Criticism and appreciation of 'Real Men Keep Their Word' by Dr. Akram Osman

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SOSYAL BİLİMLAR ENSTİTÜSÜ

İNGİLİZ DİLİ VE EDEBİYATI ANABİLİM DALI

İNGİLİZ DİLİ VE EDEBİYATI BİLİM DALI

CRITICISM AND APPRECIATION OF REAL MEN

KEEP THEIR WORD BY DR. AKRAM OSMAN

MAROOF SAKHI

YUKSEK LISANS TEZI

Danışman

Yrd Doc. Dr. YAĞMUR KÜÇÜKBEZİRCİ

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Academic Honor Code

I, Maroof Sakhi, take full responsibility for all the words, sentences, paragraphs, ideas and quotations of this thesis. To the best of my knowledge, all the contents are fully documented. I have written all the contents with honesty, and I am able to answer any questions about the contents of this work.

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Acknowledgments

My debt to those who have contributed in providing this thesis is very much. Many colleagues and friends helped me in the preparation of this thesis. I am especially indebted to Yağmur KÜÇUKBEZİRCİ who worked very hard with great patience in providing this piece of work. He translated some important parts of my thesis into Turkish Language.

Finally, I would like to thank all those who helped in the shaping and production of this literary work. My warm thanks to Lucy Beharrell that went throught my thesis and made some helpful comments about it. I would also like to thank Karim Wasil for providing some materials for this thesis.

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About the author, Dr. Akram Osman

Dr. Akram Osman was born in Herat City, Afghanistan in 1937. He graduated from the Law and Political Science Faculty of Kabul University. Then he went to Iran to study for his MA and PhD. He completed his doctoral degree in the faculty of Law and Political Science of Tehran University in the year 1971. He served as the Minister of Culture and Information of Afghanistan from 1973 until 1978. He worked in different posts at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Afghanistan. He was consulate of Afghan embassies in Tajikistan and Iran. He also served in the Science Academy of Afghanistan as head of the history and Law of this institution.

He served as president of the Art and Literature department of Afghanistan Radio and TV for a period of time. In this institution he was writer and speaker on literary and social programs. His warm and cheerful voice still echoes in the ear of those who listened to him through Radio and TV. He used to read his short stories and some selected poems from Maulana, Hafiz and some other Persian poets. Some of his audio short stories and the poems from the Persian poets are available on the website Farda.org.

Dr. Akram Osman immigrated to Sweden in 1990, and currently he lives there. He hasn’t cut his relationship with his fellow countrymen. He is president of the website, Farda.org that publishes a variety of literary, social and historical articles. He published a collection of short stories under the title of The Year of Famine in 2003 and a long novel by the name of Our Street in 2004 and another collection of

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short stories, Created Again in 2005. A few years ago he became a member of the executive counsel of the Asian and African writers organization.

The collection of short stories Real Men Keep Their Word was published three times. First it was published in the year 1988. Then it was reprinted in 1998. The last printing of this book was 2003.

The Afghan Film company produced tow films based on two short stories from this collection. The films are based on the short stories Real Men Keep Their Word and The Deceptive Object. Some of his short stories have been translated into Russian, German, Swedish, Bulgarian, and changed into Cyrillic alphabet

Osman’s works are as follows:

When the Reeds Bloom A collection of short stories published in 1985

A Crack in the Wall A collection of short stories published in 1987by Bihaqi

publishing organization.

Real Men Keep their Words A collection of short stories published in

1988(Arley Loewen translated this collection into English and it was published in 2005 by the Oxford Univeristy Press.)

The Year of Famine A collection of short stories published in the Afghan club

organization in 2003

Our Street A novel in two volumes published by the Kawa printing, Germany

in 2005

Created Again A collection of short stories published by the cultural

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The Diplomatic Relationship between Afghanistan and the Soviet Union

published by the Gastetener, Faculty of Law and Political Science of Tehran University in 1972.

An Introduction to the Democratic Movements published by the Omid

Weekly in 1988.

Characteristics of History Shift in the Eastern countries published in Sareer

Weekly, Holland, 1996.

