private tuition by mr bose Flashcards
Theme: duty and obligations
“the baby had to have his first pair of shoes and soon he would be needing oranges, biscuits, plastic toys”
Theme: conflict - family life vs work
“Intolerable…only for seventy five rupees.”
“when he could not bare it any longer, he turned his head, slightly just enough to be able to look…(at) his wife”
“he was excluded…liked to break in and join them
Theme: pressures of modern living
“trying to distract (upneet) from her observation of his domestic life.”
Literary device: use of domestic imagery
“(his wife) now rolling out purées”
- mirrors sensibilities of Mr Bose, shows close relationship of husband and wife shares while living in the constraints of a middle class society
- Anita Desai makes use of meal time preparations to show how much Mr Bose resembles a typical Indian man who is torn between his responsibilities to his family and carving a livelihood to be economically visible in this challenging society
- shows his resentment of his present priorities and how he is not free to bond with his family
literary device: diction
“his pupil, too scowled”
“many questions leapt to Mr Bose’s lips, ready to pounce on”
- presents the dreadfulness of being trapped in a obligatory life like Mr Bose,
- an entangled individual who is unable to face up to these disturbing students and ends up being emotionally conflicted by them as he is left “broken”, “flung” and “rattling”.
Literary device: rhetorical questions
“why did she come? what use had she for bengali poetry?”
- Desai uses such questions to highlight the tumultuous predicament Mr Bose is facing in teaching an ill-natured and spoiled student like Upneet.
- She is probably used to getting her way in life due to her privileged situation in life and enjoys making Mr and Mrs Bose uncomfortable, just for the sake of making her life exciting.
- becomes a difficult situation because Mr Bose has to teach her to make ends meet so he can provide for his family.
- use of rhetorical questions reminds us of the ugliness that middle class individuals face in modern day India
significance of ending
resolved ending where harmony is restored to mr bose relationship with wife. Desai reminds us the importance of understanding one another
