Draft Three:Optimistic or Numb?

In Calcutta, one of the largest cities in India with a population of over nine million, the social environment is totally terrible and full of violence. Life of the poor is tough and incredible for us who lived in modern cities. They had no enough food to satisfy their starvation, no place to have a comfortable sleep, no enough clothes to wear and tear. Dangers were always around and people would so be easily killed without rhyme or reason.

Ajit Babu, the main character of the story “The Grass-Eaters”, which is written by Krishnan Varma, was an epitome of those poor who sat down under the hard life and hold little hope on social reformation. People like him showed how misery they were and how disordered the society was at that time. The black humor in the story gave me a more profound impression on their numb to the surroundings. Although some of the readers may be moved by his optimism, I would rather be pity and sad for them as victims of the society. They used their optimistic-looking thought to comfort themselves and be forced to give up some human nature for adapting the environment.

At the beginning of the story Babu mentioned his first ‘home’: “A footpath of Chittaranjan Avenue” which “was so crowded with residents, refugees like us and locals, that if you got up at night to relieve yourself you could not be sure of finding your place again.”(56) Although it was brief, I could deeply feel that he lived even worse than a beggar through the last sentence. Meanwhile the disorder of the society was exhibited thoroughly. We can imagine a muddy footpath with tent and blanket beside, many poor guys wearing dirty clothes sitting or lying on the ground. Whoever passed by, there would be a hostile expression in their eyes.

Then things improved a little: they moved into an abandoned-looking freight wagon at the railway terminus—“a place with door which could be opened and shut. They did nothing but open and shut them for a full hour.” Just some doors brought them so much pleasure only because they meant “all the privacy a man and wife could want--no fear of waking up with a complete stranger in your arms.” He also felt that it was heaven and regarded himself as God. (57) When I reached this sentence, thoughts came to me that what could make one felt he or she is God. It must be the things that he had never pursued or he had never imagined that he would have. But how could it be an abandoned-looking freight? In fact it is the privacy brought by the freight that they were amazed of. Privacy, as to us, means a property of our own. While as to them, it means a heaven-sent gift.

To let their baby born in an appropriate place, they kept on moving, so “a cement concrete pipe” became their new home. We can see in the passage that “…Unbelievably, it was not occupied and, with no prompting from me, she crept into it. That was how we came to live in a pipe.”(57-58) We could see in the story that his wife was harder to be satisfied than Babu. But just a cement concrete pipe made her feel comfortable. So we could see even such little improvement would satisfied those poor. While behind her satisfaction, we can see a lot of torment that they had experienced before.

At last, they had their real meaning house, a roof. As Babu described: “The roof is flat, not gabled, and it is made of cement concrete, not corrugated iron sheets. The rent is far less than that of other tenants below us-Bijoy Babu, Akhanda Vhatterjee and Sagar Sen. We have far more light and ventilation than they. We don't get nibbled by rats and mice and rodents as often as they do. And our son, Prodeep, has far more room to play than the children below.”(58) Although he said “It is not as bad as it sounds.” I would like to say it is not good. His pleasure came completely from comparing with many other poor who led an even worse life. The so-called “optimistic” was only used to make themselves feel better, but it was useless in improve their life.

All those above showed that hard experiences made them put up with any unconceivable environment. We could say there was optimism in Babu’s behavior and thought. But the sentences below were certainly used to show his numbness.

Firstly, “We had just arrived in Calcutta from East Bengal where Hindus and Muslims were killing one another.”(56) His tone seemed so nature as if murder meant nothing special to him. Actually, I think, he had been used to it and life was not so valuable as we normal human think it is. It was also showed in this sentence: “Our fourth child. One died of diphtheria back home (no longer our home) in Dacca; two, from fatigue, on our long trek on foot to Calcutta.”(57) The former child died and new one was born. It formed as a circle in his eyes. Although he should not be blamed in those accidents, he seemed unbelievably hardhearted.

Another evidence is that: “We live very quietly, content to look at the passing scene: a tram burning, a man stabbing another man, a woman dropping her baby in a garbage bin.”(59) How can he be content to look at such passing scene? If I were he, I would certainly be mad. Living in such a disordered environment, it was true that he could do nothing to change the actuality. But when this kind of event happened, being content instead of keeping away really showed they only cared about their own life and paid no attention to the others around. Thus, the self-concern and numbness was obvious.

After thinking for a long time, I finally reach the conclusion that those poor like Babu were shaped by the society. Their commiseration, passion, lofty aspiration and a lot of human nature were cruelly divested by the environment. Their tears were dried up. Their edges were abraded. Their normal senses were disappeared. It was all imputed to the devil society. So did the author thought, I think. It was the true reason that he wrote down such story. He wanted to tell the reader how a trouble times destroyed a generation.

22.6.07 15:30