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View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Etheses - A Saurashtra University Library Service Saurashtra University Re – Accredited Grade ‘B’ by NAAC (CGPA 2.93) Bhatt, Manish D., 2005, “Ruskin Bond as a short story writer : A critical study”, thesis PhD, Saurashtra University http://etheses.saurashtrauniversity.edu/id/825 Copyright and moral rights for this thesis are retained by the author A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge. This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the Author. The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the Author When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given. Saurashtra University Theses Service http://etheses.saurashtrauniversity.edu [email protected] © The Author RUSKIN BOND AS A SHORT STORY WRITER : A CRITICAL STUDY A THESIS SUBMITTED TO SAURASHTRA UNIVERSITY, RAJKOT FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN ENGLISH BY MANISH D. BHATT M.A., M.Phil, B.Ed., GUIDED BY Dr. K. H. MEHTA Professor Department of English & Comparative Literary Studies, RAJKOT-360 005. DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH & COMPARATIVE LITERARY STUDIES, SAURASHTRA UNIVERSITY RAJKOT-360 005. ( Registration No. 3049, 08TH December, 2003) DECEMBER – 2005. RUSKIN BOND AS A SHORT STORY WRITER : PH.D. A CRITICAL STUDY 2005 THESIS M. D. BHATT DECEMBER RUSKIN BOND AS A SHORT STORY WRITER : A CRITICAL STUDY A THESIS SUBMITTED TO SAURASHTRA UNIVERSITY, RAJKOT FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN ENGLISH By MANISH D. BHATT M.A., M.Phil, B.Ed. Guided By Dr. K. H. MEHTA Professor Department of English & Comparative Literary Studies, RAJKOT-360 005. DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH & COMPARATIVE LITERARY STUDIES, SAURASHTRA UNIVERSITY RAJKOT-360 005. ( Registration No. 3049, 08TH December, 2003) DECEMBER – 2005. DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH & COMPARATIVE LITERARY STUDIES SAURASHTRA UNIVERSITY RAJKOT-360 005. This is to certify that work embodied in this thesis entitled "RUSKIN BOND AS A SHORT WRITER : A CRITICAL STUDY" has been carried out by SHRI MANISH D. BHATT under my direct guidance and supervision. I further declare that the work done and presented in this thesis is original and independent. I further certify that the work has not been submitted either partly or fully to any other University or Institute for the award of any Degree. Date : 09 : 12 : 2005. Place : RAJKOT Signature of Guide Dr. K. H. MEHTA Dr. A. K. SINGH Professor & Head Department of English & Comparative Literature Studies, Rajkot I hereby declare that the research work presented in this thesis is prepared by me after studying various references. The description and narrations found therein are entirely original. Therefore, I declare them authentically as original. Moreover, I am responsible for the opinions and the and other details found in this thesis. I declare that this thesis is my original work and has not been submitted to any University or Institute for the award of any Degree. Date : 09.12.2005. Place : Rajkot. Signature of Candidate MANISH D. BHATT When I thought of undertaking doctoral research work, the initial problems, as happens in case of research scholars, was to find a relevant, if not an absolutely untrodden, subject for it. I felt that I would do some work on short stories by RUSKIN BOND. I discussed this idea with my Guide Prof. K. H. Mehta, who also encouraged me to work on RUSKIN BOND. Thus, I decided to work on Short Stories by RUSKIN BOND. I registered myself as a Ph.D. student in 2003. Though it took more than what I had initially thought of in completing the work, yet the present work as it is, could be a reality because of unstinted support, guidance and co-operation of quite a few people around me. It is my duty to express my sense of sincere gratitude to all of them. The first and foremost, I have both pleasure and privilege of expressing my heartiest gratitude to my respected Guide Dr. K. H. MEHTA, M.A., Ph.D., Professor of English, Department of English & Comparative Literary Studies, Saurashtra University, Rajkot-5, for his valuable guidance, constructive criticism, constant encouragement and especially for creating independent and fruitful thinking during the course of this investigation. Without his wholehearted co-operation, it would not have been possible to place this research work in right order. I owe my profound thanks to Prof. A. K. Singh, Professor & Head, Dr. J. K. Dodiya, Dr. S. Mukharji and Mr. R. B. Zala, of the Department of English & CLS, Saurashtra University, Rajkot for their keen interest and worthy guidance as well as constant