The Politics of Literary Postcoloniality (Aijaz Ahmad)

 Introduction:

In “The Politics of Literary Postcoloniality” Aijaz Ahmad states the ‘postcoloniality’ is the off-shoot of postmodernism and the word does not have any historical sense of postcolonialism. As the terms ‘postcolonial’ and ‘postcolonialism’ resurfaced during the 1980s, in literary and cultural theories in deconstructive forms of history-writing, these terms have been used along with ‘postcoloniality’. He criticizes the theories or theoretical terms used by Gayatri Spivak, Homi K. Bhabha, Edward Said, Ranajit Guha and Veena Das to explain his notion of postcoloniality. To arrive to the meaning of ‘postcoloniality’ he traces the political, social, cultural, economic and religious histories of not only the nations which were once colonized but also the western nations like UK, USA, Canada and Australia.

 Discussion:

Aijaz accepts that the discussion on postcolonialism in the domain of literary theory produce a degree of fatigue. In fact, in the political theory, the term ‘postcolonialism’ has much debate since 1970s while it refers to the countries in Asia and Africa after the postwar decolonizations. But in the present period ‘postcoloniality’ has a different notion. It is postmodernism’s wedge to colonise literatures outside Europe and its North American offshoots, which is otherwise known as “Third World Literature” . But in the contemporary period, Third World Literature is termed as “Postcolonial Literature” when the governing theoretical framework shifts from Third World nationalism to postmodernism.

 Aijaz says that ‘postcoloniality’ is the late-coming twin of that earlier term ‘colonial discourse’ which is in English language. He says that the colonial residue is the English language which is used as official language by many nations such as India and Africa after their freedom from the colonizers. English is the language of many Islamic state which were not colonized by the British. Then why Rushdie’s “Satanic Verse” was banned in India while India posits itself a secular state. Then why the Islamic nation banned Rushdie’s work saying “postcolonial writers compose under the shadow of death.” But Aijaz claims that this statement is a preposterous.

 Aijaz, then criticizes Gayatri Spivak’s “Outside in the Teaching Machine” for the terms, “marginality’ and “culture studies” used by her. Here Aijaz compares Said’s essay, “Third World Intellectuals and metropolitan culture” to Spivak’s idea on postcoloniality. According to Said, colonial intellectual was the one who spoke from positions imbibed from metropolitan culture; while the postcolonial intellectual spoke from outside the positions. But Spivak says that postcoloniality itself equals the ‘heritage of imperialism’ which the postcolonial critic inhabits deconstrucively – or as Bhabha would say ambivalently.

 Spivak says ‘the legacy of imperialism in the rest of the globe’ instead of directly saying ‘postcoloniality’ to mean the people of India and Africa who were once colonized by the British. Aijaz is against to Spivak’s view because he believes that in UK, USA, France, Australia, the postcolonial intellectuals actually live and do their theorizing. Moreover ‘legacy of imperialism’ consists almost entirely of political concepts and practices such as nationhood, constitutionality, citizenship, democracy, and socialism for which not no historical referent is used by Spivak. Hence, Aijaz from the ‘postcolonial space’ explains the political historiography of postcoloniality.

 In fact, Britain bestowed nationhood on India and so India’s nationhood is certainly ‘legacy of imperialism’ according to Spivak. But Aijaz questions that how could Indian democracy can be said as the legacy of imperialism since India became secular, democratic, republic state immediately after independence. It has adult franchise invariably to all who is above 18 irrespective of their caste, class and gender which is still absent in Europe and America. The same can be applied to citizenship also. In India those who born in India are given Indian citizenship but it is not so in UK and USA. Like this in the social domain also we do not bequeath the legacy of imperialism. The secular condition of India including the converted Christians and Muslims and Marxism which originated in Europe has been existing in India even before the colonization. Hence, according to Aijaz, Spivak’s “legacy of imperialism’ has no connection with the ‘postcoloniality’.

 Postcolonialism took place not during the past few years but some years earlier and that not in cultural theory but in political theory with the question on ‘postcolonial state’. The terms precoloanial, colonial and postcolonial refer only for periodization. Because in India, it is very difficult to treat social and cultural consequences of colonialism as discrete, in histories of gender and caste and class, all the three, postcolonial, colonial and postcolonial are intertwined. The countries like Turkey, Iran and Egypt which were not colonized, which now contribute to the world’s capitalist system have social and cultural configuration like India.  Hence we should not talk so much about colonialism and postcolonialism but of capitalist modernity which takes the colonial form in particular places and at particular time, because even United States and Canada were once colonized.

 Aijaz criticizes French Poststructuralist, Robert Young who suddenly emerged and called himself postcolonial critic, in “White Mythologies” devoted the last three chapters to Said, Bhabha and Spivak who have already punctured the term ‘postcoloniality’. Like this,  Gyan Prakash who called Spivak, a subalternist and Bhabha called Jameson a postcolonial critic surprise Aijaz. But within the field of literature along with postcolonial criticism, we have postcolonial writings of non-white minorities living in Britain and North America. But efforts have now been taken to include literatures produced by writers belonging to India and Africa as ‘postcolonial literature’. But the metropolitan criticism terms this as ‘minority literature. This is evident as some British universities term this as ‘new literatures’, ‘emergent literatures’, and ‘postcolonial literatures’. Hence in some ways, this specific sense of ‘postcolonial literature’ converges partly with the category of ‘multiculturalism’ and ‘minority literature’ or even “Third World Literature”. Hence ‘postcolonial’ is simply a polite way of saying non-white or  not-Europe but-inside-Europe which gives way to “Europe and its Others”.

 If one considers the book, “The Empire Writes Back”, it can be stated that the terms ‘colonial’ and ‘postcolonial’ are applied not just to what is generally called the ‘Third World’ but also to the UK, Canada, New Zealand, Australia itself, because these were the countries once colonized. But the working of ‘postcoloniality’ is different in these countries. Hence ‘colonialism’ becomes a transhistorical thing, and always gets shattered and recreated at different parts of the world in different period.

 Though ‘postcolonial’ condition is prevailing in the former colonies such as India, yet the same term is made available in global condition of relation between the West and Rest. The critics who not only believe that colonialism has ended but also subscribe to the idea of end of Marxism , nationalism, collective historical subjects and revolutionary possibility of true postcolonial are true postcolonialists and other who do not believe in anti-Marxism are not postcolonialists at all. Postcoloniality is the condition as practised by critics like Homi K Bhabha.

 One should understand that we all live in the postcolonial period. Hence in a postcolonial world neither all intellectuals nor all discourses of this period and world are postcolonial because, in order to be a properly ‘postcolonial discourse’ the discourse must be postmodern, mainly of the deconstructive kind. Hence only those who can be truly postcolonial are also postmodern. In this situation three important themes such as (i) the theme of hybridity, ambivalence and contingency; (ii) the theme of collapse of the nation-state as a horizon of politics and (iii) the theme of globalized, postmodern electronic culture are more important to understand the existence of postcolonialism in postmodernism. Aijaz deals with the theme of decline of nation-state and globalization of electronic media to explain postcoloniality and postmodernism as one as same.

