Assignment Code: MEG 03/ TMA 01/ 2021 -22

Course Code: MEG 03

Assignment Name: British Novel

Year: 2021-2022 (July 2021 and January 2022 Sessions)

Verification Status: Verified by Professor

Q1. Comment on the significance of the Man of the Hill episode in the novel Tom Jones.

Ans) The storey of the Man of the Hill, from childhood to old age, is based on true events. Isn't that what we mean when we talk about history? However, "storey" can also refer to a fictional narrative - something that people in their environment see and convey. The account is told by the Man of the Hill himself. Maybe he's trying to justify his decision to live alone, cut off from the world he was born into. As a result, he tells the storey, which is an imagined fabrication. Let us now consider some of the most crucial features of Fielding's "Story" and "History" as portrayed in the old man's words. In the storey, "a really amazing adventure" develops from the meeting of Tom Jones and Partridge, both travellers, with the Man of the Hill, which is not just in terms of an occurrence involving robbery and physical attack. It's also Tom and Partridge's encounter with someone who has gone through the highs and lows of life and has been through a lot of pain. That is how the Man of the Hill's life storey is described as "the storey of an unhappy man," which Tom and his buddy listen to with bated breath. It's a storey that starts when the Man of the Hill was a child and ends when he's reached the conclusion that "Man alone, interest" after a lifetime of active living.

It is a storey that begins when the Man of the Hill was a child and ends when he had come to the conclusion that "Man alone, the king of this globe, the last and greatest work of the Supreme Being, below the sun; man alone has basely dishonoured his own nature, and has called his Maker's goodness into question, by puzzling us to account how a benevolent Being should form a benevolent Being should form a benevolent Being, by puzzling. It's a long sentence, and the Man of the Hill appears to be straining to find the right words to express himself. While man has been referred to as "the monarch of the earth" and "the last and greatest work of the Supreme Being" in this portrayal of human nature, there is the recognition, based on observation and experience, that he is truly "imperfect" and a "vile animal."

The Guy of the Hill is an old man who has lived in seclusion for a long time when he expresses this opinion of mankind. Despite Tom's persuasive arguments, he remains steadfast in his conviction. Only once (when the old man talks to Tom and Partridge) does the old man deviate from his decision to avoid humans and engage in an open discussion with another entity. In this episode, Tom, the devoted listener, says very little. Tom's remark appears at the very conclusion of the storey. His goal is to comprehend and interpret the old man's narrative of a series of events in his own unique context as a learner.

If we do the math, the old man has mentioned personal and social events that occurred in late-seventeenth-century England. In this inquiry, honest care, and absorption of facts about social life, the reader of the narrative is expected to feel one with Tom. This appears to be the author's objective. Tom, according to Fielding, is the character who is discriminating, critical, growing, making mistakes, and learning. Tom's schooling includes the storey of the Man of the Hill.

The Man of the Hill's personality is shaped by his many travels throughout his life, from his home to Oxford and then to London, as well as many little towns and villages throughout the United Kingdom and Europe. He shares the trait of wandering throughout the world in search of peace of mind with Tom Jones. In truth, there are many more parallels between Tom Jones' persona and the Man of the Hill's circumstances. The Man of the Hill, for example, has an unloving mother and a caring, well-intentioned father. He also has a sibling who has turned to evil and has become a formidable foe to his younger brother, who is a bright and talented young man. The Man of the Hill's exposure to the surroundings in Oxford, London, and elsewhere serves as a powerful reminder of Tom's ordeals on his journey. Both have a positive, helpful, and charitable personality. It's largely because of these and other parallels that Tom pays close attention to the Man of the Hill's "History." What I mean is that the elderly man's storey becomes "History," or at least a part of Tom's history, in this sense. When Tom's attention is diverted by Partridge's questions and inane comments, he (Tom) expresses genuine annoyance and irritation, not just because they are inconsiderate behaviours. Tom's mind appears to be torn and churning as he listens to the Man of the Hill's narrative unfold step by step.

