SYMBIOSIS INTERNATIONAL (DEEMED UNIVERSITY)

(Established under Section 3 of the UGC Act 1956)

Re-accredited by NAAC with ‘A’ grade (3.58/4) Awarded Category – I by UGC

Program: BA LLB (H)

Batch: 2021-26
Semester: II
Course Name: English (Advanced)
PRN: 21010125390
Name of the Student: Pragya Narain

INSTRUCTIONS
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7. If the students copy from each other’s assignment, it will be considered as
unfair means case and performance will be treated as null and void for the
entire examination.

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 ANSWER 1(1)

Introduction

“Still I Rise” is a poem by Maya Angelou. The poet leads the reader through a sequence of
assertions she makes about herself throughout the poem. She lauds her physical prowess,
strength, and capacity to overcome her traumatic and oppressive history. The speaker claims
that nothing can prevent her from moving forward. Anything that tries to dominate her will
"rise" above and beyond her.

The author here depicts the entire community of the African-Americans. The title is a
proclamation against the society that tries to dominate and supress the voice of the
community. She shows that no matter how she is supressed, she will still rise above all. The
phrase, ‘I Rise’, is prima facie singular, but is a collective revolutionary voice.

Angelou adopts a resolute and determined tone throughout "Still I Rise." She achieves a very
similar mood by confronting the strengths, histories, and futures of both herself and all
marginalised communities. After reading "Still Rise," a reader ought to feel motivated,
happy, and renewed with confidence and tenacity.

Theme of the Poem

Self-empowerment, tenacity, and injustice are the main poetic themes of this piece. The
speaker, who is typically taken to be Angelou herself, addresses her own oppressor
repeatedly in the work. She refers to "you" as the various forms of injustices that women,
people of colour, and other oppressed populations have experienced throughout recorded
history.

She casts aside her previous negative thoughts about herself and speaks affectionately and
proudly about herself. The poet aspires to empower everyone who has ever questioned their
worth, strength, beauty, intelligence, or ability. In verses like "You may trampled me in the
very dirt / But still, like dust, I'll rise," this is demonstrated.

Reference to Context

The speaker finally makes a reference to the past in this stanza—the cause of her oppression
and ongoing resentment. She declares that she will not be constrained by the past, even
though it is "rooted in suffering," and considers slavery "history's guilt." The poet makes a

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reference to all the social evils through which the community had to go through. They
became an obstacle in the path of the development of the community, but the poet proclaims
that nothing can stop them from crossing the hurdle and rising above all.

Conclusion

The poem is a powerful declaration by the poet for her community to the entire world, where
abusers of the past are called out in public and shamed and a courageous challenge is put out
by the poet that nothing can stop their community from becoming equals and treated fairly.

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 ANSWER 1(2)

The mentioned dialogue is from the play “An Enemy of the People” written by Norwegian
playwright Henrik Ibsen. This scene is from the town meeting where the people declared Mr.
Stockmann the enemy of the people due to misguided proclamations made by the corruot
members of the society.

Thus, the question: Is Dr. Stockmann a foe of the people? It would be clear that Dr.
Stockmann's current attitude supports him being referred to be an enemy of the people if we
were to isolate his speech, that is, remove it from the context of everything that came before,
and listen solely to what the audience at Dr. Stockmann's speech heard. He has openly argued
that individuals are incapable of casting accurate ballots. He has degraded the common
people by comparing them to a herd of animals. Dr. Stockmann is an adversary of the people
as a result of this speech alone. However, we are aware that his attack is driven by higher
ideals.

But in reality, we know that his attack is driven by more honourable motives, and that he only
makes such serious accusations against the same individuals he wishes to assist out of
frustration.

