Plains of Promise Detailed Summary

  Plains of Promise

- Alexis Wright 

Part I Timekeeper’s Shadow

Ivy Koopundi Andrews - 7 year old 

Errol Jipp

Beverly Jipp

Dot - Jipp’s daughter

Maudie

Pugnose

Elliot - Pugnose’s son and the Traveller 

Gabriel & Mervin - left handed identical twins

 Dorrie - Pugnose’s sister

Jimbo Delainy - Dorrie’s son

Gloria

Ruby - Gloria’s mother

Pilot, the old chinaman

May Sugar - Pilot’s wife

Ivy arrives with her mother as a young girl of 7 years old at St Dominic’s Mission for aborigines. The inmates observe a crow sitting on the tree facing the mission camp and suspect a death. Ivy’s mother keeps crying for the missionaries to give back Ivy. They chase her away and so one day, she sets herself on fire with the kerosene that she takes from Maudie’s hut. Following Ivy’s mother’s suicide, several suicides and deaths follow. Everyone starts taunting Ivy, believing that she is responsible for the curse on the otherwise peaceful life of the people.

Old Jipp is the protector of the Aborigines in St Dominic’s Mission and he shows special ‘interest’ on Ivy. Beverly, Jipp’s wife, wants company as her two daughters had left home; she demands Jipp to bring Ivy home, so that she can take care of her as her daughter. She hands over a pretty white dress that belonged to her daughter for Ivy’s mother’s funeral. Ivy is not deeply moved by her mother’s death until she sees her in the coffin. Ivy feels lonely and depressed as the girls in the dormitory consider her an ill omen. They are jealous of her because every night Jipp comes to take her away and the girls assume that Ivy has seduced Jipp. Jipp, the protector of the Aborigines and church priest, physically abuses young Ivy at night. Ivy is unable to share her pathetic condition with anyone. The girls beat her up and leave her injured quite often. Ivy’s appearance and her attitude gains her the name ‘the timekeeper’, as they superstitiously believe Ivy is behind the innumerable deaths in the camp.

People in the camp see Ivy as a slut and the deaths in the camp still continue. The Elders decide to send a traveller secretly to inquire about the curse by visiting Ivy’s mother’s place. Elliot is chosen to be the traveller and he sets on a journey to the strange land. He chants the song lines all about his travel and seeks the spirits’ approval to enter the different lands. On his first journey, he finds an old chinaman named Pilot, his wife May Sugar and another woman. The three old people tell about the strong spirits of the woman’s land. The traveller returns back to the camp and sets on a second journey to the land during the corroboree ceremony of the people. He encounters a near death experience before arriving at the land and gets himself terribly injured and buried for a long time. He continues his travel and sees the people’s faces painted in white for the ceremony. He learns from the chinaman that the people of the land want the girl: Ivy.

The traveller carries the message and visits a house on the way where he sees a young girl of fifteen, named Gloria with bright painted lips. They offer him shelter for the night and early in the morning, he hears the voice of the chinaman and May Sugar. Through their conversation it becomes clear that the woman in the house is related to Ivy. Elliot is strongly attracted towards Gloria and wants to marry her.

Elliot returns to the camp and is surprised to find Gloria who is held back in St Dominic. Jimbo Delaiany places a request to Jipp wanting to marry Gloria and he sanctions the request. Elliot visits Jipp in the office and he gets him to marry the fourteen year old pregnant Ivy. Ivy is subjected to torture in the hands of her husband Elliot and her father-in-law Pugnose who cooks up fake stories about Ivy’s infidelity. Elliot and Gloria continue their relationship even after their respective marriages. Gloria gives birth to two of Elliott’s children and then her husband ties her down with a chain to secure her fidelity. Elliot detests Ivy but cruelly kills the old chinaman who comes to take her away. Ivy has a difficult pregnancy and her baby is taken away immediately. Ivy never gets to know about her child. She struggles with milk gorged breasts and cries in vain in front of the Jipps’ house who tell her that the baby was quite sick and was taken away by the flying doctor. Ivy and Elliot are still not at peace and so are separated. Elliot gets married to Joan Chapel but carries a life long passion for Gloria.

