Rohinton Mistry's

A fine balance

biographical information

character information

plot summary

themes

style

The main point to make about the language used throughout the novel is that it uses

many familiar Indian words and phrases such as "yaar" and "hai ram." At first this can

confuse the reader not familiar with these terms, but their constant use makes it easy to

understand a word's meaning by the context in which it is used. Otherwise, the

language is easy to read and flows well. While occasionally the narrator does describe

the feelings of the characters, he mainly sticks to their actions, and the reader

interprets the feelings through these actions. The author provides in-depth detail about

the settings and situations surrounding the action, sometimes to a point where it can

distract the reader from the action itself.

The story is told through the eyes of an omniscient narrator who imparts the feelings

of all the characters at once. This point of view is necessary for the narrator to

effectively give the reader the details of the main characters' pasts and also to follow

the different storylines happening in the same period of time.

The novel is set in Bombay, India during the Indian Emergency in 1975, when Prime

Minister Indira Ghandi declared a state of emergency when she was convicted of

committing electoral fraud. Under her rule, and under her trusted son's watchful eyes,

there was forced sterilization, and slums were destroyed in the name of city

beautification, and, generally, the poor were persecuted. The novel is a story of some

of these poor people and how they survived this period.

The novel is made up of sixteen long chapters with a prologue and an epilogue. The

chapters are divided into untitled"mini-chapters." The main storyline is linear, with the

narrator only departing from the main story to sketch the backgrounds of characters.

An entire chapter is devoted to establishing the history of each of the main characters.

Generally, though, each chapter is devoted to one character's story, unless of course

the action is when they are all together.