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 ANSWER 2

"Taking a new step, uttering a new word, is what people fear most"
~ Fyodor Dostoevsky
Introduction

‘Crime and Punishment’ is a novel written by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, first published in

1866. This was his first masterpiece. The novel is a psychological analysis of the poor
former student Raskolnikov, whose story is that he is an extraordinary person able to take
on the spiritual responsibility of evil means to achieve humanitarian which ultimately led
him to murder. The act produces nightmarish guilt in Raskolnikov, who is a symbol of
nihilism, that is, the idea of rejection of all religious and moral principles with the
rationale that life and soul and feelings are a meaningless thing, and leads to the ignorance
of their values. The story is one of the finest studies of psychopathology of guilt written in
any language.

About the Author

Fyodor Dostoyevsky is a Russian novelist and short story writer who is psychological
penetration to the darkest receipt of the human heart together with his unsurpassed
moments of illumination, immense influence on the 20th century fiction. He is usually
regarded as one of the finest novelists. Literary modernism, existentialism and various
schools of psychology, and literary criticism have been profoundly shaped by his ideas his
written work. He is often called prophetic because he's so accurately predicted how
Russia's revolutionaries would behave if they came to power in his time, he was
renowned for his activity of journalism. The major events of Dostoyevsky’s life—mock
execution, imprisonment in Siberia, and epileptic seizures—were so well known that,
even apart from his work.

He is best known for his novella, Notes from the Underground and four long novels,
Crime and Punishment, The Idiot and The Brothers Karamazov. All of them are famous
for the psychological profundity He is commonly regarded as one of the greatest
Psychologist in the history of literature. He specialises in the analysis of pathological
states of mind that lead to insanity, murder, and in the exploration of the emotions of
humiliation, insult, and murderous rage. In his portrayals, psychology and philosophy are
closely linked. These novels broke new ground with their experiments in literary form.

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Plot of the Novel

The novel is set in the 1860s in St. Petersburg and a prison in Siberia. The story is told
from the point of view of Raskolnikov but occasionally switches off the perspective with
other characters as well. The major themes of the novel are alienation from society and
the psychology of crime and punishment. Occasionally it also illustrates the characteristic
nihilism in the protagonist Raskolnikov.

Through contradictory theories including utilitarian morality and the belief that
extraordinary people have the 'right to transgress', that is to go beyond what is morally
and ethically believed in the society. This theory justified to him to murder Alyona
Ivanova, pawn broker who always pestered him by not giving him the entire money
which the she should pay him and took advantage of him being poor and helpless.

He ends up murdering the pawn broker and her innocent sister. In the meantime, he also
befriends and alcoholic man Marmeladov whose daughter Sonya has been forced into
prostitution, to support the family. An old friend, Razumikhin, also enters his life who is
concerned by his aberrant behaviour. In addition to all this, his sister Duniya who has left
her job as a governess for Svidrigailov who made improper advances towards her, and
comes to St. Petersburg with their mother. Duniya intends to marry Luzhin, in order to
improve the financial and social position.

The story follows a twist and turns of Raskolnikov’s emotions and elaborate struggle with
his guilty conscience and the tightening use of suspicion on her. He is ill through most of
the story and he angrily rejects his family's and attempts to help him. When Marmeladov,
is run over by a carriage and does, Raskolnikov gives Sonya and family money for his
funeral. He forbids Dunya to marry to marry Luzhin, and the things come to a point that
she breaks off the engagement on her own. When it seems that investigating officer in a
murder is on the point of charging Raskolnikov, another man confesses. At the memorial
dinner for Marmeladov, Later, he tells Sonya he is the murderer. Svidrigailov overhears
the confession and subsequently uses that knowledge to try to blackmail Dunya and
accepting him, once it’s clear that she'll never love in the kills himself. At last,
Raskolnikov, turns himself in. He is sentenced to eight years of hard work in Siberia.
Sonya follows him to Siberia and visits him at every opportunity. Dunya marries
Razumkhin.. Raskolnikov does not repent for the murders and continues to be the way he

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 was. After an illness, he realises that happiness cannot be achieved by reasoned plan of
existence but must earn by suffering and accepts and returns Sonya’s love.

