FICTION

Prepared by Nirmala Kaluarachchi

BRINGING TONY HOME

A story in three movements

Prepared by Nirmala Kaluarachchi

Prepared by Nirmala Kaluarachchi

Novella – (Less than 50,000 words)

Novel – (Usually long and complex sequence of events More than 50,000 words)

The Story runs back between 1940 – 1950

Elements of a novel/ novella

• Characters
• Setting
• Conflicts
• Plot
• Themes
• Dialogues
• Tone & Style

This story is closely related to the personal life

of the narrator
and the landscape he experienced as a child.
More events are recreated through memories and some are fictious.
(Semi Prepared
biographical)
by Nirmala Kaluarachchi
About the Author
▪ Tissa Ananda Abeysekara
Born – 7th May 1939
Died – 18th April 2009

He was born in Maharagama.

▪ His parents belonged to middle class.
▪ His ancestral house situated in Havelock Town, Colombo.

▪ Occasional visits to “Greenlands”

▪ His father declared bankruptcy in 1949.
▪ He was not sent to school until 11 years old as he was a child of poor health.

▪ First he was tutored at home.

▪ Later he had his formal education at Dharmapala Vidyalaya, Pannipitiya.

▪ Multifaceted character/ Versatile character – (Screen writer, film director, actor, author/ a bilingual writer)

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 The Title
▪ “Bringing Tony Home” is ironical as his attempt was wasted.
▪ How economic condition had affected their relationship.

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The Story consists of 3 movements.

1. The Sunset – His adult lite as a film director

1. Tony – Narrator as a 4 – 10 year old boy/ his teenage/ young age.

1. The little train – He goes back to his village as an adult to find traces of by gone era.

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 Episode 1 – Sunset
▪ The “Sunset” means the time period which is going to finish and when we think of the life of Tissa
Abeysekara as a teenager he had been highly attracted towards the magnificence of the sunset.
▪ Whenever he glimpses the sunset, it is clear that he goes back to his past.
When we take the 1st paragraph, we see the following ideas.
▪ He finishes his teledrama in 1996 March
▪ He comes from Television Network Institute premises and he is on his way home.
▪ He sees the environment which he was passing Independence Square/ Race Course and the red
sky.

▪ These things can unveil about a lot about the past as well as the writer’s attraction
towards this environment.

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 Second Part – how the tele-drama was shot. His efforts to recreate
his past (He was nostalgic about his part)

Slow paced life

Baudhaloka Mawatha changed to Buller’s Road to preserve
identities. The government has changed these names into Sinhalese.

Giant “Mara” trees growing over centuries (When roads were

constructed these trees had been planted by the foreigners in order to
get shade)
In Italics, our attention focused towards his shooting.

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 Chapter 1 – The Sunset

- A day in March
- Evening setting sun
- Narrator drives out of Television Training Institute
- Places he passes
- Narrator's mind is shifting from real to fantasy and fantasy to reality
“Pitagamkarayo like a drug had got into my blood stream.”
“My mind was a confusing montage of images constantly cross-cutting between past and present,
fantasy and fact.”

Chapter 2 – Tony

- Passing Ambagashathara Junction

- Man at the boutique lighting the petromax lamp
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 3rd Chapter – The Little Train
▪ He starts to go to school
▪ He becomes addicted to be in his own dream world with his memories of the dog companion
▪ The sad whistle of the little train was metaphorically compared to the sad painful cry of the dog.
▪ He revisits his childhood environment (After 46 years later)
▪ He wants to see the change occurred in the area.

houses
vegetation
Charges he notices people
friends

▪ He becomes nostalgic during his visit.

▪ He moves along the lanes of memories until he reaches the memories of Tony.

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 Significance of the places/people mentioned
He uses certain land marks, signs and symbols.

▪ Independence Square – It shows that Sri Lanka had been a British Colony and
got independence in 1948 and the first independence celebration was held in the
Independence square.

▪ Fur trees – Celebrate Christmas

(Suggesting 3 invasions in our country, Portuguese, Dutch and English. Our people
embraced Christianity and they became Christians. )

▪ Race Course – Game the British's

They Suggest social cultural situation at that time.
Still we see shadows of Colonization prevailing in the country.

