Paragraph Answer for "A Spoiled Man"
Focus your answer on a specific section of the story. For example, it would be interesting to take a look at the scene where Rezak wants to share his old "time-expired" chicken with the waiter of the teahouse. Here you will find a conflict, certainly, and also should be able to tell us something about what this part of the story shows to us about Rezak himself.
Use the literary terms you have studied in the past in your answer. Some useful terms include conflict, characterization, setting, irony and theme. Try to keep your comment limited to a small event. Good answers may also attempt to examine how the smaller piece you have chosen fits into the larger story.
Write about 200 words. You may use multiple paragraphs if you wish, but be sure I can see why you choose to break into paragraphs. Quote the story at least once in your answer, but no more than 20 words, maximum, for all quotes.
NOTE: Look at other student answers before you proceed! If another student has already examined a part of the story, you must choose something else. Also, do not recount plot unless necessary. Assume that we have read the story, too, and are interested in what you noticed about it more than all the details in summary. Link to copy of story
17 comments:
It is interesting to note how Rezak comes to be hired as a gardener by the American wife, Sonya Harouni. Daniyal Mueenuddin describes her as “an English major,” who uses the words of Yeats, Rilke and Keats “as a restorative,” painting her as a sensitive soul, but perhaps also as shallow and unable to think on her own. She wants to do more than Ghulam Rasool asks for Rezak because “It made her happy to think of spoiling [Rezak] in his old age.” It seems that Daniyal Mueenuddin means “spoiling” in two ways: the sense of treating someone indulgently and also of harming them from overindulgence. Mueenuddin only uses the word, “spoiling,” once in his story, worth noting as it connects to the title. The events that follow are indeed both—at times, Rezak has the indulgences of life as Sonya hoped; at others, he is seriously harmed by his involvement with her family. It is ironic that her desire to help Rezak backfires so badly, leading in some way to the loss of his wife, his torture, and his lonely death; all this from an innocent decision to hire him as gardener and to ease his passage through life.—199 words
NOTE: The paragraph refers to the bottom half of page 4 in the story. I also try to connect these events to the whole story: in this case to the title and the irony of the “spoiling” of the protagonist, Rezak. Try, yourself, to focus on something small. Choose your quoted words only from the passage you examine and, if you can, find some reason for how it fits into the story as a whole.
Time and material brought Rezak to a stage in life that he wanted to hear about his step brothers, and he no longer wanted to be resentful. I believe time erased Rezak resentful feelings against step brothers. ‘In his early twenties, he had fallen out with his step-brothers over shared property’. He had nothing and promised his self never wanted to go back and hear about his brothers. When he meets a man who had lived near his village, he starts to open up and talk about his step brothers, fertile land and a well near their field. Material changes Rezak as well. He didn’t have much. A man with very little to take pride or boast about. Now he has a salary. ‘A weird little cubicle, furnished with a radio, a television’. He starts to show gratitude and wishes he had sons like his step brothers. (150)
I found the story somewhat ironic when Rezak, who had abandoned his family, (employed as a gardener in Harouni house) only to now have more money than he’s ever gained in his life.
Additionally, he contentedly agreed to marry his friend’s cousin, who dragged him to accept this offer. Furthermore, I particularly liked the way in which Daniyal Mueenuddin connects the relationship between Rezak “spoiled man” and the poor girl - who doesn’t wish to marry him. This section of the story I think illustrates author's intentions, both - Rezak selfishness and the girl's circumstance in Islamabad. It appears the girl has no right to disagree for this arranged marriage. While Rezak “with one leg in grave” wishes to marry a girl “perhaps nineteen or twenty” years of age. Furthermore, since the girl has no importance to her parents and was born somewhat simple (feeble minded), her family ran away from dowry (bride’s family’s gift to bridegroom), and additionally they didn’t celebrate the marriage. Rezak, who had the opportunity initially, had simply gotten married.
Later on, we learn that his wife disappeared - then he realized and said, “The fault is mine, who married in old age”. –198 words.
Hardworking, honest and kindhearted, all these good words can be used to describe Rezak’s character. Facing all kinds of hardships, he did nothing but to grin and bear it. It would make everyone think that there should have been justice in the world, and someone or some kind of force, called God, destiny or fate, would take good care of him. However, it did not work to most readers’ expectation.
After being given a job at the Harounis and married to a feebleminded wife, Rezak seemed at the peak of his life. It was so sad to see that the fate treated him just like a cat to a mouse: caught him and have fun with him before eating him.
There is nothing worse than apathy. Rezak lost all his hopes. He could not reason but to blame on himself: “The fault is mine”, “God gave me so much more than I deserved, when I expected nothing at all”. The only thing left for Rezak was looking for the sense of belonging. He wanted to be buried in the Ali Khan orchard, with a gravestone for which he spent lifelong savings - a heavy gravestone at readers’ hearts.