Extraordinary Man Theory

Raskolnikov theories about the extra ordinary man v. the ordinary man is often blurred and
unstructured in his own mind. The theories seem to be contradictory at times. This is not due
to a fallacy in the writing ability of the author. But, on the contrary they are intentionally
made contradictory.

The aim behind creating such a contradiction deliberately was that the author wanted to show
the raw state of the mind of the youth. He wated to show that the young intellectual being are
influenced by various theories and when using the theories before they had a chance to
analyse and carefully understand them. An instance from the story to depict this would be a
typical and constant contradiction of the protagonist where at one time he maintained that the
murder was committed for the benefit of the mankind but then he would think that the
extraordinary man must be above man time and should not be concerned with what the
mankind will think them. This is incomplete understanding of his own thoughts and principle
and such contradictory theories made by him are the rational that leaves the protagonist the
possibility of redemption.

The German Philosopher Hegel, wrote many works on the general nature of the extraordinary
man. However, his ideas were never formulated into one consistent thesis. But generally
extracted from various parts of a philosophy is may be understood with some consistency. If
we were to make a broad statement from his theory for him a man exists for noble purposes
and if the ends are Noble then the mean can be justified. The emphasis here is always on the
ends of the result of the act rather or the means. This theory then can be applied on the
protagonist.

Conclusion

The author here is not advocating the theory, rather he is showing the ill effects and the
disastrous consequences of not understanding something fully. The long extensive accounts
on the theory made by the protagonist in the story is not done with the aim of influencing the
readers in support of it rather it is trying to show the lunatic character of the protagonist and
the immaturity and lack of understanding of something.

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The protagonist in the end had to pay the price for the sin of murder done by him. The author
wanted to give your message that nobody in this world has right take something they cannot
give, Raskolnikov did not have the right to take the life of that woman and that cannot be
justified by any sort of psychological theory

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 ANSWER 3

“Lies and secrets, they are like a cancer in the soul. They eat away what is good and leave
only destruction.”
~ Cassandra Clare
Introduction

Whether intentional or not, keeping secrets is a part of human nature. For some it is a small
and embarrassing habits, even a brief moment of breaking the law, some people find it best to
leave personal secrets that didn't find deviant out to the day-to-day out of the minds of the
society. At times keeping the controversial secrets might not be a problem but for some can
be agonising to death. In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter multiple perspectives to
show the difference ways in which people dealt with their “secret sins’ was shown.

American short story writer and romance novelist Nathaniel Hawthorne, who was born on
July 4, 1804, in Salem, Massachusetts, experimented with a wide variety of genres and
techniques. His two widely read novels, The Scarlet Letter (published in mid-March 1850)
and The House of Seven Gables, are among his best-known works (1851). A significant
proportion of Hawthorne's writing, falls under the category of Dark Romanticism, which is
characterised by an emphasis on human fallibility, which leads to errors in judgement that let
even good men and women drift toward sin and self-destruction. Melville dedicated his epic
novel, Moby-Dick to Hawthorne: "In token of my admiration for his genius."

Plot of the Story

The story is set in the period of late 1840s, the time period in which the plot is set is
important. Adultery is a devious act no matter how you look at it, it was especially devilish in
this time period of colonial America.

The story starts with a man who is the surveyor of customhouse in Salem, Massachusetts. In
the attic, he discovered a number of documents, among them was a manuscript bundled with
a scarlet, gold- embroidered patch of cloth in the shape of an ‘A’. The manuscript, which
was the product of a former surveyor, described events that took place some two hundred
years before the time of the storyteller. The narrator made the decision to create a fictional
version of the events detailed in the manuscript after losing his customs post. The product is
The Scarlet Letter.

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The story is about Hester Prynne, a lady who is walking out of the prison with an infant in
her arms, with her head covered and a Scarlett Letter ‘A’ on her chest. She was in prison for
committing adultery. She had been married to a scholar, much elder to her and was then sent
ahead to America by him and was supposed to come in sometime. He never came back and
the people assumed that he was lost at the sea or some other mishap happened. She then had
an affair with a man and has his child. She is led to the town scaffold where she is harangued
by the town fathers and is asked by Arthur Dimmesdale, about the identity of the father and
Hester refuses to tell him and keeps it a secret. At this point of time, her husband who has
assumed the identity of Roger Chillingworth arrives and has asked Hester to keep is reality
a secret.

