The short story chosen was taken from the book titled Malaysian Short Stories (Fernando, L. (Ed.), 2005). I chose to write on K.S. Maniam’s short story- The Dream of Vasantha.
The Dream Of Vasantha depicts a hardworking widow and her dream of seeing her son be a humble yet successful person. Maniam plotted the story with an introduction of Vasantha’s daily routine of washing clothes at the houses of Mr. Pillai and Mr. Ganda Singh. Vasantha reminisces the death of her husband too.
As Vasantha walked from Mr. Pillai’s house to Mr. Ganda Singh’s she was hoping that Mr Singh would pay her that morning. Mr. Pillai had driven off to work without looking at her. He usually teased her, limping down the stairs, to the tap near the servants’ quarters …show more content…
This was because he was out in his friend’s uncle’s rambutan plantation and was yelled by Vasantha. At this point, Ganesh decides to skip school because his teacher calls out his name too often for failing to produce his fees every day.
‘I didn’t go to school yesterday. My friend and I went to his uncle’s rambutan plantation.’…… ‘Why didn’t you ask me? Your own mother! I could have bought all the fruits you want.’ ….. ‘But you won’t give me this month’s fees. And the special fees. Library fees. games fees, magazine fees. Every day that teacher calls out my name ten times!’ (Page …show more content…
(Page 142)
The lady of the house grunted. (Page 142)
Nevertheless, the round and dynamic character who indicated the characteristics of many children nowadays was represented by Ganesh, Vasantha’s son. Ganesh exemplifies teenagers of modern days perfectly. He is rebellious, disrespectful and daring as well. He is disrespectful towards his caring mother who cooks and wait up for him to come home before she eats.
‘Son, there’s mutton, eggs, and milk.’ Said Vasantha.
‘I’m not hungry.’ said Ganesh.
‘Eat some, my son, so I can be a little happy.’ said Vasantha.
‘I’m not dead’ said Ganesh. (Page 148)
Not to mention, he plays truant often by going to the cinema with his best friend, Chan. He is considered daring because he brought back a monkey as his pet. However, there are some positive sides of him too. Ganesh is an innovative child. In this story, he constantly changes his hobbies, from playing tops to making rods to building model houses. Another positive side of him that we can learn from is the friendship of him and Chan. Chan teaches him Mathematics and they set out on adventures like going to the fruit plantation and cinema
The Dream Of Vasantha depicts a hardworking widow and her dream of seeing her son be a humble yet successful person. Maniam plotted the story with an introduction of Vasantha’s daily routine of washing clothes at the houses of Mr. Pillai and Mr. Ganda Singh. Vasantha reminisces the death of her husband too.
As Vasantha walked from Mr. Pillai’s house to Mr. Ganda Singh’s she was hoping that Mr Singh would pay her that morning. Mr. Pillai had driven off to work without looking at her. He usually teased her, limping down the stairs, to the tap near the servants’ quarters …show more content…
This was because he was out in his friend’s uncle’s rambutan plantation and was yelled by Vasantha. At this point, Ganesh decides to skip school because his teacher calls out his name too often for failing to produce his fees every day.
‘I didn’t go to school yesterday. My friend and I went to his uncle’s rambutan plantation.’…… ‘Why didn’t you ask me? Your own mother! I could have bought all the fruits you want.’ ….. ‘But you won’t give me this month’s fees. And the special fees. Library fees. games fees, magazine fees. Every day that teacher calls out my name ten times!’ (Page …show more content…
(Page 142)
The lady of the house grunted. (Page 142)
Nevertheless, the round and dynamic character who indicated the characteristics of many children nowadays was represented by Ganesh, Vasantha’s son. Ganesh exemplifies teenagers of modern days perfectly. He is rebellious, disrespectful and daring as well. He is disrespectful towards his caring mother who cooks and wait up for him to come home before she eats.
‘Son, there’s mutton, eggs, and milk.’ Said Vasantha.
‘I’m not hungry.’ said Ganesh.
‘Eat some, my son, so I can be a little happy.’ said Vasantha.
‘I’m not dead’ said Ganesh. (Page 148)
Not to mention, he plays truant often by going to the cinema with his best friend, Chan. He is considered daring because he brought back a monkey as his pet. However, there are some positive sides of him too. Ganesh is an innovative child. In this story, he constantly changes his hobbies, from playing tops to making rods to building model houses. Another positive side of him that we can learn from is the friendship of him and Chan. Chan teaches him Mathematics and they set out on adventures like going to the fruit plantation and cinema