Afghanistan and Central Asia involved in a big game published by Miwand

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About the Translator, Dr. Arley Loewen

Dr. Arley Loewen was born in Manitoba, Canada. He is a specialist in Persian culture. He studied Persian literature in Pakistan and Canada. He has two master degrees in two different fields. One of his MA is in Persian Literature in which he wrote his thesis in the Persian language. He did his MA in Persian Literature at the Quadi Azam University in Islamabad, Pakistan. He has a second MA in Middle Eastern Civilizations. In the year 2000 he completed his Ph.D. in Persian Studies at the University of Toronto.

Arley Loewen has been living among the peoples of Afghanistan and Iran since 1981. He has lived and worked in the South - Central Asian countries since the early 1980's. He has lectured in several countries on cultural topics. He has been researching and analyzing Afghan culture for 25 years. Currently, he and his family live in Kabul, Afghanistan. He works with CADA (Central Asian Development Agency) as their Persian Literature and Culture Specialist in Kabul. He presents leadership seminars at the University of Kabul as well as other institutions and NGOs.

Dr. Arley Loewen translated the book Real Men Keep Their Word by Dr. Akram Osman from Persian (Dari) into English. Oxford University Press published his book, the translation of Real Men Keep Their Word in 2006. He translated the book to a Professional Standard with a deep understanding of the cultural background of the short stories. However, it is very challenging to find an exact or natural equivalent English translation to Dari proverbs and idioms, but he has tried

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very much to keep both the flavour of the local idioms and proverbs and also make them approachable for the English readers.

In 2004 he wrote an overview of The Kite Runner by Khalid Hussaine under the title of Not worthy of his Sacrifice. This overview shows Arley Loewen’s deep understanding of the Afghan culture and society. He examines and discusses the novel with an open and critical eye.

Furthermore, Dr. Arley Loewen authored Images of Afghanistan with Dr. McMichael. In an interview he said that one day Dr. McMichael asked him to help her in writing a book on Afghan literature. So together they started to write about Afghan culture for the English readers. Finally they published the book Images of

Afghanistan in 2010. while writing the book Images of Afghanistan, he interacted

with Afghans and gave many lectures on Afghan culture. Furthermore, he met some Afghan intellectuals and got some ideas from them, but he mainly reflects his understanding and thinking on Afghan culture.

Dr. Arley Loewen plans to write some other books and articles about Afghanistan and Persian culture. He is doing a more academic study on shame and honor in Persian culture.I Hope to read more from this hardworking scholar in the future.

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Özet

Bu çalışmada Dr. Akram Osman’ın Erkek Adam Sözünde Durur isimli kısa hikâye koleksiyonu eleştirilip, değerlendirilmektedir. Kısa hikâyelerde önemli olan tüm unsurlara ve fikirlere yoğunlaşılmaktadır. Ana karakterler, konular ve semboller değerlendirilmektedir. Erkek Adam Sözünde Durur eserinde yer alan kısa hikâyeler

onların kültürel ve bölgesel geçmişleri göz önünde bulundurularak

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Abstract

This thesis criticizes and appreciates the collection of short stories, Real Men

Keep Their Word by Dr. Akram Osman. It focuses on all elements and ideas that are

important in the short stories. Mainly characters, themes and symbols are examined in this writing. The short stories in Real Men Keep Their Word are evaluated by considering their cultural and geographical backgrounds.

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Introduction

Real Men Keep Their Word is a collection of short stories by Dr Akram

Osman. The name of the book Real Men Keep Their Word is taken from the first short story of this collection, Real Men Keep Their Word. The original text is in Persian (Dari). This collection has been translated by Arley Loewen into English.

The topic that has been chosen is completely new. This thesis will appreciate and criticize Real Men Keep Their Word. No one has written anything about this collection of short stories yet. Some writers have appreciated and criticized the other books by Dr. Akram Osman. Recently Hussain Fakhree published a critical essay about the novel Our Street by Akram Osman. Some others also wrote some essays about The year of Famine, another collection of short stories by Akram Osman. Some of these essays are available on the website www.farda.org

There are eighteen short stories in this collection. Some of them are long and some of them are very short. Osman republished two of his short stories under different titles. One of the short stories in this book by the name of A Crack in the

Wall is written under the title of The Wedding in another collection of short stories, The Year of Famine by Dr. Akram Osman. It caused a critic, Zia Afzali to criticize

Akram Osman for writing it under two different titles in two different books. Dr. Akram Osman responded to Zia Afzali’s criticism in an article published on the websiteFarda.org. He wrote that the title A Crack in the Wall was slogan-like, and he did not like it, so he changed it to The Wedding. In the same way, Dr. Osman published the short story An Exiled Man twice. First it appeared in the collection of

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his short stories The Year of Famine, and then it was published as Chapter 36, page 259 of his novel, Our Street.