Later on, Dimmesdale is drowning with guilt and the Chillingworth, who has taken a job
under Dimmesdale is seeking revenge for adultery and comes to know in the end that
Dimmesdale is the father of Hester’s daughter Pearl. Hester and Dimmesdale decide to run
away from the town, but before that on the last election sermon, Dimmesdale confesses and
dies. He leaves a fortune for Hester and Pearl, who then leave the town and Pearl gets
married later on and Hester returns to the town again to continue her charity work. When she
dies, she is buried alongside Dimmesdale, and they share a tombstone with the Scarlett Letter
‘A”.

The Scaffold Scenes

Despite the fact that numerous critics have imposed other structures on this book, the scaffold
scenes are by far the most well-liked method of highlighting Hawthorne's masterpiece's
impeccable balance. These passages perfectly balance the plot, ideas, and symbolism.

The First Scaffold Scene

The first scene focuses on Hester. With her child in her arms, she defiantly stands on the
scaffold. Townspeople have gathered to witness her humiliation and hear a sermon in the
meantime. Roger Chillingworth, her husband, is on the periphery of the gathering and has
just arrived and Scarlett is ironically protecting his real identity by remaining quiet.  Arthur
Dimmesdale, her lover, does not share her public humiliation but does share her platform.

All the principal characters of the story are here in the scene. The townspeople or the society
has gathered around to give their judgement on the matter. Hester is standing alone with an
infant in her arms as a symbol of her sin. Dimmesdale shares the stage with other

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representatives of the church-state. His insistence that Hester reveal the child's father's
identity reveals his conflicted feelings about keeping quiet. When Hester is asked to reveal
her sinful partner, Roger Chillingworth is present in the crowd and adds his voice to the
others.

This scene sets the tone of the entire play, where the author very cleverly introduces all three
main characters and all discloses everybody’s secrets without actually saying them. Hester's
public confession of guilt, Dimmesdale's unwillingness to acknowledge his own guilt, and the
start of Chillingworth's evil scheme to track down and punish the father are all present in this
scene. The sermon's discussion on sin serves to draw attention to the adultery and the letter.

The Second Scaffold Scene

A perspective of all the main players is once more given in the second scaffold scene, along
with a dramatic vision of the scarlet A and one of American literature's most iconic scenes.
Dimmesdale has made his way to the scaffold in the cover of night to conduct his own
solitary vigil. Dimmesdale's conscious efforts to deal with his guilt have been on display so
far, but now we delve deeply into his subconscious. Hester and Pearl, who are making their
way home from the dying Governor Winthrop's bed, hear him shout in agony as he calls out
in his spiritual torment. Mr. Wilson also hears this scream.

Hester and Pearl join Dimmesdale on the scaffold, where "Hester Prynne had lived through
her first hours of public ignominy" seven long years before. Pearl asks the pastor if he will
accompany her and Hester there at noontide despite the fact that the crowd has dispersed. He
responds that rather than here in the light of day, they will meet at the big judgement day. A
massive meteor, which illuminates the scaffold, the street, and the houses, appears to be
taunting him as it rips through the night sky. The pastor and his lover were holding hands
with their child sandwiched between them, creating what Hawthorne called "an electric link"
in the scenario. The evil face of Roger Chillingworth is also seen in the shadows. Although
the residents of the town are not present this time. This time, despite the absence of the town
residents, they discuss the scarlet A in the sky all day long.

The scaffold itself, Dimmesdale's position on it, the three potential observers standing in for
Church, State, and the World of Evil, Hester, Pearl, and Dimmesdale's "electric chain,"
Pearl's plea for Dimmesdale to stand with them, the illuminating light from the heavens, and
the letter A variation are just a few of the chapter's many symbols.