We get the feeling that Tom Jones is facing his own future from the way he and the Man of the Hill establish up a pleasant relationship at the start of their meeting. In this case, the Man of the Hill feels obligated to Tom because he rescued his life when it was threatened by robbers.

The intellectual churning in Tom's mind as he listens to the Man of the Hill's storey seems to finally settle down as the Man of the Hill's storey comes to a conclusion. Tom has arrived at the light at the end of the tunnel. He's weighed the upheavals in the Guy of the Hill's life and concluded, at least provisionally, that the elderly man had an unusually optimistic view of his surroundings. Tom doesn't share the old man's last outlook on life (indeed, it has an oppressive finality) at this point.

Q2. Comment on the use of wit and irony in the novel Pride and Prejudice.

Ans) It appears from many passages in the novel that the paradigms of female behavior prevent a honest exhibition of self. During her lifetime, the author used themes of: Individual and society, Property and class, Politics, Gender, Religion, Morality, Education and reading. Wit, Humor and Irony in Pride and Prejudice Jane Austen’s fame is a combination of many good qualities. She can show in her novels all her cleverness through the Irony, satire and humor. The irony is one of her most characteristic literary techniques.

Her novels employ irony to show the social hypocrisy. In the book we are studding she uses irony to criticize the marriage market, she says on the beginning of the book “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife. “But during the novel she contradicts it: it is women without fortunes who need husbands and seek them out. And the only character who joins this “truth” is Mrs. Bennet, The author also has the characteristic to demonstrate with humor that the reversals of social are out of the reality.

The “truth” she exposes in the first lines, tell us about the context of the book: the Bennet family, are hardly trying to marry their 5 daughters. The mother is very worried with these marriages, and in her efforts to make sure that they will marriage as quickly and advantageously as possible creates a funny drama about family, society, and marriage. Reading the book you can see in different scenes that Jane uses the humor to describing and exploring the different relationships that are coming with the history. She uses comedy for example to show Mrs. Bennet hysterics and excitement over a new rich man in town, or Mr. Collins’ incessant bowing. It is used by Austen to laugh and ridicule certain people and situations that she disapproves. Such as people who base their lives and relationships on flattery, or people who are too full of themselves. Austen also employs satire to doubt of typical theories. Especially Elizabeth, she is seeing as considerable interiority, while others serve specific functions without greater depth and are often simply ridiculed by the author. Austen deals with female, male, central, and peripheral characters quite differently.

The resulting portrait of society can seem full of conflicting views. She often shows the folly of human behavior. Narrator The book utilizes a combination of narrative voice and dialogue or showing and telling. The novel is written in the 3rd person, where the narrator isn’t an actual character in the story but an outside viewer. The narrator is also omniscient; he or she can enter into a character’s thoughts and inform the reader of what is happening. Characters Elizabeth Bennet She is the second daughter in Bennet’s family, showing as the most intelligent and smart.

She is the protagonist, to the readers she has only good qualities she is lovely, clever, honesty, virtuously, she is totally different than the society where she lives. She transforms the novel into a history where she is fighting for her true love, Darcy. Her objective in the book is not follow their sisters or mother advices, she is searching to overcome her own mistaken impressions of Darcy, which initially lead her to reject his proposals of marriage and slowly she starts to see the nobility of Mr. Darcy and she realizes the error of her initial prejudice against him.

With this character Jane Austen’s questions the tendency to judge personal merit based on income and status. Elizabeth initially is thinking that Mr. Wickham is a good man although of low social status, and she believes that Darcy, because of his fortune is a detestable person. Elizabeth manners are described by the others as “very bad indeed, a mixture of pride and impertinence” but the author is trying to describe her as the only one who has self respect. Fitzwilliam Darcy In the beginning of the book, Elizabeth describes Mr. Darcy as the “proudest, most disagreeable man in the world. ” But in fact he is not more than a son of a wealthy, well-established family and the master of the great estate of Pemberley. Darcy is Elizabeth’s ideal match. Intelligent and determined, he too has a tendency to judge as well as she does. And his wealthy makes him proud and although he doesn’t seem to mind, he is aware of his social condition His arrogance makes him initially to mess up the relationship he was trying to arrange. When she declines his proposal he starts to be more humble.

