Homework for "In Other Rooms, Other Wonders"
Write an answer that is based on information found on the page you have been assigned. Try, as best you can, to connect what happens on that page to events that occur either before or after in the story. Use at least one literary term (setting, conflict, plot, irony etc.) in your answer. Quote the story at least once, but no more than 20 words, maximum, for all quotes. Identify the page number, please, as a heading before your paragraph. See my model answer for more ideas on what to do.
Write between 150 and 200 words. Bring your word processed work to class on Wednesday.
Online copy of the story for quoting.
20 comments:
Page 5
On this page, Daniyal Mueenuddin’s plot makes clear how Husna is easily able to manipulate K. K. Harouni in order to obtain a room at his home. Noting Begum Harouni’s intention to perform the umrah, Husna sees her chance. Mueenuddin wealth of small details show us how she reaches her goal. Husna dresses in a “tight kurta, showing the cleft of her breasts.” K.K. reacts with his “crocodile smile.” After her flirtation, she goes on to portray herself as victim of Begum Harouni’s desire to go on the umrah. She will not be able to visit K. K. and, playing on K. K.’s dislike of his former wife, manages to make him sorry for her. Since she has stimulated his sexual desire, her tears evoke his sympathy and offer to stay at the annex. K.K.’s character is revealed through his need to “avoid unpleasantness at any cost” and, more importantly, by Mueenuddin’s comparison of him to “the Sun King at Versailles.” Although she is successful at this point in the story, Husna has won acceptance only from K. K. and, at the story’s end, his death shows how little this means in the bigger social context.
—196 words
Page 8
On this page, author‘s plot makes the conversation to become a war field. Sarwat objects with her daddy, has an eccentric humanitarian to a little girl. K.K. disagrees with her daughter about “Your mother’s been living apart” and “My friends are dying off”. Sarwat points out that Husna is looking for his advantages, his dear, schools, clothes, and property. Sarwat ‘s character is a knight to protect her father’s fortunes. When the argument has a temporary stopped, K.K. feels abashed, puts a black mask over his eyes. At that turning point, Husna uses the words “I’m leaving this house”, and “I gave you everything I had”, a backward method to instead the forward idea. She incites and pressures K.K. to protect herself. She also wants to build up her situation in the family. Let all the servants know that she is a significant person with K.K. She set up a story about his servants have bullied her. Obviously, it is Husna’s ambition and careerism. She wants to dominate K.K. and all the servants. Although she is emerged at this point, at the story’s end, she got nothing.—183 words
Page 11/12
On these pages, Daniyal Mueenuddin’s story is coming to an end and the plot is
made clear. This is when the character K.K. Harouni dies and Husna is made to
leave. However one conflict is never resolved, which is Husna wanting to be a part
of the rich world. Though out the whole story Husna manipulates her way into K.K
Harouni’s home. She starts to make demands of respect from his servants but was
never successful when demanding respect of his daughter Sarwat. The one sister
made it clear that she did not approve of her. She thought all she wanted was
money. When Husna asked if K.K said anything about her before he died, Sarwat
reply very harsh “No” “There was and is nothing for you”. She was able to take the
items she accumulated while living with K.K Harouni although she wished she could
throw it in the sisters face and walk away with only what she brought. Husna could
not afford to leave such valuables behind.
180 words
Page 7
On this page, the story begins to show a conflict between Husna and Sarwat. While Husna and K.K. are being served lunch by the butler Rafik, Sarwat suddenly arrives at K.K.’s house. Sarwat’s character traits are shown when K.K. introduces Husna to Sarwat. Sarwat shows a disrespectful attitude toward Husna. Mueenuddin describes the scene: “Sarwat said maliciously, looking not at Husna’s face but at her body.” Also, when Husna tries to join the conversation that K.K. and Sarwat are having, Sarwat ignores Husna’s attempts. Finally, at the end of page 7, Sarwat asks Husna to leave the room so that she and her father K.K. can talk privately. At the end of the story, the conflict between Sarwat and Husna confirms that Husna was not an important part of their family. After K.K. dies, Sarwat and his family tell Husna to leave their home since there was nothing left for her.