Part II Glimpses of Distant Hills

Ivy - 15 years old

Des Penguin - Head of Sycamore Heights Mental Health and Research Institution

Madame Sylvia Sadaan

Bessy (Bessie)

Bob

Ivy is transferred to another camp at Sycamore Heights where she is put in an asylum. She is incapable of revealing her past and is in a bad mental condition. Des Penguin takes charge of the administrative duties and is curious to learn about Ivy’s past. He displays her as a marvel for patrons to make generous donations towards the psychological health of the aboriginal women. Madame Sadaan is an attractive belly dancer who believes that belly dancing could be used as a therapy for the aboriginal women. Days pass by without any improvement as Ivy coils to the audience status. Finally Ivy gathers courage to dance and that is when she liberates her emotions. Des Penguin is glad about the positive impact of the therapy but unfortunately, funds grow weaker and Madame Sylvia Sadaan eventually leaves due to the lack of payment. Ivy is left without a proper enclosure but surprisingly manages to regain consciousness. Des Penguin no longer wants to keep Ivy around, so he sends her away to Bessy, a Christian charity woman who had lost her husband Bob, eighteen years ago.

Ivy is sent far away from Sycamore Heights to live with Bessy as Ivy has no place to call as her ‘home’. She tidies the old woman’s house. Ivy is given Bob’s room and she scantily sleeps at night due to uncanny sounds of night and the haunting of Bob in the form of a small dog. Bob tells Ivy that his wife had poisoned him and it was not through suicide that he jumped off the bridge during flood. Ivy is shocked by the revelation and suspects Bessy of murder. She stops eating the food served by the old woman and gets food poisoning frequently. She checks the food supplies and tin cans if they are marked poison. Bessy suspects Ivy that she is attempting to poison her. Every night Bob (as dog) comes looking for his wife and Ivy directs the dog to the outside of the house where Bessy is sleeping; the dog strangely coils under the feet of the woman.

Bessy loves gardening and grows varieties of fruits and vegetables, rears goat for milk and supplies it to the townspeople. Ivy is afraid of the people around and sneaks out only at night to take a shower, wash her clothes or even to use the bathroom. The old woman accuses Ivy of theft, which she really was doing to buy perfumed soaps and talcum powder to wear on some special day. Years pass by and finally on a rainy night full of thunder and lightning, the two women get violent and fight. That is when the explosive chemicals that Bob had secretly collected and stored on the roof gets struck by lightning and the entire place blows up. Bessy is burnt with her dog Pal, but Ivy manages to escape by taking shelter with the goats.

Ivy starts living with the goats and a Tuberculosis epidemic starts in the aboriginal camps. Ivy’s hair turns long and grey and she lives with the goats in a refrigerator box in an isolated area. Local legends spread regarding Ivy and her terrific ways towards young children. People suspect that goats are a carrier of Tuberculosis and one day the goats are mercilessly shot dead and Ivy is rescued and taken away to be checked for Tuberculosis and for recovery post trauma.

Part III Victory Lane

Mary Nelson

Jessie - Mary’s daughter

Buddy Doolan - director of the coalition 

Lesley - Receptionist

Johnno Scott

Mary Nelson is a young woman who was brought up by white parents. She learned of her aboriginal origin only after the death of her adoptive parents. She had worked in a computer company for twelve years and was in Victory Lane to work with the coalition of the aboriginal governments, a team of aborigines set to work for the land rights of the aborigines and autonomy. Buddy Doolan is the director of the coalition and quickly starts an affair with Mary; he even stays with her and eventually gets her pregnant with Jessie. Mary is the unfortunate recipient of buddy’s anger and hard emotions. She has a difficult labour and gives birth to Jessie in the absence of buddy. Earlier, Mary was so innocent and unable to fight back, but after the birth of her daughter she is extremely protective and shrewd.

Lesley is the office receptionist who is friends with Mary. She visits her in the hospital with stuffed animals and gifts from buddy and brings her home. Buddy visits Mary and his daughter Jessie with his brother Donny and his father. His father finds something unusual with the place due to the visit of a crow at midnight in the kitchen. He instructs his son to find the history of Mary’s family and leaves immediately. Buddy leaves for his village soon and informs that he cannot come to the city because his brother Donny had met with an accident and required support.

Mary stays in the house with Jessie and joins duty after a few days. The office gets into trouble with the police for their ideals and Mary is transferred for safety. She has to keep changing places for security purpose. Buddy Doolan never comes and remains in the village. Mary brings up the child in different places and Johnno arranges the places of Mary’s stay. Mary gets to visit Delainy through Johnno who welcomes her to set an office at St Dominic’s Mission.