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The Third Scaffold Scene

After the procession on election day, the ultimate scaffold scenario takes place. In this stirring
moment, Chillingworth loses his victim, Dimmesdale regains his soul, Pearl regains her
humanity, and Hester loses her hopes.

Here, the major protagonists reunite once more, and Dimmesdale this time displays his
"scarlet letter." His election day sermon ought to have been his crowning achievement, but
that distinction is reserved for his admission of guilt and his ultimate act of penance—
standing on the scaffold with his girlfriend and child. He escapes Chillingworth's evil grasp,
who shrivels and dies without his prey. As he openly admits his role in Pearl's conception, he
also overcomes the evil that has overtaken him. He has come to understand that God, not
himself, must will happiness. All the figures and symbols from the previous scaffold scenes,
including the Church and State, the world of evil, and the scarlet

The Church and State, the world of evil, the scarlet letter, the punitive scaffold, and a
symbolic kiss are all represented in this final scaffold scenario. Death is also present, of
course.

Conclusion

The three scenes of the Scaffold show the starting, turning point and the end of the main
story, and all characters are present at each scene. The author beautifully introduces the
characters and their secrets in the first scene, followed by the turning point and epitome of the
main emotion of guilt in the story and the tragic climax in the end.

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 ANSWER 4

Obviously, no one except God can know the truth… only from Him should I ask help, from
Him alone can I expect mercy.”

Introduction

Among the dozens of short stories written by Leo Tolstoy, “God Sees the Truth But Waits” is
considered to be the best and it was first published in 1872 in which this period has its
significance on Tolstoy’s life. Throughout the course of this short story, Tolstoy immerses his
readers in both the spiritual and worldly worlds, raising numerous concerns in their minds
about truth, injustice, and fate. Despite the fact that this narrative is realistic fiction, we were
drawn to it because of the implied allegory and the importance of the principles it depicts.
Above all, it might actually occur physically.

According to the plot, the title of the story has an intended allegorical meaning. The question
of why God waits so long after seeing the truth is raised by the title, God Sees the Truth, But
Waits. This makes the reader anxious as they wait in suspense to learn the idea behind it. As
the story's events unfold one at a time, the reader is kept in suspense and amazed as well as
content. The narrative has a clear connection to its creator, Leo Tolstoy; it was originally
published in 1872, during which time Tolstoy was going through his quest for a purpose in
life and ultimately discovered that religion was the best way for him to overcome the burdens
of his anxiety. The novel is an obvious expression of Tolstoy's religious beliefs, which he
held both then and in later years. In addition, the story's main themes include justice and
injustice, as well as forgiveness.

About the Author

Russian novelist, short story writer, philosopher Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy also called Leo
Tolstoy was born on September 9, 1828 in Tula Province, Russia. Tolstoy travelled to the
Caucasus with his elder brother in 1851 and enlisted in the army. He worked on his very first
composition, an autobiographical story titled Childhood, while he was serving in the army.

Three of his children died in the space of two years, driving him to despair. He lost all will to
life and started to obsess on killing himself. His lengthy article A Confession, which was
published in 1882, illustrates the depth of his grief. Fortunately, he got his ability back, and
he began writing Anna Karenina, finishing it seven years later. He produced a large number
of short stories around this time, including God Sees the Truth, but Waits. Tolstoy abandoned

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his aristocratic lifestyle and left his home in late October 1910 as a result of years of
escalating conflict with his wife.

Plot of the Story

The narrative opens by introducing Ivan Dmitrich Aksionov, a young, attractive merchant
who resides in Vladimir with his family. When Ivan was younger, he drank excessively, but
after being married, he stopped. He decides to visit the Nizhny Fair on a summer day and gets
ready, but his wife begs him not to go since she had a nightmare about him in which all of his
hair turned grey when he returned from the town.