Although the refuse he stays devoted to her. After many proves he shows himself as a man who worthy Elizabeth’s hand and she finally change her mind, she repents and accept to stay with him. Jane Bennet and Charles Bingley Jane is the elder sister of Elizabeth and Bingley is the Darcy’s best friend, Jane and Bingley get engage. They first meet at the ball in Meryton and enjoy an immediate mutual attraction. They are most like equal in their behavior; both are happy, friendly, and kind. They always make good judgments trying to see the good side of everyone.

They make a great contrast to the couple Beth and Darcy. Their principal characteristics are goodwill and compatibility. They are to show the true love without pride or prejudice. Mr. Bennet He is Elizabeth’s father and is trying to find his role in a family with such a ridiculous wife and difficult daughters. He is isolated and sometimes he shows sarcastic humor. Mr. Bennet identifies himself with Elizabeth because of her cleverness and intelligence. Although he looks a sympathetic person we can see that he is in fact a weak dad who doesn’t react when he is required.

Mrs. Bennet Mrs. Bennet is very boring and difficult character. She is noisy and foolish; she is a woman who only aspires to marriage her daughters. Ironically, her objectives never seem to work properly. She is not friendly with no one which she tries to desperately attract. In the end of the book, she proves to be such an unattractive figure, without any good characteristics. She seems to be the portrait of greed. The relationship between Mr. and Mrs. Bennet is not an example of love and matrimony harmony.

The antagonism or simply misunderstanding between husband and wife serves to set each character into a kind of relief where faults and foolishness become highlighted. Compare the novel and the film In my view the main difference are the different intentions of both versions. The differences can be as many as we can observe for example, the movie has a short length, so, many of the intentions and emotions presents on the book don’t appear in the movie. The characters are not well described, the scenes and even the central point of the novel are different.

Q3. Do you think the title of Dickens’ Great Expectations is appropriate? Give reasons for your answer.

Ans) The title of Charles Dickens’s novel Great Expectations mainly refers to Pip’s "great expectations" which are many dimensional and ever-evolving. His great expectations arrive in the form of his fortune and are embodied in his dream of becoming a gentleman. These expectations also take the shape of his longing for a certain cold star named Estella. Each of the three parts of the novel treats a different expectation, and we watch how Pip changes in the face of his changing expectations.

Pip undergoes 3 phases in his life, in which he has different expectations:

The first stage of Pip’s expectations

Pip is a poor orphan living with his sister and her husband the blacksmith. He has an encounter with an escaped criminal on Christmas and the help he gives him results in the criminal setting him up with a secret inheritance. One day a lawyer comes and says that he has money coming or "great expectations" and he has to have a different education now that is he is to be a gentleman rather than a blacksmith.

The title also alludes to the idea of great things to come or things that are expected to come but aren't there yet.

The second stage of Pip’s expectations

When Pip receives riches from a mysterious benefactor he snobbishly abandons his friends for London society and his 'great expectations'.

The third stage of Pip’s expectations

On his arrival in London, Pip’s initial impression is London is unattractive and dirty. Nonetheless, his great expectations lie before him, and he is informed by Jaggers and his clerk, Wemmick, of his new living quarters. When Pip turns 21 years old, he visits Jaggers for further information on his expected fortune and hopefully the identity of his benefactor. Jaggers tells him he will have an annual allowance of 500 pounds until his benefactor is made known to him, but refuses to tell him when his benefactor will be revealed to him. He also tells Pip that when his benefactor is revealed, Jaggers’ business will end, and he need not be informed about it.