Part IV Plains of Papery Grass

Ivy

Mary

Jessie

Johnno

Elliot

Delainy Victor Victoria Gloria

Buddy Doolan

 Johnno insists Mary to visit St Dominic’s Mission which might help her find her origin. Mary wants to go but wonders if that would be right for her daughter. Johnno suggests her of setting up an office at St Dominic’s Mission. Mary decides to travel once to Buddy Doolan’s place to show Jessie her father. Jessie feels happy to meet her father, Buddy. Buddy spends some time and leaves after a while on some business. Mary does not wish to stay longer and she leaves.

Mary, then, visits St. Dominic’s Mission to set up an office and she is shocked to find Delainy paralysed. His son Victor helps Mary to set her office and shortly they start an affair. Elliot helps Mary with the works outside the house and Gloria has turned old and crazy. Victor takes Elliot, Delainy, Mary and Jessie on a trip. Elliot cooks and everyone has dinner but suddenly it rains. They take shelter in a deserted house and find an old woman groaning with long grey hair. She looks scary and the sound that the old woman makes terrifies Jessie and she starts crying. Elliot picks old Ivy like a pile of bones and warns her to remain quiet. Ivy is scared and she calms down.

Meanwhile, Johnno betrays the aboriginal coalition and joins hands with the government. After the strange experience and the unfavourable decision regarding land rights of the aborigines, Mary does not wish to remain longer in the place for the betterment of everyone and goes away. She compromises that living with the ties of white culture and the roots of her aboriginal culture make her life meaningful. She cannot deny either, as she has a dual identity. Even though she finds her mother, she feels detached from her and finds promise and resilience only in moving out of St Dominic’s Mission.

The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde Summary (Chapters 10 – 13)

 

The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde

Summary (Chapters 10 – 13)

 

Dr Jekyll’s butler, Poole, visits Mr Utterson one night after dinner and asks him to come to Dr Jekyll’s house. Poole brings Mr Utterson to the door of Dr Jekyll’s laboratory and insists that the voice they heard from the laboratory does not belong to his master. Mr Utterson wonders why the murderer would remain in the laboratory if he had killed  Dr Jekyll. Poole describes how the man in the laboratory seems desperate for some ingredient that no drugstore in London sells. He reveals that the person inside the laboratory looks nothing like Dr Jekyll. 

Mr Utterson suggests that Dr Jekyll may have some disease that changes his voice and deforms his features, making them unrecognisable, but Poole declares that the person he saw looked like Mr Hyde. Mr Utterson calls inside the laboratory, demanding admittance. The voice begs to have mercy and to leave him alone. The lawyer recognises the voice as Mr Hyde’s and orders Poole to smash the door. Once inside, the men find Mr Hyde’s body lying on the floor with a crushed vial in his hand. He appears to have poisoned himself. Mr Utterson notes that Mr Hyde is wearing a suit that belongs to Dr Jekyll and that is too large for him. The men search the entire laboratory but do not find Dr Jekyll or his corpse. They find a large mirror and note it strange to find it in a laboratory. 

On Dr Jekyll’s business table, they find a large envelope addressed to Mr Utterson that contains three items. The first is a will, much like the previous one, except that it replaces Mr Hyde’s name with Mr Utterson’s. The second is a note to Utterson, with the present day’s date on it. The note instructs Mr Utterson to read the letter that Dr Lanyon gave him earlier. It adds that if he desires to learn more, Mr Utterson can read the confession letter of Dr Henry Jekyll – the third item.

Mr Utterson opens Dr Lanyon’s letter. He writes that he had received a strange letter from Dr Jekyll, the night after the dinner. The letter instructed Dr Lanyon to break into Dr Jekyll’s laboratory and remove a specific drawer with its contents and wait for a man until midnight. Dr Lanyon goes to Dr Jekyll’s home and finds several vials inside a drawer. As promised, at the stroke of midnight, a small, evil-looking man appears, dressed in clothes much too large for him. Dr Lanyon does not recognise Mr Hyde as he has never seen him. Dr Lanyon directs him to the contents of the drawer, and Mr Hyde asks for a measuring glass. In it, he mixes the ingredients from the drawer to form a purple liquid, which then turns green. In front of Dr Lanyon’s eyes, Mr Hyde drinks the glass in one gulp and then seems to swell – his body expanding, his face melting and shifting, until, shockingly, Mr Hyde is gone and Dr Jekyll stands in his place. Dr Lanyon ends his letter, stating that the horror of the event has wrecked him and that he will soon die.

