This narrative takes topographic point in a shabby suburb in India. Rakesh. the boy of a vegetable marketer. victory in medical school and afterwards. He is a devoted boy. bowing to his male parent. get marrieding the miss his parents choose. and going the manager of his ain clinic nearby. His male parent grows old. becomes a widowman and begins to develop physical ailments and unpleasant wonts. such as ptyalizing forcibly. Still. his boy tends him. and even decides to take over the man’s diet. He bans most nutrients his male parent likes because they are unhealthy ; he fills him with medicines that the old adult male does non desire ; he refuses to allow his male parent dice. even though this is eventually the lone thing the old adult male wants. At last. the old adult male refuses to take any more medical specialty. He lies down and demands that his boy lets him travel to God
Family relationships change as clip base on ballss when the functions and duties for an person are reversed. The narrative “A Devoted Son” by Anita Desai demonstrates a relationship between male parent and boy alteration from one of extreme esteem. devotedness and regard to one of bitterness and ill will. The boy in the narrative. Rakesh. makes his parents highly proud by going a superb physician. embarking from his run down settlement in India to the United States. and having distinguished awards while working in the most esteemed of infirmaries. Returning place to populate with his parents nevertheless. to get married the miss they selected for him and to take attention of them. made them more proud than any other effort. Not allowing his success affect the ethical motives his parents instilled in him. Rakesh was a great boy and ever put his parents foremost. With his success came fortune and fame and as an intensely devoted boy he became the most devoted physician. The alteration of authorization figure from parent to child can hold a negative consequence on their relationship.
The household dynamic changed by Rakesh being non merely his parents` boy but physician every bit good. Mother and boy bonded on her decease bed but the male parent. Varma. had much trouble accepting his son`s authorization as his physician. With the impairment of the father`s wellness came the impairment of their relationship. A regulated diet was mistaken for discourtesy. “A boy who really refused his male parent the nutrient he craved? No. it was unheard of. it was unbelievable. ” All doctor’s orders from his boy were interpreted as a diminished devotedness even though the world was the exact antonym. “Outwardly all might be the same but the reading has altered: his consummate efficiency was nil but cold coldheartedness. his authorization merely tyranny in camouflage. ” Although his boy was merely seeking to maintain the old adult male in the best wellness possible to protract his life for every bit long as possible. with old age. diminished wellness and the loss of his married woman. he bit by bit started to go disgruntled and. eventually. to court decease.
After Reading
1. Why does Varma’s perceptual experience of his boy alteration?2. Who do you happen more sympathetic. Varma or Rakesh? Explain why. 3. What do you believe is the lesson that Desai is seeking to acquire across in the narrative? Do you believe the struggle is ineluctable?
Remark“A Devoted Son” is an dry narrative about perceptual experience: how good things that you wish for have a dark bottom. It besides shows how modern life has changed India.
