My Last Duchess by Robert Browning

This poem is about the Duke of Ferrara who lived in 16^th century. The duke is the speaker of the poem. He is showing a visitor his palace and stops before a portrait of the Late Duchess, who was a young and lovely girl. The duke keeps this portrait behind a curtain that only he is allowed to draw. The Duke describes the circumstances in which the painting was made and the fate of his unfortunate former wife. The duchess was pleased easily and she smiled at everything and everybody and seemed just as happy when someone brought her a branch of cherries as she did when the Duke decided to marry her. The Duke tells the visitor that painting of the duchess is impressively accurate and the painter Fra Pandolf worked hard to achieve a realistic effect. The Duke mentioned Pandolf’s name by purpose because strangers never examine the Duchess portrait without looking like they want to ask the Duke how the painter put so much “depth and passion” into the expression on the Duchess face. Duke says that only he will answer because no one is allowed to drawback the curtain that hangs over the portrait. Only the Duke is allowed to look at it or show it to anyone else. Further he starts describing the painting as having a “spot of joy” in it, perhaps a slight blush of pleasure. The Duke thought that only her husband’s presence would make her blush but he was wrong. Everything made her blush and the Duke didn’t like this. The reason for her blushing in the portrait may be when Pandolf was painting, he would have set that her ‘mantle’ covered her wrist too much and so she should take it up a little or maybe he have complimented her on the becoming way that she flushes, telling her that “paint must never hope to reproduce”. The Duke describes (22,23) the Duchess as “too soon made glad” as it was her main problem that everything made her happy this means that she is not serious and she likes everything she sees. If someone gives a favor that she can wear jewelry, she thanks them for it in the same way that she approves of a pretty sunset, a branch of cherries. Sometimes she doesn’t say anything and just blushes in that special way. The problem is not her blushing but she blushes at that officious fool who brings them to her. Duke says that it’s good that she thanks people for their favors but she did just as she thanked the Duke himself. Duke had given her 900 years old name and power and prestige. Duke thinks himself superior and thinks that Duchess ought to value the social alleviation of her marriage over the simple pleasures of life. The Duke says that he didn’t have the skill in speech to explain what he wanted form her. He suggests that she might have resisted being ‘lessoned’ i.e. taught a lesson by him, if she had ‘made excuse’ for her behavior instead. The Duke admits that when he passed off by her, she smiled but that was not special as every passerby got the some smile. Then the Duke was frustrated by Duchess’s indiscriminate kindness and appreciation of everything and gave commands. “All smiles stopped together”- from this live we can guess maybe how she is not a Duchess anymore rather she is “last duchess”. The Duke ends his story and points towards the full body portrait again in which she stands “as if alive”. Then asks his listener to get up and go back demon stairs. In line 48-53, we come to know why the Duke is talking to this guy. The listeners are a servant of a count and the Duke is wooing the count’s daughter. He tells the servant that he knows about the count’s wealth and expects to get any reasonable dowry but “main object” is the daughter herself. The listeners tries to get away from him but Duke stops him and insists on meeting everyone together demon stairs. Before learning, he points out a Bronze statue of Neptune, the god of the sun, taming the sea-horse. He mentions the name of the artist who cast this statue, Claus of Innsbruck, who made or specifically for him. From this poem we come to know that the Duke is a very jealous man. Duke was so much jealous that he observed this chaste painter with his wife in order to be sure. The Duke’s pride and selfishness are also revealed as he says that he had given the last Duchess a 900 years old name. We can see that Duke is dominant also. “I said/ Fra Pandolf by design”. These lines reveal how the Duke tells this thing. Moreover, now the Duke controls this portrait too as only he can remove the curtain the line “Notice Neptune, though/ Taming a sea horse, though a rarity/ which Claus of Innsbruck cast in bronze for me!” reveals that Neptune, god of the sea, Taming a small, beautiful sea creature in what would obviously be no contest. In other words the Duke sees himself as a god who has tamed/ will tamed his Duchess. Like Neptune, Duke rules his kingdom and when he grows tired of his last Duchess he gave commands and all the smiles stopped again.

Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes

 Here are my views on the novel Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes

1-    What is the meaning of phrase ‘Blood Money’ in Veronica’s reply email?

Sarah Ford sends Tony a letter and 500 pounds. When Tony tells this to Veronica, she says it was blood money. But Tony is not able to understand what she said. This novel talks about lack of love and faith, God, Karmic philosophy etc. We can say that blood money here means the money earned by killing the innocent people. Here killing doesn’t mean physical killing of murder but the killing of feelings and emotions. When Tony and Veronica were in a relationship, her father had offered him huge amount of money but after that, they broke up. Then Adrian sent a letter to Tony asking for his permission to date Veronica. Tony, in response to that letter told him to meet her mother. Due to this, she lost her everything. From Veronica’s point of view there can be two reasons. One is that she may think that her mother was responsible for Adrian’s suicide as he might have felt guilty after making relation with Sarah. Another reason can be that she thinks that Tony is responsible for Adrian’s suicide. If Tony won’t have written in reply to that letter, Adrian wouldn’t have met Sarah and all this wouldn’t have happened. So we can say that Veronica thinks that Sarah and Tony both are responsible for Adrian’s suicide, and so she calls that money as blood money.