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 Description of his route

Statue of Sir Oliver Gunathilake (He represented both eras –

Colonial era & the post colonial era)

We are made aware of the technical aspects of teledrama

(dubbing, titles, delivering to client)

Rapid changes taken place

(Paddy fields were obstructed by Arpico showroom)

How he went to Egodawatta as a 10 year old boy (set the

emotional backdrop to create the tele-drama)
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 The narrator is 3 years 7 years old
Family shifts
old A two storeyed big
(The residence in house in split levels in
Havelock Town) suburban village
Depanama about 20Km
away from Colombo.

Smaller house in Egodawatta

(about 6 miles away from the
small house in Depanama)

10 years old (1950 March)

Full house in Egodawatta (lives
20 years until he is 30 years old)
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 Colonial Period Post Colonial Period
▪ RAF Camp • Ration books
▪ Western life style adapted by • Slow urbanization
Sinhalese • Industrialization (Little
(guitar, tennis court, caramel train)
pudding Cargills, Rita, Anton Yardley • Independence square,
lavender talcum powder, fir trees, • Bauddhaloka Mawatha,
race course, Castle street,) Sir Oliver
(changes in names
Gunathilake
earlier Buller’s Road)
BMICH

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 Changes in the environment
▪ Beautiful panoramic view Obstructed by Arpico
of the paddy field Showroom

▪ Niyara a by road

▪ RAF camp University of Sri Jayawardenapura

▪ Macadam Road Tar Road

▪ Sleepy little town Populated city

(Maharagama)

Rubber & paddy fields Replaced by buildings and houses

Boralesgamuwa Town Converted into a muddy hole

The
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Nirmala train Changes into a bigger train
 Changes occurred with the time
Socio – economical change within the country/ people.
Family changes from rich to poor
Narrator's mother changes from strict to lenient

Change and trauma faced by people.

- Economic Constrains (ration books)
- Economic implosion the narrator’s father faced (becoming poor)

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 Changes taken place in the narrator

A reserved Stubborn Playful, active

child child school going teenager

Reputed film producer

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 The Narrator as a Child
▪ Lonely
▪ Brave
▪ Courageous
▪ Found companionship in the dog as he lacked school mates.
▪ Later in life enjoyed life with village friends.
▪ Empathetic towards dog, and Ranal
▪ Grows into a responsible adult

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 Tony
▪ Victimized by human behaviour
▪ Capable of showing love & affection
▪ Well looked after but later abandoned and neglected
▪ Playful
▪ Intelligent & understands human behaviour
▪ Faithful

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 Other minor characters

Mr.Perera Geera Atha Padmini

Guneris Rita Mr. Jayakody
Mendis family The Perera’s Piyasena, Jayasena
Sirisena Anton Jinadasa
Ranal Jayasinghe family

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 Issues discussed in the novella
▪ Love/ affection Vs survival
▪ Guilt as a psychological condition
▪ One cannot escape from the past memories
▪ Changes – poverty, loss of wealth, loss of identity, loss of companions, loss of family
bonds.
▪ Social classes
▪ Reality of life – fall from wealth to poverty
▪ Authority (parental authority, house owners)

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Themes
1) Strong bond between man and animal
- Tony had lived for 7 years with the narrator

Tries even to get into the bus, when the family was moving away.

2) Charges occurred within the time (Socio – economic change/ change in people/ family
changing from rich to poor/ narrator's mother)
3) The life of the people in the by – gone era
- Simple & unsophisticated/ slow paced life style

- Life is supported by ration cards

- He enjoys natural landscape in the past

- Likes his childhood spent with his village friends.

- As an adult he visits his village in the hope of meeting his friends.

- He recreates his past friends in the teledrama.