– 151 words
Page 7
On this page, the author describes the conflict between Husna and K. K.’s youngest daughter Sarwat. While Husna and K. K. are at lunch one day, Sarwat visits the house unexpectedly. When K. K. introduces Husna to her, Sarwat is “looking not at Husna’s face but at her body,” responding to Husna’s greeting “with a wolfish grin.” Even when Husna attempts to join the conversation, Sarwat stares at her, “as if the furniture has spoken.” From these descriptions we can learn how scornful Sarwat is for Husna. Since they come from two different classes, poor and rich, the contradictions between them are irreconcilable. It is impossible for Husna to be accepted by K. K.’s daughters no matter how hard she tries. Till page 7, Husna seems to have been successful to change her life to the rich class by keeping the relationship with K. K., but it is predictable and inevitable that Husna will be kicked out back to her own class by K. K.’s daughters in the end after K. K. dies.
--175words
Page 5
On page 5 an unsettled Husna is described by Danyal Mueeniddin. Husna is a young woman in a desperate quest for a better life in contradiction with her self-esteem and her moral values. In the story, while she feels avenged and deserving a life she believes to be her own (through her bewitching and manipulation of K.K Harouny) ,Husna also felt disesteem for giving herself to secure her status. She undergoes an inner struggle about her dignity as a woman. This inner conflict is best seen in the end of the second to last paragraph where we read “to Husna it felt like a validation, almost like a revenge, and yet with the bitterness of triumph after humiliation.” From that moment on, the conflicted feelings of Husna reoccurre in the story as they reinforce Husna‘s suffering. On pages six and nine, the same kind of conflicts appear when she feels angry and spoiled for losing her virginity with K.K Haruni. And, later on, she tries to forget sleeping with him by taking pills. Continually, Husna struggles with herself between her behaviors and principles. In summary, the writer emphasizes through Husna’s inner struggle the feelings of a woman striving for a better life while seeking to maintain her dignity.
-200 words
Page 6
On this page, author’s plot makes clear that Husna has moved into K.K Harouni’s house with cunning plans of acquiring wealth. She opted to wear reveling dresses to get K.K Harouni’s attention and adapted to live a life to impress him by trying to read Sikh history books which at the end she never finished. She waited for perfect timing to get closer to K.K Harouni. Husna’s motives were to move into annex and eventually get her hands on K.K Harouni’s wealth. She was well aware that she would never find a wealthy husband with salary class, that’s what led her clever thoughts say “goodbye to the boys who might have accepted her hand” triggered her greediness. Husna portrayed her as very innocent but was only to win K.K Harouni’s trust. She demanded respect from others which she never received. All her plans went in vain when K.K Harouni passed away and never left anything for Husna, however she was offered by K.K Harouni’s daughter to take away any belonging she collected since the day she moved in.
180 words
“In Other Rooms, Other Wonders” page 6
On this page, Daniyal Mueenuddin makes clear Husna’s character traits as she moves to K.K.’s place to stay while Begum Harouni leaves for pilgrimage (Umrah). Husna became abusive and disrespectful to K.K.’s friends and the entire household as she thought she is a significant person in the house. She begins to dominate over the house by demanding respect and honor from the servants indulging K.K.’s older friends. She spoke sharply insulting and yelling at the driver when she discovered him talking to Chacha Latif thinking they were talking about her. She pretends to be a good reader by passing through the historical books just wanting, “to make herself interesting” and get more attention from K.K. “But she never finished what she began.” Finally we see her dream come true when she went into K.K.’s bedroom and slept with him. She was also privileged to eat with K.K. and spend time with him unless he got visitors to attend to. However, her comfort didn’t last longer as Sarwart visits her father; she makes it clear that Husna has nothing with the wealthy family of her dreams. At the end K.K. dies and Husna was send away empty handed with nothing valuable.
