A Devoted Son (Story) by Anita Desai | Summary and Question Answer

 Summary

The story “A Devoted Son” written by Indian short story writer and novelist Anita Desai is based on social reality of a middle-class family. The story is a sacrifice of old couple to prepare the future career of their son. It shows a complicated familial bond between father and his son. The relationship shows dynamics in its bond. The story is about the hardship and aspiration of old couple to make their son a doctor. Similarly, the story shows the duty and responsibility of a son towards the care, respect and wholehearted devotion to his parents. The hard work of the couple is paid off when their dream comes true. The son looks after his father at his old age with devotion and duty however a relationship crisis develops when the father misinterprets his son’s care in the name of health care.

According to the story, Rakesh, the son of illiterate parents achieves an outstanding position in the medical board examination. The dream of the Mr. Verma his wife has fulfilled. As soon as they know the result, the villagers gather at Rakesh’s house and congratulate him giving him gifts. Mr. Verma organizes a party at home. Having won a scholarship Rakesh goes to the USA and completes his education. He works in the most prestigious hospitals there, however, He leaves the luxuries and decides to return homeland because of the love of his family. He marries an Indian girl selected by his mother and removes the doubt of marrying a foreigner. The girl he married is uneducated but she is humanly natured. Rakesh is blessed with a son. 

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He starts working in a city hospital as an administrative officer at first but later he is promoted as a director of the hospital. His name, fame and rise continues. His financial condition gradually increases. He starts a clinic nearby his home in the village. He buys a car and drives his parents to places. The family has a good time. But his joy doesn’t last longer. His mother’s health condition becomes worse and she finally dies despite his care and constant treatment. 

After the death of his mother, his father becomes physically and mentally weak and sick. His son’s birthday party is disturbed when Rakesh knows that his father is on the verge of death. Then, Rakesh changes his daily schedule. He spends more time at home caring his father with food and medicine. He passes his time remaining with his father, bringing morning tea, reading newspapers. Rakesh starts supervising his father’s diet by cutting down oily fried foods and sweets. His father worries and wonders why his son has started showing his disrespect, strictness and maltreatment. The father misinterprets his son’s care and complains his neighbours that Rakesh is strict regarding his health. To be satisfied, Mr. Verma bribes Rakesh’s son to bring sweets for him but Rakesh blames his father to have made his son a liar. The relationship between son and the father goes worse. His father starts hating his son and daughter-in-law. Gradually, his father’s health deteriorates. He becomes more physically and mentally weaker. Rakesh’s attempts of improving his father’s health condition goes in vain. Mr. Verma is hopeless of his life and says that God is calling him. He says to stop any tonic and medicines which would no longer work. 

Understanding the text

1. How did the morning papers bring ambiance of celebration in the Verma family?

Ans: Rakesh, being the son of an uneducated and poor parents had scored the extraordinary result in his medical examination that brought an ambiance in the Verma family. He became the first in the country to get scholarship to pursue his study in the United States of America.

2. How did the community celebrate his success?

Ans: the people of the community were so excited hearing Rakesh’s achievement in his study that the gathered at his small house to f ill the house and garden with sounds of music and clours of a festival. Each one was happy to congratulate him and his family. They presented them with small gifts, pens and clothes. 

3. Why was Rakesh’s success a special matter of discussion in the neighbourhood?

Ans: Rakesh’s success was the subject matter of public discussion because of his success. He was the first in the whole country even though, he was from a poor family background. He was the first person to pass not only the graduate degree but also the medical examination.  

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4. How does the author make fun with the words ‘America and the USA’?

Ans: To the father of Rakesh, America is not a common country. It is a land of dreams and success. He shows his prior knowledge that America is also said with another name i.e. the USA. According to him, ignorant neighbours call it as America but brilliant persons say it as the USA. He shows his superiority in knowledge because of his son’s success.

5. How does the author characterize Rakesh’s wife?

Ans: The author characterizes Raksesh’s wife as a plump, and uneducated girl, so old fashioned, so placid and so complaisant. Though she was lazy, she entered the house and settled in charm because of her good-natured attitude. She took all the responsibility of Rakesh’s house leaving him to work independently.

6. Describe how Rakesh rises in his career.

 Ans: After Rakesh completed his medical degree, he returned home and started working at hospital. He was appointed as an administrative head of the organization and then the director. In no time, he opened a private clinic nearby his house and started working there. He earned not only a lot of money but also earned name and fame. he bought a car and the richest doctor in his area.

