Characters:
Daughter: Lana
Lana’s
Dad: Bob
Monarchial President: Draco
Opposition Party: Ray Party
Party in power: Congress Party
Plot
(Inclusive of Literary elements, techniques and devices)
What happens in the story?
In the story, the narrator (Lana) is the daughter
of a political leader, Bob. Bob is the political leader of the opposition
party. Additionally, the party’s aim is to be fair and just to the entire
population of the country so all the people in that party are supposedly good-
hearted human beings. The country Lana lives in right now is a democratic
monarchy, meaning that the elected leader, Draco, of the country stopped the
upcoming elections after his time so he could stay in power. Draco made
monarchial rules such as the people in his party have privileges however, his
rules were created in a way that it was hard to pinpoint why they were unfair.
For example, one of the rules were: ‘the children and family of the Congress
party members have reservation in the government job industry because they all
come from low- income families.’ That wasn’t true, both parties had almost the
same number of low-income families. The Congress Party stays in power for 16
years, since the birth of Lana until an incident happens that leads to the
downfall of that party. Bob digs deep into Draco’s past and finds out that
Draco’s dad is not the real dad because his mother had a relationship with the
brother right before she god married. Bob knows that if he reveals this to the
public, there will be dispute amongst the Congress party itself because at that
time period, the 1980s, having an affair was a huge matter of shame. Bob
decides to tell everyone in the country about it however, to make the situation
even worse, Bob twists the story and he says that Draco’s mother was in a
relationship with the brother while she was married. When this twisted truth is
disclosed, there’s mayhem in the Congress party; they decide to take down Draco
so then the country has no official leader. Bob sees this as an opportunity,
which he created for himself, to take upon the role of the country’s president.
He justifies this action to the public by saying that: ‘this country can’t have
a party in power, which isn’t unified and is built upon lies (referring to
Draco’s parents’ dilemma). This country needs a party which is honest and fair.’
Lana knows about the whole situation and she is appalled by the fact that her
father would twist the truth since his life motto was always about being
honest. She started seeing her father as an opportunist. Lana was made the Vice
President of the country by her father and she didn’t want to be in that
position because the means her father got to his current role as a president
was unfair, according to her. She felt like the whole situation and the whole
environment was oppressive. She couldn’t disclose her father because then, that
would lead to altercation in the Ray party and Lana believes that if she does
that, she’d be doing the exact same thing as her father, Bob, did to Draco.
Lana spends weeks thinking about how to make things right and one night she
seems to have a panic attack from all the overthinking. Her father takes her to
the hospital and the doctor recommends antidepressants. Lana then realizes that
she can’t do anything about her father being president through unfair means
because if she exposes her father, there will be disagreements amongst the Ray
Part, which could lead to Bob losing his seat as a President and it’s not like
the people of the Congress are deserving and if she stays quiet, then she is
letting wrong acts get by; either way is a losing situation for her. She
eventually convinces herself that ignorance is bliss and that she will lose her
mind if she contemplates more in this issue so she just accepts the fact that
she is the vice president of the country and that people will always be
opportunists. The last chapter (30 years into the future) is from a third
person perspective and it shows how Lana is now leading a luxurious life and
after her father dies; she becomes the president of the country. The third
person narrator also hints upon how Lana was always subconsciously an
opportunist because in that lose-lose situation she had when her father
disclosed Draco’s past, she chose the option that favored her and her family.
Theme:
à What do readers learn about the theme from the story?
The main theme of this short story is
oppression. This theme digs deep into mental oppression rather than the idea of
oppressor VS oppressed characters. In this case, the situation the narrator is
put into a situation where they observe the people of the community as
oppressed and the environment as oppressor. The sub theme of this story is
acceptance. This theme is an out come of the main theme. This theme shows that
in many situations ignorance is truly bliss. The environment is so overpowering
that any retaliation will lead to chaos.
Very well done. I'm curious what inspired this story? Why did you choose to focus on the theme of oppression to tell your story? How does this theme relate to your experience?
ReplyDeleteI decided to create a political setting because that reflects the place I'm from (India). Politics is a big part of everyone's life in India; even children have some sort of a political belief and that is why my setting was inspired by my homeland. I decided to focus on the theme of oppression because it relates greatly to my experiences in the different schools I've been in. The setting of 'democratic monarchy' symbolizes a high school. The character in this story, Lana, feels oppressed and she feels that she has no say in the things that are happening around her due to the possible consequences of her voicing her thoughts/opinions. I resonate with Lana because in school, I also feel like I can't always say what's on my mind, whether that be to a student or a teacher, because I'm aware of the possible consequences. Additionally, the father and the other party members in this story identify with the friends I have/had. I've had many friends who preach one thing and when they get the opportunity, they turn back on their words and I end up staying quiet, just like Lana in this story. The act of Lana's father outing the other party member's secret demonstrates parts of my life because people tend to gossip and many times, the gossip is exaggerated- I see this happening a lot in my friend circle itself and generally, I keep quiet and I don't counter the person's exaggerated version because I am the kind of person who avoids conflict, especially with my close friends. Overall, this story demonstrates an aspect of my behaviour towards life because Lana depends on the situation to take its natural course rather than taking control. Similarly, I let things continue on as they are because my comfort zone lies in the fact that I know I won't be any place for too long because I've moved around places and countries so much. For people who have lived in one place their whole life may not deal with situations the way I do because they don't have the mindset that they will be moving from the place sooner or later. I hope this answers the question on what inspired this story, why I chose to focus on the theme of oppression and how this theme relates to my experiences :)
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