Model questions and answers for O/L

Sample questions and answers for Fiction, Drama and Prose....

Fiction

Grace is the most unfortunate character out of all in the novel The Vendor of Sweets by R.K. Narayan. Critically comment on this statement.

The novel The Vendor of Sweets deals with three major characters and one supportive character. The whole story is woven around a conventional businessman called Jagan. R.K. Narayan is tactful enough to bring out the factors of Indian society just after the liberation. Foolishness, pretence, hypocrisy and many other human infirmities are discussed in Narayan’s writings. He takes an imaginary city called Malgudi to set all his stories. It is a sample of the whole world that we meet characters familiar to us as well.

Grace is met to the reader for the first time at the railway station when Mali brought her from America. To the great astonishment of Jagan, Mali introduced her as his wife. She anticipated a rough and unfriendly response from Jagan. Though he was burning inwardly, Jagan was able to manage the circumstance. Grace was a Korean-American girl. She studied domestic science at the university. First, Jagan thought that she was a Chinese girl. He was afraid as a crisis between India and China has been occurred at that time. Jagan’s approach towards Grace was friendly and respectful. She seemed to be misled in a strange and a quaint culture.

Grace tried in her best to be adopted according to the traditional Hindu culture. She did all the household work as a conventional Hindu housewife. She cleaned the premises, cooked and drew the adornments using rice flour on the floor. But she could not be uprooted from her original culture. She went out at the night, roamed with her friends and enjoyed her freedom. Jagan could not understand it as in India a married woman is not allowed to go out alone. It shows the position given to the women in the most traditional Indian culture too. She respected and paid the homage to her father-in-law. This traditional old man was a marvel for Grace. She admired his notions of natural diet and cure. This is the first time that someone admired Jagan’s quaint intentions. Hence, Grace became a great attraction to Jagan.

Though she was introduced as the wife of Mali, it revealed later on that they were not married yet. Mali promised to marry her following the Hindu customs. It is quite ironical that a man, who refused and ridiculed his country and traditions, intend to follow them at the marriage. It suggests that Mali had no intention at all to marry her. Grace had been exploited in every step. She had been used as a trap. Mali knew the secret attraction of Jagan towards his wife and exploited it to demand money from his father. Once, he threatened Jagan to send Grace back to America if his capital is not provided. Mali further said that Grace was not in a good mental situation and she should be psychologically treated. The situation of Grace is clearly depicted here. She was alone in a strange culture amongst the strange people and received no love, care, attention or affection. Hence, she was fallen down mentally.

The fate of Grace depicts clearly the pathetic situation of women in traditional male dominated Indian society. Mali suppressed her and ignored her sentimental requirements. For him, she was merely a business partner. When her money is finished, Mali had no use of her furthermore. The youth, education, money and the sentimental feelings of Grace had been exploited by Mali. Therefore, with the light of above facts, we can conclude that Grace is the most unfortunate character in the novel The Vendor of Sweets.

The gap and the conflict between the younger and older generations are reflected in the novel ‘The Vendor of Sweets’ by R.K. Narayan. Discuss.

The conflict between the younger and older generations found in each and every community. It has become the theme of many literary works including the poem ‘Father and Son’ by Cat Stevens and ‘Leave Taking’ by Cecil Rajendra. The reputed Indian novelist R.K. Narayan too takes this phenomenon in his novel ‘The Vendor of Sweets’. Narayan is specialized in irony. He discusses the social issues of India just after the liberation taking the imaginary city Malgudi as the centre of the incidents. We come across common human infirmities in the characters fabricated by Narayan.

In the novel Jagan, a sweetmeat seller has been taken as the protagonist. He is a middle aged conventional Hindu man. He follows the principals of Ghandi and weaves his own clothes using a small charka. Jagan is a strict vegetarian and a believer of nature cure as well. He recites holy religious book ‘Bhagawat Geetha’ every time. He has already given up consuming salt and sugar as his religious book warned him to conquer the taste to conquer the self. This is a queer situation as it depicts that Jagan could not understand the implied meaning of this adage. He engages in a traditional occupation. He makes sweets using traditional ingredients and in a traditional way. He is quite proud of his nation. He remembers proudly the incarceration of him.He was imprisoned as he involved in the rebellion against the British throne. Jagan hesitates and fears to embrace modern technology. This is a common characteristic found in the old generation. They are reluctant embracers of technology and despise it as well. He implored cousin to urge Mali to use the steamer to go America instead of the aeroplane. When Mali asks him to have a telephone to mitigate his business he merely refuses it saying he did business for years successfully without a telephone. Jagan is a slow mover. But he was able to gain a considerable reputation and stable income through years by working slowly. The theories of Jagan about food are abnormal and ridiculous. He doesn’t drink more than four ounces of water per day. It is also kept in a mud jar. He considered that food is like one’s breath. Hence he never allows anyone to prepare his food. These intentions are collided with Mali frequently. When Grace asked once to prepare food for him, he gently refused it.

