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Flamingo Class 12 ( XII ) English Summary
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Flamingo Class 12 ( XII ) English Summary EasyTHURSDAY, 21 MARCH 2013
Summaries of all chapters and poems of Flamingo.For CBSE 12th Examination.
All the chapters are in chapter-wise order.
INDEXFlamingos
The Last LessonLost SpringDeep WaterThe RattrapIndigoPoets and PancakesThe InterviewGoing Places
POEMSMy mother at sixty-sixAn elementary School Classroom in a SlumKeeping QuiteA Thing of BeautyA Roadside StandAunt Jennifer's Tigers
The last LessonThe prose 'The last lesson',written by Alphonse Daudet narrates about the year 1870 when the prussian forces under Bismark
attacked and captured France.The french districts of Alsace and Lorraine went into Prussian hands.The new Prussian rulers
discontinued the teaching of French in the schools of these two districts.The French teachers were asked to leave.The story
describes the last day of one such French,M.Hamel.Mr. M.Hamel had been transfered and could no longer remain in his old
school.Still he gave last lesson to his students with utmost devotion and sincerity as ever.The story depicts the pathos of the
whole situation about how people feel when they dont learn their own language and then losing an asset in M.Hamel.
One of his student Franz who dreaded french class and M.Hamel's iron rod, came to the school that day thinking he would be
punished as hehad not learnt his lesson.But on reaching school he found Hamel dressed in sunday clothes and all the old people
of the village sitting there.It was due to an order on the bulletin board. That was the first day when he realised for the first time that
how important french was for him, but it was his LAST LESSON in French.
Source:http://www.shvoong.com/entertainment/movies/1807888-lesson/#ixzz1nU0JxI3M
Lost Spring by Anees jungThis story narrates about the children of the bangle makers of Firozabad. The essay does so through the lives of two children,
Saheb-e-Alam and Mukesh whose spring or childhood is lost in misery and poverty. Saheb is the son of two parents who migrated
from Bangladesh. They came to Delhi in 1971 as their house was swept away by repeated storms. Then they began to live in
Seemapuri, a slum of Delhi. Saheb like many other children of the slum was a rag picker. They searched the rags and garbage and
tried to find out coins. Sometimes they found one rupee coins and sometimes even ten rupee coins. Saheb did not attend any
school as there was no school nearby. He was too poor to wear chappals. Saheb liked the game of tennis. Someone gave him a
pair of tennis shoes. But he would never get the chance to play the game himself. At last, Saheb got employed in a tea stall. He
was not happy as he had lost his freedom. But he had no choice in the matter.
The life of Mukesh at Firozabad was no better. Mukesh lived with his elder brother who was a bangle maker. He wanted to be a
driver and a motor-mechanic, not at all eager to continue bangle making. But the people thought that it was their karam or the
result of their karma in the previous birth that they were born into the caste of bangle-makers. So they were destined to make
bangles and they could not do anything else. Thousands of children are engaged in bangle making and many of them lost their
eyesight before becoming adults. They did not know that it was illegal for children to work in that hazardous condition in the glass
factories. The story is the same in every family. Mukesh took the writer to his house where the writer came to know that his
grandfather had become blind working in the factory. Similarly in another family, the author came to know how the husband was
happy that he had been able to make a house for his own family to live in but the wife complained that she did not get a full meal in
her whole life.
Hundreds of years of slavery had killed the initiative of people to think of a better life. They carried on their miserable life as they
did not have the courage to rebel against tradition. They did not have money enough to start their own new kind of enterprise. If
someone dared to start a new line, there were police, middle-men, sahukars and politicians to persecute them. Police, middle-men
and others would not allow them to take any other vocation. Justice after all is the right of the rich and the powerful, not of the
helpless like Mukesh. The condition of the life of Saheb or Mukesh was far from desirable. It should not be allowed to continue. But
some people must bell the cat. The writer was happy when he came to know that some young men like Mukesh was ready to take
the plunge, rebel against tradition and start a new life.