In yet a fourth (metafictional) sense, we can say that the title refers to the readers’ great expectations, which Dickens builds upon for his wonderful plot twists. All of these layers of meaning in the title make for a rich reading experience. Dickens portrays the expectations of other characters very efficiently in the novel.

Miss Havisham’ Expectation

Miss Havisham is the wealthy, eccentric old woman who lives in a manor called Satis House near Pip's village. She is manic and often seems insane, flitting around her house in a faded wedding dress, keeping a decaying feast on her table, and surrounding herself with clocks stopped at twenty minutes to nine. As a young woman, Miss Havisham was jilted by her fiancé minutes before her wedding, and now she has a vendetta against all men. Her expectation is to obtain revenge on the male sex and so she adopts Estella and deliberately raises her to be the tool of her revenge, training her beautiful ward to break men's hearts.

Magwitch’s Expectation

Magwitch and Pip first meet when Pip is a boy and Magwitch an escaped convict. Magwitch does not forget Pip's kindness in the marshes, and later in life devotes himself to earning money that he anonymously donates to Pip.

Magwitch’s expectation is to make Pip gentleman in a full sense and so his expectation is great.

The sad irony of the title is that expectations are never great. A man is what he does. A man who expects to be given is a parasite and a fool. The title has something to do with the nature of Pip's perception of society. He comes from a poor blacksmith family and has these great expectations of what he's missing out on. As the book progresses these "great" expectations become less and less great to Pip. He meets Magwitch (as Uncle Provis) and he is just realizing how much he'd rather be back at home at the forge than live out all of these great expectations he had for the rich social class.

Q4. What role do Aziz, Fielding and Godbole play in A Passage to India?

Ans) Aziz

Aziz, the first figure introduced to the reader, is initially 'all animation' and apolitical. 'Delicious indeed to lie on the spacious veranda with the moon rising in front and the servants preparing dinner behind, with no trouble happening'. The reader is exposed to the novel's world through his eyes, which is significant for two reasons. First, it assures that the introduction is between friends, as Aziz is only interested in friendship. That is why he avoids mentioning the English, not because they colonised, but because they provoke dissension in the debate. Aziz's warmest sentiments are aroused on a personal level. His meeting with Mrs. Moore at the mosque is significant because of their intuitive symbiotic relationship. 'The flame that no beauty can foster was growing up, And though his words were querulous, his heart began to glow silently'. When Aziz is questioned how he planned a trip that crosses ethnic lines, he says the Panic is an excursion of friends and has nothing to do with racial roots. The fact that he can show off His nation to people like Mrs Moore and Adela, who want to see it for personal reasons rather than official ones, makes Aziz the happiest.

Depression hit him as he entered the Civil Lines' arid tidiness. The roadways, named after conquering generals, intersected at right angles, symbolising the British net over India. They had him entangled. When he entered Major Callendar's compound, he struggled to stay on his feet, not because he was submissive, but because his feelings - his sensitive edges - feared a snub (API, 39).

Whose intervention suggests what? It shows how the historical and psychological interpenetrate one other, in my opinion. Aziz's sensitivity is irritating. As an Indian, he (Aziz) must be ignorant of art, whereas Fielding just means art is perhaps not worth much thought. After the Marabar case, the colonial environment fractures Aziz's individuality. As usual, Aziz flees to the backward Princely realm of Mau.

But other parts of colonialism's impact on Aziz confuse me. Then there's his profession. For example, Aziz is introduced as a doctor who is better than his boss, Major Callendar. Mr. Graysford would have lived if Aziz had operated on her instead of him. Aziz enjoys chatting to Adela about his work, even if he talks for effect. True, Aziz is thoughtless, as Callendar sneers. He innoculates a patient with typhoid by drinking unboiled water. His passion for medicine is genuine. A witchdoctor at the court of its senile ruler? I find it hard to believe that someone like that would retire to a backwater like Mau and let his tools rust and his interest in medicine disappear. Even if I accept Forster's argument that Aziz's inclination to escape British control following the Marabar incident was sound, I cannot accept its application to Aziz. Why is this depiction necessary? If only to reveal the deterioration of the invaded psyche. If it is radical. Away from us [the British], Indians go to seed at once. I cannot accept that Aziz's downfall is purely due to his residing in a Princely State, distant from the civilising effect of the British.

