Submitted by: Submitted by shetulmj
Views: 605
Words: 370
Pages: 2
Category: English Composition
Date Submitted: 04/14/2014 12:37 AM
Rahamat is displayed with a powerful presence that
indicates something underneath the surface. On face
value, he is a fruit seller and Tagore describes him in an
almost wanderer quality. The impression of him at the first
description is that he is one that causes an immediate
sense of fear in Mini, the child who is afraid that he
captures children and places them in his large bag that he
has across his shoulder. Over time, Tagore draws out his
character as one who forges a bond with the little girl. He
is committed to seeing her every day, "bribing" her with
almonds and raisins. Tagore plays with the reader in this
description, almost trying to tease the reader into believing
something sinister in Rahamat's actions in expressing the
concerns that the wife of the narrator has in the story. The
familiar question that helps to forge the bond between both
Rahamat and the girl involves him asking her when she is
going to her father in- law's house. The fact that he returns
after he was imprisoned and asks the girl the same
question on the eve of her marriage helps to allow a fuller
understanding of the now aged fruit seller. His bond with
the girl is representative of the bond he wished to have with
his own daughter in his native Afghanistan. When he asks
the girl the same question on the eve of her wedding, it is a
moment, a reflection, of his own life and how his own girl
would be preparing for marriage. While Rahamat could not
be there for his own daughter, he is there for this girl. The
sentiment of yearning for what cannot be and seeking to
bring it into existence with what is in front of us is
heightened when Rahamat takes out a small piece of paper
with the handprint of his daughter. It is at this moment that
the speaker, and the reader, understand the pain and
yearning that exists in this man. His wandering is not as
physical as much as it is emotional, to find some
semblance of personal contentment in a world and
condition...