The Thief 4o284v

THE THIEF BY RUSKIN BOND SUMMARY 1: This story tells us how love and kindness can change a theif or a criminal. Arun a young lad of 15 who is kind ,considerable and sympathetic person and the other fellow 'The Thief' who is thief by profession s Arun in a view to rob him. One day Arun was watching a wrestling match where the thief tries to get into conversation with him and finally wins Arun's confidence and s with him in a view to rob him .He finds his master a saintly person and of a trusting nature.So, he thinks he will be an easy victim. He s him as a cook but does not know how to cook.Arun being of kind person teaches him how to cook and he even teaches him how to read and write. Arun never questions the theif about his purchases he make the thief became very fond of his masters goodness and nobility.One day Arun came with a wad of notes and kept it under his mattress the thief watches him clearly and is tempted to steal his money. He is successful in his operation and runs away but his conscience and his feeling of grattitude brings him back to Arun he feels ashamed of his act.Arun knows about the whole act as the notes were still wet from last nights rain but he doesnt give any impression that he knows about it.Arun knows that he has betrayed his masters trust but Arun never made any issue out of it. This sympathetic attitude of arun had a great impression on the thief. so, the thief changes into a good man. SUMMARY 2: First, we have the author. Ruskin's intent in this novel is to highlight the significance of trust in human relationships. Our story's narrator is a thief. He is manipulative and deceitful. When he introduces himself to Arun, he says his name is Deepak (the first lie), and then he asks for a job. Arun gives him a job as a cook (our narrator can't cook), but tells him that he hasn't any money to pay him so he'll give room and board in exchange for his services. This of course is acceptable because Deepak doesn't want a job........ he wants to rob him. When Arun find out that he's a terrible cook, Deepak talks him into keeping him anyway. Arun then teaches him not only how to cook, but how to read, write, and count money as well. Deepak watches Arun hide money under the matress, and Arun even goes so far as to give him a key. Suddenly, Deepak undergoes a change..... he can't make up his min whether he still wants to rob Arun. One of his given reasons, "He was the most trusting person I'd ever met." But on the other hand, Deepak also thought up all of the reason he should rob Arun;

-he's out of practice (thieving) -if he doesn't take the money, Arun will just spend it on someone else -he deserves it because he doesn't gat paid (he forgets the food and lodging) Well, after looking at the pros and cons; Deepak chooses to steal some of the money that Arun has hidden away and catch a train to get out of town--- he actually pulls it off, but just when he was supposed to get on the train, he lets it leave without him and while trying to figure out what to do next starts thinking again; -he misses Arun -he misses conversation -he wants to learn to write in whole sentences Suddenly, the friendship becomes more important than the money; Arun's trust is more important than anything he can steal; learning a new craft is more important than practing the old (thieving. He goes back to Arun's, replaces the money, and then its to him what he has done. Then he realizes that Arun has known all along, that the money he replaced was wet from the rain the night before. Arun doesn't question him, but he lets him know he knows. In the end, the trust of Arun changes the narrator's life. Something as simple as trust can change the world.

CRITICAL APPRECIATION ‘The Thief is based on the recollection of a thief and is written in first person. He was only fifteen and was quite an accomplished and experienced hand in his profession of theft when he met Arun for the first time during a wrestling match. The thief found a prospective client in Arun and had an irresistible desire to rob him. To shape his plans he introduced himself to Arun by a pseudonym ‘Deepak’ and expressed his desire to work for him. Arun refused to engage him as a domestic help because he made money by fits and starts and was unable to pay him regularly. But Deepak went on persuading and flattering Arun. He offered to serve him for food only. Arun was a kind and generous fellow. He took pity on Deepak and agreed to keep him if he could cook for him. Although Deepak knew nothing about cooking he accepted the job just to get an entry in Arun’s house. But Deepak was cipher as a cook and the food cooked by him turned out to be a disaster and was fed to a neighbor’s cat. Deepak was shown the exit again but he won Arun’s

