The Gardener

                                                                 

Helen Turrell: Unwed mother; she was quite ashamed of the society as she was pregnant; she lied that she was going to France for treatment

Michael Turrell: Son who got birth in France  

Summary of the story

                When Helen Turrell became pregnant she was ashamed because she was not married. She left her home in England to have the baby in the south of France. When she returned to England, she pretended that the baby was really her brother’s child. The brother, George, lived in India but he had died falling off his horse. This meant that Helen had to look after the child. Helen told other lies. She said that she had to go to the south of France because she was ill. She said the child had been born in India, but had been brought to the south of France by a nurse who had been dismissed when the child became ill, and she also said that she had given the child’s mother some money.

                The child was called Michael. Helen didn’t tell him that she was his real mother. She said that she was his aunt, and that he was her nephew. Michael was sent to a private school. At school, he was told that he was born outside mirage /illusion/ vision.

                When the First World War began, Michael joined the army. He did not have to do much fighting, but he was killed by an exploding shell that completely buried his body. After the war, Michael was reburied in a huge cemetery in Belgium.

                After that, Helen decided to visit the grave of Michael. On her way to cemetery, she met a woman named Mrs Scarsworth, who said that she visited graves for her friends who could not come herself. She took photographs of the graves. Late at night, Mrs Scarsworth came into Helen’s hotel room. She said that she was telling lies. Her real reason for visiting the cemetery was to visit the grave of someone special to her (probably a secret lover).

                On the next morning, Helen visited the cemetery. It was huge; there were thousands of black crosses that all looked the same. Helen did not know how she would find her son’s grave. A gardener approached her. Helen said that she was looking for her nephew’s grave. The gardener said he would show her the grave of her son.   

   1. What is the real relation between Helen Turrell and Michael?

                There is no doubt that the relationship between Helen and Michael is that of mother and son. Helen was the mother of Michael. But, as she was an unwed mother, she was ashamed and so she did not declare it. She only said that Michael was the son of her brother, who had died in India. She also told that she had managed to bring the child from India only to rear him up. 

2. What is the truth behind each of the lies Helen tells the village at the beginning of the

    story? Why does she tell these lies?

          As Helen was an unwed mother, she was ashamed of the fact and she did not tell the truth to her villagers. Rather, she told different lies. Some of the lies told by her are as follows:

                i) She had to go to France for treatment.

                ii) Michael was her nephew and that his father was George Turrell.

                iii) George had died a few days before Michael’s birth.

                iv) Michael was born in India and Helen had given some money to Michael’s mother to get the child.

                v) Michael was brought from India to France by a nurse but as the nurse was careless, Helen had dismissed her.

                The truth behind all these lies was very simple. She herself was Michael’s mother. So, there was no question of either giving any money to Michael’s mother or dismissing any nurse. She had no disease. She hadn’t gone to France for any treatment. She had gone there to give birth to the child.    

 3. How do we know who the gardener really is?

                There are many explorations to the question: who the gardener was. Some people say that he was only an employee. Some others say that he was Michael’s father, who was working there only to live by the grave of Michael. He said ‘son’ rather than ‘nephew’ while leading her to the grave.

                But, I think that the gardener was Lord Christ himself. I think so only because the write says that there was infinite compassion / endless love in his eyes. No human being can have such an infinite compassion except the God. So, the gardener was Jesus Christ. If it’s so, we can also guess that the Lord had forgiven Helen for her crime.  

                                      source: www.hsebnote.com

In Bed

‘In Bed’, an essay by Joan Didion depicts her personal experiences with migraine headache, which she inherits from her parents. She presents something unusual about the disease in a more philosophical and meditative domain of thought.

Joan spends her day in bed there almost five times a month because of the migraine headache. She knows that she is going to be attacked by the headache when she feels some sort of irritation and flow of blood in the vessels of her brain. To avoid the attack she takes some medicines and starts to work. In her earlier days, she thought that she would get rid of the disease just by denying it. Sometimes she even tells lies saying that she did not have the attack frequently. But the truth was that sometimes the attack was quite violent and long lasting. However, she feels good that she does not have any other physical problems, such as brain tumor, eyestrain or high blood pressure. She also tries to do all her normal work in spite of it. During the attack her right temple (head) would suffer extreme pain and tears would roll down from her right eyes. She would also vomit. Generally the headache may also be caused by stress, allergy, and tiredness, an abrupt change in blood pressure, a flashing light or a fire drill.