 The nation-state is shattered in many of the European state with the surrender of nations to exercise financial power by its national banks. Except USA and Japan the other countries especially the countries in Asia and Africa have witnessed the decline of nation-state due to the mechanism for regulating markets and revenues through national bourgeoisies in local and regional wars. Imperialism has penetrated far more deeply into national economies than was the case in earlier decades. The national bourgeoisies have achieved a far greater level of capital accumulation baiting the interest of nation-state. In other words, the new national bourgeoises, like imperialist capitalist itself want to weak nation-state in relation to capital and in relation to labour. It is in this framework nation-state remains globally the horizon for any form of politics that adopts the life processes of the working classes as its point of departure, and which seeks to address the issue of the exploitation of poorer women , the destruction of the natural environment by national as well as transnational capitalists or the rightward drift of ideological superstructures.

 Above all the penetration of available global space makes a contradictory effects on culture and ideology of nations. The Arab and Irani mullah chase petrodollars across the globe, the saffron yuppies opened the Bombay Stock Exchange and computer industry in Bangaluru for foreign capital, organize their own lives around in the name of Ialamism and Hinduism  bating nationalism . The transnational capital also gave way for cultural hybridity. It is the claim of IBM, CNN, etc., that they are indeed the harbingers of a culture of global productivities. Knowledges, and  pleasures. But globally dispersed households by uniform structures of imperialists ideology was broken and that now have the technological means to bypass the national education and informational grids, so that the national and metropolitan sections of capital can be integrated ideologically via CNN as much as they are integrated economically.

 In the postcolonial condition, the nations are talking about ‘cultural hybridity’ which is the result of two conditions. Cultural hybridity is said to be (i) specific to the migrants, more pointedly the migrant intellectual, living and working in western metropolis; and at the same time (ii) a generalized condition of postmodernity into which all contemporary cultures are no irretrievably ushered – so that the figure of the postcolonial intellectual residing in the metropolis signify universal condition of hybridity and is sadi to the Subject of a Truth which the individuals living in the nation do not possess. Edward Said term these Truth-Subject as “Cultural amphibians”. Sulman Rushdie states that these subjects have superior understanding of both cultures than what more sedentary individuals might understand of their own cultures.

 Homi K. Bhabha also celebrate this cultural hybridity. In Bhabha’s writing, the postcolonial who has access to such monumental and global pleasures is remarkably free of gender, class and identifiable political location. But Gramsci, yet another philosophical critic discussed on “national culture” or “Organic intellectual” which is endangered by cultural hybridity. But Bhabha opines that migrant intellectual which is posited as the negation of the ‘organic intellectual’ is conjoined with a philosophical hybridity. Hence Bhabha says that ‘contemporary postcolonial discourses are rooted in specific histories of cultural displacement.’ The elaboration of hybrid, displaced, contingent (counter-hegemonic strategies) forms of politics is accomplished with the aid of a great many writers including Ranajit  Guha and Vena Das.

 Bhabha welcomes Das’s analysis of the historicity of subalternity in India. What she denies radically is that caste mentalities may indeed have historical depth and enduring features prior to their eruption in the form of a particular conflict. What she tries to say is that case is a structural and not merely a contingent feature in the distribution of powers and privileges in Indian society. When the theories of Bhabha and Das or any other deny the structural endurance of histories and calls upon us to think only of the contingent moment, we in effect being called upon to overlook the position of class and caste privileges. Hence Aijaz thinks that organized groups of the exploited castes fighting for their rights against upper caste people calls upon communicative rationality as well as the possibility of rational actions which are formed not in flux and displacement but in given historical location.

 Aijaz says that postcoloniality is like most things , a matter of class since many migrants who are intellectuals enjoy the privileges in the host counties but many others experience torment. Hence he says, “Imperialist capital” involves both (i) more profound penentration of all available global spaces and (ii) greater proliferation of the nation-state form, with contradictory effects in the fields of culture and ideology. This results in rapid realignment of political hegemony on the global scale are producing among the professional intelligentsia a characteristic loss of historical depth and perspective.  The tendency in cultural criticism is to waver constantly between the opposing polarities of cultural differentialism and cultural hybridity. Hence cultural hybridity replaces all historicity with mere contingency and also to lose all sense of specificity in favour of the hyper-reality or an eternal and globalized present. It is also true that the contemporary phase of capital involves unprecedented scales of movement to only of capital and commodities but also personnel.

 It is the case, that the entire logic of the kind of cultural ‘hybridity’ that Bhabha celebrates presumes the intermingling of Europe and non-Europe in a context already determined by advanced capital, in the aftermath of colonialism. It is felt that all cultures are encountered  in commodification forms  and it is possible to claim that none commands more power than any other or that the consumer alone is the sovereign of all hybridization. Cultural commodification does not produce a universal equality fo all cultures ut the unified culture of a Late Imperial marketplace that subordinates cultures, consumers and critics alike to form of untethering and moral loneliness that wallows in the depthlessness and whimsicality of postmodernism.

 Conclusion:

 Cross-fertilization of cultures has been endemic to all movements of people and all such movements in history have involved the travel, contact, transmutation, hybridization of ideas, values and behavioural norms. Thus it is not only Hinduism but also Islam has led myriad different cultural lives, at different times and locations. One is free to invent oneself and one’s community, over and over again is usually an illusion induced by availability of surpluses of money-capital or cultural capital or both. The constant refashioning of the ‘Self” through which one merely consumes onerself under the illusion of consuming the world, is a specific mode of postmodern alienation which Bhabha mistakenly calls ‘hybridity’ ‘contingency’, ‘postcolonilaity’.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

India: From Midnight to Millennium (Shashi Tharoor)

 India: From Midnight to Millennium (1997) is a book or non-fictional work published Shashi Tharoor who is one of important writers and political leaders of India. The book is not only a survey of modern Indian history, it also touches upon many of the principle events that took place in the last five decades in India. The book makes a survey of Indian politics and economy since its independence. The books is chapterised into ten different headings and each of these has its own importance in making a well balanced, informative and highly readable book presenting the current scenario of India. These ten chapters are designed in such a way:

1.      A Myth and an Idea

2.      Two Assassination and a Funeral

3.      Deaths and a Dynasty

4.      Unity, Diversity and Other Contradictions

5.     From the Milk Miracle to the Malayali Miracle

6.     Scheduled Castes, Unscheduled Change

7.      Of Indians and Other Minorities

8.     NRIs: Never Relinquished India or Not Really Indian?

9.     The Hindu Rate of Growth and Other Agonstic Legacies

10   Better Fed Than Free?

1 1. The Emergency and Other Urgencies

12 India at Forty Nine: Notes Toward an Impression of Indian

13 Society and Culture Today

14 A Future without Shock.

Above all, the text is interspersed with lively and humorous anecdotes of Tharoor’s own childhood and youth that adds a charming touch to the book. Superbly written and analyzed, this book offers an excellent insight into a huge country and its diverse people

Discussion:

Under the above headings the books highlights various topics like caste, Indian democracy, the legacy of Mrs. Indira Gandhi, the partition of India and India’s transition from a socialist economy to a free market. Shashi Tharoor’s main interest has been political events, including the emergency years, Mrs. Indira Gandhi’s election debacle, rise of the right-wing Hindutva brigade and the economic reforms. With a lucid style, Tharoor discusses India’s transition from a socialist economy to a free market and expresses satisfaction at the Indian leadership’s realization that economic interdependence is not incompatible with political independence.