Godbole

A lecturer at Chandrapore's Government College is introduced as a comic figure. In addition to his clock-socks and pale purple macaroni turban, His overall aspect indicated harmony - as if he had reconciled the products of East and West, mental as well as physical'. This introductory description of Godbole is significant because it immediately indicates the two key aspects in Forster's characterization of him: the comedic and the cosmic. On one hand, Godbole is a slapstick character. He is greedy, skips the Marabar picnic because he underestimated the length of a prayer, and dances wildly on Janmashtami. However, Godbole is proven to have a level of mystical experience that no one else in the narrative has. So when Fielding asks him about Aziz's imprisonment, Godbole elaborates on a point he made earlier when singing at Fielding's tea. Good and evil are both elements of God, representing God's presence and absence. But God's absence does not equal non-existence. God exists eternally, therefore a devotee like Godbole can call upon his presence. According to Godbole, evil is a motivation to seek God's presence more urgently because evil is a part of God's intricate existence.

The parallels between Forster's portrayal of Godbole and Said's paradigm [2.4.31] are striking. The Orient is enigmatic, irrational, and so politically and imaginatively vulnerable to the organising, regulating powers of the West, according to Said. With this in mind, consider Forster's observation about Godbole. 'The talk remained light and amicable, and Adela had no clue of its undertow.' She had no idea that the Mohammedan's simple intellect was meeting Ancient Night'. What is going on here?

A unusual cultural contrast is being resolved. Englishness is a non-native concept for Forster. Adela is English, yet since she is English, her nationality is not mentioned. Notably, Forster does not call Aziz or Godbole Indians. Aziz is defined as a Muslim and Godbole as 'Ancient Night'. In other words, Godbole's entire human identity is determined by one word, religion. According to Foster, such a mind is 'Ancient Night,' unfathomable, illogical, and (as Said's theory suggests) vulnerable to systems of coherent rational Thought like the West and Islam.

But there is a limit to this argument. Despite the comic element, Godbole's persona develops in 'Temple' to incorporate dignity. Strangely, I believe this is the outcome of a failed attempt by Godbole to preserve a spiritual vosion:

So Godbole remembered an old woman he met in Chandrapore. He didn't choose her, she just happened to appear among the swarm of appealing pictures, a small splinter, and he drove her by his spiritual energy to that point where completion might be achieved. But not reconstruction. He remembered a wasp he saw somewhere, maybe on a stone. He imitated God in his love for the wasp. No, he had been mistaken to attempt the stone, reasoning and deliberate effort had enticed, he returned back to the red carpet strip and discovered he was dancing upon it.

Fielding

People in India think Fielding is crazy because he socialises and educates them. Teaching in a dictatorship is revolutionary in the sense that it promotes ideas and free thought. Fielding's behaviour at the Bridge party and at his tea shows his commitment to solving the racial issue. Unlike Turton, Fielding stays with the Indian guests at the Bridge party, and they cover his little social gaffes. When tea is given, he ignores the Western delicacies and eats gramme. He invites Adela and Mrs. Moore to tea with Aziz and Godbole since he knows they are not anti-Indian. "The world... is a globe of men attempting to reach each other and can best do so via goodwill, culture, and intelligence," Fielding says. Fielding's views echo those of Forster in his 1941 essay 'What I Believe':

I believe in a sensitive, compassionate, and brave aristocracy. Its members come from many cultures, classes, and ages, and they share a hidden understanding when they gather. Their temple is the holiness of the Heart's Affections, and their kingdom, while they never possess it, is the wide-open universe.