It’s strange that no medicine works effectively in case of migraine, especially when the attack begins. Some people may have hallucination, blinding effect, stomach problem, tiredness and pain in all the senses along with headache. They are even unable to do their normal work. During the attack Didion can’t see and speak clearly. She looks as if she has drunk some wine. But the headache never takes anyone’s life. It is interesting to know what doctors believe about a migraine sufferer. They said that the individual is ambitious, inward, and intolerance of unbearable pain But Didion’s untidy hair and carelessness in housekeeping do not point out her migraine quality. However her great effort to write and rewrite a single paragraph for a week reveals some sort of perfection. Finally she accepts the diseases and lives with it. When she has it she simply concentrates on the pain. But after ten or twelve hours she gets some sort of refreshment and spiritual power. She opens the window and feels the air, eats gratefully and sleeps well. She feels as if she is blessed by God. Therefore she is happy.

On the Vanity of Earthly Greatness

Summary of the poem “On the Vanity of Earthly Greatness”:

                The main theme of this poem is that it’s useless to be proud of our earthly greatness and achievements. These things aren't permanent. The only permanent thing is ‘Time’. Everything else including our earthly greatness and achievements has to bow before time.

                This poem describes what happens to powerful people and animals after they die. It shows how greatness anything is, anyway it continues only for a short time. The poet has presented certain examples, which all prove the same thing. Mastodon tusks are turned to billiard balls, bears are turned into rugs, the sword of great king becomes rusted and the great rulers are turned into statues and busts (half or broken or ruined statue). In the final line, the poet indicates that his own greatness will also be short lived.  

The Six Million Dollar Man

The Six Million Dollar Man

Harold J. Morowitz                                        

The essayist found:

                i) Human body made up of chemicals

                ii) Chemical’s quantity in our body

                iii) Price of 1 gm of each chemical
Conclusion of the essayist: He was not cheaper but he was six million trillion man. 

Theme of the essay: Man with emotions, feelings, sensation, love, etc. is the most

                                 expensive  man. Though human body can be talked in terms of

                                 money, human being is priceless.  

Summary of the essay “The Six Million Dollar Man”:

                On his birthday, the writer got a card from his daughter and son in law which stated that the price of human body is only 97 cents. The writer was not satisfied with this definition of human body. So, he himself started to investigate the thing by himself. He consulted a catalogue which contained the names of the different chemicals which make a human body. The prices of the chemicals were written in the catalogue according to per gram. Some chemicals were cheaper whereas some chemicals were really very costly. The writer started his computation. He took his weight and subtracted from 68 % of water portion. He found that his dry weight 24,436 gm and by a further computation, he came to know that he was worth of 6 million dollars.

                He became very glad at this discovery. He had been sad at the information of 97 cents only but by his discovery, he suddenly felt that he was really a rich man. But, again he gave the whole matter a second thought. He thought that the chemicals printed in the card were only crude chemicals. So, they did cost so little. Again, the next difficulty was the price of the refined chemicals. Certainly, human body is not made up of crude chemicals but by the refined chemicals. In that case, his price was certainly not only six million dollar but six billion.

                Again, he was not satisfied and started to think in a new direction. He thought that if at all he bought all the needed chemicals and put them in a bottle and also put the bottle in a fridge and if he shook the bottle he wasn’t going to get a human body from it. Some organism was needed to change the chemicals into bones, flesh, and the other organs of the body. No such method or organism is invented yet. Even if it was invented and even if we could make a human body with the help of chemicals and the machines, the product wouldn’t speak or feel or be angry or love anyone.

                To sum up, though science can make a human body (though it’s not possible yet), science is certainly not going to make a human being. In fact, there is the difference between human body and human being. Human body can be talked in the terms of money but human being is priceless. Indeed, human being is the infinite preciousness. This is the final definition given by the writer.

Malini

Rabindranath Tagore in his poetic play “Malini” presents a story of love and hatred. The play deals with a conflict between love and hatred as well as selfish way of thinking and broadmindedness. It is based on the concept that love in its absolute and pure form is all radiance, all pervading, and all compassionate. The play also shows that petty selfishness assumes the name of love and rules the world with hatred.

