Rohinton Mistry's |
A fine balance |
|
|
|
Themes Corruption of Power One of the strongest themes running throughout the novel is power and how it can easily be corrupted. The primary example of the misuse of power is the Emergency when the Prime Minister changes the law that found her guilty of cheating. She writes new legislation that gave her the right to do whatever she wanted, even if that meant suppressing the people's rights. Stemming from this corruption is the other examples of abuse of power: police brutality, compulsory sterilization, the flattening of slums and the clearing the streets of beggars and sending them off to work camps. These laws also allowed people to be wrongfully sent to jail and any authority to use force if they thought it necessary. The author uses this initial corruption of the Prime Minister to show how quickly people will abuse power if they know they are able to get away with it. There are plenty of other examples of the corruption of power beyond the typical authorities. Another prime example is the caste system in Ishvar's village, and how the upper class used their wealth to establish superiority over the not-so-wealthy castes, to buy votes and, at times, to terrorize them. Another example is Nusswan's authority over Dina and how he used his position to try and mould her into the woman he wants her to be. Beggarmaster is another example, but in his case, he used violence to gain power, rather than money and influence. And before she befriended the tailors, it can also be said that Dina abused her power as a boss as well.
Family Family ties, whether blood relative or not, have an important role throughout the novel and are the motives behind many of the characters' actions. The most obvious example is that of Ishvar and his nephew, Om, who stand by each other to the very end, after the rest of their family is killed. Despite their many disagreements, they stay true to each other, taking their turns to care for one another. As for Dina, her family history made her the woman that she was, with Nusswan's discipline making her headstrong and proud, and her Aunty-in-law teaching her to sew to make a living after her husband was dead. In a crisis, it was family who Dina automatically turned to, and, in the end, only family would take her in. Likewise Maneck's upbringing made him the man he was and his family's decision to send him to college put him in Dina's apartment. His family is who found the job for him in the Gulf. The strong connection of families can even be seen with Beggarmaster paying special attention to Shankar after discovering that they were brothers, and Monkey man killing Beggarmaster for turning his niece and nephew into beggars. However, what this novel also shows is that there need not be a blood connection for people to become family, and it shows family as a relationship that is developed rather than by birth. For example, Ishvar often refers to Maneck as his second son, and in many ways was more of a father to him in his later life that his real father was. Another example is Ashraf Chacha, who became like a father to Ishvar and Narayan during their days as apprentice tailors.
Poverty The one thing the reader cannot ignore throughout the story is the display of poverty on many levels. It shows all different levels of poverty, from those who are struggling to get by to beggars to those who are employed, but still are under the poverty line, such as Ishvar and Om. The novel gives some insight into how those in poverty live and how something as simple as a lock of hair can give them so much pleasure. It shows the outrageous things people will do for money, such as have their limbs cut off, so that people will take pity on them and give them more alms. For middle-class readers living in the Western world, the reality of poverty in the lives of the characters makes them realize how lucky the readers are.
|