The Lost Child
by Mulk Raj Anand
Analysis: 
·
The story ‘The Lost Child’ is written by
Mulk Raj Anand, a renowned Indo Anglian author.
·
The story is set in an Indian village and
gives an authentic picture of a village with lively description of a village
fair.
·
It deals with the peculiar behaviour of
children and immaturity on part of youngsters who often misjudge their desires
as their needs.
·
The theme of the story is ‘all that glitters
is not gold’. Every attractive thing may not be important for us.
The
story is left unended by the writer with a purpose that the children
and the youngsters must introspect their casual behaviour and
careless attitude towards parents and other valuable things and realise their
importance in life.
Summary / Synopsis
§ The
little child is very happy and excited as he is going to his village fair along
with his parents.
§ On
his way many beautiful and attractive things catch his attention such as toys
hanging in the shops, dragonflies in the flowering mustard fields, worms and insects, raining flower petals in a grove and doves. He wanted to
buy toys and take flowers. He also wanted to catch dragonflies and play with
doves. But, each time his parents said ‘no’ to him. Often, he lagged behind in
order to grab these things and at his parents’ call he joined them.
§ When
the child reached the fair, again he was attracted by all the colourful objects
and fascinating sights.
§ First
the call of sweet seller caught his attention and he wanted to eat ‘burfi’
which was his favourite sweet but his parents paid no attention. Moving ahead
he wanted to buy a garland of gulmohur but he didn’t express his desire as he
knew that his parents would refuse it. Seeing colourful balloons and music of
snake charmer, too, he suppressed his desire.
§ Then,
he reached near a big round about. People were enjoying ride on it. There he
could not control his desire and said, "I want to go on the roundabout". He
didn’t get any response. When he turned around, he came to know that he was
lost. He cried and ran in all the directions but could not find his parents.
§ A
kind man in the fair heard his cry and lifted him up in his arms. He tried to
pacify the child by asking him if he would take a ride in roundabout but the
child requested the stranger to take him to his parents only.
§ Moving
ahead the stranger offered the child to enjoy the dance of snake, take
balloons, buy a garland and eat sweets. But, each time the child crying
bitterly, said, ‘I want my father, I want my mother.’
§ The writer leaves the story unended with a purpose that the children and the
youngsters must introspect their casual behaviour and careless attitude towards
parents and other valuable things and realise their importance in life before they are lost.
Theme
The theme of the story is ‘all that glitters is not gold’. Every attractive thing may not be important for us. It draws out difference between our needs and desires/attractions. It also highlights the significance of parents for any living soul.
Message
The message of the story is crystal clear that we
need to realise the importance of things in our life before they get lost. We
pine for other things that we don’t have and in this, we tend to ignore more
valuable things that we have. We only realise their value in our life when that
are not with us.
The writer warns against immature behaviour of
children who crave for attractive things without thinking of their value and
significance.
Important
Question answers
Q1. In the fair the child wanted many things? What
were they? Why did he move ahead without waiting for an answer?
Ans. In the fair the child was attracted towards
many things and he wanted to have each one of them. First, he wanted to buy ‘burfi’
which was his favourite sweet. But, when his father got angry, he couldn’t dare
ask for a garland of gulmohur, rainbow coloured balloons, music played by snake
charmer and other things. Each time he moved ahead without asking and waiting
for an answer as he knew that his parents would refuse.
Q2. When does the child realise that he has lost his
way? How have his anxiety and desperation been described?
Ans. When the child reached a big roundabout in full
swing, he could not resist his temptation to have a ride on it and he expressed
his desire to his parents. He didn’t get any answer and turned around to find
that his parents were not there. Then he realised that his is lost.
Crying loudly he ran in all the directions but in
vain. He got inside a crowd of people near a shrine to look for his parents.
His turban got untied and clothes became spoiled. Sweating badly and weeping
bitterly he called out ‘mother’ and ‘father’. When he was about to be crushed
under the feet of crowd, he was lifted up by a kind man in the crowd.
Q3. The kind hearted stranger tried his best to calm
down the lost child but failed. Why did the child remain inconsolable?
Ans. The kind hearted stranger in the fair tried to
pacify the child by asking him if he would take a ride in roundabout but the
child requested the stranger to take him to his parents only. Moving ahead the
stranger offered the child to enjoy the dance of snake, take balloons, buy a
garland and eat burfi, his favourite sweet. But, the child remained
inconsolable and each time, crying bitterly, he said, ‘I want my father, I want
my mother.’ Nothing except his parents could console him.
Q4. How did the child react when there was no sign
of his parents?
Ans. When the child realised that he is lost, crying
loudly he ran in all the directions to search his parents. He got inside a
crowd of people near a shrine to look for his parents. His turban got untied
and clothes became spoiled. Sweating badly and weeping bitterly he called out
‘mother’ and ‘father’. When he was about to be crushed under the feet of crowd,
he was lifted up by a kind man. When he offered the child his favourite things
in the fair, he cried, ‘I want my mother, I want my father’.
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