7. How does the author describe Rakesh’s family background?

Ans: Raksesh’s family background is not satisfactory. His father worked in the kerosene depot for more than forty years as a low paid worker. His mother spent her like in the kitchen. He was born to an illiterate parent. His grandfather spent his life as a street vendor selling vegetables.

8. What is the impact of Rakesh’s mother’s death on his father?

After the death of his mother, Rakesh father was emotionally severe and affected that he was stricken by grief and sufferings through out his life. He became bed-ridden and his behaviour turned to be more irritating and complaining. He was caught up with a mysterious disease called peevish whim which his son Rakesh couldn’t treat well.

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9. What did Rakesh do to make his father’s old age more comfortable?

Ans: to make his father’s old age more comfortable, Rakesh brought morning tea at his bed in his most favourite brass tumbler. He cautioned his wife to give his father nonoily and sweet food stuff so as not to bring another illness in him. He read the morning papers. He mostly sat at the edge of his bed and made his father relaxed. 

10. Why did the old man try to bribe the grand children? 

Ans: Since Rakesh banned his father from eating sweet things, his father was not happy with him. He took a way to bribe Raksesh’s son to buy him sweet jalebi and brought it for him. 

11. Are Mr. Verma’s complaints about his diets reasonable? How?

Ans: Mr. Verma’s complaints about his diets are reasonable from one point of view because he wanted to take the food, he liked to eat most to satisfy his hunger, however Rakesh’s carefulness and recommendation of food in relation to it is the best. His father was old and he had to be alert in eating so that no other illness would make him more suffer. Rakesh himself was a doctor and what he did was reasonable. 

Reference to the context

1. How did Verma couple make sacrifices for their son’s higher education?

Ans: Certainly, each parent sacrifices their hard labour to bring up their children but in the case of educating children, It mayn’t be possible from illiterate and poor parents. Rakesh’s father, being illiterate and poor, wished his son to take higher education. His father worked tirelessly for forty years at the kerosene depot and his mother as kitchen worker. They didn’t leave any aspirations of Rakesh unfulfilled despite their poverty. They gave up their personal happiness to fulfill their son’s passion of higher education. They worked so hard that they were able to make their son a famous doctor in the area.

2. Mr. Verma suffers from diseases one after another after his wife’s death. Would he have enjoyed better health if she hadn’t died before him? Give reasons.

Ans: Old age and disease are supplementary to each other. Old people are physically and psychologically weak and there is a high chance of being unhealthy and diseased. Mr. Verma fell ill after his wife’s death. It may be because of grief and poor psychology made on the death. His mother’s death brought weaknesses in his father. He felt alone however he had a complete family at home. Because of social conviction he may have thought that he would be neglected by his son and daughter -in-law. His father certainly would have been happier but he wouldn’t have been healthier if his mother hadn’t been dead. The problem was, he was suffered by a mysterious disease called peevish whim and that misfortune would not have avoided although his wife hadn’t died. Death of his wife and suffering from peevish whim was just a coincident.

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3. ……..in your view, what else could Rakesh have done to make his father’s final years more comfortable?

Ans: I think Rakesh had performed both roles as a devoted son and a doctor responsibly. He was strict on the matter of making his father healthy at his old age and as a devoted son he had taken care of his father with emotional responsibility. Apart from being strict he would have been more comfortable to his father. He would have made an effort to make his father pleased and glorified by his calm and smooth behaviour. He would have understood his father’s emotions and feelings. Furthermore, he would have been more polite and respectful to his father.

4. What does the story say about the relationship between grandfather and grand children?

Ans: Grandparents and grandchildren are the two sides of a coin. Grand children are taken more care and are love by their grand parents unconditionally. They usually have sensual connection. In the story ‘A Devoted Son’, such connection between Rakesh’s father and his son is tailored. Rakesh’s father takes a help of his grandson to bring sweet jalebi bribing him with some money. The grandson obeys his grandfather with sincerity and honesty but Rakesh is unhappy with this intension of using his son to bring sweet bribing him.

5. Do you call Rakesh a devoted son? Give reasons.

Ans: Yes, I call Rakesh a devoted son. It is Rakesh who received his medical achievement from the USA with excellent performance. He returned to his homeland instead of living there. He would get an opportunity to live there but he didn’t because there were his old parents waiting for his arrival at the village. He shows his tender and unconditional love to his parents. He doesn’t bring a foreigner girl as his bride unlike his other friends and gets married to the girl of his mother’s choice, no matter if she is educated or not. He behaves with his father as a medical professional but he has done this for making his better health condition. From all the aspect of Rakesh’s positive activities towards his father I can say that he is a devoted son.