Source:http://www.shvoong.com/books/classic-literature/2153372-summary-anees-jung-lost-spring/#ixzz1nU0af961
second long summeryRaju works at a roadside dhaba for sixteen hours a day. Idrees has lost his memory and bears on his body the scars of being
tortured at the carpet-manufacturing unit where he worked. Saheb scrounges the garbage dumps on the streets of Delhi for his
daily wages. Munni has travelled long distances from her village home, looking for work as a domestic help in the city. Like Raju
and Idrees, Saheb and Munni, millions of children all over the country are doomed to a life of backbreaking toil. Half adult, half
children, victims of physical and mental abuse, they represent the dark underbelly of India's economic growth. In Lost Spring:
Stories of Stolen Childhood, best-selling author Anees Jung exposes a national shame: children cleaning floors and tables in
shanty restaurants; making locks, slates and fireworks; rolling bidis; weaving saris and carpets; packing and hauling loads in
factories and stone quarries. With her trademark sensitivity and insight, she analyses the grinding poverty and traditions sanctified
by caste and religion which condemn these children to a life of exploitation. In this bleak world, the author also finds stories of
resilience and fortitude-children who have refused to accept their condition, thus opening new vistas for themselves and others like
them. She also documents incredible profiles in courage-individuals and institutions who battle not only governmental and
bureaucratic apathy but also social values and cultural norms that support and accept the concept of child laboursource:http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Summary_for_the_lesson_'The_Lost_Spring'#ixzz1nU15hAti
Deep Water The story, Deep Waters tells us how the writer overcame his fear of water and learned swimming with sheer determination
and will power. He had developed a terror of water since childhood. When he was three or four years old the writer had gone to
California with his father. One day on the beach, the waves knocked the child down and swept over him. The child was terrified but
the father who knew there was no harm laughed. The experience bred a permanent fear of water in the childs sub-conscious
mind. Still another incident, more serious, increased his terror. The writer was trying to learn swimming in the Y.M.C.A. swimming
pool in Yakima. One day while he was waiting for other boys, a big boy suddenly played a dangerous prank and pushed him into the
water. The writer was terribly frightened. He went down nine feet into the water. His lungs were full of the unreleased air. When he
reached the bottom, he jumped upward with all his strength. He came up but very slowly. He tried to catch hold of something like a
rope but grasped only at water.
He tried to shout but no sound came out. He went down again. His lungs ached, head throbbed and he grew dizzy. He felt
paralyzed with fear. All his limbs were paralyzed. Only the movement of his heart told him that he was alive. Again he tried to jump
up. But this time his limbs would not move at all. He looked for ropes, ladders and water wings but all in vain. Then he went down
again, the third time. This time all efforts and fear ceased. He was moving towards peaceful death. The writer was in peace. When
he came to consciousness, he found himself lying on the side of the pool with the other boys nearby. The terror that he had
experienced in the pool never left him. It haunted him for years and years to come. It spoilt many of his expeditions of canoeing,
swimming and fishing. It spoilt his pleasures in Maine Lakes, New Hampshire, Deschutes, Columbia and Bumping Lake etc.
But the writer was determined to conquer his terror. He took help of a swimming instructor to learn swimming. The
instructor taught him various actions necessary in swimming part by part. He put his face under water and exhaled and inhaled
raising it above water. He practiced it for several weeks. He had to kick with his legs a few weeks on the side of the pool. At last he
combined all these actions and made the writer swim. He learned swimming but the terror continued. So deep goes our childhood
experiences! So fearful is the fear of fear! Whenever he was in water the terror returned. Hence forward the writer tried to terrorize
terror itself. He tried to face the new challenge. When terror came, he confronted it by asking it sarcastically as to what it can really
do to him? He plunged into the water as if to defy the fear. Once he took courage the terror vanquished. He faced the challenge
deliberately in various places like the Warm Lake. He conquered it at last.