inspiration during the study. I am really greatly indebted to all the Authors of books and articles in periodicals whose critical writings enabled me to form a conceptual framework of this Ph.D. Thesis. I must gratefully thank my colleagues, friends and all those who directly and indirectly helped me in completing my research work. I express my thanks to The Librarian, Saurashtra University, Rajkot. I take this opportunity to record my deep sense of gratitude to my family members, especially my Papa, Dr. D. J. Bhatt, M.A., Ph.D., Professor & Head of the Department of Psychology, Saurashtra University, Rajkot and my loving mother Bharatiben D. Bhatt and my sister Divyaben A. Shukla and my brother-in-law Ashutosh H. Shukla and my little dearest nephew Chanakya, for their sympathy, co-operation and inspiration throughout the study without which this desire would not have been fulfilled. This thesis I dedicate to my Papa, Prof. D. J. Bhatt. I can never repay what I owe to him, but I can certainly endeavour to earn what he expects from me. It was his dream that I obtain the Ph.D., Degree. I bow down to him, who has been the real source of inspiration for my research. Last but not the least, I can not forget to express my special thanks to Shri Rajesh Solanki, for his excellent computerized printing of this thesis. - Manish D. Bhatt CH.NO Details Page No. CERTIFICATE DECLARATION ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS CHAPTER-I 1 - 53 INTRODUCTION CHAPTER-II 54 - 120 RUSKIN BOND'S THEMATIC CONCERNS CHAPTER-III 121 - 145 RUSKIN BOND'S ART OF CHARACTERIZATION CHAPTER-IV 146 - 179 RUSKIN BOND'S CRAFTSMANSHIP CHAPTER-V 180 - 200 RUSKIN BOND'S VISION OF LIFE CHAPTER-VI 201 - 207 ASSESSMENT SELECT BIOGRAPHY 208 Ō 217 A FEW PHOTOGRAPHS OF RUSKIN BOND 218. CHAPTER - I INTRODUCTION Part-A ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE SHORT STORY The short story, as it is considered technically today, has been a very challenging form of literature, as it is a highly complex form of literature. Though it is one of the oldest forms of literature and has remained the most popular form since its beginning, it is still a highly misunderstood form of literature. Secondly, though the form has been very popular among the common readers, it has remained a critically neglected form of writing so far. Even today, it awaits serious critical attention. Stories are as old as humanity. They have been a perennial source of delight and instruction to humanity since the time immemorial. As a form, it has evolved in the course of a long period and passed through the early forms like tale, myth, fairy tale, fable, parable, legend, ballad and so on. However, the short story, as it is formally and technically known today, came to be accepted as an independent genre of literature in1933 only. The OED supplement of 1933 defined the term ‘short story’ as designating a particular kind of literary product, then it gained formal admittance into the English vocabulary. (Reid : 1977 : 1). Literature is traditionally classified as prose and verse, lyric and epic being the principal forms of literature in verse, while prose literature includes forms like, essay, novel and short story among others. All these forms of literature have some elements in common. Literature aims at giving delight and teaching. Its chief function is to please. It deals with human feelings, as man is at its centre. A short story is a kind of prose fiction, which has grown up beside the novel, and it has its own important and recognized place in literature today. It 1 may be defined as a prose narrative, requiring from half an hour to one hour for its perusal. In other words, brevity is something central to a short story. It is possible to read at one sitting. But it must not be supposed that the short story is a novel on a reduced scale. It has a definite technique of its own and has its own specific requirements of matter and treatment. H.G. Wells, himself a master of the short story, observes regarding it in these words, A short story is, or should be a simple thing; it aims at producing one single vivid effect; it has to seize the attention at the outset, and never relaxing, gather it together more and more until the climax is reached. The limits of the human capacity to attend closely therefore set a limit to it; it must explode and finish before interruption occurs on fatigue sets in. (Rees : 1995 : 203). 1. DEFINITION OF SHORT STORY The short story has never been adequately defined. It has ‘something of the indefinite and infinitely variable nature of a cloud’ or as Ellery Sedgewick points out, it has become all sorts of things, situation, episode, characterization or narrative in effect a vehicle for every man’s talent.