(200 words)
Page 6
About the plot in this page, Daniyal Mueenuddin describes the setting and
Husna’s internal conflict in details. After having lunch with his honorable visitors,
K.K. Harouni calls Husna to the garden and brings out a dishonorable event. The
“heavy gloomy air” , the “strange objects” displayed around, and the unpleasant
smells make the house Husna passes by simply different from the garden where is
full of sunshine, trees, and mulberries. Unfortunately, they leave the garden and
go into the bedroom, from the bright world to the dark one. Even though Husna’s
ambition drives her to meet K.K.’s desire, she also understands that she has lost
forever the most valuable and the only treasure belonged to her. There is no any
other hope for the happy life girls looking forward to. She “verged on madness.”
However, does she get what she struggles for? At the beginning of this page, by
K.K.’s invitation, she comes with a “shabby luggage … in a rickshaw” ; at the end
of the story, kicked out by K.K.’s daughters, she has to leave with the “insulting
offer” of “the trunks” on “a horse-drawn cart” .
--- 189 words
Page 10
On this page, Daniyal Mueenuddin’s plot comes to a climax with K.K. Harouni’s heart attack and his death, finding their love between K.K. and Husna in his tense situation, but it turns out Husna’s unfortunateness. When K.K. feels heart attack, he can rely on Husna only. She manages to give him comfort on “her own ground” beside him. They, for the first time, think about each other as “a grownup woman,” and as “a lover, sick, possibly dying” for a moment; however, that is all. She faces up to her reality, being stopped by the General to go to the hospital. The General’s saying, “this isn’t about you…. Remember who you are,” implies that her presence is unacceptable. After K.K.’s death, Husna’s role to receive people, which the family does, is ended when his daughter arrives. She is told by Sarwat, K.K.’s daughter who previously complained to her dad about keeping Husna, to stay in the annex. Between the lonely wealthy old man and the woman manipulating that man, although they find their love at one moment, his wealthy family doesn’t approve Husna’s presence, and the story leads to us how she ends up with nothing. – 196 words
Page4
On this page, Daniyal Mueenuddin’s plot shows how Husna plans to achieve her goals from “a middle class” to the upper class. Husna serves Bergum Harouni in the class which is between maidservant and companion. Husna knows herself very well which “she had neither talent nor beauty.” and which she is younger enough to attract the old K.K.. She admires wealth so much that she gripes the fact which K.K. has separated from his wife living in different houses. She makes herself the opportunity to “be seen” by K.K. to “walk with K.K.” when she comes to learn typing arranged by K.K.. She flirts with him and tries to get his sympathy and caring. She fears that she would be set back to her poor parents if her ambition is found by Begum Harouni, so she grows her relationship with K.K. very carefully. In some point, she is successful on it. She finally gives herself to K.K. and gets a little expensive things as reward. But after K.K.’s death, she has to leave the upper class because she is nothing without K.K.. over there. It is her fate which she has chosen, and it foredooms to failure when she plans to become K.K.’s “mistress” which is part of upper class she thinks.
-203 words
Page1
On this page Daniyal Mueenuddin describes why and who sent Husna from the old village to K.K. Harouni’s house in Lahore. The writer also describes K.K. Harouni’s personality that he is a wealthy person and used to be in a politician. Husna brought a recommendation letter from Begum Harouni, K.K’s estranged wife from her old village to K.K Harouni for helping her and find a job. Husna was in tense when she was escorted from the secretary office to the living room by K.K’s secretary. She was looking around at paintings, frames, and picture of Mr. Harouni with Jawaharlal Nehru (Indian Politician). Mr. Harouni and Husna met each other in living room. Even though, Mr. Harouni knew Husna’s family, he allowed her to explain herself in detail. After a little chat and serving tea and cakes, Husna said, “I’ve come to you for help. I’m poor and need a job; my father is weak and lost his connections.” Mr. Harouni helped her and got her a tutor and paid for her expenses, but she didn’t take advantage and her mean was mischief. After Mr. Harouni died she got kicked out of the house and ends up with nothing.