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4) Relationship between children & parents
- formal mother is close to children, empathetic.
- father – more formal, distant, sometimes insensitive
5) Needs of a child
- Companionship
- Love of parents
6) Human beings are nostalgic about their own past (Narrator loves to be in a dream
world with the memories of his pet dog).All his past memories are related to Tony.
7) Human beings are unable to deal with separation

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 z
The Prince and
the Pauper
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-Mark Twain
 z

Introduction

▪ ”The Prince and the Pauper” which was published in

1881, is a very popular children’s classic. It’s
described as a fantasy fiction, fast-moving,
adventurous, set against the background of the 16th
century England.
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 z
The Author

▪ Mark Twain is a famous American writer whose real name is

Samuel Langhorne Clemens. He was born in 1835 and died in
1910. “The Adventure of Tom Sawyer” and “The Adventures of
Huckleberry Finn” stood out as his outstanding popular books.
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 The Historical Background
▪
z
The historical background of the story is the Tudor Period in general and the latter part of the
reign of king Henry VIII in particular.

▪ The followings are an introduction to some of king Henry VIII’s queens and children

▪ Queen Catherine of Arragon- daughter Mary who came to be known as ‘Blood Mary’ for her
cruelty. Catherine was divorced by the king after he established the church of England for this
purpose.

▪ Anne Boleyn- mother of Lady Elizabeth mentioned in the story (the little prince’s sister). This
queen was beheaded (Incidently Lady Elizabeth became one of the most popular and successful
rulers of England, Queen Elizabth I).

▪ Jane Seymour whose son is the joint- hero of this story (Prince Edward) – she died naturally
after the little prince was born.

▪ Catherine Howard who was beheaded.

▪ Catherine Parr who survived the King and is referred to in the story as the queen (“Hast paid thy
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duty to the queen’s majesty?” says lady Jane)

▪ Jane Seymour’s son Edward Tudor was the only male baby that survived to fulfill Henry VIII’s desire
for a son.

▪ He was born on the 12th October 1537 and became the king of England, Edward VI, at the age of
nine but died on 6th July, at the age of sixteen.
 z
A Glance at the Characters

▪ The Cantys

▪ The Cantys were an extremely poor family (paupers),

uneducated, unemployed living in filth and squalor in a small
section of a tenement building (Offal Court) in east London.
They were beggars and the father John Canty was a thief. He
treated his three children- Tom and his twin sisters fifteen-
years-old Nan and Bet- with great cruelty “forcing them to beg
but he couldn’t make them steal” There was also his old
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mother who was as cruel as Canty or worse.

 ▪ The Tudors
z
▪ The Tudors were the ruling Royal family. The king Henry VIII was old and very sick
and close to death. Edward Tudor was his only son and heir to the throne, and was
being trained for kingship. He was a little boy the same age as Tom Canty and very
much like him in looks.
▪ Henry VIII’s daughters’ figure is very briefly in the story. Mary, the elder, is
mentioned by the Prince as the sister who has forbidden her servants to smile and
later Tom Canty in his role as king tells her to beg of God to give her a human
heart. The other sister Lady Elizabth and the cousin Lady Jane Grey are seen in
the story as Tom’s playmates at the palace, while lady Elizabeth with her quick
understanding and tact also proves to be a good helper and rescuer when Tom is
at a loss as to how to act.
▪ There is also the Earl of Hertford, the brother of Prince Edward’s mother, Jane
Seymour, who together with Lord St.John help Tom (as Prince Edward)to act
correctly, in his role as Prince Edward presumably asuffering a mental upset.
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 z
Main characters
Edward Tudor
▪ Strong sense of justice, fearlessness and authoritative manner. ( “How
dar’st thou use a poor lad like that ! …”)

▪ Understanding, kindness and generosity.

▪ Whatever the circumstances, he maintains his royal dignity( “ We

forsooth! Follow thy trade- it befits thee. But I will not beg.”)

▪ Outspoken and honest ( at times his outspokenness could be

dangerous)

▪ Has a great pluck of courage (which won the respect of even the
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uneducated rabble who stopped their abuse as a mark of respect.)

▪ Great sense of appreciation, strong affection, deep sense of gratitude

 z
Tom Canty
▪ He bears a strong resemblance to the Prince

▪ Though he comes from an uneducated and bad environment, he is naturally intelligent

and honest.