Malini, the princess of a Hindu kingdom had her education with Buddhist monks and started preaching their principles in the kingdom. Because of her preaching of new religion, the majority of Hindu Brahmins was agitated and started demanding Malini’s banishment from the place. Realizing the suffering of the people, Malini herself wanted to be banished from the palace in order to solve their problems. A group of Brahmins led by Kemankar started demanding Malini’s banishment appearing in front of the palace. 
Supriya, a member of the group and the best friend of Kemankar didn’t agree with the view of the group and accused them of trying to determine the truth by numbers. Because of fear of rebellion as the army was openly in their side, the Brahmins started praying the goddess to take human from to help them. In the meanwhile, Malini appeared there and the Brahmins believed that the goddess granted their prayer and took human form. Malini spoke to them with divine confidence and persuaded them that she wanted to help them. The Brahmins were impressed by her love and personality and restored her back to the palace. Realizing the threat to his religion, Kemankar decided to go abroad to bring soldiers and to uproot the new creed (religion) from the kingdom. He asked his friend Supriya to him informed about the situation. But Supriya betrayed his friend Kemankar by handing over his letter to the king to gain Malini’s confidence. With the help of the letter that revealed Kemankar’s plan, the king arrested Kemankar. The king offered Supriya reward but he politely rejected it and requested the king not to kill Kemankar. On being asked about his last wish, Kemankar desired to see his friend Supriya. Kemankar argued that the only way to solve their argument was to die together at which Supriya agreed. Kemankar then killed Supriya by striking him with the chain. The king stood up with and sword to kill Kemankar but Malini requested the king to forgive him.

Criticism of Malini 
Tagore, the unparallel champion in the South Asian literature fascinates the attention of the readers towards ‘politics’. Honestly, politics is not ruled by the good will of the people but it is driven with conspiracy. Through the religion, the writer dramatizes so called politics.

The extra ordinary character ‘Malini’ not only haunts her own tradition by accepting the voice of the people but also explodes modernity, freedom and civilization. The real meaning of democracy can not be interpreted by the palace but it can be redefined by the people. Therefore it is said that the voice of the people is the voice of het god.

The overall plot of this play is simple and wonderful because the writer has applied his unique treatment which is also quite popular in the south Asian politics.

The writer has invited successful, dedicated and determined characters to dramatize his mission one of the prominent character is Kemankar, who not only plays or holds the leading responsibility but also gives the lesson of transformation. Being the antagonist, he plays the role of protagonist by winning the heart of the people and the princess Malini. He has consistency and dedication for the road map he has drawn for the kingdom. He is the peculiar politician who wants to destroy the palace. For this he goes to the foreign land to collect armies with weapons. He knows that his own armies aren’t sufficient enough for transformation. Unfortunately, he gets betrayed by his own friend Supriya.

Critically, Kemankar is the dashing figure, welcomed by the writer in the play ‘Malini’. His heart is so marvelous that doesn’t get melted with the provinces or the face of the beautiful lady. The real son of the state doesn’t forget his responsibility. That’s the reason why Kemankar supposes to change the traditional appearance of the kingdom. A very careful reader of literature and politics may discover the spectrum of personalities by the dialogue of Kemankar. He is peculiar, courageous and the multi dimensional rebel. According to Malini, the iron chain doesn’t shut his personality. Anyway, he proved to be the protagonist although he gives death penalty to his friend Supriya.

In a nut-shell, Rabindra Nath Tagore, an outstanding Bengali writer, successively photographs benevolence and malevolence by dramatizing so called politics. As a lamp has the shadow, similarly, love is equally potential to reflect hatred. So far as the modern politics is concerned, it is not defined by the Monarchy but is interpreted by the people.

Draw the character sketch of Malini.
Malini is the principal character in the poetic play ‘Malini’. She is a simple, innocent, beautiful, confident and young princess of a Hindu kingdom. She has her education with Buddist monks and starts preaching their principles in the kingdom. She neither cares the wealth or the comfort of the palace. She is devoted for the cause of humanity as she realizes the suffering of the people and wants to serve them, she has a broad heart and is ready to forgive even Kemankar who has plotted her banishment plan. She understands it clearly that Brahmins are demanding her banishment because of her creed as they think that her creed is a great threat to their religion. She herself is desirous to be banished so that she could solve the problems of people outside the palace. When she comes to the Brahmins, she speaks to them with divine confidence and persuades them that she actually intends to help them. The agitating mass is so impressed by her personality, simplicity and her words that they consider her as little goddess and restore her back to the palace. She requests the king to pardon Kemankar as she considers that it is better to win (conquer) a person by love rather than by punishing him.

