Adventures In English Vol I

The Illiterate

Author: Laxmi Prasad Devkota
Unit 3: Education
Subject: Adventures in English Volume I

Literal Comprehension

‘The Illiterate’ is a beautiful poem written by a Nepali poet, Laxmi Prasad Devkota. In this poem, he compares the uneducated/illiterate person with different things, objects, and animals.

According to him, an uneducated/illiterate person doesn`t understand the value of sunshine because an educated person utilizes the energy of the sun in different ways but an uneducated/illiterate person uses the sun only to determine the day and night.

He has also compared an illiterate person with the wind because the wind flows in any direction they doesn`t have any destination hence uneducated people don`t have any kind of aim or destination.

They were also compared with vegetables as educated people use them and fill their hunger by giving them laborious work.

An uneducated person is unable to make any kind of solution to the problem, they need to ask an educated person.

They don`t have any ability to determine what`s wrong and what`s right even god also feels sad for giving life to such an uneducated person.

At last Laxmi Prasad Devkota requested god to allow them to become an educated person.

Interpretation

This poem portrays the importance and value of education in our lives. The poet explains how a person becomes small and shameful in society if he doesn`t have sufficient education as in the poem.

He might be telling us that education is the chain, which every person has to wear to get respect from any kind of society.

Otherwise, educated person utilize their power for their benefit and the illiterate person may suffer to a great extent.

He explains the reality of society and how an educated person tends to discriminate against an uneducated person.

He explains the role of education in normal life and how education plays an important factor in making life easier and successful.

Critical Thinking

This is a beautiful and inspirational poem with a very important message attached to it presented in a good manner by Laxmi Prasad Devkota.

Although I agree with the beautiful message of this poem I found some parts of the poem unconvincing and questionable.

The Parrot in a Cage Four Levels

Author: Lekhanath Poudel
Unit 4: Animal Stories
Subject: Adventures in English Volume I

Literal Comprehension

The poem “The Parrot in the Cage” was composed by Lekhanath Paudyal. The theme of the poem is about freedom, justice, happiness, and serenity. The poem is a bitter satire on the Rana regime that deprived Nepalese people of freedom. The speaker has carefully painted the conditions that surround the parrot’s life. The speaker is disappointed by the harsh reality of man’s life. Away from its family, home, kin, friends, and natural freedom man has forced the parrot to live a tragic life. Similar is the condition of the human life in Nepal of that period.

Being a worshipper of nature, Poudel expresses his deep affinity to the natural world that provides him childhood appetite, which he wants in his later life. Having compelled to live away from his family, home, and friends, Poudel pains for it and expresses nostalgia towards it. Finally, through the medium of parrot, voices of political, social, religious, spiritual, and habitual lifestyle and situation of human beings are exhumed in the poem. The poem clearly advocates the human instinct to live a free and struggled life away from the crowd.

Interpretation

In this poem “The Parrot in the Cage”, the poet is trying to advocates the freedom of people in the Rana regime. The Nepalese people had been ruled by the Ranas for one hundred and four years. During this period, people were deprived of enjoying all kinds of freedom. The speaker in the poem is disappointed by the harsh reality of man’s life. Besides, man has been found to live away from his family, home, kin, friends, and the spiritual freedom that surrounds him in rural life. Thus, man has been forced to live a caged life like the parrot. Man’s indifference to animal’s plight and the mentality of getting entertainment from imprisoning lower animals has been criticized in the poem. Living away from the natural man has invited more tragedy and sorrow in his life.

Critical thinking

The speaker has carefully painted the conditions that surround the parrot’s life. Through the plight of the parrot, the speaker compares the sorrowful description of human life, lack of justice and freedom, the aggression, and the cruelty prevalent in the society. Being a worshipper of nature, Poudel expresses his deep affinity to the natural world that provides him childhood appetite, which he wants in his later life.

Having compelled to live away from his family, home, and friends, Poudel pains for it and expresses nostalgia towards it. More than that, Hindu tradition to pray and appeal to God at the time of difficulty is spread all over the poem. On the philosophical level, the poem may be faultless, but I have reservations about the voices of the parrot. In real life, does a parrot speak like a human to express his sorrows?

Assimilation

After reading this poem, I have realized that how cruel the Rana regime was. I always stand for the freedom of human beings. As Jean jacks, Rousseau said, “Man is born free and wants to live free”. Thus, I request all human beings not to capture any animal as well as not any citizens in the name of the ruling system or any pleasure.

The Illiterate – Four Levels | Adventures in English Vol I

The Illiterate

Literal Comprehension

Interpretation

Critical Thinking