Page 133 - DENG203_ELECTIVE_ENGLISH_IV

Elective English—IV

Notes the end of the story. In this instance, convention demands that she should not use his name
to address him: In a typical South Indian family it would be rare for a wife to address her
husband by name. Hence, despite the latitude of omniscient narration, the author chooses
to let the astrologer remain anonymous.

7.5.4 Narrative Techniques

The story builds up certain suspense in the mind of the readers regarding the circumstances that
had compelled the protagonist to leave his village all of a sudden without any plan or preparation
and take to astrology to eke out a living in the town. The revelation unties many knots merely
hinted at earlier and weaves the parts into a unified whole. It is a logical climax reached
dramatically.

7.5.5 Figurative Language

Irony: The author uses ironic comment on the astrologer’s crafty ways of carrying out his
profession and the gullible people who came to him for solutions and finding respite:
“He knew no more of what was going to happen to others than he knew what was going
to happen to himself next minute”.
“He was as much a stranger to the stars as were his innocent customers”.
“…his eyes sparkled with a sharp abnormal gleam which was really an outcome of a
continual searching look for customers, which his simple clients took to be a prophetic
light and felt comforted”.

Simile: The appearance of the astrologer wearing a saffron-coloured turban is described as:
“To crown the effect he wound a saffron-coloured turban around his head. This colour scheme
never failed. People were attracted to him as bees are attracted to cosmos or dahlia stalks”.

The astrologer had left his home under mysterious circumstances and did not rest till he covered
a couple of hundred miles. This enormous distance covered is emphasized as:
“To a villager it is a great deal, as if an ocean flowed between”.

Example: Catchy Phrases: The work place setting is buzzing with activities consisting
different traders. I personally liked the way the groundnut seller uses catchy phrases to transact
business:
“He gave a fancy name each day, calling it ‘Bombay Ice-Cream’ one day, and on the next
‘Delhi Almond’ on the next, and ‘Raja’s Delicacy’”.
Innovative catch phrases are commonly used by many street vendors in the towns of India
to lure customers. This vibrant marketing style has been very vividly captured by the
author.

7.5.6 Societal Satire

This story goes on to show how past can actually affect the present and future of one’s life.
The astrologer had committed a folly by getting into a quarrel when he was a drunk youngster,
the result of which changed his entire path of life. If not for the past incidence he would have
continued to live in that village carried on the work of his forefathers namely, tilling the land,
living, marrying, and ripening in his cornfield and ancestral home. But now he had to leave his

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