Topic > The Role of Characterization in the Short Stories of "Mayadevi's London Yatra" and "Bishtpur Landing"

“My Sainted Aunts”, written by Bulbul Sharma, is an Indian book built on several stories with unique characters, each of them presented with great diction and characterization. Furthermore, the author decides to use and portray the Indian lifestyle of women before modern times, where they were judged separately, treated inferiorly and discriminated against by the society. More specifically, one of the major topics and issues seen throughout the stories is child marriage, widowed women, and everyday categorization, which provides the reader with an overall look at their situation. To demonstrate the above, the stories of "Mayadevi's London Yatra" and "Bishtpur Landing" show the personality and mind of the protagonists through implicit and explicit characterization, reaching the reader and thus making him curious and attracted to the plot and their projects. lifestyles. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay In the case of the first story, "Mayadevi's London Yatra", Sharma creates a character so singular and peculiar, that Mayadevi herself represents a challenge to the society and daily mentality of India. Mostly she is a widow and instead of being isolated, insecure and weak, she is described as a stern, firm and powerful woman. A great example of how it is described and interpreted is found directly in the first paragraph of the book: “The Mayadevi day… reign of terror.” (Sharma, 1992, p.1). Here the author uses implied characterization exceptionally well, as she decides to let readers know that this funny woman had a profound influence on her family and those around her, as well as constant mood swings. Furthermore, the choice of adjectives and verbs helps the story express itself to anyone who reads it, ensuring that each of them has their own interpretation of the character, which in this case would be that of an elderly, stubborn and outspoken woman. . However, the author also decides to show how Mayadevi has a soft side behind her rigid outer shell, imagining how such a tough woman can let people in over time. As seen in this quote, “For now… London Yatra.” (Sharma, 1992, p. 17-18), factors such as flowing paragraph length, diction, dialogue, description and imagery help Mayadevi's darkly humorous and sarcastic character to be better understood and thus conquer the minds and hearts of many readers. On the other hand, "Bishtpur Landing" is yet another story where Sharma manages to draw the reader in and show them a very unique case in the daily life of India. In opposition to “Mayadevi's London Yatra”, the character in this story is Neelima, a wry seven-year-old girl who aspires to take part in child marriage and drop out of school, which was one of the greatest privileges back then. This seems ironic because girls of the time dreamed of going to school, learning, and being recognized, instead of being forced into foreign families and leaving their home due to the obligations of early marriage. With this, Sharma describes his character through explicit and implicit characterization. To illustrate both portraits, a great example is seen at the beginning of the story: "Neelima was a... in class." (Sharma, 1992, p. 20), where the author builds her character by imposing some explicit details, through the use of direct adjectives such as unhappy and poor, revealing her lack of scholarly skills and her negative approach in her comparisons. In this same example, there is mostly implicit characterization that the reader.