Ridjal Noor’s Short Story Anil

In Ridjal Noor’s short story “Anil”, sympathy for Anil (the protagonist) is developed throughout the tale in several different forms and manners. One way that sympathy is developed is through the narrator and the 3rd person omniscient perspective that the story possesses. Anil is described as a poor seven-year-old village boy, who stares at stars and still “believes in the wonders of life”. However, unknown to him, his dreams will amount to nothing. Through this withheld information the reader finds that since Anil is of the lower class, he has little to no power over his life. This means that no matter his dreams, all he will ever become is another servant for the village headman. This also references the social and cultural backgrounds presented in the story. In Anil’s village there is a structural hierarchy; this means that power is separated by and into segments such as age, gender, and class. The idea of class plays a big part in the story, and is used as another way to entice sympathy from the reader. Anil is characterised as this poor boy from a rural village who is powerless when he tries to find justice for Marimuthu’s wife. His actions, although noble, prove to be foolhardy and backlash against him. The loss of innocence from witnessing the murder of Marimuthu’s wife is another way that sympathy is developed in the story. The author uses language and imagery to emotionally describe what Anil went through. He is portrayed as “A little boy clutching his mouth with both hand and silencing the sobs that wracked his little body,” This heartbreaking scene as well as the ending of the story leaves the reader crushed and heavily entices sympathy.

Similar to Noor’s short story “Anil”, in Helen Dunmore’s story “My Polish Teacher’s Tie,” sympathy is also heavily developed for Carla (the protagonist) through different forms and manners. One way sympathy is developed is through self-characterisation. Carla is an average