These concepts, espoused by Forster and credited to Fielding in the novel, make up liberal humanism. First, it believes people are significant in terms of their individuality and the personal ties they make with others who share their beliefs. That is, people trump organisations and processes. Throughout history, such communities of like-minded individuals have existed, spanning countries and classes. Then there's the idea that building relationships and communities is the best defence against force. Finally, liberal humanism is directly linked to love, allowing its supporters to feel connected to the world of the heart.

How does this relate to Fielding's character in A Passage to India? For starters, he befriends Aziz regardless of race. He stands with Aziz even if it means killing Fielding in front of the entire British population in Chandrapore. Again, he befriends Adela because she's a loser. despite the fact that she is of his ethnicity. Fielding is willing to acknowledge his ignorance of any faith. the love impulse in Hinduism that he sees in Stella and Ralph.

Q5. Bring out the differences between the major characters in The prime of Miss Jean Brodie.

Ans) The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie is a novel by Muriel Spark written in 1961 and is one of her most acclaimed works. Like most of Spark’s novels, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie is also a story of humour and irony. She makes a critical remark on the flaws of her characters who fail to fulfil their expected duties. Sparks’ characters presents the trivial truth and flaws of life which is brought to light in a light humorous manner. This particular novel of Spark also has autobiographical content which makes us to look at it even more closely to find out Spark’s intended subjective issues of mockery which she strongly believed lacked in the people at her time.

The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie is a novel about a school teacher, Miss Brodie in Marcia Blaine School for Girls and her six pupil – ‘the Brodie set’ and her self-absorbed manner of teaching and controlling the lives of her pupil. Miss Brodie is a shift from normal, she is unlike the ordinary teacher or staff in the school. And so she is always at constant conflict and at reprehension by the Principle as well as other teachers because of her unacceptable ‘methods of instruction’. Miss Brodie though believed that her method was just the opposite. To her, “education was a leading out of what is already there in a pupil’s soul”. There was thus a radical difference between her principles of education and those of the others.

But the truth was that Miss Brodie who believed that she was shaping the girls into ‘the crème de la crème’ of the society was in fact playing with the futures oh her pupil who blindly admired Miss Brodie. She was of the view that “Safety does not come first. Goodness, truth and beauty do”. Miss Brodie possessed such a strong influence on her pupil that none of them betray her to the Head Mistress only until the very end when Sandy betrays Miss Brodie. With such a strong grasp on her pupil, it can be understood that Miss Brodie was betraying people, feelings as well as the institution. Knowingly or unknowingly, Miss Brodie was playing with the future of her students. She was betraying her profession as a teacher. And in a way, she was practising fascism by forcefully and authoritatively moulding the Bride set in the fashion she wanted them to be in. Rather than educating them with what was required for their intellectual growth, she was deviating them towards matters which were not acceptable considering their young impressionable age.

Not just in her professional life, but Miss Brodie had a conflicting personality in her Personal life too. While it was Teddy Lloyd who Miss Brodie had feelings for, but she camouflaged her affection for Lloyd by coming into a relationship with Mr. Lowther. There again we find her morality at question.

Other major character who I find as being the character with conflicting moral values is Sandy. Sandy was one of the girls of the Brodie set for whom Miss Brodie had sacrificed her Prime. Firstly, Sandy was the one who betrayed Miss Brodie to Miss Mackay. Secondly, Sandy’s interest in psychology lead to her preoccupation with others life, specifically the painter mind of Teddy Lloyd and the scheming mind of Miss Brodie. She was driven by an obsession that made her forget that it wasn’t her curiosity but a moral flaw in her personality. She was intruding into people’s personal life without their consent and for no particular reason. And when Sandy realizes the hypocrisy of Miss Brodie, she decides to get Miss Brodie out of the school. The irony is Sandy’s profession later in life as a Nun was a total contrast to what she actually practised lived her life earlier. Though I don’t believe Sandy was wrong in helping the Head Mistress to get Miss Brodie out of the school as she was deforming the shapes of young minds. But she broke the trust of her teacher and played hypocritically all her life by not letting anyone know that she was the reason behind Miss Brodie’s dispersal from school.