2-    Adrian’s Diary is willed to Tony by Sarah Ford. How come Sarah Ford owned it? Why was it in the possession of Veronica?

In the story we read that Sarah had written in the letter that Adrian was happy in his last days. This means that Adrian was with Sarah in last few days before his suicide. So it is obvious his diary would have been with her. Till she was alive, she possessed the diary and after her death, She wrote in her will to pass that diary to Tony but Veronica however was able to possess it.

3-    How was Veronica related to Adrian, the one suffering in care-in-the-community?

Veronica and Junior Adrian can be called siblings as Sarah and Adrian were the parents. We can also say that Adrian, who was Tony’s friend, was suffering from mental trauma and had gone mad as he can be called the step father of Veronica.

4-    Do you see any missing block-some dot which is not getting connected with the whole or dot missing to get full sense of the novel- in the plot of this psychological thriller?

There are so many things that are not clear as the whole novel is depended on possibilities. We are not told how Veronica and Adrian met, what were the reasons for ending relationship between Adrian and Veronica, why Sarah kept herself busy in search of other man etc. We are not told much about any character and their history so we can assume whatever we want to.

5-    In the light of new revelations, how do you read character of Veronica? Instinctive, manipulative, calculating, stubborn, haughty, sacrificial, trustworthy, Good Samaritan?

When the whole story unfolds, we can read her character as sacrificial and trustworthy. Earlier we found her calculative when she broke up with Tony. In the next part Veronica shows Tony a group of mentally retarded people but he doesn’t understand what she tried to convey. She can be called calculative because Tony was never able to understand her and she thought that if she continues her relation with Tony, they will never be happy. In the end we can see that Veronica is taking care of junior Adrian so we can call her as sacrificial and emotional too.

6-    What do you mean by unreliable character? Is Tony Webster classifiable as unreliable narrator?

Unreliable narrator is the one whose narration cannot be taken as reliable or whose narration is not faithful to reality. Tony can also be called an unreliable narrator because he starts his narration by saying that “I remember, in no particular order”. We can say that whatever the narrator is going to tell is the outcome of his broken memory as he joins the missing dots with his own perspective and imagination. The first part of the novel is all about imperfections of memory and the second part is all about inadequacies of documentation.

Thank You

Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie and The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid

The novel Midnight's Children is written by Salman Rushdie and directed by Deepa Mehta. The drama or Movie version of the MidNight’s Children tells the story of two individuals who born at the stroke of the midnight, when India achieved its Independence from British. One is born in rich family, second in poor family. What the line just above some line states, accordingly the rich one will live in utter poverty and the poor will grow up in rich family.  There is a story of three generations and the narrative technique is very long. The plot of the drama is centres around these two characters are Saleem and Shiva. The story is their childhood to man, but in the course of that time it covers nearly more than 30 years. which includes some historical time in Indian as well as Bangladesh’s history, Indian history like the independence movement, two civil war with Pakistan, arising of the Bangladesh as new nation, Emergency during Indira Gandhi was Prime minister of India. In a sense we can see as record of history and Indian culture too. Character of Parvati presents magic realism. Through her magic skills, she changes the situation and saves Saleem’s life.

 “The Fundamental Reluctant” is movie released in 2014, directed by Mira Nair, it is not less than any Hollywood movie, its script is written by Salman Rushdie and Mohsin Hamid, Mohsin is well known English writer in Pakistan who’s achieved readers of the world. This movie is all about political controversy and 9/11 attack, idea of East and West, American dream of Changez. Professor of Pakistan University Changez and Bobby Lincoln played a vital role in the movie. Changez Khan, the hero of the novel, in frame narration story move forward, as Changez who at present live in Pakistan, tells his life story to an American journalist who is also secret agent of CIA. The story starts with the abduction of American professor working in the University of the Lahore, and the journalist suspect Changez behind all this. When Changez lives in America, he has to suffer a lot. he is very happy to get a job in an American company but then he realizes that whatever order is given by his boss is to be completed by him. He feels that Arica is also not faithful with him. She publishes some of his photos stating that “I had one Pakistani”. American police caught Changez doubting upon him as there were controversies regarding Muslims and Al Qaeda. They all felt that bearded person is a terrorist and so Changez is ordered by his boss to remove his beard. He then leaves America and comes back to Pakistan. There he narrates his story to a journalist. As the journalist belongs to the West, he is also conditioned by his mind and starts spying on Changez. Three people, Changez, his boss and a African man are going somewhere and police asks to show them their passports and prove their identity. When they come to know that Changez is Pakistani, they take him and check his body. This shows that how a Pakistani man has to suffer in other country.Changez feels that hypocrisy, ignorance is there in America and so his dream breaks. He has to prove his identity everywhere in America. 

Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett

In the play, first scene is a 'country road, a tree and evening'. It is very symbolical. Barren tree symbolizes negative things and it shows near to death. These paintings symbolize longing. Longing means desire for hope. Life is a endless process and our desires are also endless. First painting is dark and second is yellowish. but these painting shows harsh reality of our life.

 We cannot say that only tree is important in the setting instead it symbolizes many things. tree is connected with the religion of Christianity, Muslims and Hindus. In Hindu religion, trees like Ashoka and Pipal are used at auspicious occasions. These are some hidden symbols. In both the acts tree is more important because Vladimir thinks that Godot will come near by the tree. But Estragon doesn't think like this as his attention is only towards food or absurd things. A few leaves grow in Act II on the barren tree which symbolizes that time is static but we have to move on.  Leaves present hope in our life. If we connect this idea with Vladimir and Estragon's life, perhaps they have hope that someday Godot will come. In both acts, evening falls into night and moon rises. It shows that we  complete our routine work but ultimate reality is that at last we have to face death. ' coming of night and moon', it shows that whatever situation comes we have t face it and at last our hope and desire ends with death. whole day Vladimir and Estragon wait for Godot, even if they don't know about who is Godot? What is Godot? Where he will come but they wait for him.



 In the movie 'Waiting for Godot' director puts setting with some debris. After earthquake some bad things happens in place like many houses fall in the street or road. Here also director puts this thing. We can compare this thing with our life the whole life we are busy with one or another work but at last death comes. We compare debris with death. because both are natural process, we can't stop it. And when death comes, we have no language to express ourselves. Setting shows that directly Vladimir and Estragon waiting  for Godot but ultimate reality is death, so maybe they waiting for death.

The theme 'nothingness' shows that nothing is to be done in our life. because if we compare characters of Vladimir and Estragon, both are very paradoxical character. Vladimir is connected with mind and philosophy and Estragon is connected with food or physical aspect. So, if we minutely read these characters we don't see any difference because at last they have to go on. The play begins with 'nothing to be done' itself presents meaningless or hopelessness in our life.


Yes, I agree that 'Waiting for Godot' is positive play not pessimistic. Because we are waiting for something and think that some will come and solve our problems but finally no one comes and death comes. But this waiting for someone(Godot) is positive because it provides us positive support and because of this idea we have to move on. But this idea goes with believer of person otherwise it does not work and people think in practical way. As i saw it with my blood and skin and eyes, the philosophy is "No matter what atom bombs, hydrogen bombs, anything life goes on, you can kill yourself, but you can't kill me". It shows that we can't live with our philosophy. we have to follow these things in our life. One side atom bombs, hydrogen bombs produced and it kills many people but we have to go on. You can kill yourself, but you can't kill me, it shows individualistic idea.

 Boots and hat used is very symbolical. Vladimir playing with hat and it goes with thinking process. symbol of boot is of very lower level and absurd thing. relationship of Pozzo and Lucky presents master slave relationship. Behavior of lucky is very irritating and nauseatic. When he speaks we feel irritating because he speaks continuously and loudly. Sometimes some slavishness behaviour is seen in Lucky. It is habit for Lucky that he easily follows the commands of Pozzo, the master. That's why he obediently hands over the whip in his hand. Here we can give the example of Robinson Crusoe that how he treated Friday and aught everything. Master slave mentality presents the idea of superior and inferior.


 According to my point of view, I cannot target one point but interpretation of it is very vast. In our whole life, we always try to fulfill our dreams and hopes. it depends upon our situation and time that at the age of 22 or 25 we wait for a job so it goes through success. And at the age of 17 or 18 we wait for death. Godot  is compared with hope, desire, success and waiting for death.


Yes, I agree that the subject of the play is not Godot but it is waiting. We are waiting for something sometimes job, marriage etc. But at last we have to accept death. Waiting is an endless process for human beings. Here in this play also Vladimir and Estragon are waiting for Godot. But they don't know about Godot. Waiting is endless process and also the theme of the play.


According to my point of view, reading is better than watching the movie. But both things are necessary. When we read the play, we minutely read the dialogues between the characters and when we watch movie, through actions we get more ideas about the play. Though torrent of dialogues do not give ample time and space to think but through audio-visual effect we can get more concentration on characters.


 I liked the conversation of Vladimir with the boy. Title itself is "Waiting for Godot" and Vladimir also talks with little boy regarding God. When little boy comes the conversation as like follows :
V - Who are you?
Little Boy - I am messenger of Godot.
V - When will he come ?
LB - Tomorrow.
V - If Godot is bearded man ?
LB - No.
V - Is he fair, Black or Red ?
LB - White.