The experiences of the writer throw some important lights on certain aspects of life. Experiences of pain or pleasure in
childhood remain in the sub-conscious mind and influence our feelings later too. The fear of water acted on the writer in that way.
Even after being an expert in swimming, the writer felt terror. There was no reason at all. Once he took courage, the fear vanished.
That shows most of our fears are baseless. Fear creates dangers where there is none. The writers experiences further confirm
the proverbial truth, Where there is a will, there is a way.
Source:http://www.shvoong.com/books/classic-literature/2153035-summary-william-douglas-deep-waters/#ixzz1nU1X8CVE
The Rat trapThere was a poor man who sold rat-traps and earned his livelihood. His income from the traps was not enough. So he also begged
and stole petty things at times. He was not a born thief as no man is. Necessity compelled him in the petty thieving. He used to
sleep at night in the houses of people if someone allowed him or some places like factories like Ramsjo Iron-Works. Once an idea
struck him that the world is like a rat-trap full of temptations to trap men. If a man is tempted by the baits of wealth, power, etc. he
is trapped like a rat in a rat trap. The man selling rat-traps lived a poor life without enough food or shelter. So he looked upon the
world in the light of his own sufferings. Once he took shelter in the house of a man who was the crofter in Ramsjo Iron-Works. The
man was lonely without any family. He welcomed the rat-trap man as he would get rid of his loneliness at least for a night.
The crofter told him about his life and showed him the thirty kronor that the crofter had kept near the window. Initially he was
happy to get the money but very soon the rat trap began to work. He feared detection and avoided the highway. He walked through
the forest and lost his way there. He then saw the forge of the Ramsjo Iron-Works and went there to spend the night near the forge.
At that time, the iron-master, the owner of the factory, came in. The iron-master by mistake thought him to be his old friend, Nils
Olof, with whom he had served in the regiment. To help his friend fallen on bad days, he invited the peddler to his house. The rat-
trap man or peddler realized that the iron-master was making a mistake but he did not correct him in the hope that he might help
him a little.
But he did not like to go into his house as he feared that he might be exposed and detected. But the kind-hearted daughter of the
iron-master Edla Willmansson was too compassionate and loving to be resisted. She suspected even that the man might have
committed some crime. But she ignored that and thought that the man, always haunted by fear and security, must have lived a
miserable life. She wanted to give him at least a nights peace and security. She assured the peddler that in her house, he would
be safe from ant interference and he would be free to leave anytime. She persuaded him to be her guest on the Christmas Eve. The
genuine compassion of Edla gave the man a sense of peace and security. He slept all the while as if he wanted to make up for the
sleepless nights he had spent throughout his life.
He ate the Christmas delicacies. The daughter gave him the suit that he was given to wear and she invited him to the next
Christmas and assured him of secrecy and security. The rat-trap man was overwhelmed. The next morning, he left the manor
house. But before leaving, he left the packet containing the thirty kronor of the crofter. He wrote a letter to Edla asking her to return
the money to the crofter. He wrote that she had treated him with respect as if he was a real captain. She had treated him as a man
and not as a thief. That genuine regard had induced him to be a better man and giving up stealing. Thus, the genuine compassion
and kindness of Edla changed the life of a thief and turned him to a better man.
Source:http://www.shvoong.com/books/classic-literature/2153374-summary-selma-lagerlof-rat-trap/#ixzz1nU27nw6P
IndigoThis story portraits Gandhijis struggle for the poor peasants of Champaran. The peasants were share croppers with the British
planters. According to one old agreement, the peasants had to cultivate indigo on fifteen percent of the land and give as rent. The
British didnt need the indigo crop any more when Germany had developed synthetic indigo. Just to release the peasants from
the fifteen percent agreement they demanded compensation. Some illiterate peasants agreed but others refused. Later lawyers
were appointed .At that time Gandhiji went to Champaran. He managed to get justice after a year long battle for the peasants. He
also made arrangements for the education, health, and hygiene for the families of the poor peasants. He gave them the lesson of
self reliance.