heart with his most appealing smile and he was not only pardoned off and got back to his job Arun promised to teach him write his name too. Arun also taught him how to cook. Arun showed full faith in Deepak and made him buy his daily supplies. Deepak was smart enough to make good profit out of it daily. Although Arun had some hint about this theft he preferred to ignore it. Instead he completely relied on Deepak and gave him the keys of his room too making it easy for Deepak to get into his room in his absence. Arun was a happy go lucky kind of person. When he made some money he spent it lavishly. He was not paying Deepak regularly for his work till then. Though Deepak had fair chances to rob Arun but it was altogether quite difficult for him also because Arun was very careless and relying and that is why he was hesitant to break his trust. Philosophic Deepak was of view that it’s easy to rob a greedy man because he deserves it, it’s easy to rob a rich man because he can afford it but it’s difficult to rob a poor man even one who really doesn’t care if he is robbed. One day proving the saying that ‘a thief is always a thief’ Deepak got a chance to satisfy his urge of robbing Arun when he saw him putting a bundle of crisp notes under his mattress. Arun slept on the bed oblivious of everything. Deepak decided to workout his plan. He stealthily took out the money and immediately left the house for railway station. When he reached the platform Amritsar Express had just moved off. There was enough time to jump into the compartment but somehow Deepak did not attempt to board the train. Soon he was standing alone on the deserted platform. Here the readers find a gradual change in the psyche of the thief. Suddenly he got philosophic and realized that Arun was a good master and he never doubted his intentions. He wondered how Arun would react when he would come to know about the theft. He had studied the faces of people when they went through a material loss. He recalled that a greedy person shows panic, a rich person shows anger and a poor person shows fear when they lose something valuable but when Arun would come to know about the theft he would be saddened, not for the loss of money but for the breach of trust. Deepak also realized that if he would learn to read and write it would definitely help him get true success in life. Deepak was repentant. He slowly reentered the town but he had nowhere to go and he didn’t know anyone except Arun. Soon the drizzle started and the crisp notes tucked up in his tros got wet. Ultimately having a prick in his conscience Deepak came back to Arun’s house and disproving the saying that ‘a thief is always a thief’ he cautiously slipped back the money under the mattress and went to sleep with a hope that Arun didn’t know anything about the whole episode. Next morning Arun got up earlier than him and handed him a cup of tea with a wet five rupee note and promised him that hence onward Deepak would be paid regularly and soon he would teach him to write full sentences. Although aware of everything Arun’s

countenance didn’t display any emotion and he was absolutely normal. The story highlights the moral dilemma of the thief as well as his potentiality for goodness. It also reminds us of ‘The Bishop’s Candlesticks’, a beautiful extract from a great novel ‘Le Miserable’ by Victor Hugo. Although the scenario, characters, content and the treatment is altogether different yet the message and the moral of the story is the same that a hardened criminal can be transformed into a pious soul through love, comion and kindness. CHARACTER ANALYSIS There are two characters in Ruskin Bond's short story "The Thief." The Thief/ Deepak The narrator of the story is the thief. The story is told in first person; therefore, the thief tells his own story. After Arun asks him his name, the thief gives him the name of Deepak. This is not the thief's real name(as seen in the text). "Deepak," I lied. Deepak was about my fifth name. I had earlier called myself Ranbir, Sudhir, Trilok and Surinder. The thief is fifteen when the story takes place. The thief sees Arun as an easy target to rob and persuades his way into Arun's home. Arun Arun is "around twenty" when he first meets the thief. Arun employs the thief as a cook (even though the cooking is horrible). In the end, Arun helps the thief to realize that people can change and promises to teach him to write. AUTHORS NOTE: Ruskin Bond – the modern English writer, an Indian author of British descent and one of the most unforgettable figures of Indian English Literature – writes in the light of his own experience of life, as reflected by the autobiographical elements in his works. The collected stories are about irresistible virtuousness, empathetic love and longing for incredible, someone who is just out of reach. The bond of human relationships emphasizes Bond’s understanding of the human mentality, nature, thoughts, and behaviour. The incomparable way in which he alters the unexciting, dull things in our everyday life into something really striking and interesting fascinate not only the common reader but also the literary world. Bond portrays the utter alienation and the negligence experienced

