The power in Rohinton Mistry's writing choices

Journal #1

 

On Rohinton Mistry’s writing style

 

            When considering literary significance in a piece of writing, one might delve into an enthralling moment whereby the characters of a story are faced with the utmost in an emotional conflict, or subject matter that presents its self as a test against the very core of our morality as readers, in an instance of a horrible twist of fate. However this is difficult to do when what you are presented with is not a story of that caliber but rather a complete, unabridged portrayal of a series of lives, and everything in amongst them that shapes their reality. When I began reading Rohinton Mistry’s A Fine Balance, I was immediately captivated, not necessarily by the way in which the plot’s events unraveled, but his writing style; employing a refreshing unpretentious manner. This a story, well more than a story, of the lives of four people, who through life’s synchronicities, came into each others lives and changed the courses of their futures forever. The author sets his characters in India during a time of great political turmoil- the tailor Ishvar and his nephew Omprakash, their employer Dina, and a college student Maneck, who end up living altogether in a in a tiny flat in the heart of India. When dealing with subject matter so beyond what we a Canadian audience can relate to, it would seem as though the author should take on an authoritative, instructive tone, in order for us to be effected by subject matter so beyond our realm of experience, yet he is able to achieve exactly the opposite.  Rather than being the all-knowing, overbearing dictator that many authors on foreign subject matter tend to end up as, he presents his story in a style that is merely sharing a window into the lives of his characters; an invitation to take what we can, be effected how we may and continue on in our lives with what ends up being an intensely powerful impression. The reason that I noticed this in particular was due to the fact that I personally had no previous knowledge of and could never have dreamed to imagine the struggles these people faced, yet as the first few chapters flew by I felt as though I became as involved in their lives as if they were present in my day to day.

            In a very compelling way the author acknowledges the fact that we most likely are completely unaware of the context of this story. He does not expect us to be scholars on the history of political chaos in India, or the caste violence that has been perpetrated for centuries. He realizes that the audience cannot just pick up wherever the author chooses, but that he must gradually expose us to every facet of his characters lives, starting from the fist few moments of their existence, and that is primarily for me what made this story so easy to read and so effective. In a very natural way, as characters wander in and out of the author’s descriptive scope, we are gradually given their entire background, going back as far as to the stories of their parents. When we meet Ishvar and Om on the train in the very first few lines of the book, we join them at a point in their lives when their pasts have merged to bring them to their present situation. They grew up in a small village, dominated by caste violence, with them residing on the lower end of society. They subsequently rose out of their confines when the parents of Ishvar and Narayan (Om’s father) sent them to learn the trade of tailoring so they could escape from the legacy of chamaars that they had been born into. Narayan was murdered along with the entirety of their remaining family members after Om was sent to pursue the same profession, as a sign from the uppers of their caste that they were too far out of line with their successes. We learn details of the equally tragic lives of Dina Shroff, widowed at an early age, left to recompense about her husbands brutal death and faced once again with haunting past of abuse from her brother who had also been her primary caregiver. It is impossible for me to convey the to you the same degree of intensity that I experienced from reading this book, for in order for that to be possible, you would have to know every aspect of their lives. It was this style that the author took in his process that made the people come alive in a way that I have never experienced as strongly from any other story. As I relived their lives throughout this novel, I came to a profound realization, not only about the content of this story but also about the vastness of our lives in general. Very rarely are we given the opportunity to see completely into the soul of another human being or given their memories in a way that makes them come as a second nature to our own. As you look around at the people in your life you must admit to yourself that you will never be given the power to understand them fully in the way that you can understand yourself. For if we could, we would realize their motives and reasoning in the way that we can on a personal level. When Rohinton Mistry chose to approach this story in the way that I have just described, he allowed me to, as completely as I can, understand the inner workings of his characters on a shockingly personal level. After I knew them intimately, understood their lives and their struggles, their choices, everything about them seemed to be wonderfully succinct on a level that I find difficult to comprehend even from those who are flesh and blood around me. A Fine Balance to me was so much more than just a story, it was a life perspective…….