▪ Has become obsessed with royals and royal life and began to dream of royalty.

▪ His intelligence, natural ability to learn and adaptability helped him to survive the
switching roles well.

▪ His sensitive nature, kindness and strong sense of right and wrong.

Becomes confident and begins to enjoy his position and the attention as the Prince.
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Later becomes remorse as his life as a pretend prince became an ‘ordeal’ to him since he
missed his old life.

Helps the Prince to prove his identity proving his honesty and loyalty.
 z

▪ Miles Hendon

▪ Miles Hendon figures prominently in the story as the brave, kind honest man who
rescued the little Prince from the unruly mob in London, befriended and protected
him and finally brought him back to London.

▪ Hendon belonged to a noble family but had been deprived of what should have
been his and is wicked brother.

▪ But finally he gets back what should have been his and is knighted and made a
peer of England, Earl of Kent, by King Edward VI who he had looked after so kindly
thinking he was a little, mentally affected beggar boy.
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 ▪ z Father Andrew and the Mad Hermit

▪ Father Andrew was a kind old priest who Henry VIII had driven out of his home
with a pension of a few farthings a month’s. As a result, he now lived at offal
court. He taught Tom and later some other children too, to read, write and
behave correctly. Tom enjoyed his stories, read his books, especially those about
Royalty, learnt Latin, became throughly obsessed with Royalty, formed a Royal
Court with his friends and yearned to see a real Prince. It was due to Father
Andrew’s teaching that Tom was able to survive and play the role of Prince when
fate suddenly turned him into a Prince.
▪ The mad Hermit lived in a forest into which the prince ran to escape from John
Canty and vagabonds. He called himself the archangel and declared he should
really have been the Pope if Henry VIII had not formed a new church of his own.
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The little Prince saying he was the son of king Henry VIII infuriated the hermit
who prepared to kill the prince in revenge after tying him up. Luckily Hendon
found the Prince just on time, although he was really taken away by John Canty.
 z

▪ Humphrey Marlow
▪ Humphrey Marlow was a little twelve-year-old boy who was Prince Edward’s
‘Whipping Boy’. When the Prince did not do his studies properly it was considred
necessary to punish him with a whipping. But the ‘sacred person’ of the prince was
not be touched so the whipping was given to the Whipping Boy. Poor Humphrey was
beaten and with his pay as the Whipping Boy he had to support himself and his
sisters.

“My back is my bread…. If it go idle I starve”.

▪ Tom (now acting as king) made Humphrey Marlow Hereditory Grand Whipping-Boy
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to the Royal House of Englad.

 z

▪ The Tramps or Vagabonds

▪ The tramps or vagabonds into whose company the little Prince happened to fall,
were a large mixed gang of “gutter-scum, and ruffians” of both sexes. They
included theives, criminals, beggars, old women, girls, babies those left crippled by
inhuman punishements and those who had lost everything due to the cruel laws of
the time. As opposed to Royalty and Nobility they were the uneducated, poverty-
striken majority of society. John Canty too was one of them.
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 z

Objects / places
appeared in the story
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 z

London
London is the city in England where
Tom Canty and Edward Tudor were
born.

It was home to rich merchants and

nobility who live in sumptuous
mansions where as dirty and has
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narrow streets and many slums on

another side.
 z
Offal Court
Offal Court is at the end of Pudding
Lane in a very poor part of London
where Tom lives.

It’s a place full of drunken quarrels

and rioting, where many people are
beggars and thieves.

Tom’s house is a small, run-down

tenement filled with many families
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crammed together in abject povery.

 z
Westminster

Westminster is the palace where

King Henry viii lives with his son,
Edward Tudor.

The palace is protected by gates and

sentinels.

Everyday people like Tom often stand

outside Westminster’s gates hoping
for a glimpse of royalty.
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 z

London Bridge

London Bridge, which crosses

the Thames, is closer to Tom’s
house in Offal Court.

London Bridge is a village all to

itself, with everything people
need to live.
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 z
The Thames

The Thames is the river that flows

through London.