On the contrary of Jagan, his son Mali is a modern and western influenced character. He ridicules his father’s norms every time. According to him, the Indians are still living in the past century. Mali is a fast moving character. He doesn’t like to be a sweetmeat vendor as his father is. He needs to earn a big profit with a less toil. Hence, amidst the strong objection of Jagan, he left the school. He considered that schooling is wastage of time. He goes to America for his further studies. This intention collided with the national pride of Jagan as he refuses the foreign matters and admires the indigenous products. Mali began to eat beef which is considered as an utmost sin in the traditional Hindu culture. He further suggests that the fellow Indians must begin to eat beef as a solution for the hunger as well as the traffic congestion caused by the wandering cows. This inauspicious thought of Mali trembled Jagan. In Jagan’s culture, marriage is a business of the adults. It was they who decide the bride for their sons. Children have no role unless shaking their heads in this deal. But Mali kicked off this tradition and brought his spouse Grace to his country and introduced her as his wife. This couple lives together unmarried and it is a vitiation of the social norms.

Throughout the story, we find that the intentions of Jagan and Mali are collided as they are always not on par with. Mali needs a quick profit while Jagan admires a slow and steady improvement. Therefore, analysing the above facts we can conclude that R.K. Narayan brings out an eternal conflict between the two generations effectively in his novel ‘The Vendor of Sweets’.

Mali became a reserved and isolated character due to the eccentric behaviour of Jagan. Do you agree? Justify your answer.

Jagan, the protagonist of the novel The Vendor of Sweets by R.K. Narayan is presented as an extremist. Most of Narayan’s writings, he presents the queer behaviour of extreme devotees. All the incidents of Narayan’s books are set in an imaginary city called Malgudi. It is always a traditional and religious small town. His writings reveal the social aspects of independent India. An influence of Ghandian principals is lying beneath his lines every time.

Jagan is a seller of sweets and presented as a shrewd businessman. He builds up his business little by little and now became a reputed and wealthy citizen in Malgudi. His son Mali, who seems to be in his twenties, is a fast moving and a more westernized character. The modern intentions of Mali and the traditional intentions of his father are collided each other. Jagan, as a follower of Ghandi, admires the indigenous products. He weaves his own clothes using a charka. He never wears a shoe made out of a skin of a killed animal. Instead, he finds a skin of a dead animal and seasons the leather for his shoes. It gave an unrelenting headache to Ambika, the mother of Mali. Though Mali helped his father for this footwear making process when he was a child, he too repels it as a youngster. He always complains the unbearable stink.Jagan is a naturalist. He thoroughly believes that natural diet and natural cure help a healthy life. Therefore, when Ambika was fallen ill with headache, he advised her to use dried Margosa flowers fried in ghee. She cried for pills but he refused. It effects on the personality of Mali and he began to hate his father from his childhood. Jagan’s principals on food are quite insane. He is a strict vegetarian and has given up consuming sugar and salt as his religious book warned him to do so. He drinks only four ounces of water per day. Jagan considered food as the breath of someone. Hence, he never allows others to cook for him. Mali doesn’t like to eat what his father cooks. When he asked to engage a cook for them, Jagan refused it taking his principals forth.

Mali, as a youngster is influenced in modernism. He refuses quaint norms of his father. Mali needs to challenge and kick off the traditions around him. He loves his mother a lot. When she was fallen ill, he rushed back to home after the school to feed her. He even didn’t go out to play with his colleagues and stayed at the bed of his mother. The ignorance of his father towards the ailment of his mother made him rage. Even at thedeath bed of Ambika, Jagan blurts about the importance of nature cure. Hence, in the subconscious mind of Mali it is germinated that his father is responsible for the untimely death of his mother. After the death of Ambika, a huge barricade has been formed between father and son. Mali began to live rather reserved life and became an independent character. He takes even most important decisions of his life without the help of his father. Communication between father and son has been reduced. Jagan feared to speak with his son as Mali gets angry when his father speaks. Their conflict reached its climax when Mali decided to leave school as well as the country. As a father, Jagan was able to make no difference in his son’s decisions.