Ivan shares a cup of tea while staying at the inn with a merchant he met on the way, before
going their own ways to sleep. Ivan decides to continue his journey without the other
merchant because he is not used to sleeping for extended periods of time. After riding 25
kilometres, he pauses to feed the horses and then begins playing his guitar. Ivan asks about
the merchant he met and stayed within the inn because he was found with his throat slashed
as the troika suddenly stops, an officer exits, followed by two soldiers, and they begin to
question him.

They begin their search among Ivan's possessions and in his suitcase, they discover a blood-
stained knife. Ivan says he did not commit the act, although he appeared terrified and had a
pale, downcast face. Given that everything evidence implicates Ivan in the crime, the officer
commands the soldiers to bind Ivan and place him on a cart. Ivan's path leads. He is charged
with murdering the businessman and stealing 20,000 rubles at the scene. His wife visits Ivan
after becoming hopeless. He then bods farewell to his family and only prays to God.

Here, the second part of the story starts in which he is depicted as white hairman who has
spent twenty-sex years convicted in the prison. Then he meets one of the new convicts
Makar Semyonich and later finds out that he is the real killer.

While Makar comes to Ivan at night, confessing to having killed the merchant and asking for
his forgiveness, Ivan is having his final argument with himself. In this situation, Ivan goes
through a difficult internal struggle to forgive Makar, but he ultimately succeeds in freeing
himself from the constraints of spite and gaining complete interior freedom.

Did Ivan get justice?

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According to the Oxford Dictionary, the term ‘Justice’ means the fair treatment of people or
the legal system used to punish people who have committed crimes. There are primarily four
types of justice in the materialistic or legal perspective- distributive (determining who gets
what), procedural (determining how fairly people are treated), retributive (based on
punishment for wrong-doing) and restorative (which tries to restore relationships to
"rightness."). But there is one more type from the broader perspective which is Cosmic
Justice. It is a term coined by the economist Thomas Sowell, in a book by the same name. It
means the efforts made to mitigate the undeserved misfortunes arising from the cosmos.

After spending so many years away from his family and friends, and losing an enormous
amount of time and opportunities for a crime Ivan did not commit, he definitely did not get
justice at the end. The only type of justice which we can say that he received was the cosmic
type of justice, the one which is provided by the God. The theme of ‘Institutional Justice’ v.
Divine Judgement is shown by the author. The author depicts an unfair system of law and
justice. Since, humans are inherently imperfect, the justice system made by them is bound to
be the same.

Ivan is thrown into the rotten and dark cells of the prison by the so-called ‘justice’ system of
the country for a crime he did not even commit. He had to give up all the worldly pleasures
and live a life full of sorrow and loneliness and paid the price for somebody’s else’s sin. A
man who though went off the rails in his youth and developed a drinking problem, learnt
from his mistakes and became a decent man with a family and worked hard, but he was again
thrown off by the murder incident.

It is nothing short of miraculous that even after facing a number of hardships, he instead of
become sour and bitter about the unjust treatment, he developed a humble holiness that
earned him the respect of prison guards and other fellow inmates, and made a good reputation
for himself, which shows his will power to not let the negativity of the evil system get the
better of him.

In essence, one could say that Aksionov has learned over his protracted incarceration that
human justice ultimately has no bearing. The only form of justice that counts is divine,
cosmic, or God-provided justice. Since God is perfect, unlike his created beings, he is unable
to make mistakes in his decisions because they are always intelligent and merciful.

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Therefore, Aksionov is undoubtedly correct when he claims that God would pardon Makar
for the crime for which he, Aksionov, was wrongfully condemned.

Conclusion

The tragic life of Ivan Aksionov is shown by the author who becomes the victim of the
justice system, but still did not lose his faith on the divine justice system of the God. It is an
exceptional story which tells a tale of hope and true holiness. Where a true and honest
follower of divinity and goodness, get the justice of God, that is the Cosmic Justice. The story
is not about justice, but about the journey of a man on pure goodness and faith, with no
greedy expectation in return, a child of the God who in the end gets justice in the court of the
lord.