Draw a character sketch of Supriya and show how he is different from Kemankar.
Supriya is one of the Brahmins who are demanding Malini’s banishment. Both Kemankar and Supriya consider that Malini’s creed posses a great threat to their religion. However, from the very beginning, Supriya opposes the banishment plan of an innocent girl. He doesn’t believe that the number of people can determine the truth. He feels shame to own a religion that depends on force of its existence. After meeting with Malini, Supriya declares that traditional religious books are not being able to give him true knowledge and consolation as he is impressed by Malini’s words and her personality. Therefore, in order to get her confidence, he betrays his best friend Kemankar and tells the king about Kemankar’s plan.

Supriya is different from Kemankar although they are smuch closed friends from their childhood. Kemankar is very firm in his belief and has unchanging determination whereas Supriya has got a changing mind and is always doubtful. Feeling the danger on his religion, when Kemankar goes to foreign land, Supriya promises to wait in the kingdom and keep informing him about the situation. However, in order to get Malini’s confidence, he betrays his best friend by handing over the letter to the king. However, Supriya regrets his act when Kemankar is arrested by the king.

Draw a character sketch of Kemankar.
Kemankar, the antagonist character in the poetic play ‘Malini’ is portrayed as an extremely orthodox Brahmin and religiously very obstinate one. He is a deeply devoted Hindu Brahmin who supports Hinduism very blindly. When Malini is taught by Buddhist monks and adopted Buddhism, Kemankar thinks that Malini stands against Hinduism which is a great threat to his religion. Because Malini’s new creed, Brahmins are agitated under Kemankar’s leadership demanding Malini’s banishment from the palace as well as the kingdom. When Malini appears before the Brahmins and talks to them with divine confidence, the agitating Brahmins are convinced that Malini is not against their religion but she intends to help them. So they restore her back at the royal palace. When all the Brahmins are impressed by her impressive words including his close friend Supriya, Kemankar decides to go to foreign country in order to bring foreign soldiers to uproot Buddhism from the kingdom and banish Malini. However, he is arrested because of Supriya’s betrayal as he handed over the letter written by Kemankar having detailed plans to attack the kingdom to the king. When the king is about to kill Kemankar for his treachery to his own motherland, Malini requests the king to forgive him.

Would you call Supriya a betrayer? Give reasons in support of your answer.
In the poet play ‘Malini’, Supriya can be called a betrayer. In his entire life, Supriya follows Kemankar. He regards Kemankar as his best friend, guide and teacher. When Kemankar intends to go to foreign country to bring soldiers to banish Malini and to uproot the new creed, he asked Supriya to remain there in the kingdom to inform him about the situation. Supriya promises to act according to Kemankar’s wish. Kemankar also wants Supriya not to be impressed by any kind of novelty (newness), falsehood and he should not ignore his promise. Kemankar wrote a letter to Supriya giving details about his plan for uprooting the new creed. However, because of his own ethics, Supriya reveals Kemankar’s plan to the king by handing over his letter. The king arrested Kemankar with the help of the letter. This way Supriya deviates from his own promise and betrays his friend. Since he betrays his friend, he can be called a betrayer.

Oops! How’s that Again

                                     

Roger Rosenblatt                                                                                                            

“Oops! How’s That Again” is an essay written by Rosenblatt and this essay has a humorous tone. Through the humorous tone also, the essayist has tried to reflect the bitter reality of human beings when they make mistake when they speak. He enriches his discussion with remarkable examples; although, as befits its subject. He is much concerned with the psychological causes of mistakes.

Human beings often make mistake knowingly and unknowingly when they speak. After making mistake they also apologize for it. From the uneducated person to highly intellectual and educated, scholar, different mistakes are made according to their level. This essay describes the mistake the people make while speaking and the reasons behind it are divided into four categories. They are as follows: i. Public Blunders ii. Memorable Translations iii. Bloopers iv. Spoonerisms.

Public Blunders are the mistakes made by the people when they give speech. While delivering the speech, they don’t actually care for the grammatical mistakes or vocabulary mistakes. These mistakes are specially committed by especially by the political leaders when they deliver their speech. They try to give emphasis by giving different examples but their sentences are not totally complete. This happens due to their tongue slip. Here the speaker may be trying to give message from one view but the different audience may take it in wrong way.