Mr Utterson, then, reads Dr Jekyll’s confession letter. Dr Jekyll traces his life since his birth and how he possessed a large inheritance, a healthy body, and a hardworking, decent nature. He maintained good nature in public while hiding his indecent side. By the time he was an adult, he realised that he was leading a dual life, in which his better side constantly felt guilt for the mistakes of his darker side. Dr Jekyll insists that, “man is not truly one, but truly two”, and he how he dreamed of separating the good and evil natures.

Dr Jekyll reports that, after much research, he eventually found a chemical solution that might serve his purpose. Buying a large quantity of salt as the required ingredient, he took the potion with the knowledge that he was risking his life, but he remained driven by the hopes of making a great discovery. At first, he experienced incredible pain. But as these symptoms subsided, he felt vigorous and was filled with recklessness and sensuality. He transformed into the shrunken, deformed Mr Edward Hyde. He believes that Mr Hyde’s small stature was because of his repressed evil side. Dr Jekyll delighted in living as Mr Hyde as he was becoming too old to act upon his more embarrassing impulses. He furnished a home and set up a bank account for his alter ego, Mr Hyde. But each time he transformed back into Dr Jekyll, he felt no guilt for Mr Hyde’s evil actions; yet, he tried to right the wrongs that had been done.

While asleep one night, he involuntarily transformed into Mr Hyde, without the help of the potion. This incident convinced him that he must cease with his transformations or risk being trapped in Mr Hyde’s form forever. But after two months as Dr Jekyll, he took the potion again. Mr Hyde who had been repressed for long, emerged wild and vengefully savage, and beat Carew, the Member of Parliament to death, delighting in his crime. Mr Hyde showed no remorse for the murder, but Dr Jekyll knelt and prayed to God for forgiveness even before his transformation back was complete. The horrifying nature of the murder convinced Dr Jekyll never to transform himself again.

Eventually, Dr Jekyll spontaneously transformed into Mr Hyde while sitting in a park. Hence, he sent word to Dr Lanyon to break into his laboratory and get his potions for him. After that night, he had to take a double dose of the potion every six hours to avoid transformation into Mr Hyde. As soon as the drug began to wear off, the transformation process would begin. Mr Hyde grew stronger and Dr Jekyll grew weaker. Moreover, the salt necessary for the potion began to run out. Dr Jekyll ordered for more but realised that the original salt must have contained an impurity that made the potion work. Hence he used the last of the potion to compose the final letter to Mr Utterson and ended his life.

The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde Robert Louis Stevenson Summary (Chapters 5 – 9)

 

The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde

Robert Louis Stevenson

                   Summary (Chapters 5 – 9)

Mr Utterson returns home after his unpleasant encounter with Mr Hyde. He is much worried for Dr Jekyll, since Mr Hyde is the heir to Dr Jekyll’s property. He meets Dr Jekyll during a party and expresses his dissatisfaction regarding the will. Dr Jekyll expects Mr Utterson’s support for Mr Hyde, in case of his disappearance.

Approximately one year later, the scene opens with a maid enjoying the moonlight by her window. She witnesses a small, evil-looking man, whom she recognises as Mr Hyde, encounter a polite, aged gentleman. When the gentleman offers Hyde a greeting, Hyde suddenly turns on him with a stick, beating him to death. The police find a letter addressed to Mr Utterson on the dead body, and they consequently summon him. He identifies the dead body as Sir Danvers Carew, a popular Member of Parliament and one of his clients.

Mr Utterson accompanies the police to Hyde’s house which is located in a poor, evil-looking part of the town. Hyde’s landlady lets the men in, but the suspected murderer is not at home. The police find the murder weapon and the burned remains of Hyde’s cheque book. Upon a subsequent visit to the bank, the police inspector learns that Hyde still has an account there. In the days and weeks that follow, no sign of Hyde turns up.

