Depiction of a Quote from the Narrative "Gateman's Gift" by Narayan Essay Example

"He now understood the looks that people threw at him... 'Oh! Oh!' he cried aloud. He laughed. He felt a curious relief at this realisation." (Narayan, 243)

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The story has a variety of themes, such as the theme of identity, fear, social opinion, paralysis, insecurity and suffering. The quotation illustrated above shows how Singh pretends not to be influenced by other people's judgments. However, the quote also illustrates how Singh's personality is shaped and formulated by his contemplations to the point of trusting that he might be a mad person. Throughout the tale, Singh is swayed by his director, Sahib, who has a rough character. Singh only had two events where he was spoken to ironically by 'the great man' (Narayan, 240). Singh became used to Sahib irrespective of how unfriendly Sahib was to Singh.

Fear is the narrative's main theme. Fear illustrated in the way Singh destroyed his hard work and life with the assumption that people, Sahib, in particular, were not content with him. Singh obtained three emails in his entire life, and every acquired letter distressed him to the point of rejecting to read them. However, when he read the letters, they brought great changes in his life. That is when he got the mail when he was working as a post person, he pleaded for an allowance, irrespective of the fact that his retirement time was not yet due. The letter led to the loss of his job, an occupation he had for twelve years. However, Singh was able to attain a knowledgeable discovery on how talented he was in artwork through sawdust and clay.

Singh got another letter after giving Sahib a model which impressed everyone in the office including the chief. After one week, Singh got a third letter that was registered that made him panic. At the time, the mail cost Singh to throw away the talent that he had just realised talent; the letter also made Singh unhealthy and insane. The actions at the scene illustrate the theme of insecurity as it is seen that Singh does not believe in himself, the theme of social opinion is also portrayed as the letters seem to affect Singh's personal decisions.

Losing of concern is also important as it illustrates how fear overwhelmed Singh's entire judgments. He lost is soundness in the belief that he was insane, and that people 'saw' him like a mad person since he asked for an opinion on what to do about the letter. Therefore, Singh is frightened of the bad effects that could arise from the envelope, and how it is not of his interest to learn whether the mail has unpleasant or good news, and thus illustrating the theme of paralysis.

Conclusion

Close to the narrative's end, Singh finally realises that the letter had pleasant information and unpredictably his former master had praised him for such an amazing clay model that he had sent. The master also rewarded him a hundred rupees. However, irrespective of the compliments, Singh still gave up on moulding clay models. The reason why the Singh gave up is unclear. However, it might be connected to the insanity he had gone through, for being obsessed with his master's observations. What also remains ambiguous is; why was Sahib influencing Singh's life greatly when they hardly had a connection? Could the reason be due to the distance his wife had developed? Was his wife abandoning him?