Shashi Tharoor shows compelling that India stands as the intersection of the most significant questions facing the world today: 1.  If democracy leads to inefficient political infighting, should it be sacrificed in the interest of economic well-being? 2. Does religious fundamentalism provide a way for countries in the developing world to assert their identity in the face of the western hegemony, for there is a case of pluralism and diversity amid cultural and religious traditions? 3. Does the entry of Western consumer goods threaten a country’s economic self-sufficiency, and is protectionism the only guarantee of independence?

India, the second most populous county in the world after China, has a history stretching back to thousands of years, with enormous diversity in culture, language and ethnicity. India that boasts an excellent Info-Tech industry also houses the largest slum in the world. The basic reason for this kind of diversity is due the political and economic conditions prevailing in India. Hence Tharoor deeply concerns on about the Indian political system in its pre-independent, independent and post-independent periods and the economic reforms of post-independent period in this book.

Tharoor makes a commendable and personalized examination of the contemporary India juxtaposing the pre-independent India with the post-independent India. He evaluates the past fifty years and also the challenges that India needs to face in future. Tharoor makes a comprehensive survey of the prime ministers of India in this book: he tracks down the inheritance of Nehru/Gandhi dynasty,  being in the driving seat of the Congress Party.

Indian Politics:

The long awaited independence, which was achieved by nonviolence, ended up in the blood bath and partition of the country. It is clear that the British rule brought the political unity in India, but on the contrary, when they left, they caused political disunity. Tharoor thinks that the most significant aspect of the first years of independence is the absence of Mahatma Gandhi who was killed in the capital by a Hindu fanatic, Nathuram Godse, just after the five months of independence. Tharoor calls Gandhi: “idealistic, quirky, quixotic and determined, a man who answered to the beat of no other drummer, but got everyone else to march to his tune” (India: From Midnight 16). Mahatma Gandhi’s two great weapons such as “ahimsa and satyagraha” did not allow the alien rule to withstand in India. But the untimely death of Gandhi shocked the entire nation. In the present perspective, the problems of terrorism failed Gandhism not only in India but in the whole world.

Then, Tharoor tracks down the inheritance of Nehru/ Gandhi dynasty, being in the driving seat of the Congress party. In the very beginning, Tharoor comments upon this continuing appeal of Nehru/ Gandhi dynasty. Under the influence of this appeal, the Congress party men unanimously voted Sonia Gandhi, Italian wife of the late Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi.  In fact, right from Nehru till Rajiv Gandhi, the legacy of Congress Party is establish and has contributed as well as devastated Indian political and social lives and economy  according to Tharoor.  Nehru carefully nurtured democracy and secularism for 17 years and the policies that he adapted in India reflect his vision and principles. Yet Nehru was deeply shocked by the China war and dies subsequently.

After Nehru’s death, Lal Bahadur Shastri assumed the position of Prime Minister of India. But after his death the Congress party was in deep dilemma. During this period, the young daughter of Nehru, Indira Gandhi was nominated by the party to contest in election. Thus Indira took the reins of the country in her hands; Indira, Nehr’s daughter, was also his official hostess and political aide.  Indira became the president of the Congress party in 1959; her chief political advantage was her family background. In the beginning, Indira was addressed as “dumb doll” and accordingly the party lost the in the election in 1967. Then Indira made a split in the party in 1969. Tharoor says: “ … Having established a populist image and expelled the old bosses, she led her wing of the Congress to a resounding victory in 1971, campaigning on the slogan ‘Garibi Hatoa: Remove Poverty’” (Millennium 31-32). After that India defeated Pakistan and Bangladesh war. Yet Indira did not prove herself in removing poverty from India. She passed Emergency in 1975 when her 1971 victory was testified through court. Thinking that the Emergency would earn her victory, she daringly announced election in 1977. But she lost in this election. The Janata (people’s) front government came into power with Moraji Desai as the Prime Minister of  India, but this coalition government could not run the country for a long time. In January 1980, after splitting the Congress once again, Mrs. Indira was back to fight the elections with a Congress Party named after her (as Congress-Indira or Congress-I).  Mrs. Gandhi, akin to her father, thought herself as an embodiment of popular will; in this passion, she took her decision on her own, without discussing with her cabinet, party or senior leaders. Cabinet was reduced just to a rubber stamp, approving her decisions; during the emergency period, Mrs. Gandhi governed through advisors who were accountable  only to her.

Rajiv had scarcely started to learn his role when Mrs. Gandhi was assassinated by her own two Sikh security guards on 30 Oct. 1984 and brought an end to the tumultuous era of Indira Gandhi. Rajiv Gandhi got the sympathy of Indians and gained a great parliamentary majority then any other Prime Minister had ever received. Now a wave of change started in India in the field of education, economic development, cultural affinities and technology. People thought that he would solve the perennial problems of India; he talked about liberatio and elimination of corruption. People saw him as a reformer and a technocratic politician, but all hell broke loose when he faced the charge of corruption in the Bofors gun deal. The assassination of Rajiv Gandhi by Sri Lankan Tamil during the election campaign seemed an end to the dynasty.

In this book, Tharoor is very much concerned about his views on India, Hinduism and his Keralite origin. He is disturbed with the Rama Janmabhumi agitation, leading to the demolition of Babri Masjid and consequent Hindu-Muslim riots sullying the secular image of India. The unity between the two communities namely Hindu-Muslim unity was shattered forever. The contribution made by the Muslims before and after the independence was forgotten, subsequently the whole community is forced to face the fury of wrath.  Tharoor is very much upset about the ways the Muslims are treated in India. At the same time, he praises the “Hinduism” as a religion which has many holy books; originally the word “Hindu” basically implied for the people who lived beyond the river Sindhu or Indus. As a Hindu, Tharoor reiterates the generous attitude of Hinduism. He says that Hinduism has always taught to respect all other religions; it is a religion full of diversity, candidness and religious freedom. Tharoor is very much disturbed to think that how such a good religion can give birth to fundamentalism. Tharoor attributes his secularism through his Kerala roots. Describing Kerala, Tharoor observes: “More important, Kerala is microcosm of every religion known to the country; its population is divided into almost equal fourths of Christians, Muslims, Caste Hindus and Scheduled Castes, each of whim is economically and politically powerful” (Millennium 69).