 Yes, At the end of the movie , I feel the effect of existential crises or meaninglessness of human existence in the irrational and in different Universe. During whole movie they are waiting for Godot but he never comes. So, Here we feel existential crises because they believe in God. According to Nietzsche "God is dead" means we have to believe in ourselves. Meaninglessness of human existence happens when we are waiting for someone. At last, nobody comes in the play, Vladimir and Estragon are tired of this situation.


 Vladimir and Estragon talk about ' Hanging' because they are tired with their life. They are waiting for Godot as he will come but this does not happen in their life. Idea of suicide is connected with our problems of life. If we can't face problems and struggle in our life, this idea comes but when we go through this reality we can't do it. Birth is not in our control as well as death. When person is tired with existence, he or she thinks about suicide.

'The Birthday Party

 In this movie, Lulu is represented as an inspiration of an artist, McCann and Goldberg as the traditions in the society and Stanley as free thinker. To create the effect of losing of vision more intensely, these two scenes may have been omitted from the movie.


 Menace has uncertainty which means combination of tragedy and comedy. When the long conversation goes between McCann, Stanley and Goldberg, we feel that Stanley has a hidden past which we are not aware. so here we can find the effect of menace.

 When lights went off during the birthday party, we feel lurking danger and we feel that party will never end.


 Newspaper can be seen from both sides means positively and negatively. Watching from positive side, it gives us information and tells us the reality but when we see the negative side, we can hide yourself behind it. Petey is reading the newspaper which means he is facing the reality but in front of Meg, he is hiding himself. The turning of newspaper by McCann symbolizes that he too is broken from inside.


 Camera is the chief thing to make a movie. The person who is on power position is always at the Centre and is shown by the camera mainly and so camera is focusing over the head of McCann. The view of the room is like a cage which symbolizes that Stanley is trapped by strangers who were torturing him.


Yes, it happens in the movie. Art is represented by Stanley, truth is presented by Petey, and politics is presented by McCann and Goldberg. 


 While watching the movie, we get the concept more clear rather than reading. While viewing the movie, we can feel the "Pause" but this may not happen while reading. 


 I think that the statement is correct that " it's impossible to imagine a better film of Pinter's play than this sensitive, disturbing version directed by William Friedkin".

 This movie is the best made movie by Pinter so I would not like to make any changes.

To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf

Virginia Woolf uses stream of consciousness in this novel. She presents psychological level of a person, shows the aspects of living the life and presentation of complex relations. Mrs Ramsay is the central character and a bridge between children and their father. Children are not directly connected with their father. She is a woman who sacrifices herself for others. She is truly a typical woman.

 In the last lines, Lily is about to finish a portrait of Mrs Ramsay. Whatever happens in the due time is clearly shown in her painting. She is a person who shows vision of real life. Her painting shows the status of women in society and harsh reality of the society. She is single as she is against the patriarchal idea. At last when she finishes her painting, she goes into her house and this shows her state of mind. There is a little darkness and little light in the room which shows that something is hidden in her mind. Closed doors signify her vision that though she completed her painting but she was not satisfied. Open windows means lack of some fulfilment, desire and inner side. "Dearest Briscoe, you are a fool"- this sentence proves that she is not satisfied with her life and accepts the life of Mrs Ramsay. The second argument proves that she won over her thinking the full life but atlast she gets defeated by her own thoughts. 

 Yes, it is true that this novel is both a tribute and a critique of Mrs Ramsay. She is a typical woman who is always involved in family and as well as a good host. Understanding nature, kindness, generosity etc are some of her characteristic traits of her. She is dedicated for others and doesn't think of herself. Man think that woman should not express their views because if they are given the freedom to think, maybe she can go against the power. She is an ideal Indian woman as she flows the rules of her husband and always goes for the wishes of others. 

 Catalogues of Army and Navy symbolises change of technology and improving human culture. Cutting of refrigerator shows preservation. It is an instrument of science. The catalogue does not have a date but has a name War. Time and technology is powerful but drawing or the newspaper is shown powerless as anyone can cut it.

 We can see a parallel between Mrs Ramsay and Fisherman's wife. They both make unreasonable demands. Mrs Ramsay repeatedly insists the possibility of fair weather fairytale seems to be ironic and the fisherman's wife keeps asking her husband to return to the sea and request more and more from the flounder. They both go parallel.

The Wasteland by T. S. Eliot

 ‘The wasteland’ written by TS Eliot is most appreciated as well as criticized work at early decades of modern time Poet is also criticized. Concept of superhuman given by Shri Aurobindo is used by Nietzsche who confessed in his work “God is dead” gives importance to a human being. A man with will power is a spirit which can do anything. What really is needed to cultivate is the spirit of superhuman. T.S.Eliot is criticized as regressive and backward looking. Eliot has used many myths from Greek, French, Indian, Christian etc. He has made a collage of images. Eliot has used all the myth is in positive way but they are negative. Eliot has used the myth of Philomela, Tiresias, Sybil, Fisher King, Apollo etc because he wants to convey that spiritual, moral and en the spirituality is restored as the problem gets solved.