Memorable translations are the mistakes generally done by the people who speak very fast. This is also related to the psychological condition of the listener. The words spoken by the fast speaker may not be easily understood the real words. There may be misunderstanding between the speaker and listener. The person with weak psychology, if, wrongly interprets the words of the speaker, it may bring violent situation.

Bloopers are the mistakes done foolishly and not tried to correct. These mistakes are very simple types of mistakes, which are not given much importance by the speaker. This may be the habit of some people.

Spoonerisms are the mistakes, which are done by the use of incorrect words due to tongues slips. Here, wrong words are not known by the listener as the speaker immediately tries to replace the wrong word when he comes to know the mistake. While the replacement of words the speaker should be conscious as wrong replacement can misinterpret the actual meaning.

There are different views about the verbal errors according to different people. Victoria Fromkin, a linguist, says that the verbal errors happen due to tongue slips concerned with the brain. Before the words are expressed, thought is placed by the brain into a grammatical framework. Sigmund Freud, a psychiatrist, presents his theory about the verbal error in different way. According to him, a tongue slips are caused by the network of id (unconscious mind), ego (subconscious mind) and superego (conscious mind). When people make mistakes, it has become the trend to laugh at them. Why do we laugh at them we don’t know. According to the philosopher Henri Bergson, the act of laughter is caused by any interruption of normal human fluidity or momentum. So, tongue slips are like slips of banana peels. We simply make fun and hoot at the errors simply to break the monotonies.

CONCRETE CAT

 “Concrete Cat” is an example of a “concrete poem,” a poem made for the eye. The chief concern of such a poem is with the physical appearance of poetry – not primarily with ideas or emotions, not with language as we ordinarily use it, but with the “reduced language” of the word itself as it appears on the page or elsewhere.
The pet may be telling us about a cat, but may be showing its “catness” in action – as far as this can be done by black and white letters on a page. We see that the cat’s tongue is a U, and so on. The pun in the cat’s middle stripe (tripes) is the only place where language aspires toward poetry and become figurative. 

“Concrete Cat” is implied poem that indicates the concrete ideas about something. This type of poem is meant to see rather than to read. is a concrete poem by which we mean a poem for the eye not for the ear. However, this type of poem reveals the clever remark through of words and it is good fun to read and see the concrete poem. The poet here experiences his sight of cat through the letters and he organizes the words in a very skillful way that represent a shape of a cat and different organs of the cat. The letter “A” indicates or creates the shape of pointed ears and U makes the mouth. The white backdrop and black letters here show the real stripe of the cat. This cat concentrates here in front of the readers after killing the mouse. The upside down letter of mouse indicates that the mouse is killed by the cat. The selections of words such as stripe, whisker, paw, tail etc characterize the real cat like a picture but if the poet would use sentences instead of words, his concrete poem would never come to a form of cat.

Some of the letters are capitalized by the poet, such as A to show the pointed ends of the ear; U to show the curved position of its tongue and mouth and Y to show the nose that separates two eyes. The letters of the word “tail” is written by giving more space to show the length of the tail, which is long and slightly bending.

The poet sets the letters of the word “mouse” upside down to indicate that the mouse is dead and it is lying behind the cat. In front of the cat, a mouse cannot stand upright. We can assume that the cat is playing with the dead cat by turning it upside down.

The pun can be created by the middle stripe of the cat. As the letters are repeated, each word can create different meaning. It is the play of the words. When we separate the letters from “stripe”, the two words are created, “tripe” and “stripe”. Tripe means the belly of animal to carry the food stuffs and “stripes” means a relatively long band of colour or texture. The cat as the poet describes here are consisted of two basic words stripes and tripe and other letters and words as necessary.

Keeping Things Whole

Mark strand is a surrealist. Therefore the image that he creates in his work seems alien or uncommon to us. However he always writes on common theme. Through the present poem also he wants to appeal for universal brotherhood a kind of wholeness against all the usual fragmentation that appears in our life.

The poet tells when he is in a field he finds himself absent there. It happens because he allows his own individual entity to submerge into a bigger entity in the field. By doing so he does not lose anything rather he is recognized as a greater body. According to him it is always the same case with him. Wherever he goes he finds himself absent there.
However, it is the human tendency to make things apart rather than keeping it whole, such attempts can never succeed because the universe is one. He has given an example to prove his point when h walks in a field his body parts the air as it moves forward. But immediately after he moves forward vacuum created by his body is filled with air. Thus he is not able to part things at last. Rather he joins at his back too.
According to the poet everybody has some projects or goals in his life. His mission is to keep things whole.