by his characters. They are caught in the whirlpool of changing time. He explores the subaltern Indian voices with a touch of a sociologist and details their characters in the tone of a behavioural psychologist. This paper attempts to analyse selected short stories and present some details of the treatment of physically challenged and socially ostracized personalities, orphaned kids, and destitute women. Also, social themes of insecure childhood, loneliness, social belongingness are explored in this paper. Ruskin Bond – the modern English writer and one of the most unforgettable figures of Indian English Literature – writes in the light of his own experience of life, as reflected by the autobiographical elements in his works. The collected stories are about irresistible virtuousness, empathetic love and longing for incredible, someone, just out of reach. The bond of human relationships emphasizes Bond’s understanding of the human mentality, nature, thoughts, and behaviour. The incomparable way in which he alters the unexciting, dull things in our everyday life into something really striking and interesting fascinate not only the common reader but also the literary world. Ruskin Bond, an Indian author of British descent is considered to be an idol among Indian writers. His adaptable, original and graceful writing style has positioned him among the most triumphant Indian short story writers. His first novel The Room on the Roof fetched him the John Llewellyn Rhys Memorial Prize in 1957. Since then he has written over three hundred short stories, essays and novellas and more than 30 books for children. He has also published two volumes of autobiography. Scenes from a Writer’s Life, and The Lamp is Lit. In 1992 he received the Sahitya Akademi honour on behalf of English inscription in India and was awarded the Pa Shree in 1999 for his contributions to children’s literature. The collection The Night Train at Deoli and other Short Stories encom thirty stories, it includes diverse themes of virtue, love, courage, beauty of nature, consideration and supernaturalism. In the preface of the collection Bond has written these stories for “gentle kind of person” respectively his main characters are also moderate and benevolent. The stories are about people and their social backdrop with which every Indian can correlate, his stories take the reader into the psyche of his characters. They revolve around the narrator’s meetings with a stranger’s departure a lasting impression on him. The promise between the speaker and the stranger is such strong that the slightest movement of consideration and gentleness of the stranger lingers into the memory of the narrator for a long time. Bond’s stories display human feelings like affection, care, kind heartedness, insecurities, sorrow, and disgust. As his art is often

referred to as autobiographical, his characters are real and we can find them in our neighbourhood. He describes the poor, middle class men and women who have their own way of life. He writes about beggars, villagers and even thieves. He studies their attitude, behaviour as well as relationships with other fellow being. He points out that every human being whether a thief, sweeper or a beggar has a sense of honour, virtue and self-respect. Bond, therefore, loves humanity. THEME Friendship as a theme has played an important role in many of Bond’s writings. He discusses about child-parent, student-teacher relations, about friendship, simple, educated and uneducated men and women like house servants, shop-keepers, school boys, thieves, beggars, wrestlers, school-teachers, farmers, gardeners, soldiers and so on. In each story, Bond shows respect for the intelligence of children to discriminate between right and wrong and allows them to resolve their inner conflicts as they gain experience and understanding, focusing on their own individuality. He is the pioneer of modern children literature in India. Bond as a master storyteller is well aware of child psychology. He portrays the effects of children who are unaware and innocent about social realities. This paper is an attempt to bring out the theme of friendship in his short stories “The Thief” The story “The Thief” is a remarkable one as far as friendship is concerned. Hari Singh is such a clever thief at the tender age of fifteen that he even keeps changing his name for the sake of hiding his identity so that he will not be caught by police. After doing a theft he goes away from the locality purposely. Thus, during one of his stealing adventures he meets Arun in a wrestling match. Arun was simple, kind, easy going - quite suitable for Hari Singh’s purpose. “I want to work for you”, said the thief to Arun who was a writer and did not mind having a helper at home. Arun wrote for Delhi and Mumbai magazines and earned just enough for his existence. But paying regularly to a servant was not possible for him right now. So he made it clear to Hari Singh, he will not be able to pay him anything, except food and a place in his house to sleep. Hari Singh readily agreed although he knew nothing about cooking for which he was engaged by Arun. Apart from cooking Arun taught Hari how to write his name, and also promised to teach him to write full sentences. Hari on his part thought that an educated thief can accomplish many things in future. Slowly a bond of friendship began to develop between the two. Arun was most trusting towards his helper and never realized how much money Hari cheated him of in the shopping of grocery and other essential items. After some months Arun was able to sell one of his books to a publisher for which he earned a handsome amount of money which he kept under