Then, Tharoor deeply analyses about the caste system of India which originated from ‘Varnashram”. He feels sorry about the present caste politics that the politicians of present time and comments on the ancient system of Hinduism by saying that the ancient Hinduism can be briefed in the credo ‘Sarva Dharma Sambhava’ which means that all religions are equally worth to respect. It is right time to admit that Hinduism and Islam are entwined in India: no religion can claim its supremacy on this land. After discussing the problems of caste, religion and communal politics, Tharoor draws out attention towards NRIs (Non-residential Indians) who are sources of great importance in the development of the country. The NRIs have got name, fame and wealth in the foreign lands; they are financially very strong now and can help their motherland to overcome the financial crisis.

Tharoor discuss the economic policies of India. He strongly believes that the economic policies were not  matters of concern of common man; they are matters to be discussed by some economists, a few businessmen, share market holders , who are going to get benefit from the country’s economic policies. He finds the root-cause of economic crisis of the year 1954 when Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and the Congress Party decided to work towards a ‘socialist pattern of society.’ According to his, the public sectors were considered as ‘new temples of modern India’; these units employed a large number of Indians and kept the country free from profit-oriented capitalists; in this way, performance was never considered as criteria and turmoil was overlooked; the inefficiency was remunerated with incentives and subsidies. In 1992-93, out of the 273 public sector units, 104 were in loss of about 40 billion rupees. This was the result of Nehru’s likes for socialist pattern and dislikes for capitalism.

The Janata government which replaced Indira witnessed the departure of multinational companies like IBM, Coca-Cola from India which gave negative signals across the world for business entrepreneurs. Rajiv Gandhi, the young and technocrat Prime Minister of India introduced new economic policy in 1985, but he also could do nothing new. Then Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao brought a radical change by appointing a non-political figure, renowned economist Manmohan Singh as his Finance Minister. As a result, Indian government took a good decision of permitting foreign investment in 34 major areas rejecting  the old phobia regarding external capital.

 Tharoor also makes an assessment of Indian bureaucracy, which plays an important role in the implantation of the developmental polices; the infrastructure which India received from British administrative government was of a tendency to rule rather than serve the demands of the public. To correct the bureaucracy from a ruling attitude to a serving attitude was a very difficult task; when bureaucracy reacted positively to popular political currents it was condemned for becoming more ‘politicized’ placing politicians above the dictates of policy or regulations and becoming more corrupt and inconsistent.

Tharoor also thinks that Indian politics and politicians are responsible for the poor performance of India in the field of education. Education for women would have changed the entire social scenario in our country; it would have helped the society by controlling the population of India. In spite of all this, Tharoor says that middle class women in India have excelled in profession which were traditionally considered reserved for men in other societies. But he says that still the reality is otherwise; a majority of women in India are passing their lives as housewives.

Conclusion:

After analysing all the pros and cons of India in its political, social and economic lives , Tharoor advises that Indians must change from within to meet their ambitions and lift themselves to the essential criterions. He says that India’s future depends on our capability to educate our children; it is also essential to use the potential of women. In a truly liberal and secular attitude India should provide opportunities to the underprivileged sections and avoid the age-old abuse of human rights. He hopes that the fate of the country is in the hands of its people.

The Plastic Godbox - by Ambai

 About the Author:

C.S. Lakshmi (Ambai ) (1944-) was born in Coimbatore in 1944. She is a distinguished fiction writer in Tamil. Her works are characterized by her passionate espousal of the cause of women, humour, a lucid and profound style and a touch of realism. She is the only Tamil writer to have been included in the “Picador Book of Modern Indian Literature” edited by Amit Chaudhuri. She received a doctorate from Jawaharlal Nehru University in 1970  and now she is the Director of Sound and Picture Archives for Research for Women (SPARROW) in Mumbai. Many of her stories have been translated into English. The Library of Congress holds five of her writings in its collection. She is a current member of the University of Michigan’s Global Feminism Project. She considers herself a feminist and lived a life without any compromise in gender related issues.

Introduction:

In her short story, “The Plastic Godbox”, Ambai describes a mother who strives to make kids live better life in this world. The sacrifice she makes for her children are innumerable. In fact, nothing can come close to the love that a mother feels for her children. “God could not be everywhere and so he invented mother” these words are apt to the mother character who is portrayed by Ambai in this short fiction.

Amma:

 Everyday it had been an habitual action fo Amma of keeping some rice on the window sill and calling out for the crows in Telugu. Inspite of Dhanam’s father’s transfers to various lands, she communicated with the birds in the particular language. According to Appa’s request, Amma had to board a flight to America to visit her daughter, Bharathi, Dhanam’s elder sister who is now a divorcee.

Bharathi’s letter:

After her reaching, Bharathi got a call from airline authorities ordering for pickles on contract as they had tasted what her mother had brought during custom checking. She also heard from her neighbours that mother had prepared ‘palkova’ with saffrons for the pregnant women. Still it was a mystery to Bharathi why mother had brought ‘kumkumapoo’ and also still not asked any question about Bharathi’s husband or her divorcee life. Even after going there Amma was keeping food fro crows but squirrels had come to taste her food regularly. As it was summer she could see her mother’s excitement to prepare ‘vadams’. Such an active mother she was. She could see her speaking politics, cooking, caring and many other worldly matters. What a life the mother meant for herself.

Once they had to visit her friend Thilaga’s house. Thilaga’s mother had been her Amma’s friend. It was quite natural they became close in their conversation. Thilaga asked Amma if she does regular pooja and rituals even after coming abroad. Amma replied that she had a plastic box in which she carried her idols of her favourite Gods and pooja materials wherever she went. After her returning, Bharathi felt for her mother and the sweet memories of her childhood days at their own house with her bother Dhinakaran and sister Dhanam.

Dhanam’s letter:

Now it was the turn of Dhanam to take care of her mother. After their father’s demise, Amma was staying with her three children in turn. At Dhanam’s house there was not much work for Amma as Dhanam’s husband took care of his own cooking and did not disturb anybody. He had his own culinary skill and Dhanam felt that it was her husband’s freedom where she cannot interfere. But Amma could not understand what was the so called freedom. Dhanam and Bharathi planned to pledge their jewels and get back their own house which was coming for  sale. They also asked their brother, Dhinakaran to support Amma financially every month, for they felt that Amma needed a big space for her to do pooja and to live a life on her own terms. It was also decided that the Dhanam should visit her now and then to confirm about her good health. Even Dhanam’s daughter wanted to spend more time with her grandmother listening to her. While Dhanam was writing all these she saw her mother as usual rocking in her chair looking at the parrots chirping and flying in the garden trees.

Conclusion:

Now the plastic box was filled with many pooja items and Amma was not able to carry it in that small box. She needed a better container as well. She needed a room for herself. The uncomplaining mother’s dream was going to become true and that was the return gift of her children to her mother for her unconditional love.