UNCHOPPING A TREE

“UNCHOPPING A TREE” is a pseudodirective essay. W.S.Merwin has coined a new term by adding the prefix “un” to chopping by this he has meant the process of reserving the action of chopping a tree. Merwin has used imperative sentences to give direction to reserve the process of chopping. Our common sense makes us realize its impossibility from the very beginning.

W.S. Merwin instructs us to begin the “unchopping” by joining leaves to their respective twigs and twigs to their respective branches. If the tree has a hollow trunk, the nest of birds, hive of bees and insect and their hoard of nuts and food must be resembled .if there were spider webs on trees before the fall. It must be waved again any damage done to the neighboring trees must also be repaired.

In the second step the tree must be erected on its stump without grinding its base into the ground. While putting the tackle into place no damage to the neighboring trees can be done. If it occurs any of such damage must be corrected later. If any leaf or branch is broken they must be rearranged by putting the tree on the ground.

The last step is to arrange the wooden chips, which fell on the ground during the chopping. After that saw dust and bark of the trees must be fixed. Here one must be careful to use correct adhesive so that natural look of the tree is not distorted.

After giving the instructions, the essayist asks how long such tree can stand. Any blow of wind will be enough to put the tree back on the ground. No one can stop the blowing of the wind so the only thing that you can do is to start the process of unchopping from the beginning if you have to get any success.

By giving a Sisyphus-like task, the essayist intends to make every reader realize that you can hardly undertake and complete such process. Therefore it is unwise to chop a tree because we are not wise enough to unchop it.

The Nightmare Life Without Fuel

The present essay written by the Russian writer Isaac Asimov basically concerns about the fuel shortage in the present world. He has given us the instances from America about how the fuel shortage directly or indirectly relates to human life and its adverse impacts. The writer kindly advices us to preserve the existing natural resources that gives us the enormous fuel to sustain life. The essay “The Nightmare Life Without Fuel,” originally published in the Time Magazine in 1977, portrays America in the late 1990s, where the existing fuel resources have reduced this developed and rich nation to miserable condition of dark and dirty replica of the pre-industrial 1800s. America is just a small example to show how dwindling fuel resources have been reducing. The central essence of this essay is considerable that the worst condition will be happened if we do not preserve the natural resources of the world.

The writer describes the terrific situation in the urban areas of America where people are wandering here and there for the fuel and energy. People gather in the subways where the bus is already left and bicycles are splashed on the muddy water, which indicates difficulties in life due to shortage of fuel. Coal is difficult to get by digging and nuclear fusion is very risky and then the solar batteries are very costly. The stuff of the decaying city should be the mineral mines to use again.

There are several adverse impacts on human life due to fuel shortage; but the writer says that this kind of shortage would be beneficial to some extent. Automobiles are vanished and become the metal resources; likewise the ration system also be decreased. According to the writer, there are the reports from the newspapers in 1997 that the environment becomes cleaner, crime rates are reduced and the policemen are returned to their beats. The streets are deserted and the legs of the people become superior in the street. People do not consume the expensive electricity; they are deprived from modern facilities. For them open air is the air condition and homemade sweaters are popular indoor wear.

The people in the city feel comfort rather than the people in suburbs. Energy crisis is the vital problem for the city dwellers. The nation should find the alternative source of energy to soothe the growing population. The condition outside USA and Europe is even worst and the people do not have sufficient food stuff to eat; only more than one in five has enough food to eat. Rest of people would die of starvation. But the writer states that starvation reduces the world’s population and more than two billion people suffer from brain damage due to less nutritious food. The fuel resources are limited, so it has the great impact on human life. The energy crisis is continued and as a result, the world’s countries would not afford their cost, keep their soldiers for the long time and unable to feed their people properly. Because of fuel shortage, the electricity is not possible, the people will deprive from watching TV, movie and reading books and they will ultimately return to the age of 1800. Then the existing fossil fuel (natural fuel produced by decomposition of organic) will work out.

The agricultural system will be also destroyed, the new technologies will be halted due to fuel crisis and farmer cannot produce enough crops to sustain people’s life. As a result more people will die of starvation. The situation will be havoc, to cope with such situation, we had to take step to improve the situation 50 years ago, and then it would have been quite better to cope with fuel crisis.