It fills with barges and boats during

celebrations that precede the
coronation of the young king.
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 z

Hendon Hall

This is the ancestral home of Miles

Hendon. The estate has seventy
rooms and before Miles left it ten
years earlier, it had twenty-seven
servants. Although this was stolen
from Miles by his younger brother,
Miles eventually gets it.
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 z

Christ’s Church
Christ's Church, also called Christ’s
Hospital, is the ancient Grey Friar’s
Church in London that was taken
from monks by Henry viii, who made
it a home for poor orphan children.

When Edward was wandering in the

city, the children there mistreat him
but he determines to provide the
education along with food.
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 z Cheapside Smithside
▪ Cheapside is a village near Tom’s home ▪ Another village near Tom’s home
where he goes to the fair sometimes, and where he once saw four people
engages in activities around the Maypole, who were accused of witchcraft
and occasionally sees a military parade in burned at the stake.
which someone is being carried to the
Tower for punishment.

▪ Charing Village ▪ Southwalk

A LOVELY PLACE Tom finds during his walk to A village towards which Hugo and
Westminster. It has a beautiful palace owned John Canty go as they lure young
by a cardinal and a majestic cross created by Edward away from the protection of
a king long ago. Miles Hendon. In a barn within a
forest beyond Southwalk, Hugo and
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John reveal their deceit as they take

Edward into captivity.
 z
The Great Seal
The Great seal is a device to stamp the King’s
authority on documents to make the official. Henry
viii needs the seal for the paperwork that authorizes
execution of Duke of Norfolk, but Edward had put the
seal somewhere in his room before he left the
palace, Edward’s memory of where he hid the great
Seal ultimately becomes the proof he needed to
prove his rightful heirship to the throne.
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 z
Themes
▪ The contrast between the lives of the rich and the lives of the poor.

▪ A person of noble birth and the one of low birth are not essentially
different.( The determining factors are intelligence, experience,
environment and a person’s inborn natural qualities.)

▪ The human trait of being dissatisfied with what one has and yearning for
something different.

▪ Importance of adapting to one’s circumstances.

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▪ The importance of education.

Vendor of Sweets
R.K.Narayan.

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 R K Narayan

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Malgudi is a fictional town located in South India in the novels and short stories
of R.K. Narayan. It forms the setting for most of Narayan's works. Starting with
his first novel, Swami and Friends (1935), all but one of his fifteen novels and
most of his short stories take place here. Malgudi was a portmanteau of two
Bangalore localities - Malleshwaram and Basavanagudi.
Narayan has successfully portrayed Malgudi as a microcosm of India. Malgudi
was created, as mentioned in Malgudi Days, by Sir Fredrick Lawley, a
fictional British officer in the 19th century by combining and developing a few
villages. The character of Sir Fredrick Lawley may have been based on Arthur
Lawley, the Governor of Madras in 1905.[1] But now MP of Shimoga (Lok Sabha
constituency) has requested Indian Railways to rename Arasalu Railway Station
a small station on Shimoga-Talaguppa railway line to Malgudi Railway station.
(Wikipedia)

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Chapter 1 (This chapter is expository in nature)
Introduction of Jagan
✓ Vendor of sweets-has staff of four
✓ Widower of about sixty
✓ Appearance –slight, elfish , brown skin was translucent , chin was covered with
whitening bristles ,wore loose jibba
✓ Follows the Gandhian principles though in his own eccentric manner
felt a sentimental thrill receiving Rs 5 in exchange of home spun yarn
Excursions to remote villages to get leather for his sandals
✓ Religious

✓ Deceives government (Income tax officers )by maintaining two ledgers

We are told of his son , Mali who would play a crucial role in the novel and would
be the cause of his undoing.
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• Chapter 2 – The chapter throws further light on the character of Jagan
(His Gandhian principles, about his wife , about spacious house in which he
lived)
• Chapter 3 -We get an idea of the central theme of the novel – The
ambition of Mali to become a writer creates endless problems to Jagan /
Father – son conflict
• Chapter 4 - Mali is the ruin of Jagan-He is the cause of his suffering and
anguish. He does not take his doting father into confidence , He does not
seek father’s help, steals his money and goes to America ,against his wishes
,causing him intense suffering
• Chapter 5 -Tells much about Mali and America and Jagan’s troubles are
on the increase
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• Chapter 6- An Important chapter-Further light is thrown on the
characters, both of Grace and Mali.Jagan’s troubles, cares and worries are
increasing.
The father-son conflict –the conflict of the generations is further
developed. Jagan’s talk of Gandhian principles and his study of the Gita
make him appear a hypocrite . Suspense is skillfully created here.