Mali was a loving and affectionate son to his mother. But Jagan was unfortunate as he did not enjoy this sentimental love from his son. He was unable to understand the feelings of his son. As a father, he fulfilled all the physical requirements of his son. But he was unable to fill up the cleft made by the departure of Ambika. As long as Mali thinks that his father and his quaint norms responsible for the untimely death of his mother, he hates and refuses his father. Therefore, it is quite clear that, Jagan’s abnormal and insane principals lead to the detachment of Mali from his father.

Drama

The drama Twilight of a Crane shows that love is the foundation of happiness and peace. Discuss.

Love is the driving force of the world. Hence, it has become the theme of many arts and crafts including poems, paintings, films, dramas and short stories. In the Japanese drama Twilight of a Crane, the playwright Yu Zuwa Junji Kinoshita brings out the same phenomenon. This drama is based on a Japanese folklore which is called as Yuzuru. Crane is considered as the symbol of happiness, longevity and the prosperity in Japan. Kinoshita is tactful enough to bring out the adverse effects of capitalism in his drama as well.

The drama is set in a remote and rural area. In the midst of a snow blanketed field Tsu and Yohyo built their nest and led a harmonious life. The love of this couple is depicted throughout their conversations. Tsu is a bewitched hen crane who lives in the shape of a woman. Innocence and the simplicity is depicted in her whole character. She used to play with children. The adults who are popular among the children could be taken as kind hearted people.

“Tsu yan, Tsu yan let us play…” Children use ‘Tsu yan’ to call Tsu. In Japan this suffix is used to show the intimacy between the addresser and the addressee. Yoyho is also a modest character. When Tsu was not there at the home, he came out to play with the children. But at the same time, he returned home to warm the soup for Tsu.

“Cold soup is no good for my sweetheart” This statement clearly depicts theaffection and care of Yohyo towards his wife. He treated in a warm loving manner to Tsu. His kindheartedness is revealed as he rescued the life of an injured crane.

Tsu also loves her husband in the bottom of her heart. She is an uncorrupted woman whose heart is filled with love and affection. She loves to the whole world. Her little world is fabricated around her husband. She expects to live her whole life with Yohyo by working on the field and playing with children.

The whole harmonious situation has been uprooted with the arrival of Sodo and Unzu. They were able to convert Yohyo into a money minded and corrupted character. In front of money, love decays slowly. Hence, Yohyo threatened Tsu to weave another piece of ‘Senba Ori’ irrespective of the pledge. Love depends on the faithfulness and the trustworthiness. When Yohyo broke the pledge and threatened Tsu to leave her, her heart was broken. The peace and the harmony fled from the back door when money enters from the front. Finally Tsu decided to leave Yohyo forever as her secret is revealed and the pledge between them has been broken.

Yohyo’s money mindedness brought him the destruction at the end. Though he got Senba Ori, he lost the most valuable asset of the life. Therefore, the tragic drama ‘Twilight of a Crane’ clearly depicts that; love is the most important element of the life not money.

The play ‘The Bear ‘deals with some common human emotions and feelings through sarcasm and irony .Do you agree? Explain.

Each and every human being has got feelings and emotions. The Russian playwright and short story writer Anton Chekhov discusses how people response to the impact of their feelings differently in his farce, ‘The Bear’. It was played on the stage for the first time in 1888. The Bear is a one act farce. Chekhov discusses the social attitudes of pre-revolutionary Russia in his plays and short stories. The most noteworthy element in his writing is the use of irony to discuss serious aspects.

The drama is fabricated around a young widow, whose husband died seven months ago. She is still weeping over the memory of him. The behaviour of this so-called virtuous wife brings a smile to the spectator. She vowed herself not to come out of her solitude throughout the rest of her life. As an immature young woman, she clings into her intentions irrespective of their rationality. Her old footman Luka too contributes to evoke humour in the drama. The advices that have been given by him are ironical. But he was able to show a rich vision towards life throughout his funny quotes.

“My old woman died too… I wept for a month. That’s enough for that old woman…” Popova refuses to see anybody and hopes to spend the rest of her life buried among the four walls. When the bell rings informing the presence of someone, she informs Luka that she receives nobody irrespective of the person and the reason he came for. It shows Popova’s rigidity and her queer behaviour brought a sarcastic smile to the spectator.