Source:http://www.shvoong.com/books/novel-novella/1830898-indigo/#ixzz1nU2ZwesR
Poets and pancakes (my years with boss) by Asokamitranfor nearly thirty years from 1940, the Gemini Studios of Madras (Chennai) was the most influential film-producing organisation of
India and its founder, the brilliant multi-faceted entrepreneur S.S. Vasan lent substance and quality to the rather fragile and
unpredictable movie business. The Gemini emblem of two small boys with bugles was true to Vasans slogan for the Studios,
when the bugles blow, there is a great show, Gemini films entertained millions all over India and abroad.
Sahitya Akademi award-winning Tamil writer Ashokamitran worked for the Gemini Studios from 1952 to 1966. A full twenty years
after he renounced films, poet-editor Pritish Nandy persuaded Ashokamitran to record his reminiscences and the result was a
series of articles making up My Years with Boss. The book covers only five of his fourteen years with the Studios but captures that
phase of Indian movie business when the key factors of the box office were imperceptibly shifting from the studios to the stars.
My Years with Boss is one of the most unusual books to be written about the entertainment world and clearly indicates the
enormous impact of the movies on virtually every aspect of life in India.
The authors ability to capture the life and breath of people and events, and his puckish narrative make this a brief but special
book of film history."
The InterviewPart - I
The Interview - a commonplace of journalism: Since its invention a little over 130 years ago, the interview has become a
commonplace of journalism. All the literates must have read an interview at some point in their lives.
Different opinions about Interview: Some claim that an interview is a source of truth and in its practice, it is an art. While some
others think that interview is an unwarranted intrusion into their lives and somehow it diminishes them.
Part-II
Umberto Eco is a professor at the university of Bologna in Italy. He has accomplished a good reputation for his ideas on semiotics
(the study of signs). He has written'! wide range of books. His novel 'The Name of the Rose' brought him name and fame. Mukund
asks Umberto how he can do so many things in his life. Eco reveals a secret about himself. He says that we all have a lot of' empty
spaces' in our lives. He calls them 'interstices'. If we fill empty spaces with our work, we can achieve a lot of success in our life. He
also tells Mukund that he considers himself a university professor who writes novels on Sundays. He became a novelist by chance.
source:http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Summary_of_the_interview_by_Christopher_Silvester#ixzz1nU4QGvqG
Going PlacesThe theme of this story is adolescent fantasising and hero-worship.
The story revolves around the life of Sophie, a teenager, who, like others of her age, is filled with fantasies and desires. She comes
from a poor financial background, but hopes to be sophisticated in the future. Sophie dreams of owning a boutique one day ot
being an actress or fashion designer, but her friend Jansie believes that both of them are earmarked for the biscuit factory. Jansie,
who is more realistic, tries to pull Sophie to reality, but in vain.
Sophie lives in a small house with her parents and brothers, Geoff and little Derek. Though she voices her feelings and desires, her
parents pooh-pooh her, because they, unlike her, are more mature and know the truths of life.
Sophie finds a sort of fascination for her elder brotherGeoff, who is tall, strong and handsome and reserved. She envies his silence
and often wonders about his thoughts and areas of his life that she doesn't know about.
The centre of this story is that Sophie fantasises about Danny Casey, an Irish football player, whom she had seen playing in
innumerable matches. She makes up a story about how she met him in the streets and tells this to Geoff. Geoff, who is more
sensible than Sophie, does not really believe her, even if she wants to. It seems an unlikely incident for Sophie to meet the prodigy
in their street, but whe Sophie describes the meeting in all her details, he begins to hope that it could be true. She tells him that
Danny has promised to meet her somewhere again.