The Mirror - by Sylvia Plath

 About the Author:

Sylvia Plath (1932 -1963) is a famous woman poet who talks about feminism and the psyche of women. Her father was a German and died when she was only nine. This had a great impact on her life both as a woman and as a poet. She studied at Cambridge and there she met and married a famous poet Ted Hughes in her 24. She gave two children to him and then got divorced from him due to her nervous tension. Soon after the divorce, she committed suicide in 1963. Among the important collections of her poetry books, “The Colossus” (1960), ‘Crossing the Water” (1960), and “Ariel” (1965) are worth mentioning.

The mirror, an image of the poet:

Sylvia Plath is a sensitive poet.  She holds that the great poet is absolutely impersonal, disinterested and dispassionate. He does not have any likes and dislikes. He merely reflects the society around him as it is. To convey this point Sylvia Plath uses the analogies of the mirror and the lake. The mirror reflects whatsoever and whomsoever is before it. It does not mix up anything of its own. Great poetry is similar to the mirror. It neither adds nor detracts anything. The great poet neither likes nor dislikes. He merely mirrors. Mostly the mirror reflects the speckles on the wall in front of it. The speckle is a symbol of the disfigurement and disintegration of modern society.

The pond, an image of the poet:

Sylvia Plath uses the analogy of the lake to describe the workings of the poetic mind. Like the mirror, lake water also reflects things as they are. A woman drowns her little girl and her old mother and finally herself in the lake. These tragic happenings stand for the large-scale destruction going on in modern society. The drowning of the little child betokens the wiping out of potentialities. The drowning of the old woman stands for the destructions of capabilities. The poem thus, presents a very bleak picture of modern life.

A Shadow - by R. K. Narayan

 About the Author:

Rasipuram Krishnaswami Narayan (1906-2001) popularly known as R.K. Narayan was a renowned Indian writer in English. He was born in Madras, and educated at Mysore. He served as a teacher for sometime and thereafter turned into a serious writer. In his first novel, “Swami and Friends”, he created the imaginary small town called Malgudi. His novel “The Guide” received Sahitya Akademi Award in 1960. He has published many novels and numerous short stories.

Introduction:

“A Shadow” is a story of a little boy, Sambu who lives in a village with his own mother. He waits eagerly for the screening of a film, which features his father who is no more now. It is a tender and emotional story where Sambu, demands to see his father’s performance on the screen. He wants to see his father moving and dancing on the screen which may make him feel that as if his father is alive. Hence he wants to see the movie daily.

The film, “Kumari”:

The scene of the movie is very much like in Sambu’s home. In  the movie, Kumari, the fourteen year old daughter does not want to marry but wants to continue her studies. The father asks the girl questions about her school work, and is pleased when she gets them right. The father asks her arithmetic to which she accurately answers. Then his father is delighted. Sambu recalls how he once committed mistake in solving the problem when his father asked him to solve the arithmetic problem.

Sambu’s happiness:

Actually, Sambu is highly delighted as if his father has come back to life. Sambu is trying to feel the presence of his dead father through his performance in the movie, “Kumari”. The shadow of his father makes him happy. He feels the presence of his father.

His mother’s memories:

He repeatedly asks his mother to see the picture. However, she explains that she could not tolerate to see her husband again moving and speaking around on the screen. Sambu explains her that it is better to see his father on the screen than seeing him on the photograph. Hence his mother agree to watch the movie with Sambu. At last, he takes his mother to the last show. Seeing Sambu’s father reading newspaper in the movie, she recalls the last breath that her husband breathed when he was reading newspaper at the home. This memory kindles her emotions and she faints. On seeing her, Sambu takes her back home, because he loves his mother much than he loves his father. As a small child, Sambu could not understand the emotions of his mother, yet he loves her very much.

Conclusion:

The story captures the joy and pain experienced by a little boy and his mother when they see the dead man of the house moving and dancing on the screen. In this story, we can see the emotions, feelings, innocence and sentiments of a child who is deprived of his father’s love.

The Romance of a Busy Broker - by O' Henry

 About the Author:

O’ Henry is an American short-story writer. He discusses the failings of modern life style in his short stories. His stories always have surprise and unexpected endings. He wrote about average people living in New York city. He has used many literary elements such as characterization. Situation irony, symbolism and foreshadowing in his short stories.

Introduction:

 In “The Romance of a Busy Broker”, a broker forgets his marriage on the previous evening. We have the ridiculous spectacles of the man proposing marriage to his own wife.

Harvey Maxwell’s busy schedule:

Harvey is a New York broker. He deals in stocks and bonds, loans, shares and securities. Once he enters his office, he forgets his private life and plunges into his business. He works like a high powered machine going at full speed. He goes through a mountain of papers. He has always the right word and the right decision to satisfy customers. He is ‘prompt as clockwork’.

Miss Leslie:

Miss Leslie is Harvey’s secretary. She has all the graces required of a secretary. She is modestly dressed. On the day, she accompanies Harvey, she lingers around Harvey. The latter does not know the reason for her deviation from her routine. She asks Pitcher, the personal clerk in the office, whether Harvey is going to appoint any lady secretary in her place. a lady applicant does turn up. But Harvey unceremoniously sends her away. He says that he is perfectly satisfied with the performance of Leslie and does not want to appoint anybody in her place.

What happens during lunch break:

Harvey becomes very restless. He steps into Leslie’s room and tells her abruptly that he wants her to marry him. He says that he does not have the time to pay court to her and prepare the ground in the usual way. He is immersed so much in business that he had forgotten his own wife. Leslie is taken aback. Tears trickle down her cheeks. Yet, she smiles cheerfully. She embraces Harvey and tells him that they married each other on the previous evening in the little church around the corner. Thus the story ends with a surprise in O’ Henry’s style.

Conclusion:

Truth is stranger than fiction. Such things do happen in America. Thank God, Harvey does not in his forgetfulness, proposes marriage to some other woman.

The Paradox of Our Time - by Dalai Lama

 About the Author:

Dalai Lama are important monks of the Gelug School, the newest School of Tibetan Buddhism which was formerly headed by the Gandem Tripas. The Dalai Lama title was created by Altan Khan, the prince of Shunyi, granted by Ming Dynasty, in 1578. The 14^th Dalai Lama is Tenzin Gyasto who is author of this poem.

Introduction:

The paradox of our time is that we have taller buildings, but shorter tempers; we have big roadways but narrow views; we spend more money but gain less happiness; we have big houses but small families live in; we have more degrees but less sense; we have more knowledge but less judgement; we have more experts but less solutions to the problems and we have more medicine but less people are benefited.

Less or More:

We drink too much, smoke too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get too angry too quickly, stay up too late, get up too tired, read too little, watch TV too much and pray too seldom and hate too often.

