World Literature

Munshii spent the whole day lost in such delibrations. He spoke about it to a few friends. They said “Dont put any obstacles in the way of his playing” from now on don’t keep him prisoner. There’s much less possibility of his going wrong paying in the open air than shut up in a room. Of course, keep him away from bad company but not to the lint where you don’t let him go out of the house. In adolescence islolation is a very damaging to the character. Pg 76

The author puts this in this and gives us a close insight to the fathers thoughts . Since his wife has passed he’s filled his life with such professional occupancies that have led him to neglect his fatherly duty of being compassionate, understanding, and loving. He’s finally getting a realization that wow, what has he neglected. He’s starting to realize how much of a void his first wife left to fill, that gap of affection and understanding of his 1st wife he had little understanding of. In the Indian culture everything is based on what the others “peer evaluation” thinks. What’s my reputation? Munshiji is so consumed with his reputation and standings, someone saying anything negative about his son would not be tolerated since its an extension of him.  He took action to the extreme by locking his son away. Even in times of trust and escape socially he cant stop pondering about his sons situation. He clearly feels unconfortable about his punishment yet comfortable enough with a select few peers to ask for their advice. The author specifically puts “few” in there for the few that he asked were probably close friends of his that knew him very well. Munshiji was a popular man and knew lots of people but his trust circle was very small.  They even say his punishment was a bit harsh, Kids need to be kids. Isolating them hinders them and has long terms affecting their character. Which as you read further in this book clearly comes to light. His friends even realize that Munshiji is treating his family like the courts he’s running, not a home. For an adult the isolation would work well for their brains have developed enough to consider their wrongdoings, but for a child its hindering their mental growth. As fathers sometimes people take things to the extreme to protect their offspring from going in the wrong direction, especially if they hear or see them going in the wrong direction.