Sophie gets so pulled into the story she made that she herself begins to believe that its true. She waits for the Irish player, but
obviously, he never arrives. Then, she makes her way home, wondering how her brother would be disappointed on knowing that
Danny Casey never showed up. However, Sophie still fantasises about her hero, unperturbed
source:http://summariesofstoriesandpoems.blogspot.in/2010/02/flamingo-and-vistas-summaries.html
POEMSMy Mother at Sixty SixThis poem revolves around the theam of advancing age and the fear adheared to it of loss and separation.
The poet is on the way to airport in Cochin ,when she is stuck by the realization of the advancing age of her mother.It is very
difficult for her to accept that her mother is creeping into the grips of old age.When she looks at her mother sitting by her side ,she
notices her corpse like ashen face which reminds her of her aproaching death.She is pale and worn out.
The green trees racing past the speeding car are grim reminders of time which has passed.The joyous children playing outside give
her some respite a she is lost in her thoughts of old age.The children represent old youth,energy and life.she is probably driven
back to the days of her idyllic youth when the mother had been young.Now she was encircled in the fear of losing her,this made her
feel insecure.She had this feeling when ever she looked at her mother as she had lost the blush of youth and middle age and now
in her twiligh years had become as pale as the winter moon.
She is happy to see her mother is still breathing.But she is beset with sorrow and insecurity as she departs at the airport bidding
goodbye to her mother and trying to hide her fears by smiling as she looked at her.
Source:http://www.shvoong.com/writing-and-speaking/speech/1808114-mother/#ixzz1nU5Hz9Xu
An Elementary School Classroom in a SlumStephen Spender highlights the plight of slum children by using vivid images and apt words to picture a classroom in a slum.
Through this he touches, in a subtle manner, the themes of social injustice and inequalities.
Lines 1, 2
The opening line of the poem uses an image to contrast the slum childrens faces with those of others. The image used is
gusty waves indicating brightness, verve and animation. But these are missing from faces of these children. The next image of
rootless weeds produces double effect. Weeds indicate being unwanted and rootless indicates not belonging. The
slum children are like rootless weeds unwanted by society and not belonging to society. Their uncombed hair fall on their pale
faces.
Lines 3 to 8
Next, a few of the slum children are described. There is a tall girl whose head is weighed-down with sadness, disinterestedness or
shame or a mixture of all the three. She is probably over-aged for the class. Another boy is thin, emaciated like paper and his eyes
pop out from his thin body looking furtive like rats eyes. He seems to have inherited stunted and twisted growth of bones from
his father. Spender has used the word reciting to show that instead of studying/reciting, a normal activity in school, the boy
had only his inherited crippling disease to show/recite in the class. This could suggest that the boys condition seem to have
arisen because of his poverty especially his inability to avail heath services at the right time. Right at the back of the badly lit room
is an unnoticed young boy. He is probably too young for poverty to have stifled his childish imagination. He daydreams of the
squirrels game and about the tree house, absent mentally from the classroom.
Lines 9 to 12
Spender then describes the classroom. The word sour used to describe the cream walls of the classroom indicates its derelict
condition. Contradicting this state and the slum children are Shakespeares head indicating erudition, the picture of a clear sky at
dawn and a beautiful Tyrolese valley indicating beauty of nature and hope, dome of an ancient city building standing for civilization
and progress and a world map awarding the children the world. The lines Open-handed map / Awarding the world its world
could refer to the map of the world hanging on the wall of the classroom giving/showing (awarding) everyone (the world) the world
out there to explore and know (its world).
Lines 13 to 16
But the world of the slum children is the limited world that can be seen though the windows of the classroom and not what the
map promises. All these seem ironic when contrasted with the misery and hopeless condition of the slum children. Their future is
foggy, bleak and dull. Their life/world is confined within the narrow streets of the slum enclosed by the dull sky far away from
rivers, seas that indicate adventure and learning and from the stars that stand for words that can empower their future. 'Lead sky'
means a dullsky or a dimly lit sky. This symbolises the bleak, dull life and future of the slum children.