Do’s and Don’t’s:

We have learned how to make a living, but not a life. We have added years to life not life to years. We have been all the way to the moon and back but have trouble crossing the street to meet the new neighbours. We have conquered outer space but not inner space. We have done larger things, but not better things. we have cleaned the air, but polluted the soul.  We have split the atom but not our prejudice. We write more but learn less. We plan more, but accomplish less. We are too rush, but no patience to wait. We build more computers to hold more information, to produce more copies than ever, but we communicate less and do less.

Facts and Truth:

These are the times of fast foods, and slow digestion. Today, men are rich but with small characters and they try to concentrate on earning steep profits but forget to maintain good relationship. There are the days of two incomes but more divorce. The houses are fancier but these are broken homes. These are days of quick trips, disposable diapers, throwaway morality, one-night stands, overweight bodies and pills that do everything from cheer, but they are meant for slow killing. There are the days which show only showy things but inside them is found nothing. When this thought is carried through technology, you may have chance of sharing this insight or deleting it.

 Conclusion:

Thus in this poem, Dalai Lama talks about how the modern man fails to love his kith and kin and spends most of his time with machines, how he fails to establish relationship with other, how he leads materialistic life, how he pollutes his soul, how he baits his life to earn nothing but money, and how he fails to understand the cosmos. He also gives the choice of choosing his resentment on modern man and his life style when it reaches him through technology.

 

The Power of Prayer - by A.P. J. Abdul Kalam

 About the Author:

Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam (1931-2015), the former President of India and a distinguished scientist was born on 15^th October 1931 at Rameswaram in Tamilnadu. Kalam specialized in Aeronautical Engineering from Madras Institute of Technology (IIT, Madras). He was the Scientific Adviser to Defence Minister and Secretary, Department of Defence Research and Development. He took up the responsibility of developing indigenous guided missiles. He became President of India on 25^th July 2002.  “Wings of Fire”, “India 2020 – A Vision for the New Millennium”, “My Journey” and “Ignited Minds” are the famous books written by him.

 Introduction:                                                                                     

The article “The Power of Prayer” is an extract from Kalam’s autobiography, “The Wings of Fire”. In this chapter, Kalam recollects his childhood days and speaks about his parents and birth place. He proudly pays tribute to his parents and God for the present life he enjoys. Kalam’s early religious impressions were very vague. It is from a child’s perception. But later he gets matured enough to understand that ‘God is one and all’.

Kalam’s birth and parentage:

Abdul Kalam was born in the island town of Rameswaram. He was born into a middle class family. His father, Jainulabdeen was neither very rich nor well educated. But he was a wise and generous man. He was a true spiritual human being. His mother Ashiamma was a kind and pious woman. Her family was given the title “Bahadur” by the British Government. The influence of the good-natured parents made the child, Kalam to come out as a great lovable personality in life. Kalam’s family lived in a large pucca house which is the ancestral one. It is found on the Mosque Stree in Rameswaram.

Kalam’s childhood days:

Kalam records in his autobiography about his appearance as a little boy. Kalam was small and short in  stature and had undistinguished looks. His father, the most humble man avoided all inessentials, comforts and luxuries. But Kalam was provided with all the necessities like food, medicine, and clothes.

Amicable nature of Hindus and Muslims:

Kalam lived in an area where Muslims were the majority. There were a few Hindu families also in that locality. The Hindus lived amicable with their Muslim neighbours. The Hindsu came to the mosque with water in vessels. They got this water blessed by the prayers of Kalam’s father. Then this was given to invalids at home. The Hindu priest, Pakshi Lakshmanan Sastry and Kalam’s father were close friends. They often discussed spiritual matters.

The importance of prayer:

Kalam’s father influenced the boy Kalam on spiritual matters. Even when Kalam chanted prayers with his father in the mosque, he did not have the faintest idea of the meaning of the Arabic prayers. But he was convinced that they reached God. Kalam used to asked his father about the relevance of prayer. His father told him that  there were nothing mysterious about prayer. According to him prayer made possible a communion the spirit between people. Prayer transcends one’s body and becomes a part of cosmos. It knows no division of wealth, age, caste or creed, he told Kalam. He often told Kalam about simple truths of life in down-to-earth. He firmly said that every human being “is a specific element within the whole of the manifest divine being”. Hence, Kalam understands that every individual is born with a divine power in him. A man should give wings to this power and fill the world with the glow of its goodness. Anything that is done by a man is the expression of God’s will. He believes that what he ahs achieved in the field of science is the result of God’s intention.

Conclusion:

Kalam in his autobiography praises and thanks his parents for the formation of his character. He sincerely glorifies God, for having chosen him to achieve great tasks. The chapter reflects Kalam’s simplicity and submissiveness.

 

What Kind of Peace do We Want? by John F. Kennedy

 About the Author:

John F. Kennedy (1917-1963), was one of the most distinguished Presidents of USA. He was born on 29^th May 1917 in Boston, Massachusetts. His father Joseph Kennedy was a successful businessman and politician. John Kennedy graduated from Harvard University and in 1943, he joined the American Navy. When the Second World War ended he joined politics as a Democrat and was elected to the House of Representative for three terms. In the Presidential Election, he won in 1960 and became the President of America. “Why England Slept” and “Profile in Courage” are his most popular books. It was most unfortunate that he was assassinated on 23^rd November 1963.

Introduction:

The speech “What Kind of Peace do We Want?” was delivered by John F. Kennedy, the former President of the United States of America, at the American University on June 10, 1963. On the occasion, he talked about the most important topic on earth: World Peace.

The Kind of peace Kennedy hopes for:

While answering the question he has raised, Kennedy defines the kind of peace he hopes for in very simple terms. The popular diplomat hopes for “genuine peace. The kind of peace that makes life on earth worth living, the kind that enables men and nations to grow and to hope and to build a better life for their children – not merely peace of Americans but peace for all men and women – not merely peace in our time, but peace for all time”.

The violent face of Modern War:

Kennedy gives the reason for talking about the necessity of universal peace. Peace is necessitated by the expansion of war on a very large scale. Modern nuclear weapons are far more destructive than the weapons used in the Second World War. The modern deadly weapons when wielded on nations, it will not only poison wind, water, soil and seed but also adversely affect generations yet unborn , cautions Kennedy. Millions of dollars are spent every year on modernizing weapons. The acquisition of such stockpiles will only destroy and never create.

Attitude of people towards peace:

Kennedy talks of the negative attitude of some people who think that peace is impossible to attain. Kennedy remarks that such an attitude is a dangerous, defeatist belief. Some others think in terms of universal peace and goodwill. This is only a wild dream. Kennedy’s concept of peace is based on a gradual evolution and effective agreements. He further reveals the truth that there is no single key or magic formula to peace. It is a process, a way of solving problem.

The process in attaining genuine peace:

Kennedy suggests the course in which we can attain genuine peace. First of all, he says perseverance is absolutely necessary in trying to establish peace. Set backs are bound to occur. At times, conflicts between nations are sure to break out. But they should learn to tolerate one another. Instead of making much of differences, we should increase our common interests. What is common among us is that we all inhabit the same world, breathe the same air, and share the same concern for one children, says Kennedy.