Smirnov, the male protagonist of the drama enters onto the stage dipping the spectator in an ocean of humour. Though his conduct seems to be funny, it reveals how the land owners treated their peasants during the feudal era. When Smirnov introduced himself proudly to Popova, she merely ignored it and asked “What do you want?” It is utterly ironical as the false pride of Smirnov has been scattered off with the behaviour of Popova. The conversation between the couple turned into a violent row gradually. Smirnov’s inability of controlling the anger brings a smile to the spectator every time. He shouts at everyone including the cart driver of him. Whenever he pulled a chair, it creaks and breaks. It shows the temper of him as well as the strength.

“How I smash your furniture” he says once with repentance. Popova accused that Smirnov is indecent and doesn’t know how to behave before women. But the irony is, not only Smirnov but also Popova is impolite in her diction.

“You are a rude, ill-bred man” this is quite a calumnious way of addressing someone. Hence this discrepancy between her words and the deeds evoke irony.

Smirnov is presented as a misogynist at the very beginning of the drama. He used many calumnious words to insult womankind. “Crooked, envious, vain, trivial, backbites, liars to the marrow of their bones…. Softer sex, philosopher in petticoats, common crocodile… are some of the terms that he used to describe womankind. But the irony is this most rude and crude misogynist became a sentimental lover and fallen on his knees in front of so-called ‘common crocodile’ to plea her hand.  

Popova’s bravery is also ironical. She accepted the challenge of a retired lieutenant of army to fight a duel, though she never held a pistol in her hands before. She also requested him to teach her how to fire. Smirnov too challenged a woman for a fight irrespective of her gender. Finally, when Popova says simultaneously to go and not to go to Smirnov, the audience burst out in laughter.

Every human being is subjected to their feelings and emotions. Very few people are able to thrive them. Here in the drama ‘The Bear’ we find both Popova and Smirnov became victims of their own emotions as they were unable to control them. Anton Chekhov brought this common human infirmity using his enormous talent of irony.

The short story The Lumber Room shows that children can be more innovative than adults. Discuss.

Children are the most uncorrupted people on the earth. Hence, their face could be taken as the mirror of their hearts. Saki, a reputed English short story writer was able to bring out the story of a mischievous and intelligent boy in his short story ‘The Lumber Room’. A lumber room is a mere storage which is used to store garden equipment and other rubbish. But for children, it would be either a warehouse of treasure or an unimagined vivid colourful world. Saki is the pseudonym of famous British short story writer Hector Hugh Munro. In most of Munro’s writings, he brings out the discrepancy of the corrupted, rigid and bogus world of adults and the pure, genuine and innocent world of children.

The plot of the short story ‘The Lumber Room’ is fabricated around a little boy who seemed to be an orphan. He was brought up by his aunt and no sign of his parents has been given in the short story. Hence, the reason of the absurd behaviour of Nicholas may be the loneliness and the lack of love and affection that he received from his adults. His aunt was a soi-disant character and her authoritative behaviour suppresses the childish feelings every time. Nicholas was intelligent and innovative enough to find a way to impress his aunt. Once, he put a frog in his breakfast bowl just to prove that not only the adults are correct incessantly. He was punished by arranging a picnic to the beach avoiding him. The way he faced to the situation and his ability of managing crisis exceeds his age. He was not hurt as his aunt expected and humiliates her. He tactfully proved that the adults don’t listen to the children and their monopoly brings adverse effects.

“Whenever we say something important, you don’t listen” This is not only an allegation made by Nicholas against his aunt. It is a common charge against the adulthood made by the children. When aunt found that she was wrong, she tactfully slips away and ordered Nicholas not to enter to the gooseberry garden.

Nicholas misled his aunt strategically as he had a secret objective. He needed to enter to the lumber room but showed his aunt that he tries to jump into the gooseberry garden. Hence, his short-sighted aunt engaged in a self-imposed sentry duty throughout the evening looking at the doors of the gooseberry garden. Nicholas’s tactfulness and the intelligence are revealed when he practiced opening and closing the doors using keys. He never believes in fortune or luck. This is a great example for the adults as well. His vast imaginative power is shown as he was able to make a live story with the piece of tapestry that he found from the lumber room. When he heard the scream of aunt, he put the picture book at the very place where he found it and scatters some dust on it to hide the evidence of his unauthorized intrusion. He locked the door carefully and put the key exactly where he found it. These aspects show how the intelligence of this child surpasses the adults.  The response of Nicholas when he found his aunt in the rain water tank is utterly humorous. He got the maximum advantage of the opportunity and ran his aunt down taking her as a devil. Hence, Nicholas seems to be an opportunist at this moment.