Lines 17 to 24
The poet feels that the head of Shakespeare and the map are cruel temptations for these children living in cramped houses (holes),
whose lives revolve around (slyly turns) dullness (fog) and hopelessness (endless night) as they imagine and long for (steal)
adventure(ships), for a better future (sun) and for love. Their emaciated wasted bodies compared to slag (waste) heaped together
seemed to be wearing the clothes of skin covering their peeping bones and wearing spectacles of steel with cracked glasses
looking like bottle bits mended. The slum is their map as big as the doom of the city buildings and their life (time and space) foggy
and dim. The poet repeatedly uses the word fog to talk about the unclear, vague and dull life of the slum children.
Lines 25 to 32
The only hope of a life beyond the slums that enclose their lives like catacombs is some initiative by the governor, inspector of
schools or a visitor. The poem ends with the poet fervently hoping that slum children will have access to better education and a
better way of life. He uses the words Break o break open to say that they have to break out from the miserable hopeless life of
the slum world so that they can wander beyond the slums and their town on to the green fields and golden sands (indicating the
unlimited world). These can become their teacher and like dogs lapping up food hungrily, they can learn directly (run naked) from
the open pages (leaves) of nature and the world which is sustained (whose language) by the sun standing for energy and life.
Keeping QuietThis poem talks about the need for quiet introspection and creating feelings of mutual understanding, love and respect among
human beings.
The poet suggests that he count to 12 and we all keep still. The purpose of this exercise, according to him, is to create a sense of
togetherness in the minds of all people. In the twelve seconds of silence that the poet wishes to observe, he wants all the people
on earth to not talk in any language, but to speak through their hearts and understand each other. He feels that it would be an
exotic moment, with silence. There would be no rush and no noise and all the people in the world would be bonded by this sudden
stillness.
Fishermen in the sea would stop their act of killing and men who gather salt would stop their work and look at their hands, hurt
from the burdens of their toil. For once, they would be able to pay heed to their selves, rather than their work.
People who fight wars would stop and walk about with all others, like brothers, doing nothing.
The poet does not want total inactivity or death. He feels that today, all the people are so engrossed in keeping their lives moving
and fulfilling their duties, that no one has time to think about themselves or others. He believes that if we observe these few
moments of silence, it would unite us in a strange silence and help us understand ourselves better. It would foster a sense of
brotherhood and unity among us.
According to the poet, we should all learn a lesson from the earth, who appears to be dead on the surface. But beneath the surface
is amazing life, which proves that there can be life under apparent stillness.
Source:http://www.shvoong.com/books/1965522-keeping-quiet/#ixzz1nU5vNRjF
The Thing Of BeautyThis poem tries to percieve the world through language.The believes that there are certain things which are beautiful and worth to
be treasured.He points out the intransient nature of beautiful things.THese things leave a lasting impression on our mind .The
pleasure got by them is not momentary.THey are very valuable as they provide peace to human mind.Life is full of tribulations.Loss
of faith and disappointment are the result of our own making.beautiful things make life worthwhile as they lift the veil of gloom,
finding way for optimism and hope.
The poet names a few beautiful thing which are simplest of things .These include sun moon trees etc.even things like sheep
daffodils ,clear springs ,musk roses growing in the wild are things that give joy and happiness to the human heart.beauties of
nature have an elixir of life.It is like a precious gift from heaven.
Source:http://www.shvoong.com/books/poetry/1813606-thing-beauty/#ixzz1nU682qKK
A Roadside Stand by Robert FrostIn this poem, the poet contrasts the lives of poor and deprived countryside people who struggle to live, with the thoughtless city
people who dont even bother to notice the roadside stand that these people have put up to sell their goodies.
Lines 1 to 6
The poem starts with the description of the roadside stand and the intention behind it. A small time farmer builds a vegetable
stand at the edge of the highway outside his house in the hope that passing cars would buy the produce and earn a bit of the
money that supports cities from falling into ruin. He only wants to earn a living, he is not begging for money.