Conclusion:

In his inspiring speech, Kennedy appealed to the hopes of Americans. The reality of enmity between nations and the dangerous arms race between super powers and rightly pointed out in his speech. The suggestions put forward by Kennedy towards attaining world peace are a matter of concern for nations.

Shakespeare as a Sonneteer

Introduction:

A sonnet is a form of a poem which specifically has fourteen lines and a structured form. It was popularized in Italy where it originates; hence the Italian or Petrachan sonnet, named after Petrarch due to his expert and extensive use of this form. The Elizabethan or Shakespearean sonnet is so named because it was formed and became distinct from the Italian sonnet during the Elizabethan era and Shakespeare was its most prolific and famous user in writing about love. Shakespearean or Elizabethan sonnets are divided into three quatrains (four lines each) and a rhyming couplet at the end with a recognizable rhythm created by the rhyme scheme and the five stressed syllables per line (iambic pentameter).

Discussion:

In making use of the form of the sonnet, Shakespeare is credited with having penned 154 sonnets, with almost all of them following the Shakespearean format. Each sonnet largely presents an idea in each of the four line stanzas and the rhyming couplet completes the picture.

The apparent sequence which Shakespeare's sonnets follow has been the subject of much discussion and debate among critics but the first 126 sonnets are addressed to a young man although most of the time this is not explicitly expressed and the latter section is about Shakespeare's relationship with a woman with only the last two sonnets being adaptations of classical verse. There is no known autobiographical element to these sonnets although some critics have gone to great pains to find a connection other than his instinctive ability to create beauty and question the definitions of it from his surroundings

Shakespeare’s sonnets have enjoyed extravagant praise for their transcendent beauty and exquisite verbal melody. They have been criticised also particularly for their inanity and structural faults.  The themes are passionate love, aching jealousy, musings on the human fate, a meditation on the passage of time on earth etc. But according to the theme treated in  the sonnets they can also be divided into many subgroups like “marriage,” “friendship,” “love,” “self-love,” “the ravages of time,” “immortality and death,” “lust,” “professional rivalry,” etc. However, the most dominant themes are Shakespeare’s devotion to his patron-cum-friend, his hopeless passion for his mistress and the betrayal of both his friendship and his friend and his love by the mistress respectively.

Critical appreciation:

Sonnet 1:

Shakespeare begins his sonnets by introducing four of his most important themes — immortality, time, procreation, and selfishness — which are interrelated in this first sonnet both thematically and through the use of images associated with business or commerce.

The sonnet's first four lines relate all of these important themes. Individually, each of these four lines addresses a separate issue. Line 1 concerns procreation, especially in the phrase "we desire increase"; line 2 hints at immortality in the phrase "might never die"; line 3 presents the theme of time's unceasing progress; and line 4 combines all three concerns: A "tender heir" represents immortality for parents, who will grow old and die. According to the poet, procreating ensures that our names will be carried on by our children. If we do not have children, however, our names will die with our death.

But, this idea apparently has been rejected by the young man, whom the poet addresses as "thou," in lines 5–12. Interested only in his selfish desires, the youth is the embodiment of narcissism, a destructively excessive love of oneself. The poet makes clear that the youth's self-love is unhealthy, not only for himself but for the entire world. Because the young man does not share himself with the world by having a child to carry on his beauty, he creates "a famine where abundance lies" and cruelly hurts himself. The "bud" in line 11 is as an image which underscores the immaturity of the young man, who is only a bud, still imperfect because he has not fully bloomed.

The final couplet — the last two lines — reinforces the injustice of the youth's not sharing his beauty with the world. The "famine" that he creates for himself is furthered in the phrase "To eat the world's due," as though the youth has the responsibility and the world has the right to expect the young man to father a child. Throughout the sonnets, Shakespeare draws his imagery from everyday life in the world around him. In Sonnet 1, he writes of love in terms of commercial usury, the practice of charging exorbitant interest on money lent using the apt imagery.  

Sonnet 2:

This sonnet continues the argument and plea from Sonnet 1, this time through the imagery of military, winter, and commerce. Time again is the great enemy, besieging the youth's brow, digging trenches — wrinkles — in his face, and ravaging his good looks. Beauty is considered as a treasure that decays  or may natural increase through the act of marrying and having children.

The poet attempts to scare the young man into marrying and having children by showing him his future. When the youth is forty years old, he will be nothing but a "tottered weed" and  "of small worth held" because he will be alone and childless. The only thing the young man will have to look back on is his self-absorbed "lusty days," because he created nothing especially no children. This barrenness of old age is symbolized in the sonnet's last line, "And see thy blood warm when thou feel'st it cold,".

Again drawing on business imagery, in sonnet 2, the poet acknowledges that all he seeks is for the young man to have a child, who would immortalize the youth's beauty. The poet does not call the act of love "increase," as he did in Sonnet 1, but "use," meaning investment, the opposite of "niggarding" from Sonnet 1. In line 8, he speaks of "thriftless praise," or unprofitable praise — the term "thrift" during Shakespeare's lifetime had various meanings, including profit and increase, which also recalls Sonnet 1.

Sonnet 3:

Drawing on farming imagery, in this sonnet, the poet focuses entirely on the young man's future, with both positive and negative outcomes. However, the starting point for these possible futures is "Now," when the youth should "form another," that is, father a child.

The sonnet begins with the image of a mirror — "Look in thy glass" — and is repeated in the phrase "Thou art thy mother's glass." Continuity between past, present, and future is established when the poet refers to the young man's mother, who sees her own image in her son and what she was like during her youth, "the lovely April of her prime," a phrase that recalls the images of spring in Sonnet 1. Likewise, the young man can experience a satisfying old age, a "golden time," through his own children.

The negative scenario, ‘in which the young man does not procreate’, is symbolized in the poet's many references to death. In lines 7 and 8, the poet questions how the young man can be so selfish that he would jeopardize his own immortality. The reference to death in line 14 stylistically mirrors the death imagery in the final couplets of the preceding sonnets, including the phrases "the grave and thee" in Sonnet 1 and "thou feel'st it cold" in Sonnet 2.

Sonnet 4:

The themes of narcissism and usury are most developed in this sonnet, with its references to wills and testaments. The terms "unthrifty," "legacy," "bequest," and "free" imply that nature's generosity should be matched by those who benefit from it. The poet, who calls the youth a "beauteous niggard," or a miser of his good looks, claims that his young friend abuses the many gifts of beauty nature has given him and thus is a "profitless usurer," a business term that recalls the three previous sonnets.

In this sonnet with a series of questions and statements, the poet lectures about the wise use of nature, which liberally lends its gifts to those who are equally generous in perpetuating nature by having children. But the youth's hoarding contrasts to nature's bountifulness. Lines 7 and 8 express this contrast in terms of usury: "Profitless usurer, why dost thou use / So great a sum of sums, yet canst not live?" The term use here means both invest and use up. Similarly, "live" means both to gain immortality and to make a living.