-199 words
Page 2
On this page, Daniyal Mueenuddin’s initial incident barely begins with a visit of K.K’s upper classes’ friends. K.K’s friends, Riffat and his husband Husky represent the upper classes people in their society while Husna metaphors the middle classes. Both classes dislike behaviours of another. In the middle of the page, “Naughty, naughty,” words that Riffat said as she sees Husna walking out of living room, and Husna’s negative attitude towards Riffat demonstrates the conflict exist between the two classes in their society. However, K.K is different. As he has much confidence over himself, he states that “At [his] age… [Husna’s] in no danger.” His overestimation of his self-control explains why, later, Husna is easily able to establish sexual relationship with K.K. At this point of the story, Husna successfully steps on her path of achieving ambition. Although she focuses on K.K and, later on, won acceptance from him, at the end of the story, K.K’s death shows how little this means in the upper community.
--164
Page 9
On page 9, Mueenuddin reveals the other side off Husna through her interactions as she begins to integrate in Harouni’s house. A power struggle arose between Husna and Sarwat, fighting for K.K.’s attention and affection. Later on, Husna saw Hassan’s rudeness as a way to define her place with K.K., calculating this cost and coming out victorious. Winning these small battles, Husna has created her own authority above the other servants and began developing her wealth by siphoning off K.K.’s financial resources. Husna’s quote, “Scratch a man and find a boy,” shows how she could discreetly play with K.K.’s emotions and fulfill her desires. Mueenuddin gives us little tidbits of foreshadowing as K.K wakes up Husna and looks into a future without him, to which she doesn’t want to imagine.
Husna’s power gain draws parallels to Tony Montana in the movie “Scarface.” Both came to a new world with nothing, slowly making their way up the social ladder. Once cemented in place above the rest, the luxuries began to roll in. With a sudden twist of fate, both leave the new world with nothing.
-186 words
Maryan abdi
“In other rooms,other wonders”
On this page is when the plot of the story starts to come into shape. Husna’s
feelings for k.k start to form. She likes him for the right reasons at first but near the end
she wants to use him for his money. Her thrive for wanting good things is very eager.
She doesn’t want to be an outsider anymore. She wants to fit in with the others. With
these thoughts comes doubt because if she became a mistress to her she knows her
family would abandon her. To be living with a married man and not be wed to him is a
huge disgrace. We also learn about k.k s background. His wife tried to kill him and put a
spell on him. The conflict I felt coming about on this page is that they tried to keep it all a
secret from begum Haruni.
Page 2
On this page, Daniyal Mueenuddin explains how Husna is able to get a job in K. K Harouni house. Where, she meets K. K’s friends, Rifat, “eye[s] Husna, as if pricing her”, her husband, Husky and then Husna exposes her poor English, “It is very good to meet you”. K.K also offers his guest a drink and his servants serve them. All that description in the story reveals a big conflict about discrimination between poor and rich families. However, Rifat wonders about Husna presence in K.K’s house, as she seems her occasionally around Begum Haroni, “but recourse for the old lady”. Later, Husna thanks K.K for his help and leaves the room, while he invites her tomorrow to learn tying with his secretary, Shah Sahib. As K.K’s driver gets ready to drop her to home, “he gave her a fatherly kiss on the cheek”, whereas Rifat said meaningfully, “Nautghty, naughty.” expresses his flirting personality. Though, he does not feel any danger from her because of his age. In the last of this page, Mueenuddin shows her insufficient effort for learning typing and her interest in job as she is needy. In short, Mueenuddin expresses her struggling character to empower herself by hooks and crook.