These short stories reflect Afghan culture, especially old Kabul culture. Akram Osman uses very casual language in his short stories. It gives insight to the historical and cultural context of the short stories. There are many local idioms and proverbs in the short stories that add to the flavor of the short stories. For instance, in The Enemy

of Ducks he compares some people to ducks and writes the famous proverb “If the

world were covered with water, it would only reach the ducks feet’.”( 132) Akram Osman is very skillful in using old Kabul expressions and idioms. These idioms and proverbs add to the artistic value of his short stories. The readers can also see idioms and expressions that are used very well in the novel Our Street by Akram Osman. Hussain Fakhree, a short story writer states that Osman shows brilliant talent in writing the old spoken language of Kabul. Similarly Bashir Sakhawarz another writer claims that his short stories will have research value in the future if someone wants to find out more about old Kabul. Osman has a great power in describing his environment and the people that live in his surroundings.

Most Afghans remember Osman’s voice from the Radio and TV of Afghanistan reading his short stories and some poems from Persian poets. His warm voice gave warmth to tired hearts. Since I have been very interested in Akram Osman’s short stories for a long time, this is a great chance to write my MA thesis about my favorite short stories. I would like to appreciate these short stories. All elements of these short stories will be looked at and examined very carefully. The

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characters and themes will be discussed in more details. The author shows great capability in creating characters and presenting universal themes in his short stories.

The author is very good at creating characters. He moves them in the stories in the way that he wants. They are like wax in his powerful hands. Some of his characters are brave and heroic like Sher in the short story Real Men Keep Their

Word and Kaka Akbar in When the Reeds Bloom. These two characters resemble

Rustam the imaginary legend of Shanamah by Ferdowsi. They are symbols of real men. In the same way Osman creates lovers in a way that very few writers are successful like him in doing. Osman’s lovers do not have anything less than the famous lovers of the literary world. They are similar to Romeo and Juliet, Layla and Majnun and some other pure lovers. In the short story Dear Nazy My Sweet heart the reader witnesses a real Majnun that dies for his Layla. In the same way, in the short story The Deceptive Object Daryab is compared to Farhad, the symbol of love in the Persian world.

On the other hand, Osman creates some cowardly and tricky characters to exemplify a pluralist world. A world that houses different people in it. We see a few of his great characters in this world, but his evil characters are everywhere. Bacha Hakim in When the Reeds Bloom and Mr Abdul Manan Khan Haziq in The Moderate

Politician are the sample of sly characters that Osman created with his creative mind

and his capable pen. Osman chooses his characters based on reality. He keeps a balance between the good and bad characteristics of man, and he is very realistic in choosing the people in his short stories. He describes the people as they are. His characters are not based on fantasy, and he does not give characteristics of an angel

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to a character. The characters that he creates are the people that a person meets in the streets everyday.

Osman chooses a variety of themes for his short stories. Each of his short stories teaches a lesson to the reader. Five themes are very prominent in his short stories.

Love is the theme that Osman writes about a lot. Five of his short stories in the collection of Real Men Keep Their Word deal with love. Dear Nazy-My Sweet Heart, and Real Men Keep Their Word are two of them that Osman shows an exceptional power creating love stories. These two short stories tell about pure lovers that present real love. The themes will be explained through out the short stories in details.

Pessimism is the second theme that a reader can notice in Akram Osman’s short stories. Nearly all his love stories lead to a kind of pessimism. All of his lovers fail in their loves, and then they start to think negatively about the world and about its stability and loyalty. All his love stories have a sad and tragic ending. We can see it in Real Men Keep Their Word, Dear Nazy-My Sweet heart, The Deceptive Object,

A Crack in the Wall and The Other Side of the River. Some critics claim that Akram

Osman is influenced by the writings of the Iranian writer, Sadiq Hedayat. All of Sadiq Hedayat’s stories end with the death or failure of the main characters.

