The European Police Officer He comes to the village to find out who murdered the thief. His chief function is to reveal the differences in values between European and local justice systems. By enforcing a Western legal system, the European police officer represents a colonial mind-set that views African culture as backwards and Europe as…
Category: Literature
The Green Leaves by Grace Ogot: Summary
Pursuing the Cattle Thieves In the short story “The Green Leaves,” the main character, Nyagar, wakes up from what he thinks is a dream but is actually voices and footsteps approaching. He turns toward his wife, but she is not in bed next to him, so he throws off his blanket and goes to the…
The Dog of Tithwal: Analysis
Manto’s choice of a dog to be the innocent victim of brutality in “The Dog of Tithwal” is appropriate and effective in many ways. Although the story’s subject matter is remote from the experience of contemporary Western readers, Manto’s use of the dog gives the story universal impact. The relationship between dogs and humans is,…
The Dog of Tithwal: Setting
Partition of India The historical context for “The Dog of Tithwal” is the Indian-Pakistani conflict that arose after the partition of India in 1947. The partition came after India won its independence from British rule on August 14, 1947. India was divided into two countries formed on the basis of religion, with Pakistan as a…
The Dog of Tithwal: Literary Devices
Pastoral Setting Pastoral literature portrays nature as being idyllic, peaceful, and free of the constraints and struggles of human society. Pastoral settings often allow human characters to find solace and peace that are not possible in a human-made setting. The story is set in the mountains of Tithwal during temperate and pleasant days in late…
The Dog of Tithwal: Themes
Darkness and Light Manto uses images of darkness and light to demonstrate the difference between the men and the natural world around them. Darkness represents the men, blindness, and what is negative, and light represents nature, sight, and what is positive. During the night, the soldiers light huge fires in an attempt to ward off…
The Dog of Tithwal: Characters
Bashir A soldier in the Pakistani army, Bashir sings the song, “Where did you spend the night, my love, my moon?” Subedar Himmat Khan, fellow soldier, turns the song into an accusation of treachery against Jhun Jhun. Bashir is the soldier who reads the sign around Jhun Jhun’s neck that gives the dog’s name as…
The Dog of Tithwal: Summary
Indian Camp “The Dog of Tithwal” begins with Indian and Pakistani soldiers entrenched in their positions along the nations’ border in a mountainous area. Neither side has the advantage in the war; no air forces are involved, and heavy artillery is not in their armaments. It is more a standoff than a battle. The peace…
Dante and the Lobster: Analysis
In a story with Dante in the title and in which the protagonist bears a name taken from Dante, readers expect allusions to the greatest of medieval poets. In “Dante and the Lobster,” the work that in many ways commences Beckett’s career as a writer, Beckett provides these allusions in significant numbers. However, it is…
Dante and the Lobster: Setting
Samuel Beckett wrote this story in the early 1930s, at the very start of his writing career. Those years were a tumultuous time in Beckett’s life (he was aimless and dissatisfied and did not settle down until he moved to Paris permanently in 1937), but it was a traumatic time in Europe. The Treaty of…