his mattress not realizing Hari Singh’s evil intentions. At night the thief in Hari was awaken and he stole the whole money while his unsuspecting master was fast asleep. He headed straight away towards the railway station. Without wasting time even to take a ticket Hari reached the platform where a train was about to depart. He could have gone away but he started vacillating between the thief in him and his conscience which was reminding him what he would lose – the trust of his worthy master and friend Arun. The good company of Arun had started influencing him positively as a result of which Hari could not run away from him as he always had done in the past. For the first time he felt guilty. So instead of escaping he went back and found his master- friend still seeping peacefully. Hari managed to keep back the stolen money in its place without waking Arun. In the words of Hari, who is also the first person narrator of the story : “ I had been working for Arun for nearly a fortnight and apart from shopping hadn’t done much to exploit him. I had every opportunity to so. I had a key to the front door… He (Arun) was a most trusting person I had ever met. And that was why I couldn’t make up my mind to rob him.”We can understand from the story that it was adverse circumstances which were responsible for making a thief out of Hari. He was an orphan, poor, illiterate and unemployed. But the same adversity along with an insight into human psychology made him philosophize about people and the circumstances that had taught him to be a clever thief. In the first place it was his selfish motive that inspired him to go back. Arun had promised to teach him to read and write whole sentences. Hari, by this time had realized that being able to read and write is something great. In his excitement at the sight of a good amount of money he forgot about it. But afterwards while he was in the railway station he started realizing: It was a simple matter to steal (and sometimes as simple to be caught) but to be really big man, a wise and successful man, that was something. I should go back to Arun. My affection for him, my sense of sympathy, but most of all my desire to write whole sentences, drew me back to the room.” 2 Although a thief, Hari realized the value of education. On the other hand it was Hari’s concern for Arun that drew him back. A sense of sympathy was one of his weaknesses and also through hesitation over a theft he had often been caught in the past. He realized the fact that a successful thief must be pitiless. He was fond of Arun. His affection for Arun, his sense of sympathy but most of all his desire to write whole sentences, drew him back to the room. Next day morning Hari was unable to face Arun. He was thinking, after all Arun must have come to know what he had done with the money. Especially while he was heading towards the railway station it was raining heavily due to which the paper money had gone wet. But Arun behaved very normally as if he knew nothing. When Hary woke up Arun had already made tea. Arun stretched out his hand towards Hari. There was a five Rupee note in his hand. It was offered as salary, a good amount in the form of

salary for a domestic help in those days. Hari’s heart sank as he realized that Arun knew everything that happened on the previous night. “The note was still wet from the last night’s rain.” “Today I will teach you to write a little more than your name” said Arun. This story contains a lot of social values. In the first place both the characters have good social values ingrained in them. Hari, although a thief, knew the value of education, the achievement of which will make anybody great and self-reliant. On another level he did not want to betray his ‘Guru’. It was also the good qualities of Arun which influenced Hari and helped him to give up theft. The world today needs more and more people like Arun who is more human, to transform people like Hari, who become convicts not by choice but by influence of adverse circumstances. Here Arun is a mouth piece Ruskin Bond himself whose writings have lot of good societal influence especially on children. This story also inspires people not to ill-treat child servants if at all they have any. Children should be given all the opportunities for education which will mould their attitude towards life in a positive way and will enable them to become responsible citizens. True friendship can bring about miraculous transformations. This is the message given by Ruskin Bond through this short story. Friendship between human beings is the main theme of the story.