Gustav Hellstrom has its own importance in reading Wasteland from psychological approach. Elliot has opposite opinion to that of the psychology. Eliot believes in repression of desires which will help to preserve our culture and this will lead towards human salvation. Freud believes in natural instincts, all the suppressed desire in our unconscious mind should be either given free vent to let out or should be displacement otherwise those repressed desires will lead to neurotic.

Eliot has made use of many myths poem different cultures and tries to connect different religious thoughts to get the answer. In the third part of the poem, he refers to “Jain- Buddhist” philosophy especially the sermon given by Buddha. Second allusion is presented in the last part which he refers to Ganga, Brihadaranyaka-upanishad.
Datta- be a giver
Dayadhvam- compassion, sympathise, empathise
Damyata- control and repress
The poem is of a quest of a man to restore spirituality as well as solution of contemporary malice.

One Night at the Call Center by Chetan Bhagat

Menippean Satire- We can see a satire on work culture. Bakshi is very selfish and he wants to go Boston so he encourages Shyam to make the website and he doesn't think about any of his employers. Bakshi is the boss in the call center and he is cruel as he thinks all the other characters are scapegoats. The characters are unhappy in their life and when they are in trouble, and get a call from God, they decide to come out of the solution themselves. When readers read about the call from God, everybody says that it cannot be possible and due to this, Chetan Bhagat puts the idea of Military Uncle too. Chetan Bhagat talks about the Urban Middle Class of India. This novel is a seriocomic genre. Bakshi can be seen as "incompetent professional men of all kinds" and can be treated as diseases of the intellect. 


 Narrative Structure- This novel is very complex. We can also interpret as story going on as a dream sequence to the narrator. In the end there is a call from God and the readers might not agree with it so Chetan Bhagat has put another idea that whatever things are told by the God is told by Military Uncle. We can compare this novel with the movie Life Of Pie where the central idea is of God. Pie narrates his story that how he lived with a tiger for so many days and he believes in God because from childhood, he has been in the company of religious people and his mother used to tell him the stories of God.


 Friedman in his book 'The World is Flat' talks about carrier of information, individual power, liberation, competition and collaboration. In other words, we can say that knowledge society demands mind power. All the six characters are not knowledgeable but their accent is good and they can communicate easily with Americans. Effect of Globalisation can also be seen as the youngsters are working in call centers to earn money. Some old people like Military Uncle also work there as they have some family problems and due to their old age, they cannot get job anywhere else. Call Center can be called paradox as everyone have some needs so they do this job.

 Any book which helps solving the problems of the self is called a self help book. These types of books are easy to read and interpret, are digestible and does not require higher intelligence. In this novel, God is at the centre. When these characters get the call from God, after that their life changes totally. We can also say that we should face failures as "No success stories are complete without Failure". 

The White Tiger

This novel is the X-Ray image of a diseased body and Adiga refers India as only the skeletons are remaining and whole of the body is eaten up by bureaucrats and the other corrupted people. Adiga has talked about 2 Indias, an India of light and the another India of darkness. The rural or the village is called as Dark India and urban or city is called as the India of Light. In the novel, Balram Halwai goes from darkness towards light. Adiga gives us a collage of images of Indians. Most of the people in India are corrupted, poor, blind follower of religion and so on. Adiga criticizes Indian society and it becomes problematic when someone starts criticizing his own nation. 
Yes, it is true that Balram's story is the archetype of all stories of "rags to riches". This means a person moving from poverty towards wealth. Adiga, in a very satiric way uses these words which we can also say is referred to persons like Dhirubhai Ambani, Narendra Modi etc. Balram belonged to a poor family. His father was a rickshaw puller. Balram couldn't complete his studies and worked at a tea stall. From there, he goes to Delhi and becomes a taxi driver. He then kills master and becomes a murderer, works in a call center, becomes a businessman and finally an entrepreneur. So after reading this novel, we can say that Balram became a successful person from a poor man.
 "Language bears within itself the necessity of its own critique". This novel can also be deconstructed using this theory. But we get many questions raised in our mind as India is shown in a very negative way. The question raised are like how much authentic the narrator is, how can we trust on the things which are told about India etc. The questions are that we cannot rely fully on this text as the narrator is himself a murderer and he has a little experience of practical life and he calls himself "Half- baked Indian". he represents the picture of India in a narrow vision.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

 

(1) Feministic reading of Hermione’s character in Harry Potter
(4) Self-Help culture and Harry Potter
(9) Theme of Love and Death in Harry Potter