The inevitable conclusion is that if the youth does not properly use his beauty, he will die childless and doom himself to oblivion, but if he fathers a child, he will be remembered. The final couplet presents these contrasting possibilities. Line 13 uses familiar death imagery to express the negative result of dying childless: "Thy unused beauty must be tombed with thee." However, line 14 suggests that should the young man use his beauty to have a child, an "executor to be," his beauty will be enhanced because he will have used it as nature intended

Sonnet 5:

In this sonnet, the poet compares nature's four seasons with the stages of the young man's life. Although the seasons are cyclical, his life is linear, and hours become tyrants that oppress him because he cannot escape time's grasp. Time might "frame / Thy lovely gaze where every eye doth dwell," meaning that everyone notices the youth's beauty, but time's "never-resting" progress ensures that this beauty will eventually fade.

In an extended metaphor, the poet argues that because flowers provide perfume to console people during the winter, it is natural for the youth to have a child to console him during his old age. Without perfume from summer's flowers, people would not remember previous summers during the long, hard winters; childless, the young man will grow old alone and have nothing to remind him of his younger days.

Winter, an image of old age, is regarded with horror: "Sap checked with frost and lusty leaves quite gone, / Beauty o'er snowed and bareness everywhere." The "lusty leaves" imagery recalls the "lusty days" from Sonnet 2 and reemphasizes the barrenness of the youth's old age, in which he will look back longingly on his younger days but have nothing to remember them by. However, in the final couplet, the poet evokes a comforting tone, suggesting that immortality is attainable for the young man, just as it is for summer's flowers when they are transformed into perfume, if only the young man would father a child.

Sonnet 6:

Sonnet 6 continues the winter imagery from the previous sonnet and furthers the procreation theme. Winter, symbolizing old age, and summer, symbolizing youth, are diametrically opposed.

The poet begs the young man not to die childless — "ere thou be distill'd" — without first making "sweet some vial." Here, "distill'd" recalls the summer flowers from Sonnet 5; "vial," referring to the bottle in which perfume is kept, is an image for a woman whom the young man will sexually love, but "vial" can also refer to the child of that sexual union. Ten children, the poet declares, will generate ten times the image of their father and ten times the happiness of only one child.

The poet strongly condemns the young man's narcissism in this sonnet by linking it with death. "Self-killed" refers both to the youth's hoarding his beauty by not passing it on to a child, and to his inevitably dying alone if he continues his narcissistic behavior. The poet argues that procreation ensures life after death; losing your identity in death does not necessarily mean the loss of life so long as you have procreated. Lines 5 and 6 make this concept clear.  Once you recognize the wealth of beauty by loving another person, you must use this knowledge of love if it is to increase and not decay.

Sonnet 6 is notable for the ingenious multiplying of conceits and especially for the concluding pun on a legal will in the final couplet: "Be not self-willed, for thou art much too fair / To be death's conquest and make worms thine heir." Here, as earlier in the sonnet, the poet juxtaposes the themes of narcissism and death. The worms that destroy the young man's dead body will be his only heirs should he die without begetting a child is a metaphysical conceit.

Sonnet 7:

In this sonnet, the poet compares human life to the passage of the sun from sunrise to sunset. The sun's rising in the morning symbolizes the young man's youthful years: Just as we watch the "sacred majesty" of the ever-higher sun, so too does the poet view the youth. The sun's highest point in the sky resembles "strong youth in his middle age." However, after the sun reaches it apex, its only direction is down. This downward movement represents "feeble age" in the youth, and what is worse than mere physical appearance is that the people who looked in awe at the youth's beauty will "look another way" when he has become old. In death, he will not be remembered.

As usual, the poet argues that the only way for the youth to ensure that he is remembered after he dies is to have a child, making it clear that this child should be a son. Two possible reasons why the poet wants the young man to have a son and not a daughter are that, first, a son would carry on the youth's last name, whereas traditionally a daughter would assume the last name of her husband, and second, the word "son" is a play on the word "sun" — it is not coincidental that in this sonnet, which incorporates the image of the sun, the poet makes clear for the first time that the young man's child should be a son.

Sonnet 8:

In this sonnet, the poet compares a single musical note to the young man and a chord made up of many notes to a family. The marriage of sounds in a chord symbolizes the union of father, mother, and child.

The first twelve lines elaborate a comparison between music and the youth, who, should he marry and have a child, would then be the very embodiment of harmony. But music, "the true concord of well-tuned sounds," scolds him because he remains single — a single note, not a chord. By refusing to marry, the youth destroys the harmony that he should make as part of an ensemble, a family. Just as the strings of a lute when struck simultaneously produce one sound, which is actually made up of many sounds, so the family is a unit comprised of single members who function best — and most naturally — when working in tandem with one another

Sonnet 9:

The poet imagines that the young man objects to the bliss of marriage on the grounds that he might die young anyway or that he might die and leave a bereaved widow and an orphaned child. To these arguments, the poet replies that should the young man marry, have a child, and then die, at least his widow will be consoled by the child whom the young man fathered; in this way, his image will not be destroyed with his death. Furthermore, by not marrying, the young man makes the whole world his widow.

Shakespeare continues the business of imagery so prevalent in this sonnet also as in the previous sonnets. The concept of love is not entirely distinguished from commercial wealth, for Shakespeare relates those who traffic in love to the world at large. When an unthrifty person makes ill use of his inherited wealth, only those among whom he squanders it benefit. The paradox lies in the fact that the hoarding of love's beauty is the surest way of squandering it: Such consuming self-love unnaturally turns life inward, a waste felt by all.

Sonnet 10:

Sonnet 10 repeats and extends the argument of Sonnet 9, with the added suggestion that the youth really loves no one. Clearly, the poet does not seriously believe the young man to be incapable of affection, for then there would be no point in the poet's trying to maintain a relationship with him. However, underneath the mock-serious tone is that the youth's self-love wastes himself. Narcissism means infatuation with one's own appearance, but the youth's absorption with his own image is really an attachment to nobody. He therefore loses the power of returning the creative force of love in a relationship. The poet considers the youth's unwillingness to marry is a form of homicide against his potential progeny, which he suggested in Sonnet 9. In Sonnet 10, the poet creates the image of marriage as a house with a roof falling in decay that the youth should seek to repair, but the poet uses the house imagery less to indicate marriage than to suggest the youth's beauty would reside in his offspring: "Make thee another self for love of me,/ That beauty still may live in thine or thee."

Conclusion:

From every point of view and in every sense these sonnets show the poetic genius of the writer. The variety of themes, the lyrical appeal, the striking images and picture, the wealth of conceits, the felicity of the language and the melody of the verse, all are the richest poetic treasures of English literature and herald that Shakespeare is one of the famous sonneteers.