Mr Utterson visits Dr Jekyll, whom he finds in his laboratory looking extremely ill. Dr Jekyll feverishly claims that Hyde has left and that their relationship has ended. He also assures Mr Utterson that the police shall never find the man. Dr Jekyll shows Mr Utterson a letter which could damage his reputation if he hands it over to the police. The letter is from Hyde, assuring Dr Jekyll that he has means of escape, and that he deems himself unworthy of Dr Jekyll’s generosity. Mr Utterson asks if Hyde dictated the terms of Dr Jekyll’s will—especially its insistence that Hyde inherit the property in the event of Jekyll’s ‘disappearance’. Jekyll replies in the affirmative, and Mr Utterson tells his friend that Hyde probably meant to murder him and that he has had a near escape.

On his way out, Mr Utterson runs into Poole, Dr Jekyll’s butler, and asks him to describe the man who delivered the letter. Poole claims to have no knowledge of any letters being delivered other than the usual mail. That night, Mr Utterson consults his trusted clerk, Mr Guest, who is an expert in handwriting. Mr Guest compares Hyde’s letter with Dr Jekyll’s writing and suggests that the same hand inscribed both; Hyde’s script merely leans in the opposite direction, as if for the purpose of concealment. Mr Utterson reacts with alarm at the thought that Dr Jekyll would forge a letter for a murderer.

As time passes, Dr Jekyll becomes healthier-looking and more sociable, devoting himself to charity. After two months, Dr Jekyll holds a dinner party, which both Mr Utterson and Dr Lanyon attend, and the three talk as old friends. But a few days later, when Mr Utterson visits DrJekyll, Poole reports that his master is not receiving visitors. Hence Mr Utterson goes to visit Dr Lanyon and shockingly finds him in poor health with a frightened look in his eyes.

 

Dr Lanyon explains that he has had a great shock and expects to die in a few weeks. When Mr Utterson mentions that Dr Jekyll also seems ill, Dr Lanyon violently demands not to talk about Dr Jekyll. Mr Utterson writes to Dr Jekyll, inquiring as to what caused the break between him and Dr Lanyon. Soon Dr Jekyll writes, explaining that he understands why the doctor says they must not meet. He adds that he will be maintaining a strict seclusion as he is suffering a punishment that he cannot name.

 

Dr Lanyon dies a few weeks later. Mr Utterson, then, takes from his safe a letter that Dr Lanyon meant for him to read after he was dead. Inside, he finds another envelope, marked to remain sealed until Dr Jekyll also has died. Out of professional principle, Mr Utterson overcomes his curiosity and puts the envelope away for safekeeping. The following Sunday, Mr Utterson and Mr Enfield go for a walk. Mr Enfield mentions that he has learned that the run-down laboratory they pass is physically connected to Dr Jekyll’s house, and they both stop to peer into the house’s windows. To their surprise, the two men find Dr Jekyll by the window, enjoying fresh air. Dr Jekyll complains that he feels low and Mr Utterson invites him to join them. Then, just as they resume the polite conversation, a look of terror seizes Dr Jekyll’s face, causing it to alter and melt. Dr Jekyll gives a strange cry and quickly shuts the window and vanishes. Mr Utterson and his nephew Mr Enfield depart in shocked silence.

 

 

 

 

The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde Robert Louis Stevenson Summary (Chapter 1 - 4)

 

The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde

Robert Louis Stevenson

Summary (Chapter 1 - 4)

The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde is an allegory about the good and evil present in every human being. The tale of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde is mostly told in the perspective of Dr Gabriel John Utterson, a lawyer. The gothic novella opens with Mr Richard Enfield witnessing a horrible incident during the early hours of a morning. As Mr Enfield could not sleep, he walks down the street. He sees a little girl of 12 years old walking fast. On the opposite side, another man of a short stature collides with the girl. They both fall down and the man tramples on the little girl and leaves her injured on the street. Mr Enfield realises that the girl would get help as people start coming out of the house. 

 

Mr Enfield wants to get hold of the horrible man and so he pursues him and brings him back to the crowd. The angry mob waits to punish the wicked man. The doctor arrives soon and confirms that the little girl is in deep shock. Mr Enfield convinces the strange man, named Mr Hyde, to give money to the poor girl in compensation for the injury he had caused. 

 

Mr Enfield, demands hundred pounds from Mr Hyde, who takes him and the girl’s father to his house. Mr Hyde hands over ten pounds and a cheque for ninety pounds signed by a renowned doctor named Jekyll. The cheque confuses Mr Enfield and makes him wonder if Mr Hyde is blackmailing Dr Jekyll for some reason.