1. Feministic reading of Hermione’s character in Harry Potter:

When we look towards woman character they are portrays as inferior, silent, always followers of their father, brother or husband. It is the image or grey shade of girl or a woman. But in literature writer always portray women as a different way. It means some individual point we can find to prove her character like brave, intelligent and fighting for circumstances. In Harry Potter also character of Hermione is very brave, intelligent, and logical and more speak able. In Hogwarts School when any professor asked questions at that time she always knows the answers and tried to replied it very well. She has also different abilities like she knows every magical trick and applied it whenever it needed.  Other female characters are also powerful like Luna, Harry’s mother Lily, Ron’s mother Molly Weasley, Ginny etc. Hermione is more powerful than Harry but J.K. Rowling put center character as Harry Potter. Magical power of Harry Potter and as a gifted child he is at the center. Dumbledore also draws attention towards Harry. In forth part ‘The Goblet of Fire’ when one dance party was arranged by Hogwarts School at that time every white girls selected for it but two Indian Patil sisters Padma and Parvati not selected. At last one sister goes with Harry and another goes with Ron. But it is the portrayal of Indian character by J.K. Rowling. It presents Meta narrative of racism and it can be deconstructed.  Harry’s mother also witch and knows magic. Once time mother of Ron Weasley also used her magic and destroyed Lady Bellatrix who is follower of Voldemort.  So, power of women characters shown by Rowling. Though Hermione not at the center but she is very respected by all the male members. She is equally respected by Dumbledore, Harry and Ron. When dance party going on at that time Victor Krum also very frank towards Hermione and he wrote letters, it shows their friendship and respect for Hermione. So, as compared to male characters female characters also played a vital role.

4. Self-Help culture and Harry Potter:

  If we read any book we can get any message from it. Reading habits improve our self interest and it helpful for any critical situation. Self-Help culture also creates one type of image that we can get some problem solving skills into it. It gives individually satisfaction. But self-help culture serves as a tool of social control. It means once cannot behave like anyway but we have to follows the rules of society. Through this angle if we see character of Harry then many a times he breaks the rules of magic. Because he cannot use magic outside of the Hogwarts School but he uses the magic in his home. So, innocence turned into wilderness. It shows that with the grown up age of the Harry he behaves as mature person. It is the common nature of any person that with the higher age of person lost innocence. In Hogwarts School he is a hero but in his home he treated as a servant. For his safety for his uncle and aunt he uses magic so it is his reaction towards them. Without this he cannot live his life freely that’s why he always uses magic. If we see clear image of Harry Potter then he breaker of the rules. We can see also see the high self-esteem in the Harry; it can be positive or negative. Sometimes it happens that some evil aspects come in Harry Potter but he cannot over powering him. Voldemort also as powerful as Harry Potter and always tried to defeat Harry but Harry fights with him. Voldemort wanted to kill all the Muggles and half-blood gaining powers. In short, through these characters like Harry, Hermione, Ron and other characters we can learn that how to fight with critical circumstances and so it is Harry Potter book series called as self-help book.


9. Theme of Love and Death in Harry Potter:

   Theme of Death and Love is the center in all the parts. From the very beginning Harry thought that his parents blessings always with him. Dumbledore also convince to Harry that his parents good wishes always with him. But slowly and steadily he has to fight for himself. Because reality is that dead never comes to protect any person. When Harry fights with Lord Voldemort at that time he see his parents with him, but it is the good memory oh them and through this he gets energy and wins over him. Tom Riddle also fights for his own way. Though Harry is the gifted child and different from the other he has to struggle for his own. Idea of Death very much presented in last parts. After the death of Dumbledore it is very difficult for Harry to struggle with Voldemort because Dumbledore always supports Harry to solve problems. Voldemort want Harry and he always tries to defeat him but Harry successfully wins. But Voldemort defeats by Harry’s magic and behind these achievements his friends Ron, Hermione and Neville play an important role. At the end of the seventh part Neville killed the snake Nagini. So at the end we can say that though Harry is great child he has to live and fight individually. In this way we can see love and death at the center.

Daily Schedule Committee Report for Annual Day

"True enjoyment comes from activity of the mind and exercise of the body; the two are ever united."

                                                     - Wilhelm Von Humboldt

Daily Schedule Committee Report (link for video)

                                                                                                      