The third theme that Osman focuses on in the short stories is sacrifice. It is very noticeable in Real Men Keep their Word and When the Reeds Bloom. Sher the main character in Real men Keep their word sacrifices his love, but he does not break his pledge to Muhmood. Similarly, Kaka Akbar sacrifices his life to prove his

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friendship and his bravery. It seems that Osman gives special value for sacrifice in human beings life. Sacrifice strengthens friendship and proves a person’s freedom.

Another theme that Osman puts in the stories is the big differences between the social classes. He examines the characteristics of rich and poor people. He explains how money and power bring out the animal instincts in people, and mislead them. He sympathizes with the oppressed people and lashes out at the oppressors. From the

Root of the Shrub is one of the stories that Osman evaluates the aristocratic families

and a poor country boy. The readers can see an extreme injustice and selfishness in that short story.

Freedom is given much importance in these short stories. In some of the stories in this collection, Osman tries to describe and make clear the meaning of freedom. He tries to teach freedom to his readers. He persuades people to learn about their rights and freedom, by using different symbols and creating vivid pictures. In Hassan

the Burden Bearer he paints a beautiful nature with swallows in the sky and happy

children in the ground. This picture affects the readers so much that they try to achieve such a life. Hassan the Burden Bearer and Blind Eagle are two of his short stories that persuade the audience to practice freedom in life.

Akram Osman is very good at using symbols in his short stories. This writing tries to reveal the hidden facts behind these symbols. For instance, in the first short story of this collection, he uses the kite as a symbol for love. Similarly, in Hasan, the

Burden Bearer he uses symbols, such as the poplar tree, the eagle, mountains and

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make his writings very interesting and enjoyable. They help the reader to have a better understanding of his ideas.

Most writers present some of their personal experiences in their writings. For instance, Charles Dickens reflects most of his life experiences in his short stories and novels. In A Tale of Two Cities it is believed that Sydney Carton, a character in the novel represents Charles Dickens real life. Some writers claim that Charles Dickens failed to reach his love. In A Tale of Two Cities we also see that Sydney Carton sacrifices himself and cannot reach Lucie Manette. In the same way, Dr Akram Osman spent his childhood and most of his life in Kabul. He reflects his memories and experiences in his stories from this city. According to Hussain Fakhree, Osman portrays his adulthood very skillfully with a sweet language in his novel, Our Street. He portrays Kabul city and its culture in the best way in his short stories. These short stories awaken the memories of all those who have lived in Kabul. These stories are very precious for each person that has spent some time in Kabul.

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Sher, a Real Man

Real Men Keep Their Word portrays Sher as a man who tolerates many

painful events in his life. He is in love with Tahera. He sacrifices his love for the word that he gives to Mahmud, Tahera’s brother. Four things are very noticeable in this short story: the kite used as a symbol for love, sacrifice, pessimism about the world and the characteristics of a perfect man.

Sher makes kites and strings. He is busy with this business, but this hobby becomes boring for him. He wants to do something else “Reaching the age of fourteen, and beginning to sprout some peach fuzz on his upper lip he had grown tired of these designs”(3). The reader notices some changes in Sher’s status. Dr. Osman presents his main character in the early stage of his adulthood. The author wants to say that in different stages of life, human beings like to do different things. A child is kept busy with a doll or some other toys. When he/she grows up and becomes a teenager, the toys cannot amuse him/her. He or she needs something else to be busy with. This is the way of most human beings. Sher reaches the stage of life where in his heart he wants to find a bride.

Dr. Akram Osman mentions names of some precious jewelry to remind the readers of a wedding or a married woman. By using the jewelry names at the beginning of the story, Dr Osman paves the way for Sher and Tahira’s love; “turquoise rings” (3), “pearly white teeth” ( 3), silver white blanket” ( 4). He describes Tahera from Sher’s point of view. Sher compares Tahera’s teeth to pearl,

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her turquoise rings to blue sky and says that her teeth are better than the whiteness of snow, and the color of her turquoise ring is clearer than the blue sky. It is true that love makes human beings blind, but this blindness is better than good sighted eyes that see everything ugly and bad. Sher’s love is very passionate like the beginning love story of the man and his wife which is narrated in the book of Hadiqatul Haqiqa by Sanayee, the Persian mystic poet. In this story, a man who loves his wife very much, swims a river to go to work and returns home at night to be with his wife. One night he notices a black spot on her wife’s face. Next day, when he wants to go to work his wife tells him not to swim and go work today because his love was hot before that is why he could not notice the pox, but now his love is cold. If he swims today, he will get ill. The man does not accept her suggestion and goes to work. A few days later he becomes sick and dies soon after. Real Men Keep their Word and the story by Sanayee look similar, but Dr Osman’s main character seems to be different from the above mentioned man. Sher loves Tahera very much, and it seems that he will love her forever. Therefore, he sees everything beautiful about her.