Words-- 203
Page 5
On this page, in this page we found out that K.K. Harouni had slept with maidservants before. And somehow for the irony of it, time is repeating itself, now after long long years K.K. Harouni is doing the same thing again with a little bit different circumstance. Now he is being seduced by a younger woman. When Husna arrived to K.K. Harouni house at the first time she was looking for work, any job that will help her to survive. But later she became more greedy she wanted more and playing with K.K. Hrouni emotions was the easiest way for her to get what she wanted. When Husna know about K.K. Harouni lost his virginity at age of fourteen with a maid she knew that he had lust for women. And she used it for her benefit. “She wore a tight kurta, showing the cleft of her breast, which jutted out from her muscular youthful torso” and later she was touching his arm and asking him indirectly to come and liv with him in the same house. And as expected from him he falls for that and ordered his servants to prepare annex for her.
-197 words
Page 3
On this page, Daniyal Mueenuddin's plot takes an interesting turn from the previous two pages. From the begining of the story, Husna was represented as a young, innocent girl from a poor family. No one seemed to respect her or treated her as a guest at K.K. Harouni's house, even though she tried to behave in a good and appropriate manner. After K.K. Harouni invited Husna to have a walk with him, “she felt ashamed to be seen taking a rickshaw, which only the lower classes used.” From the very beginning, she tried very hard to look presentable in front of the old Begum Harouni. “She didn't want to lose this chance of [K.K. Harouni's] company,” even though her shoes were uncomfortable to wear. Instead of learning how to type properly from Shah Sahib, Husna focused her attention on impressing K.K. Harouni in the hope that he would allow her to be part of his rich family. Mueenuddin used simple but vivid descriptions to show the plans and personality of Husna that directly contribute to latter part of the story.
-----182 Words
Lisa Zhang
Page 1
On this page, Daniyal Mueenudin exposes his plot. The story begins with one of the main characters, Husna. “Husna needed a job.” I believe that, that is a very successful way to attract a reader. Anybody can relate to that line, unless a person has been born rich. Everybody has gone looking for a job, I cannot estimate how many times in their lifetime. The first paragraph, successfully describes how did she managed to get there, and who had recommended her. In the same paragraph, Mueenudin paints the reader, a vivid picture of how wealthy people lived in Pakistan, in the 20th century. The second paragraph, introduces the second main character, Mr. Harouni. He is described as a gentleman. There is not much description about how Husna looked like in the first page only, that she had been sent by “Begun Sahib” his ex-wife. Overall, there is not much going on in the first page. But as the story goes on, on the next pages, we get a clear picture of Husna and her intentions. The plot describes her as a not so good looking young girl who wants to seduce Mr. Harouni because he is a wealthy man. Mr. Harouni knows about her intentions, and decides to follow her game. In the end, the story turns sad because Mr. Harouni dies and Husna has to go back to were she came from. I guess that the moral of the story would be: A person devoted to material wealth and possession at the expense of spiritual and moral values, is fruitless and vain.
- 263 words
Page 8
On page Eight, we see that K.K.’s daughter Sarwat has come from Karachi to visit a friend but also visits her father. She talks to her father in the living room of the house after having lunch. Sarwat is not happy to see Husna in the house with K.K. Sarwat treating Husna with no respect K.K defends Husan after Sarwat starts talking trash. Halfway through the page it talks about K.K’s three daughters Sarwat, Kamila, and Rehana. Also talks about K.K’s wife, not being in contact with K.K for ten years. Sarwat and K.K. talk about what Husan can and cannot offer, after a few moments Sarwat leaves the house saying she will come back later. Later that afternoon, while K.K and Husan are in bed together they have a fight about Sarwat. After, K.K had given Husan everything she can ask for, she goes crazy and says to K.K. whiles standing on the bed “I gave you everything I had, but you gave me nothing in return.” -170nwords-
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