• Chapter 7- Change in Jagan

• Chapter 8- Role of bearded man in Jagan’s life and possible retreat for
Jagan hints at his troubles and his desire to escape from them
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• Chapter 9- Parental authority has been weakened. Jagan has no hold over
his son or his daughter- in-law. The father-son conflict has arisen. It is
evident that Mali would be the ruin of his father.

• Chapter 10- Grace’s shocking revealing of not being married to Mali

Cousin’s role as a good friend.
• Pressure being exerted on Jagan. Since Jagan has made his position clear,
there seemed to be a barrier between him and other two. Jagan got to
know that Mali and Grace were not married.

• Chapter 11- Jagan in a reminiscent mood.We get to know about his past
– his boyhood, how his family separated him especially after Grace’s
arrival. Jagan’s avoidance of “evil rays”
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• Chapter 12
Jagan is now an anguished soul, the conduct of his only son is unbearable
to him and his thoughts turn naturally to his past. The entire chapter is
in the form of retrospective narration through the sensations floating
through Jagan’s mind. (It is only in this chapter we get a clear picture of
Jagan’s wife, of her relatives and of the love of Jagan for her. The
character of his parents also has been developed .)
• Chapter 13
Jagan is a tortured soul , because his son is leading a sinful life. All his
money is of no use for him and he tries to find some comfort only through
a withdrawal from his present state.

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Characterisation
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• Jagan is a queer combination of
strength and weakness, tradition and
contemporary, the spiritual and the
mundane, an average man on the
whole.
• A staunch follower of Gandhi
• Simple living: high thinking
Jagan
Loving father
• A hypocrite
Cowardly father
• Money minded and dishonest
Extremist
( shrewd businessman)
• National consciousness

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• Brings forth the weaknesses of
Jagan through the character of
Cousin.
• Acts as the mediator of Jagan and
Mali.
Cousin
• The representative of common
humanity “Man about town”

“ Man of caution”
• Patient listener
“ Flattery is his accredited
• Helpful credit”

• Jagan’s saviour
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Grace and Ambika
• Grace • Ambika
• A catalytic agent • Her invisible influence
• Modern • A proud mother
• Intense of her interest in Mali’s • Conventional
success
• Model of goodness and courtesy
• Tactful and cheerfulness generally, but
she could lash with her tongue
• Adapts to situations easily when her temper was roused
• Not married but living together • Married with fanfare and a
dowry
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• Proud and arrogant
• Corrupted
• Disregards traditions and culture
• Blind devotion towards western
culture Mali
The invisible barrier
• Demanding
Failure to write the novel
• Selfish
Steals money
• Deceitful
Goes to America
• Spoilt His exorbitant demand
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His fall
 Jagan and Mali
Jagan Mali
• Represents the older generation • Represents the modern youth
• Idealistic view point • Materialistic
• Conserves conventional and traditional things( old • Embraces the new trends and prefers to be
fashioned, orthodox) exposed to modernity to keep pace with
challenging world
• Lives in his own world- not aware of what is
happening beyond it • Criticizes and rejects the old as old fashioned and
misfits to the new world
• Resistant to modern change and tries to remain
unchanged • Eager to get away and embark on the world
outside
• Prefers trouble free life thus leading a
monotonous life • Welcomes changes

• Not willing to take up challengers • Prefers exciting life style

• Frugal and sparing in everything • Likes to take up challengers and experiment new
things

• Wasteful, not clever in using money

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Themes
• Spirituality Vs Materialism
• Materialism
• Tradition Vs Modernity ( Eastern Vs Western conflict)
• Modernity
• Conflict between the old and the young

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