It is indeed a serious issue to preserve the dwindling natural resources and if we do not think positively, it will devastate our society, and nation which are completely depended on fuel. The general people on the outskirt of the city (suburbs) will die untimely because of fuel shortage. The condition of poor nation will be perilous and the women and children’s mortality rate will increase and those who remain alive also suffer from bad health. But in the case of rich nation, it won’t be serious problem, they can afford their necessities and there will be the wider distinction between poor and rich people.

Finally the writer recommends us the possible solution of the current fuel crisis in the world. He strongly suggests to preserve the natural resources though it is very late. The remaining natural resources will also make us relieve if we seriously ponder about it and do something for the sake of natural resources to tackle the fuel crisis.

The Popular Field

Summary

This poem is composed by William Cowper. The poem compares the chopping of the tree to a man’s life and death. The poplars are cut down now there is neither any shed nor the wind that play and sing in the leaves. There is no longer the whispering sound of the trees. Before twelve years. The poet had enjoyed beautiful view of the poplar field. He had seen the reflection of trees on the river. He used to sit in the shed on the trees but the trees are cut down now. Now the poet sits on the fall down trees. The black bird is also not singing and has flown trees. The black bird is also not singing and has flown away. The poet says he will die soon and that he will die before new trees grow to replace chopped once. The poet says that the pleasure of man is temporary and they finished before man dies.

THE THREE DAY BLOWS

Summary and Analysis

Nick walks through an orchard on his way to Bill’s house, picking up a fallen apple. When Nick arrives, the two boys stand together on the porch, discussing the weather. They predict that the wind will blow hard for three days. Bill says that his father is out with the gun. The two go inside. They decide to drink whiskey and water. Nick takes off his boots to dry them by the fire. He puts on a pair of Bill’s socks. The two talk about baseball and their team, the Cardinals. Then, they talk about books. Nick does not like books whose symbols are impractical. The two agree that they love Chesterton and Walpole but cannot decide which of the two is a better person. They talk about their fathers’ drinking habits–Bill’s drinks regularly, Nick’s never. The two are getting fairly drunk but do not want to admit it. Nick goes outside to get another log for the fire. The boys start drinking Scotch because they do not want to open another bottle of whiskey.They drink to fishing and decide it is better than baseball. Bill tells Nick that he is glad that Marjorie is gone. He did not want to see Nick married. Yet, this conversation makes Nick sad. But, as Nick says, it was suddenly over, like the three-day blow taking the leaves off the trees. Still, they had planned to do many things together, like travel. Marjorie’s mother had even told people they were engaged. Bill says that Nick might always get back into the relationship. This idea comforts Nick somewhat, because he had not realized that nothing is irreversible. Cheered somewhat, the boys decide to go outside and find Bill’s father. Nick reminds himself that he can always go into town on Saturday night and find Marjorie again.

Commentary and Analysis

Despite all the male bonding in this story, it reveals that Nick does have a soft spot for the feminine. Bill does not want to see Nick married, but Nick is unsure that he has made the right decision regarding Marjorie. Perhaps he does want marriage, love, and domesticity. Nick is not entirely masculine, therefore. He is constantly deciding whether to be a man’s man or a family man.The three-day blow is also symbolic of this stage in Nick’s life. As a young man, he is in a flurry trying to decide what kind of person to become. Further, the early twentieth century is a moment of massive change from rusticity to modernity. The three-day blow, then, represents this time of change and chaos in the world as well as in the life of a young man. This term, three-day blow, is also infused with a biblical connotation, summoning the idea of the forty-day flood, for example. Such a radical weather phenomenon seems invoked, then, not only by life and societal changes but by spiritual decree as well.

‘The Three Day Blow’ is a dramatic story by the most influential author Ernest Hemingway (1899 – 1961). He had won the Nobel Prize in 1954 for his book “The Old Man and the Sea” (1952). Nick is the main character of the story. There is the other character named as Bill who was the sincere friend of Nick.
            The rain stopped as Nick walked into the road that went up through the orchard. But the fall wind was blowing. The road came to the orchard on to the top of the hill. There was a cottage which belongs to Bill and his father. Nick went to the cottage. Bill came out and welcomed him and let him inside the room.
            Bill and Nick viewed the natural beauty. They talked about the weather and the blowing wind. Bill said that the wind would blow like that for three days. They went inside the cottage. They drank wine sitting by the fire. They talked about the games especially the baseball game, books, swimming, and their fathers. Once Nick fell in love with girl named Marge (Marjorie). They had planned to marry also but unfortunately their relationship broke down because of the bad attitude of her woman who disliked Nick and spread rumors that Nick had already got engaged. Perhaps they would never see each other again. Nostalgias made Nick sad and upset and felt isolated.
            But again he thought that what had happened in the past might have been good. This feeling made him happy. Bill and Nick started to talk as previously. Carrying guns they went out for hunting delightfully.