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 ANSWER 5 (2)

Introduction

A prejudice is a preconceived notion or opinion about something. A communal prejudice is a

preconceived perception of the entire community as a whole. In Mahesh Dattani's Final
Solutions, the author concentrates on the issue of intercommunal strife in India, particularly
during the post-partition riots period. Following the country's division, a psychosis that
affects both Hindus and Muslims in India has led to a series of neurotic reactions to even the
most insignificant of events. The drama follows a middle-class Gujrati business family
through three generations, from Hardika the grandmother to her son Ramnik and
granddaughter Sumita. It explores religious prejudice and progresses from the partition to the
current communal rioting.

The play's events, which centre on three generations, develop quickly and weave together
contemporary rioting and post-independence partition riots. As the characters' memories
shape the plot, memory plays a significant part in the play. The mob serves as a
representation of racial animosity or communal hatred in the drama, which is product of
communal prejudice.

About the Author

Leading Indian dramatist who writes in English is Mahesh Dattani. He is the first playwright
from India to get the "Sahitya Academi" prize for his contribution to international drama.

He started the theatre group "Playpen" in 1984 to stage plays, especially Indian plays. He
devoted himself to directing plays after this. In 1986, he directed God for the first time. His
plays were almost all directed by him. Later, he began composing plays, which led to the
creation of Where There's a Will. He performed as an actor in this play as well. He therefore
began his career as an actor before transitioning to directing and subsequently writing plays.
His notable plays include Dance Like A Pirate, Where There Is A Will, and God. His
important plays are God, Where There’s a Will, Dance Like A Man, Tara, Bravely Fought
The Queen, Final Solutions, On A Muggy Night In Mumbai, etc.

Plot of the Play

Bobby and Javed, two Muslim young boys, flee the pursuing mob and seek refuge in the
home of Ramnik Gandhi's Hindu family during a hostile environment and curfew that is
followed by a Hindu-Muslim riot in the city at the beginning of the play. The family turmoil

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starts with the admission of two Muslim young boys into the home. In this place, many
religions, cultures, eating habits, attitudes, animosities toward one another, and individual
whims and psyches clash. Dattani seizes the chance to step freely into the past and examine
in-depth all previous riots of this kind and how they affected the people who lived there. He
rips apart the characters' illusionary tapestries and reveals the real reasons behind their
ingrained social, cultural, and religious practises.

Communal Prejudice and the Play

Final Solutions discusses issues with cultural hegemony, how Hindus must endure suffering
at the hands of a Muslim majority, as depicted by the characters of Hardika and Daksha in
Hussain's hands, and how Muslims, like Javed, must endure suffering in the context of the
dominant Hindu community. This all led to riots between communities, which disrupted
normal social life and slowed down the development of the country. Ramnik's home serves as
the setting for the drama, and his wife Aruna, mother Hardika, daughter Smita, and two
Muslim lads named Bobby and Javed who broke into his home amid racial unrest sparked by
the attack on the Rath Yatra procession all play major roles.

Daksha begins by recalling events from her diary from when she was fourteen and got
married. After 40 years, Daksha has changed her name to Hardika, but her prejudice against
the other community is still present in her. According to Bobby's account to Ramnik, Javed
turned into a fanatic after being mistreated by people of a different faith and employed by the
hooligans to incite racial conflict. This causes the issue of community division in our nation.

Conclusion

The play starts with the division of Hindu and Muslim, and how there is a severe conflict
between the two. There is a thick tension in the air even in the scenes in the house, where
there is division even in a glass of water. Dattani makes an effort to strike a balance while
investigating the cause of societal discord. Given that this involves the extremist elements
within the Hindu and Muslim populations, the ground he treads is littered with mines that are
ready to detonate. Everyone can see that individuals are being paid to stoke communal unrest
and political unrest in order to rip the social fabric apart. Politicians inevitably take advantage
of the two communities' sensitivity to delicate subjects.

17 | E n g l i s h ( A d v a n c e d ) - E x t e r n a l s