"Activity of mind" is the most important aspect to grow oneself. To remain only physically healthy is not enough. Our mind also should have a kind of courage, intelligence and creativity. And this Daily Schedule gives us the opportunity to develop all these virtues. Here, at Department of English, Maharaja Krishnakumarsinhji Bhavnagar University, we start our day with Daily Schedule. When I was a fresher here, I just wondered what was this happening but my seniors and classmates helped me in understanding it. This is a platform where many activities take place like News Reading, Vocabulary Drill, Book Report, Poetry Recitation, etc. Daily Schedule starts with University song and then Prayer and at last we sing our National Song. This activity gives us energy and without it, we feel like our day is incomplete. The entire year, we keep a record and in the end, we make a chart of student's participation. Daily Schedule committee also helped me a lot in preparing the final report. In the end of Daily Schedule, head of the Department of English, Dr. Dilip Barad gives comments and counterpoints which is very useful for us to improve ourselves. Students bring their creativity like the poems they write or any book or movie review. It seems interesting as each and every column gives students a precious chance to rise. By participating in Daily Schedule, the non-native speakers of English can improve their English. This platform helped us a lot during the Global Conference of English Studies. which was held recently in Vallabh Vidyanagar. There we could present the paper very confidently. We learnt to present our arguments, thoughts and content in front of knowledgeable audience. Here we get ample opportunities to enhance our speaking skills as well as listening skills. Earlier, I had not done anchoring anywhere, but here, I got a chance to do it and helped me to wipe away my stage fear. In Daily Schedule, we celebrate different days like Republic Day, Hindi Day, International mother Language Day etc. Prayer is also held in different languages like English, Hindi, Gujarati and Sanskrit. Encouragement was also needed during most of the time as many a times, there were less number of participants. The most popular columns were Thought for the day, Personal Presentation, etc and the columns which suffered were like of News Reading, General knowledge. Sometimes, all the columns were flooded with participants. Many students have talent but they hesitate to show it and through this platform, their hidden talent comes out. So to conclude, I would like to say that speaking is a productive skill and equivalent to writing skill. There are people who know English but there are people who can speak accurate English. This activity helps to enhance future teacher's communicative language learning skills. I wish that new batches of Department of English will carry on this tradition of Daily Schedule and we expect more number of unsung heroes to come up and perform daily in Daily Schedule as Paulo Coelho says-

"One day, you will wake up and there won't be any more time to do the things you have always wanted. So, do it now."

My views on Literature

From childhood, I was fond of reading and my father likes reading too and so we had different books and magazines at home like Reader's Digest, The Weekly etc. This was my first exposure towards the world of books. Then at school, I used to read comics like Champak, Chacha Chaudhary, Nandan etc. After that, at secondary level in school, I started reading Enid Blyton's series of books like the Famous Five and their Adventures etc. Then slowly and steadily, I started reading novels like Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens, Three Mistakes of My Life and One Night at the Call Centre by Chetan Bhagat, I too had a love story by Ravinder Singh, Such a Long Journey by Rohinton Mistry, Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe etc. Earlier I thought that literature is just all these stories and poems but after getting exposed to all these books and then coming in Post Graduation, my perspective changed towards literature. 

It is said that literature is mirror of society but according to me, it can be said that it is a mirror but of ourselves and not of society. We can see the things hidden in us which we can't see directly. We can see our own reflection and can understand ourselves better. Literature totally changed me as earlier I just used to do simple reading of the books but now I can think critically and can also apply different theories. Books prove to be great teachers who cultivate good understanding in us. They not only give us knowledge but also the essence of life which presents sheer joy and strength. Books are the best companion in solitude. 

Experience of 2 years at Department of English

This is my experience of two years in Department of English, Maharaja Krishnakumarsinhji Bhavnagar University, which was shared by me during our Annual and Farewell Function.

I would like to express my appreciation to all of my teachers, friends who helped me to get where I am right now; standing here in front of u. The first day when I entered the department, I was nervous and when I went in the class, Daily Schedule was going on. For few seconds, I was just confused that what was going on and asked about it to one of my seniors. They informed me that daily schedule was going on in which various types of activities are held. When I took admission in Bhavnagar, I was just alien to this place and at that time, my seniors, teachers and classmates helped me a lot. My first language is Gujarati but I don’t know it very well and so language has always been a barrier for me. From that day to even today, whenever any new Gujarati word comes, Ranjan and other friends help me in understanding it. I learnt many things from my seniors and classmates and from juniors too. After coming here, many of my skills enhanced and the biggest hurdle was stage fear which wiped away. Our seniors encouraged us a lot to participate in every event. I took part in many competitions like Youth Festival, Excel Expression, Essay Competition and the recently held Global Conference on English Studies. This was an international conference held at Vallabhvidyanagar where we got the chance to present paper and interact with scholars like Bill Ashcroft, David Crystal and Mahesh Dattani. Being a leader of the Daily Schedule Committee, I enjoyed my work a lot. Everyday encouraging students, taking pictures and keeping records were a part of it. During my first semester, I always thought like what is the use of these online discussions and blogs which are given to us but now I can understand the value of it as after a couple of months, we will be teaching somewhere and it will help us as we also will apply it on our students. This department is like a second home for us as we spend almost 6-7 hours here. The environment here is very different as when we enter the department, we forget the outside world. We didn’t realize we were making memories, we just knew we were having fun. We celebrated many festivals together and really they will be in our memories now. Sir taught us- Learning, unlearning and relearning and I always applied this theory as when we go in the class, we should have empty mind, then and only we will learn new things and new ideas well also come in our mind. Keep questioning yourself because you never know how many answers you will need to find the path of life that you truly want to take.