The kite is a good symbol in this short story. The kite stands for Sher’s love as described by him “cutting kite-paper and trying to design Tahera’s face on them”(5) Sher’s life and mind are full of Tahera, and he wants to draw her picture on all his kites. Sher’s love is ready, but he needs some wind so that he can fly the kite. Therefore, he sings the song “Oh haidarak of Gelan, master of the winds” (8). A strong wind blows to keep Sher’s love in the sky. It seems that God wants Sher to love Tahera. “The wind had picked up and was blowing hard.” (9) By now everything is ready for Sher’s love. It is the time for him to act. “When he woke up

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in the morning, the wind was also awake and in a serious sort of way,”(9) The wind is a strong companion to Sher. It would like to accompany Sher to reach his beloved. Sher is happy to have such a friend in the time of loneliness. Now is the turn for Sher to give the kite over to the hands of the wind. The wind is personified as a dragon with deep, steady breath to bring Sher’s congratulatory Eid message to Tahera. The powerful wind that comes from the unseen world takes Sher’s love into the sky. “Looking like a sharp-clawed eagle, it hovered over the other kites,”(10)

However, there are some others who have eyes on Tahera, but Sher’s love is prominent, and the other loves are not comparable to Sher’s love. All the others pull back when they know that Sher loves Tahera. Sher “released more string for his kite”.(10) Sher’s relationship goes very well with Tahera. At the peak of his love, Fazlu, who is like a vulture, and who observes Sher’s love relationship with Tahera, “challenged him with his own kite, catching Sher by surprise” (10). At this important stage of love, Sher becomes confused, but he does not lose himself. He stands against Fazlu’s poor love and defeats him. “Sher made his own kite plunge from its height like a falcon, and sliced Fazlu’s string as if it were butter.”(10)

Sher’s love flies very high in the sky. He wins all the contests, and makes himself deserved for Tahera’s love. However, Tahera’s father is not in favor of Sher’s marriage with his daughter. Sher does not want to give up “however, the kite was not to give up.”(11) Sher wants Tahera with any cost. He does not want to lose her. She is everything for Sher.

Dr Osman shows the falling stage of Sher’s love again through the symbol of the kite. “The kite twirled around, it crashed into Tahera’s yard.” Tahera’s father

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takes Sher’s love with his bloodied hands and sacrifices it. Tahera’s father, “who was about to slaughter the sacrificial sheep” (11), does the same with Sher’s love’ Sher’s love is sacrificed like the innocent sheep in the hands of Tahera’s father. Osman structures these two actions, the sacrifice of the sheep and the sacrifice of Sher’s love immediately after each other very skillfully.

Although Tahera’s father is strongly against Sher’s marriage with his daughter, but Sher does not give up. He quotes a poem to express his great ambition and his emphatic decision to seek Tahera’s love. “The lover does not fear death/ For love does not fear mountains or the prison/ The heart of the lover is like a hungry wolf/ It does not fear the yells and shouts of the shepherd.”(13) He continues to love Tahera and dream about her.

When Sher wins the wrestling contest over Mahmud, Tahera’s brother and when Mahmud calls Sher as his brother, Sher is shocked. He does not know what to do with brotherhood and love. He is double-minded and confused. Should he choose brotherhood or love? Finally, he decides to be faithful to his brotherhood pledge. He stands by his word and sacrifices his love for the sake of brotherhood, but still he cannot forget Tahera. He likes to fly kites. Flying kites shows that his love is still alive, but he controls it.

After Sher’s brotherhood is established with Tahera’s brother and his sacrificial love, Fazlu says to Sher “those days are history when you were the champion”(19). It is seen that Fazlu says to Sher that your love is dead and now you are like a mouse. As usual like a lion, Sher says to Fazlu “come to Du Rahi on the road to Paghman and throw up your kite”,(20) Sher wants to prove that still his heart

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is full of love, but he is stuck between love and brotherhood, two stones that smash him everyday.

