increasing terror. It is building up to the climax

Every moment he expected the devils to come up to carry

him away; there was the instance of his old friend in the

fourth class who suddenly disappeared and was said to have

been carried off by a ghost to Siam or Nepal ... Lines 79-82:

Once again, humor is created because, this is such a ridiculous

proposition.


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A tiger was chasing him. His feet stuck to the ground. Lines86-87: Variation in sentence structure, good for emphasis andused for a dramatic effect.

he could hear its claws scratch the ground ... scratch,scratch, and then a light thud .... Lines 88-89:Ellipses Buildstension, Reader asks the question- What will happen next?

Swami groaned in despair. Line 91: The Terror is rising.

And now what was this rustling? Line 95:Rhetorical question.Reader is made to wonder what is rustling.

As it came nearer he crawled out from under the bench,hugged it with all his might Line 98-99:Its shows decisivenessof Swami now. Desperate times have called for desperatemeasures- he has overcome his fear.

used his teeth on it like a mortal weapon Line 99-100: Thisis the climax of the story. Ellipses build tension towards the end.The reader wonders what happens next, builds curiosity.


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Aiyo something has bitten me went forth an agonised thundering cry and wasfollowed by a heavy tumbling and falling amidst furniture. In a momentFather, cook and a servant came in carrying light. Tensions dissolve its acontrast to swamis fears.

Congratulations were showered on Swami next day. His classmates looked athim with respect, and his teacher patted his back. - Hes showered withcompliments, very opportunistic.

Where is he sleeping? In his usual place After all that Swami gets what hewants in the end. He ends up sleeping with his grandmother.

All right molly coddle and spoil him as much as you like. Only dont blame meafterwards - Less confident in speech, not too happy with the end result.

Swami following the whole conversation from under the blanket, felttremendously relieved to hear that his father was giving him up. Irony. He

won.

a hero presentation

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