(198 words)
“A spoiled man” is an irony for Rezak’s life, because he never gets any almsgiving from other people. After he is excruciated by the policemen, he says, “Why should I complain? The policemen did as they always do.” Simultaneously, he ponders over “God gave me so much more than I deserved.” He struggles with his heavy mentality. Unluckily, he is perplexed and gets this ridiculous idea: for having dared to reach so high, for owning things that would excite envy, he should get those tortures. “This is how he understands justice.” As a humble gardener, he thanks Sonya for giving him a job, which brings him hope; he also appreciates the majordomo-Ghulam Rasool for helping him find his lost wife. For these reasons, he feels satisfied. Nevertheless, he is hapless. When he loses his wife, rather than helping him, the policemen punish him instead because they never believe his innocence. Before he disastrously dies, he doesn’t know society is unfair for him and nobody feels guilty for his suffering. Finally, Daniyal Mueenuddin helps us know this spoiled man- Rezak, who is complaisant for his master and content with his lot.
(190 words, plot from P15)
From Grace:
After being given a job at the Harounis and married to a feebleminded wife, Rezak seemed at the peak of his life. It was so sad to see that the fate treated him just like a cat to a mouse: caught him and have fun with him before eating him.
Brad's Comment:
Very nicely done! Try, "fate treated him as a cat would a mouse: catching him and having fun with him before gobbling him down."
From Jonathan:
Material changes Rezak as well. He didn’t have much. A man with very little to take pride or boast about. Now he has a salary. ‘A weird little cubicle, furnished with a radio, a television’. He starts to show gratitude and wishes he had sons like his step brothers.
Brad's Comment:
The ideas are good and strong, but the reading is a bit "choppy."I rewrite the passage this way to join and smoothen sentences.
Material goods have changed Rezak as well. He didn’t have much, as a man with very little to take pride in or boast about, but now he has a salary, and "A weird little cubicle, furnished with a radio, a television."
From Zarmina:
While Rezak “with one leg in grave” wishes to marry a girl “perhaps nineteen or twenty” years of age.
Brad's Comment:
Very nicely used quotations mix seamlessly with Zarmina's sentence. My version: "Rezak, "with one leg in the grave," wishes to marry a girl "perhaps nineteen or twenty" years old.
Rezak was a man of simplicity and faith. “God gave me so much than I deserved.” He believed that everything he had attained or achieve were all graces from God. He had expected nothing, yet he acquired more than what he needed—at first the, the television, the goat; then later, the wife, the idea of having a family. He was almost living like a dog, before being taken in by the Harounis, alone in his portable shack, hopeless, feeding on the food that his masters offer him, and the only thing that differed his life from a dog was his dignity. He was a proud man. “Why should I complain? The fault is mine,” this quote shows Rezak’s simplicity. He alleviate everything that had happened to him—the good, the bad—by accepting them, as if it was his fate. He was resilient. When his euphoria turned into a nightmare he then became the man he once was, the man who recognizes and appreciates everything he has (even when he has none).
To compare the spacious and palatial estate which owned by wealthy man Harounis, Rezak lived in a tiny “tin-clad cubicle.” Wherever Rezak went, he saved the money “for trucking” the “nest” with him. Life is just not fair for everyone.
Rezak was a faithful, honest person with a simple mind. He believed in God. Having no attachment in this world, he had been poor and struggled in his simple life, until one day he was hired by the wealthy family.
People like Harounis and his friends had power, wealthy, only cared about their graceful lives, and they naturally lived in good life. They easily changed other people’s life; they gave Rezak the hope, and then destroyed him.
Some people say that people could control their lives through making efforts. I am pessimistic, think that only the people like the majordomo, Ghulam Rasool, have enough wisdom and seize the opportunities, could make differences. Most people just like Rezak, go with the flow, and lived like they never did.
-167 words-
It is interesting to look where "Rezak met a young man who lived near his childhood,while sitting in the Kalapani teahouse." It's the first step of his life started to spoiling. "A cup of tea and biscuits they had" are 'irony' of hearing the news of steebleminded girl which means"spoiling" him in different ways:first, he got married with a girl who was not helping him and leads his life to danger and his wish to get married for bearing son gets shrinked.He beg a young man to his house is another 'irony' which means he welcomed the problem to his home.Back to his mind Rezak said,"God has good for me,more than I deserve.I have only one wish,that he had given me sons of my own." Hearing all Rezak's wish,and his success life;the weird little cubicle ,furnished with a radio and a television wanted to 'spoil. Rezak's life by arranging marriage with the stubborn daughter of his cousin which is an immideate cause of his wife's lost and get tortured, interrogated about her where about and finally,an innocent Rezak lost his life in vain.
It is the desire that tortured Rezak and brought his life into final destruction. The sad ending of Rezak’s life reminded me how wonderful his life was at the beginning of his employment with the American woman. He received one month’s salaries more than what he had made for his whole life. He lived in a beautiful garden with apple, peach, pear and grape. He enjoyed the abundance of radish, corn, cauliflower, onions, peas and even a goat for the milk. Eventually he had the thing that “he had never even thought of wanting.” His desire led him to want something he should not have; he had it with his selfish ways: he bought the girl and locked her at the beginning until he was sure that she wouldn’t run away. While he was indulging in the meal the wife cooked for him and massage she did for him, the fate took away the things he desired and enjoyed temporarily. That was the thing he didn’t deserve. It is the desire that killed him, not the disappearance of the wife or the police torture. How ironic it made me think about the title of the story: A Spoiled Man. He is indeed spoiled; “they gave him the money to live beyond his station, they made him hope – for too much.”