Osman describes the scene of their kite competition very well. He chooses Sher’s kite as the white kite with a blue tail. The white color of his kite suggests his pure love, and the blue tail foretells a happy result for him. On the other hand, Fazlu’s kite is described as red with a black tail. The red color represents Fazlu’s atrocious and devilish love, and the black tail is the sad ending for Fazlu. Then the reader witnesses that at the end of the battle between their kites, Sher wins the contest.

Once more Osman proves that Sher’s character is exceptional. “Sher stoically held back his exhilaration like a real man”(21). He does not tease Fazlu after wining the kite flying battle. He did the same thing when he brought Mahmud’s shoulder to the ground. He lifted him graciously from the ground and kissed him. It shows his strong and real man-like character.

After the kite flying competition with Fazlu, Osman draws the conclusion for his story. “The sun had set, and it looked like the sky had sprinkled red tulips over its blue skirt.”(21) This vivid picture tells about the painful ending of Sher’s love. The sky is also mournful with him and they share failure of love. Sher is compared to lambs that live in a world which is very sad “white clouds were gamboling across the wide, reddish desert.”(21) He lives like a lamb which is very pure and innocent. He remembers the past. All the things that happened in the past and now they are part of history.

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Another important point that Dr. Osman presents is the taste of defeat that makes humans pessimist. After Sher failed to reach Tahera, he joined the Sufis and mystics who are in love with God, and those who do not believe in human stability. Sher thinks that this world passes like the blink of an eye. He becomes very pessimistic about life and says that “,Everybody is going to die.”(16) Sher does not have anything else to lose, so he does not care about this world, and he is not afraid of dying. He has already died. Osman tries to express his own ideas “this world is passing away, it is not worth all its sorrows.”(16). He states that this world is not eternal and nothing is stable. When someone is in a bad condition, everything seems ugly and pale. He/she starts to be pessimistic. He is shown as a person who sees the world dark and with no hope for the future.

Nietzsche tells the story of a child who has lost his mother and looks for her. He goes to a forest to find his mother. He spends all his life searching his mother, but he cannot find her. At the end of his life while he is old enough, he still hopes to find his mother, but there is no sign of his mother. Finally, a wolf comes and eats him. When this story was analyzed, it was assumed that it is Nietzsche’s own life story. The child stands for Nietzsche himself. The mother stands for God and the wolf represents doubt. Hence, Nietzsche cannot achieve what he wanted or he suffered a lot in life; as a result, he becomes doubtful about the universe. Osman makes the same point. When Sher is alone there is no one to cure his wound. He even talks to the moon, but he does not hear anything from the moon. He starts to be pessimistic about the faithfulness of human beings. He curses the unfaithfulness of everything in this world. Osman wants to show that all human beings share the same feelings.

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When they fail to achieve something, they are frustrated, and they see the world dark, pale and useless. On the other hand, if they are happy, and everything is going in their favor, they think that the world is worth living as we saw Sher’s point of view at the beginning of the story. Sher’s character is a reflection of the vulnerability of the human to his emotions, and the vulnerability of his faith to his circumstances.

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A Brave Man and a Coward

When the Reeds Bloom is an epic short story by Dr. Akram Osman. The main

character in When the Reeds Bloom is very similar to Sher, the main character of

Real Men Keep their Word. Both Sher and Akbar are real heroes. In this short story

Akbar appears like William Wallace, the great hero of Scotland who fought for Scotland’s independence, but at the end he was killed in a plot by the cowards. Dr. Akram Osman evaluates and presents heroism and cowardice in this short story

. When the Reeds Bloom tries to examine good and evil in a world that is full of tricks and treason. The protagonist in this story is Kaka Akbar, a brave and honest man, and the antagonist is Bacha Hakim, a coward. Osman starts his story with the blows of the blacksmiths’ tools, the blacksmiths who are matured by each blow that they strike on the metals and by the fire that melts the iron. Osman uses the sounds and actions of the blacksmith to represent heroism amongst the men of old Kabul. He hints at the task that heroes like Akbar had in old Kabul. They were protectors of their regions and stopped cowards and other bad men from committing bad actions. They were the enemy of cowards. They did anything to help people and provide a peaceful life for them. “Like blood flowing through the veins, the streets resonated with sounds of life and the buildings vibrated with warmth.”(24) These men were souls of their regions. In the old Kabul, heroes like Kaka Akbar functioned as honest policemen. They had the job of protecting areas from strangers and invaders.

