English Babu by Vijay Medtia | Analyse

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Immigration – a part of human culture. Since back in the day have humans had the desire to immigrate and explore and we have always taken our own culture with us. But what happens when two cultures clash?

In the short story, English Babu the main character Ramesh deals with the fact that his Indian culture is clashing with English culture. English Babu is a short story written by Vijay Medtia.

The short story is about Ramesh and his family. Ramesh is an Indian man who immigrated to England 40 years ago.

When first arriving in England his father’s advice was to only stay for five years and then return to India or he would regret it. Ramesh now starts to see what his father meant as his son Prakash is bringing his English girlfriend Rebecca for dinner. This puts Ramesh in a dilemma because his family either must accept Prakash’s’ English girlfriend or lose him.

The setting of the story is at the house of Ramesh in England. The point of view is a first-person narrator limited to the main character Ramesh. This means that everything we are told comes from how Ramesh has experienced it and how he sees it. Furthermore, the narrator’s reliability can be questioned as it is only told from how he experiences it etc.

The narrator also uses a lot of direct speech when the present action is being highlighted.

The story starts in media res with the reader being told that the second son is causing troubles. The story starts in present time. Then there is a flashback to Ramesh’s life and when he first moved to England and then he takes us back to present time again.

There are two conflicts in the short story. The first one is an internal conflict that the protagonist must overcome. It is a battle between his son and his culture in which Ramesh must choose between one of these. The other conflict is an external and is between his oldest son and his second son. The oldest son does not want Rebecca in the family as he feels like the family would lose their culture and identity.