The child has got a vast range of imagination. He finds a way somehow to fulfil his needs. Nicholas, in the short story The Lumber Room represents the intelligence of the childhood. It proves that children are more innovative than adults every time.

Oscar Wilde’s short story ‘The Nightingale and the Rose’ shows that theoretical education produces an unbalanced person. Discuss.

The education obtained is the turning point of one’s life. It decides the position of the person in the society. Oscar Wilde discusses the importance of education in his short story ‘The Nightingale and the Rose’. Oscar Wilde was an Irish playwright, novelist and a short story writer. Wilde uses fantasy in many of his writings. But he was tactful enough to bring out the bitter social truths in his fantasies. The short story ‘The Nightingale and the Rose’ has been extracted from his collection of short stories ‘The Happy Prince and the Other Tales’ which was published in 1888.

The story is woven around a boy who seems to be in his adolescence. He was fallen in love with his professor’s daughter. The character of him is presented as a wayward one.  He was asked to bring a red rose as a gift by the professor’s daughter to dance with him at the great ball organized by the prince. But the boy was unable to find one and began to cry. He was unable to understand on what little things that the happiness depends. He was a well-read character. But in his books he did not teach how to manage hardships.

“All the secrets of philosophy are mine. But the want of a red rose made my life wretched...”       it clearly depicts that the student has got quite a theoretical education. He was an unpractical character. The immaturity of the boy is depicted in his behaviour. He merely thought that he will be able to win the heart of the girl by presenting her a red rose. He could not understand that love is an unconditional and spiritual one. The student is a less courageous one as well. He didn’t try to search for what he needs. He made no toil at all to find out a flower. On the contrary of his character, the little Nightingale is presented as a courageous and determined one. When she was unable to find a flower at the first tree, she flew into the other and made her request.

The young student is rather detached from nature. To his theoretical mind, the aspects of nature are distant. When the Nightingale sings her last song to the oak tree, the boy says, “She would not sacrifice herself for others”. He doesn’t know that the bird is going to sacrifice her life for him.  The voice of the bird was like water bubbling from a silver jar. But this blunder head tries to trace the notes of Nightingale’s music. It was the nightingale who made the utmost dedication for his love. Expecting nothing in return, she sacrificed her life. But when the student found the red rose next day, he even didn’t notice the carcass of the bird. He merely tries to remember the scientific name of the rose. It is quite ironical and stands out the student as an unpractical and mechanical person.

He is not able to manage his anger when he was refused by the girl. The girl questioned the position of him at the society. But the student was dumb as he is merely a student and has got no social value comparing with the mighty and wealthy chamberlain’s nephew. It shows again that the theoretical and conventional education has given him no value.  The boy is quite angry with the approach of the girl and threw the red rose into the gutter. He didn’t know the utter dedication and the hard toil behind the blooming process of the flower. Hence, it was quite easy for him to throw it away merely. While he was returning to his room, he thought that love is an unpractical aspect. For him, it proves nothing and tempts the people to believe that are not true. But it is quite clear that the emotion that the boy found was not love. It is merely the attraction. Hence, the boy’s intention of love as unpractical thing is false.

Throughout the short story the childishness of the young student is depicted. He is well educated. But unfortunately, the education that he received was a theoretical one. He was unable to apply the theories he learnt to the practical life. Therefore, he failed in each and every time when he had to overcome a challenge.

The extract taken from “The Lahore Attack” by Kumar Sangakkara reveals that the sport overwhelmed terrorism and political strife. Discuss.

Sports build a balanced character. Sportsmen are strong not only physically but also mentally. It is clearly depicted in Kumar Sangakkara’s Colin Cowdery lecture which is delivered in year 2011 at Lord’s Cricket Stadium, England. The Colin Cowdrey lecture is delivered in the memory of late, great British cricketer Michael Colin Cowdrey. Sangakkara’s speech is considered as one of the best Cowdrey lectures delivered ever. Sangakkara is a reputed cricketer in the legend of Sri Lankan Cricket. In his speech Sangakkara criticizes the impact of politics upon Sri Lankan Cricket.