Lines 7 to 13
However, no cars ever stop and the ones that even glance in the direction of the stand without any feeling of compassion or
relatedness (out of sorts) only comment about how the construction spoils the view of the surroundings or how badly painted the
wrongly pointed North and South signs are or to notice without interest the wild berries and squash for sale in the stand or the
beautiful mountain scene.
Lines 13 to 22
The farmer tells the rich travelers to keep their money if they meant to be mean and that the hurt to the view is not as important as
the sorrow he feels on being ignored. He only wishes for some (city) money so that he may experience the plush life (make our
beings expand) portrayed by the movies and other media, which the political parties are said to be refusing him.
Lines 23 to 31
Frost goes on to say that even though these people have benefactors (good-doers), who plan to relocate them in villages where
they can have easy access to the cinema and the store, they are actually selfish (greedy good-doers and beasts of prey)
and only help these "pitiful kin" to indirectly advantage themselves. The altruists wish to make these villagers completely
dependent on them for all their benefits and comforts, thus robbing them of the ability to think for themselves and be independent.
'The ancient way' could mean the old way when people worked during the day and slept at night. This is being reversed by the new
'greedy good doers' who teach these people to not use their brain. They are unable to sleep at night because they haven't worked
during day time or because they are troubled by their new lifestyle.
Lines 32 to 43
Frost then talks about his personal feelings, saying that he can hardly bear the thought of the farmer's dashed hopes. The open
windows of the farmer's house seem to wait all day just to hear the sound of a car stopping to make a purchase. However they are
always disappointed, as vehicles only stop to enquire the price, to ask their way ahead, to reverse or ask for a gallon of gas. 'The
polished traffic' refers to the rich class who drive their cars to their destinations (with a mind ahead) probably to another city
unmindful of the countryside roadside stand and if at all they did get distracted by the countryside (if ever aside a moment) they
seemed out of place in it (out of sorts).
Lines 44 to 51
According to the poet, the progress required has not been found by these country folk (the requisite lift of spirit"). Their lifestyles
provide ample evidence to support this fact. He sometimes feels that it might be best to simply put these people out of their pain
and hardships of existence. However, once rational thinking returns to his mind, he wonders how HE would feel if someone offered
to do him this supposed service.
Aunt Jennifer's Tigers Adrienne Rich's "Aunt Jennifer's Tigers", depicts a woman trapped within the cultural constraints and responsibilities of married
life.
In the first stanza, Aunt Jennifers situation and character is contrasted with her artistic creation that portrays her aspiration. The
tapestry on which she has knitted tigers are very symbolic of what she wants to be in life - fearless, assertive, noble and powerful
like the tiger as expressed in the words "They pace in sleek chivalric certainty". The word 'certainty' could portray the self-
assuredness of the tiger or the confident bearing of the tiger as it is fearless of life.The tigers depicted as prancing across the
screen bring to mind a being that is confident, self-assured and happy; all things that Aunt Jennifer is not. The use of colours
implies that Aunt Jennifer's tigers and their land are more vital and enjoy a sense of freedom far greater than her. Yellow (bright
topaz) connotes the sun and fierce energy, while green reminds one of spring and rebirth.
In the second stanza, Aunt Jennifer's present state is depicted. Her fingers are "fluttering through her wool" showing both physical
and mental weakness. She finds it difficult to pull the needle. "The massive weight of Uncle's wedding band / Sits heavily upon
Aunt Jennifer's hand" reminds us that her marriage responsibilities weigh her down which makes her unable to realize her full
potential as a woman in a male-dominated society. She escapes from her difficult situation through art i.e. through knitting.
The final stanza contains imagery that reflects back on the first two stanzas. The reference of the hands symbolizes Aunt Jennifer
as a whole. Though her death would free her from her present miserable state, her hands will remain terrified with the wedding ring
which binds her to her ordeals that took complete control of her. The only sign of her freedom from her present life is the art work
which she escapes into by depicting the prancing, proud and unafraid tigers which is what she really wants to be and which she
attains through her imagination.
Pankaj Kumar at 22:23
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