 

Mr Enfield narrates the incident to his uncle Mr Utterson, who is also a good friend of Dr Jekyll. Mr Utterson is a prominent London lawyer and is already perturbed by Dr Jekyll’s will. The will states that the entire possession of Dr Jekyll should be transferred to his friend Mr Hyde, on the event of his death. It also stated that Mr Hyde should immediately step in the position of Dr Jekyll owing to his disappearance for a period more than three months.

 

Mr Utterson decides to find the mystery behind the strange case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. He reaches the door of an old house and waits for a long time. His wait is rewarded with the arrival of Mr Hyde whom Mr Utterson surprises with greetings and says that he knows the place as the back door of Dr Jekyll’s laboratory. They indulge in a short conversation and part ways.

 

The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde Novella by Robert Louis Stevenson

 

The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde

Novella by Robert Louis Stevenson

Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson is a narrative about the complexities of science and the deceitfulness of human nature. Dr Jekyll is a kind, well-respected and intelligent scientist who meddles with the darker side of science, as he wants to bring out his repressed evil nature. He does this by transforming himself into Mr Hyde, his evil alter ego, who does not repent or accept responsibility for his evil crimes. Jekyll tries to control his alter ego, Hyde, and for a while, Jekyll has power. However, towards the end of the novel, Hyde takes over and this results in their deaths.

The tale of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde is told mostly from the perspective of Mr Gabriel John Utterson, a lawyer from London and a friend of Dr Henry Jekyll. He recollects the events with his friend, Mr. Richard Enfield’s story. Mr Enfield describes of returning home in the early hours of the morning when he witnessed a horrible incident. A small girl, running across the street, was trampled by a man named Mr Edward Hyde, who left her screaming on the ground. After being caught, Hyde agreed to pay the child’s family, and he retrieved a cheque from the account of Dr Jekyll.

Utterson has a will in which Jekyll entrusts his property to Hyde. Troubled, the lawyer visits Dr Hastie Lanyon, a longtime friend of both Jekyll and Utterson. Lanyon says that he has not seen Jekyll for more than 10 years, since Jekyll had gotten involved with “unscientific balderdash,” and that he does not know Hyde. Utterson traps Hyde and introduces himself and then goes around to Jekyll’s house. He understands that Jekyll is not at home and that his servants have orders to obey Hyde.

Almost a year later, a maid witnesses Hyde beating to death a prominent gentleman who is also a client of Utterson’s. Utterson leads the police to Hyde’s home. Though he is absent, evidence of his guilt is clear. Utterson goes to see if Jekyll is protecting Hyde, and Jekyll gives Utterson a letter from Hyde, in which Hyde declares that he will be able to escape. However, Utterson’s clerk notices that Jekyll and Hyde appear to have the same handwriting. Jekyll seems healthier and happier over the next few months but later starts refusing visitors. Utterson visits a dying Lanyon, who gives Utterson a document to be opened only after Jekyll’s death or disappearance.

Weeks later, Mr Poole, the servant, requests Utterson to come to Jekyll’s home, as he is scared that Hyde has murdered Jekyll. When Poole and Utterson break into the laboratory office, they find Hyde’s body on the floor and three documents for Utterson from Jekyll. Lanyon’s letter to Utterson and Jekyll’s documents reveal that Jekyll had secretly developed a potion to allow him to separate the good and evil aspects of his personality. He was thereby able at will to change into his increasingly dominant evil counterpart, Mr Hyde. While the respectable doctor initially had no difficulty in returning from his rabid personality, he soon found himself slipping into Mr. Hyde without in taking his drug. He temporarily stopped using the potion, but, when he tried it again, Mr. Hyde committed murder. After that, it took a vast amount of potion to keep him from spontaneously becoming Mr Hyde. Unable to make any more of the drug because of an impurity in the original supply, Jekyll soon ran out of the drug. He took the last of it to write a confession before becoming Hyde permanently. Thus, the book acts as a parable about what it means to be a good person, and presents a deeply critical portrait of medicine, with its power and potential harms. Jekyll's struggle with his good and evil sides demonstrates how there is good and evil in everyone.