In the extract ‘The Lahore Attack’ Sangakkara reveals the most terrible experience of his life. When they toured in Pakistan for a Test Cricket series, they were targeted to a terrorist attack led by twelve gunmen. Kumara Sangakkara glanced at the fellow Sri Lankans in a sympathetic manner. He admires the courage of them who stood violence for nearly thirty years. They faced many hardships during the civil war which lasted three decades in Sri Lanka. He never expected that he too would have to face the same experience. Sangakkara describes all the incidents that they faced in Pakistan in an indifferent tone.

When they heard the gunshots, all the players dived under and the isles of the seats for the survival. They could not understand what they should do. Bullets started to burst in and only thing that they could do was staying still and praying for the life. As the sportsmen, their courage and the strength is seen very clearly in this incident. Sangakkara got a clear memory of all the incidents taken place there. Thilan Thushara was shot at the back of his thigh. Tharanga Paranavithana, who was the debutant of the team, got severe injuries in his chest. Sangakkara too shot at his shoulder.

“I felt something hit and my shoulder goes numb. But I was relieved as it did not hit my head…” These words of Sangakkara show the optimism found in him. This is a quality added to his life from the sports that he engaged in. Fortunately, the driver Khaleel was able to drive as fast as he could and bring them to the safety of the stadium. Hence, the Sri Lankan cricket team was rescued.

At the dressing room of the stadium there was a mixture of emotions. Everyone is happy as no life is lost as a result of the incident. They recovered soon and began to laugh and comfort the exhausted people as well. It shows the inner equilibrium of the players which is built up by their sportsmanship. As the unofficial ambassadors to their country, they were able to maintain the image of their nation in front of the international media. Not even a sign of anger against the Pakistan government for not providing them proper security is shown in their interviews. They were able to manage the situation as if professional media men. During the Colin Cowdrey lecture as well, Sangakkara maintained this gentle behaviour.  He expresses the incident as if it was happened to someone else. Therefore, Sangakkara’s lecture is quite important to us as it built a better image of the country.

Sports help to build a strong character. Players are both mentally and physically strong. They are able to manage hardships in their lives much more than the ordinary men. Though this is the first time that the cricketers faced violence, they were able to manage the situation because of their sportsmanship and the team spirit. The terrorists were able to injure them. But they were unable to cow them. Hence, it is quite clear that even a terrorist could not bring down a sportsman.

The prose ‘Wave – A memoir of life after the Tsunami’ is a reminder of the horror of Deraniyagala’s own individual, inescapable grief and love.

Boxing Day is celebrated by the people all around the world. But the Boxing Day of year 2004 brought tears to many south Asian countries as Tsunami waves washed off their loving ones. Sonali Deraniyagala is a Sri Lankan born economist, who faced the most terrible tragedy of her life on the very day. She was at the Yala Safari Hotel with her family members when Tsunami hit the coast of Sri Lanka. She lost all her family members including two sons, her husband and the parents. This modern Patachara tried to commit suicide several times as she could not bear up the agony. Sonali writes a pathetic story in a book and published it in year 2013. In her memoir Wave, Sonali Deraniyagala shares the true story of the tsunami in Sri Lanka that killed her husband, two sons, and parents. As the only one in her family who survived the wave, Deraniyagala fought through her grief and depression to find a new identity for herself.

In the extract given in the anthology, the exact moment that she caught into the waves has been described. Deraniyagala begins her story by describing the morning of the tsunami. She, her family, and her parents were staying at the Yala Safari Beach Hotel. Deraniyagala describes the horror on her husband’s face just before the tsunami flipped the Jeep in which they were trying to outrun the strangeness they had noticed in the ocean. Deraniyagala was carried along with the churning water until she managed to grab onto a branch. This branch kept her from being swept out to the ocean in the receding waters.

When they were rushing away from their hotel, Deraniyagala forgot to call at her parents. Irrespective of them, they ran away for their survival. It has become a great repentance for her later on. She honestly writes that the only intention germinated in her mind was the protection of the children. While they were running, they came across a jeep on their way. The kind jeep driver was waiting for these unknown people. It shows the selflessness of him. Orlantha’s mother Beulah was unable to board into the jeep as it jerked forward. Sonali shouted at the driver to stop the vehicle. But he didn’t. Anton, Beulah’s husband jumped out of the jeep to drag her back. This time Sonali kept calm showing her selfishness. When they were trapped into water, Sonali and Steve tried to rescue their children by lifting them as high as they could. But unfortunately they were unable to cope the tidal waves.

Through her letters, we find an utmost grievance of a lonely woman and hapless mother. She lost all her loving ones and left alone in the world. Therefore, ‘Wave’ could be taken as a story of grief.