A WORN PATH

"A Worn Path" by Eudora Welty is an interesting story, chock-full of symbolism and several themes. First and most obvious, one can't help but note the symbolism of the main character's name, Phoenix, also the name of the mythological bird that rises from the ashes.

Phoenix Jackson is an old, old woman. We don't know exactly how old, but we know that she is small and frail -- when a black dog comes out of the bushes and rushes her, she isn't ready for it and she "only hit him a little with her cane" but this is enough to topple her over, into a ditch, where she is unable to get up without help. She can barely negotiate the path, the hills: "Seem like there is chains about my feet, time I get this far." (Also a symbol for the recent memory of slavery.) Typical of elderly, she talks to herself along the way, and to the animals and even the plants she encounters, seen and unseen. Also, we know that she is old because she is on a quest that she briefly forgets the purpose of, by the time she gets there.

Her journey is along a "worn path," thus we are led to believe this is a trip she has made numerous times. I think that this worn path is also symbolic for the pilgrimages made by all pilgrims who are on a quest, religious or otherwise, in all of history; the worn path is full of challenges and hardships along the way.

During the course of her journey, Phoenix is visited several times by dreams. One time, a boy comes to her offering a piece of marble cake; later, flat on her back and stuck in a ditch, another dream visits her. Both times, when she reaches her hand out, there is nothing there. There is no marble cake for her, and there is no one there to grab her hand and pull her out of the ditch. The marble cake seems to be symbolic of the blacks and whites trying to get along together -- to blend -- in the south in the 1930s and 1940s. Phoenix reaches her hand out twice, first to accept the cake and then to receive help getting up, and both times, nothing is there -- the dream of racial harmony is not yet realized, yet Phoenix keeps reaching for it.

When she is "found" by a white hunter, he is patronizing, and although he helps her out of the ditch, he then trivializes her quest: "Why that's too far!" he says, "That's as far as I walk when I come out myself, and I get something for my trouble." As if an old black woman has no purpose for walking to town. "Now you go on home, Granny!" he says. Later, laughing, "I know you old colored people! Wouldn't miss going to town to see Santa Claus!" The hunter also taunts her with his gun, pointing it straight at her. It's almost as if he is reminding her of her place in a white world, and getting humor by such a threatening gesture.

The main themes here are, of course, racism, but more than that there is a message of hope and perseverance, and strength in the face of hardship. Old frail Phoenix is tougher than she appears, and she doesn't scare easily, either. She has seen it all in her day, and still holds out hope that the world will become a better place, if not in her lifetime, then for her grandson's generation.

There is also a religious/moral theme here, as in when Phoenix sees the shiny nickel fall from the hunter's pocket. She distracts him by having him chase away the black dog, and while he isn't looking (she thinks) she bends over to pick up the nickel and puts it in her pocket. She immediately feels remorse, noting a bird that flew by, and senses that this bird was God watching her. Also, this is when the hunter threatens her with his gun, and when he asks if the gun doesn't scare her, she replies, "No, sir, I seen plenty go off closer by, in my day, and for less than what I done." She is not sure if he saw her, but she knows that God saw her.

When she reaches her destination, we finally learn the purpose of her quest. She has come to a doctor's office for medicine for her grandson. Here, again, she is subjected to racism, when the attendant takes in her arrival, and says, "A charity case, I suppose." But the story ends with hope, as the attendant warms up as she is leaving, and offers her a Christmas gift of sorts, pennies from her purse. Phoenix gets the idea to go to the store and buy her grandson a gift with her two nickels: "'He going to find it hard to believe there such a thing in the world. I'll march myself back where he waiting, holding it straight up in this hand.' She lifted her free hand, gave a little nod, turned around, and walked out of the doctor's office. Then her slow step began on the stairs, going down." -- Perseverance, and hope.