A Letter from India (Partition Short Story by Intizar Hussain) Summary

 A Letter from India by Intizar Hussain

            Intizar Hussain was a famous Urdu poet short story writer and novelist he was born in 1925 in Dibai (India). A letter from India as a short story about the partition of India that took place in 1947 and deals with the loss of family heritage associated with it. The short story is written in the form of a letter. The letter is written by Kurban Ali, an orthodox Shia Muslim who had seen better days during the British rule. The letter is addressed to his brother’s son Kamaran, who lives in Karachi.

            The letter begins with general salutations and And Kurban claims to have reached out to Kamaran, but failed because of lack of communication. The narration gradually moves to the violence associated with the partition in 1947. He talks about Imran Miyan who had visited him long time back in a very bad state. He could not speak anything about his wife and children. He managed to visit the grave of Miyan Jani and possibly left for Karachi. 

            The problems between the Hindus and Muslims had not subsided yet in 1974, the year in which Kurban Ali writes the letter. The narrator talks about the Harshringar tree and it’s lovely, sweet smelling flowers whose smell filled the house hold all the time. The flowers were used for different purposes like dyeing the clothes and cooking biriyani. The Harshringar tree is a symbol of their family heritage which is lost at the time of writing the letter. Kurban Ali claims that Miyan Jani was so obsessed with the tree that he used to pray to God to let the smell of the flowers fill his grave all the time. At the point of narration, the last Harshringar tree which was near the grave has also fallen, indicating the complete loss of family heritage. 

            It has been 27 years since the partition and several members of the family have been murdered by Hindus and Muslims of other denomination, in different ways. He describes the various social changes that took place in both India and Pakistan after the partition. Kurban has knowledge of Kamaran’s new found luxury and seeks help to repair the ancestral bungalow. Kurban’s letter also hints on his old age. 

            The narrator then talks about a few family members who were very much interested in cinema and  idolised the actors. He tells about his son Akhtar who had changed his name to Premi and had started acting in dramas. Then he talks about the women and his family members who had married non-Muslims and had stopped wearing veil to cover their faces.

            Kurban Ali’s elder brother and younger brother are no more. He feels that the dead family members had good fate because they did not have to see the chaos of partition. He feels proud that the graves of some of their ancestors are still considered as pilgrimage whereas due to the partition, several of their family members bodies have been scattered in India, Bangladesh and Pakistan. Kurban Ali feels proud of his ancestors and states that they are actually from the city of Isphahan, a city in Iran. Hence he feels that Kamaran should take the responsibility of passing on their family heritage to the young generation. Kurban tells about his family members who are respected positions in the government and concludes the letter by enquiring about Kamaran’s family members and invites them to visit him in future. Thus, the epistolary short story records the changes and destruction of Kurban Ali’s family heritage due to partition. It also depicts the narrow minded nature of Kurban regarding the empowerment of women and the quality of living of the other family members. 

The Little Match Girl Summary

                                             The Little Match Girl

                                                                    Hans Christian Anderson

The Little Match Girl is a fairy tale about a dying little girl’s wishes and her visions. The

harsh reality of poverty, hunger and lack of parental care is presented in this story.

The story begins on a freezing New Year’s Eve. A small, poor girl is shivering and

bareheaded. She had lost her mother’s big slippers, hence barefooted too. She tries to sell

match sticks in the street, but she is unable to get even a cent.

Despite the harsh weather, she is afraid to go home because her father usually beats her for

the unsold matches. As it is New Year’s Eve, all the houses are bright with lights she is

tempted by the smell of roast goose. She huddles between two houses and lights a match to

warm herself.

The freezing weather and hunger cause hallucinations. In the flame of the first match, she

sees a large warm stove and so she stretches her legs to get some warmth. The

stove disappears, as the match goes off. Then she strikes another match stick on the wall and

sees a big roast goose. That too disappears and with the striking of the third match, she sees a

large and beautiful Christmas tree with bright candles.

In the sky, she sees a shooting star and says that a soul is on its way to Heaven, just like her

beloved grandmother had taught her. Her grandmother was the only person who was kind and

loving to the little girl, but even she was no more. In the flame of the next match she sees her

grandmother and in order to prolong the vision, the little girl lights the entire bundle of

matches. She pleads her grandmother to take her along and so she carries the little girl’s soul

to Heaven. The Heaven is a place where there is no starvation and hunger.

The next morning, people find the little match girl with a smiling face sitting frozen and

express pity. They did not know anything about the amazing visions that the little match girl

had seen before she died.