Central Idea of the poem ''Father returning home''
Central Idea of the poem ''Father returning home'' written by Dilip Chitre.
The central idea of this poem is modern man's alienation from the man-made world. This world is full of hurry and worry. Nobody has the time to take interest in others. The senior citizens are a neglected lot in society. The poem gives us a picture of a sad old man who travels to work by local train every day in the city of mumbai. He does not feel comfortable at home in his enviroment. He feels lonely even in a crowd. His isolation is seen in his inability to have dialouge with his family or friends. He feels uneasy in his present. So the old man enters into the distant world of the past or into the touch world of his own dreams. The modern man is alienated in a complex urban world.
Analysis of Father Returning Home
Father Returning Home is a dramatic monologue, the voice of a son or daughter detailing two scenes from the life of their father.
The opening scene, the first stanza, concentrates on the city commute home from work, the inherent loneliness of a man who is disillusioned with his life. The tone is a little depressing and bleak, the language that of estrangement and detachment.
Perhaps the father has to work long hours to make ends meet because he is on the evening train, passing through suburbs that he takes for granted. It's been raining, the father has been soaked, mud stains his coat. He looks a sorry sight. Like his old bag, he's coming undone, getting on in years.
The first person commentary continues as the father gets off the train - Like a word dropped from a long sentence - a simile that implies complete detachment from meaning and sense and language.
All in all, the speaker gives the reader a gloomy introduction to their father, a microcosmic view of your typical (or atypical) veteran male commuter. The imagery, together with a down to earth narration, is particularly striking and creates a filmic, documentary type scenario.
In the second stanza the focus is on the domestic side of life with family present, witnessing the sad movements of a once happy father. The weak tea and stale chapati add to the sense of hopelessness. Is there no wife or partner to greet him? No children to run up and hug him
Apparently not. Here is a man who prefers books to conversation, his own company to that of shared social space. Even on the toilet his thoughts are negative; he cannot reconcile how a man can be a stranger in a city teeming with millions of other men. Humans built the city, so how come humans feel estranged in an environment that should encourage positive interaction? Something has gone wrong.
The very thought of his own existence in such a place affects his physcality.
Perhaps the most devastating line in the poem is line 20, when the reader learns that even his children (who reflect his own personality it seems) consciously keep their jokes to themselves instead of sharing them with their father. A truly sad situation.
The father is so far away from his current family life he cannot seem to cope. Something is draining his spirit and there is no one to confide in. Out of habit he puts on the radio, which is only the noise of interference, a kind of torture. When he sleeps he dreams of the past, of his ancestors, nomads with no static home, who overcame hardships to discover a new land.
This is dummy text. It is not meant to be read. Accordingly, it is difficult to figure out when to end it. But then, this is dummy text. It is not meant to be read. Period.
2 comments
Click here for commentsThanks a lot sir/mam. It was really helpful.Thnakuu a lot
ReplyNice explanation
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