             Here, we also got opportunity to study from different professors like Dr. Atanu Bhattacharya, Dr. Mandaliya and Dr. Sanjay Mukherjee etc. Teaching style of every professor was unique and I am pleased that we got opportunity to study under them. We also had a Placement at our department by an IT firm- Milople Technologies Private Limited. It happened for the first time that a placement was held in Department of English. I, Nimesh and Milan were selected from the Department and I reached till the final round. It was really a good experience as it was first interview of my life. I am really grateful to Dilip Barad Sir to give us the opportunity. Finally I want to say that these 2 years at department were memorable for me and I will always cherish these moments. I am thankful to all my teachers. You empowered us with the power of knowledge. You motivated us with the best tutelage. You helped us move ahead with mending motivation. I would also like to thank our seniors, classmates and juniors for supporting me and helping me at every step. I’ve learned that friends become kind of family. You eat together; you take naps together, fight, laugh, cry and do obviously nothing together until you can’t remember how you ever lived your life without them in the first place.

Thank You

The Da Vinci Code

As a part of our study we viewed the movie The Da Vinci Code, directed by Ron Howard. This blog task is a part of our post viewing activity. Here are my views and for other questions, this blog is referred.

What harm has been done to humanity by the Biblical narration or that of Milton’s in The Paradise Lost? What sort of damage does narrative like ‘The Da Vinci Code’ do to humanity?

According to my point of view, Bible has done the damage as women are said to be responsible for suffering. The role of men and women is also decided in Bible like Eve is always in Kitchen and Adam does the intellectual talks. Milton has given argumentative nature to Eve. She is silent, but she is able to convince Adam to eat apple in Paradise lost. After eating the apple, she argues, “What is it to be free if we are not free to choose ourselves?” Milton establishes- “If u fall in trap of argument with women, some damage will happen”. John Milton also liberated human mind and gave the power to think irrespective of the fear of God. In Christianity Bible doesn’t allow people to ask questions so their knowledge about religion in very limited. In the Da Vinci Code, many people are killed on the name of religion. If religion is removed from human life, the life order would be set as people will become responsible and will take care of others thinking that no one is up there. This was the thinking of Leigh Teabing. Robert Langdon keeps the secret of the Holy Grail or the Sarcophagus, he kneels down before it and it can be called the damaging of humanity. It was like a pilgrimage of Robert.

What difference do you see in the portrayal of 'Ophelia' (Kate Winslet) in Kenneth Brannagh's Hamlet, 'Elizabeth' (Helena Bonham Carter) in Kenneth Brannagh's Mary Shelley's Frankenstein or 'Hester Prynne' (Demi Moore) in Roland Joffé's The Scarlet Letter' or David Yates's 'Hermione Granger' (Emma Watson) in last four Harry Potter films - and 'Sophie Neuve' (Audrey Tautau) in Ron Howard's The Da Vinci Code? How would justify your answer?

When we compare ‘Hamlet’s’ Ophelia with ‘The Da Vinci Code’s’ Sophie Neuve and ‘Harry Potter’s’ Hermione, we can see a huge difference in their portrayal. The female characters in 21^st century are getting more space and are smarter than the male characters. They are portrayed as double marginalized whether it is in reality or in the movie. Hermione in ‘Harry Potter’ is intelligent, smart and more knowledgeable than Harry but still she is not the protagonist. Women’s body is objectified however strong she may be. Kenneth Brannagh has objectified the character of Ophelia as she is shown nude while it was not needed. Elizabeth in ‘Frankenstein’ and Hester in ‘The Scarlet Letter’ too were shown as they should not be seen. Idea of objectifying is always used for women. Hermione when grows as a teenager, becomes a reason for rivalry between the two friends. People like beautiful, slim women and many people do not take their wives to parties or any public function due to their ugliness. Sophie in ‘The Da Vinci Code’ is beautiful. Feminine sacredness is shown when Robert kisses Sophie on her forehead. Her body is not objectified as the camera doesn’t roll over her body.

The place where the sarcophagus lay

When we do traditional reading of the novel ‘The Da Vinci Code’, Robert Langdon, Professor of Religious Symbology, Harvard University emerges as protagonist and Sir Leigh Teabing, a British Historian as antagonist. Who will claim the position if we do atheist reading of the novel?

From the view of an atheist, Leigh Teabing would be the protagonist. He wanted to expose the truth so that people would be free from suffering. Robert becomes a secret keepers as he says, “let them keep the faith and not let know the truth”. Teabing said, you can liberate the people if you expose the truth. Silas is like human bomb. Suddenly if religion is removed from human life the life order would be set as people will become responsible and will take care of others thinking that no one is up there. Money is a cover up and Teabing wanted to reveal truth. By still keeping the secret as it is and kneeling down before Sarcophagus, it is the damaging of humanity. It is like a pilgrimage of Robert. Had it been Teabing, then it would have opened up. Robert is the blind follower when he tells the incident of his falling in the well and at that time he thought that Jesus is there with him to save him. So by reading these points from the view of an atheist, Leigh Teabing can be called the protagonist of this movie.