220 words
It is interesting to know that Rezak describe the Harouni house as unattractive. “The house seemed to him ugly.” There is absolutely no where else Rezak would live except in his little hut; he was contend with his detachable house and he made sure he had enough money at hand for transporting it to wherever his heart desires. Rezak who now work’s for the Harouni and also live in their “land” is influenced by their life style. The simple contended man, now fell the urge to own few more things in his little hut: “A radio and television,” “something he had never thought of doing.” Daniyal Mueenuddin reminds us of how a “spoil” man can influence a simple man. Life can be contagious! The life style of his master has really influenced him in a way. Well, it is only normal that you want to improve your life style if it is well with in your reach. Yet, it may seem that no matter how hard you try, life does not always end the way you wish, as Razak’s journey through life was not an easy one.
Rezak has saluted to the American wife’s car at the stone gate of the Harounis’ weekend home every Friday when the family came and Sunday when they left. After few weeks, the American wife could recognize Rezak and smiled whenever to see him. There is no person who dislike a man saluted her continuously.
As an additional activity, he has assisted gardeners carrying pots from the unloaded place to the house as a service. The majordomo, Ghulam Rasool has a favorable impression to him.
Few days later, Rezak go to the Haarouni estate and appeared in front of Ghulam Rasool and told him “Feed me and I’ll work here and do whatever you want. You don’t even have to give me a room.” As a result, Rezak could be employed with same salary with other gardener by the American wife. He has managed all these process successfully by the wisdom of age and cleverness.
I couldn’t understand his unwise attempt of his marriage with young girl to get a son or didn’t give up the girl early when she escaped from him. It is irony that one time he was very clever but other time he was really stupid.
-199 words
“A Spoiled Man” is a storey with excellent plot and well-knitted setting. Rezak’s fate transferred him from a poor man on verge of eating grass to the point where he has two goats, bought three-kilo box of sweets, and finally the very best gravestone. Rezak’s desire-less thinking changed him from where he cannot “digest the rich food” and refused free meal offer of Ghulam Rasool, to his ambition of a son. Finally his thought of belonging to Harouni’s and begging a burial place on the land shows peak of his desire to be remembered of his closeness to Harouni’s.
Characterization of Rezak is presented through two opposite views. While Sonya thought that he should have electricity for radio to avoid his boredom and loneliness, but Sohail thought exact opposite. Initially, policemen thought that Rezak sold his wife, but later they said that “he is clean”.
During the first reading, the conflict in the life events of Rezak is perceived. However, on careful second reading spoiling of Rezak’s lifestyle (by Sonya), his physical body (by police), his life-events (by fate) and his thinking (by himself) is revealed. These four spoils fit very well and enhance the feeling of “A Spoiled Man”. (200 words)
It is contradictory how Ghulam Rasool changes Rezak’s life. Daniyal Mueenuddin describes Rasool, “The old majordomo,” as a person sensitive to the other’s people needs (in this case Rezak’s), but also as smart and opportunist that take advantages of the “knowledge of his master’s friends,” and he knew how to use his connections eloquently. That is how he became an essential part in this story. First, he helped Rezak, asking Sonya Hautouni to let him live in her property: “he even has his own portable hut-he’ll take it there and live as a guard.” He knew how “to sell the idea.” Then, Rezak’s life changes, because he was use to have nothing but his hut, now he had a place to live and salary, which helped him to obtain material things and a wife which made him think (at the end of the story) he was “spoiled.” The other important Rasool’s intervention is when he asked Bukhari to help Rezak to find his wife “emphasizing the girl’s attractiveness to make it seem like abduction –a scenario in which the police could help.” Unfortunally to Rezak, both Rassol’s interventions changed the course of his life. Even when Ghulam was well intentioned, Rezak did not take advantage of his help, because he always thought “he did not deserve a better life.”
219 words
Having plenty but living in poverty, an irony in life can be seen in Sonya Horouni. Despite longing to live in America, she chooses to love Pakistan; not because of her husband’s wish but because of her ultimate quest. At first glance, she seems a bit unstable person, however, Daniyal Mueenuddin tries to convey to his reader about her inner struggle for the quest through her vulnerability. Not knowing where to start she feels that she can “do something for the good” in the land of poverty and turbulence. When she is asked giving favor to the poor old man, Rezak, she goes to extra miles by giving him generous salary which gives her a small glow of satisfaction. While her husband, Sohail Harouni, indulges in parties and his wealth, her mind roams and searches for clues to her quest: not overlooking a passerby from her car or walking away from her party and looking down the valley in hoping to find “something”.
Daniyal Mueenddin draws a beautiful picture of humanity with different color—from an old man, Rezak who embraces his given fate graciously to a highly regarded servant, Ghulam Rasool, through his shrewdness and the American wife, Sonya who wonders restlessly to quench the thirst in life. (209words)
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