Osman claims that Kakas (heroes) are trained from the very first days of their lives. “Young boys were used to such sounds from the time they were in their

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cradles.”(26) Later in the story, we see that Kaka Akbar tells his wife to stop crying because it will make Latif, their son, a coward. He says to his wife that their son, grandson and great grand son will be the future heroes. Kaka Akbar tells his wife that this world is nothing without a hero. Then Osman gives the heroic characteristics of Akbar to his son, Latif. When Latif’s mother cries, Latif becomes angry at her and asks her to stop crying because it is not a good thing. This is exactly what Akbar says to his wife. Then he says to his mother that his father is going to kill lions and wolves. Hence, his son is also like Kaka Akbar, a fearless and brave person.

Osman uses the two main characters in the text to represent the contrast between bravery and cowardice. The scene of Akbar’s meeting with Bacha Hakim, the prince, is paradoxical. Bacha Hakim is powerful in appearance but weak at heart. He is ruler of Kabul, and he shows himself to be very powerful, but in fact, he is a fox in the clothes of a lion. He gained power through a stroke of good luck. He didn’t get it by the power of his sword. Akbar, on the other hand, looks like a normal man, but his personality is like a real king. He is like a brave and powerful lion. Osman tries to say that clothes do not make a man.

After the argument and fight with Bacha Hakim, Akbar proves his exceptional character. Bacha Hakim is portrayed as a clever person that deceives people by a hundred tricks and rules over them. He is a Machiavelli of his time. When he sees Akbar’s powerful character, immediately he changes his behavior. He tries to take advantage of Akbar who is powerful, fearless and honest. “With every kind of wile and ploy, he was able to win Akbar over to his side.”(27) However, Akbar knows that Bacha Hakim’s friendship is deceptive, and he is a tricky person,

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but he tries to ignore it. When Bacha Hakim sends the chamberlain to invite Akbar to his court, Akbar says that “He never greets someone without some design or scheme.”(29) He always tries to be faithful to his friendship with Bacha Hakim, but that Satan’s friendship is only deceptive.

The author compares Akbar to the Kabul River. Both of them are heedless, fearless, revolutionary, and stormy. He enjoys listening to the waves of water that flow violently. The river is like a great epic poet that persuades Akbar to act like a hero. Akbar listens to the river, and then he conveys the messages of the river to the people, and people enjoy listening to him: “One word from Akbar carried more weight than a hundred words from anyone else.”(p 28) It seems that Akbar and the river are good companions. He gets all the secrets from the river and then talks to the people about all the secrets of the world. Akbar is part of the river.

A river cleans dirt, and then it evaporates to clean itself. Akbar also cleans people from all bad things and then comes to the river to clean himself. After the meeting with Bacha Hakim and his mission which is given by Bacha Hakim, Akbar wants to spend the last day of his residence in Kabul with the river, his old friend. They have the same mission, travelling a long distance and removing anything that stands in their way. They share the same experiences with each other.

Osman implies that the pounding of blacksmiths and the beckoning sounds of the Kabul River play an equal rule in maturing the brave men of the city. “As a kid, when he used to play in the sand and soil, the river had always been his friend, one that invited him to come to it.”(31) Also wave sounds sing epic songs in the ears of

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people, so sound of the waves and blacksmith’s pounding have the same function in maturing and making heroes.

In this story, the other character which is very prominent is Akbar’s wife. She is very helpful and kind to Akbar. Osman shows the loyalty of Afghan women to their husbands. “However, as for Latif’s mother, that good and kind woman, she would gently pat her son’s back while he was falling asleep and awaken memories of her husband”(34) All the time, Latif’s mother thinks about his husband’s fate. Her eyes are fixed to the door, and waiting for the time to open the door for her husband. When people start to forget Akbar, after time has passed, “Latif’s mother refused to give up and kept on waiting” (35)

At the end of the story Osman once again shows Bacha Hakim’s cowardice. He shouts ‘at’ a decapitated head. Then he kicks the head. He insults a decapitated head. Akbar teases him for his cowardly action. On the other hand, Akbar insults Bacha Hakim in his presence. This is the opposite of what Bacha Hakim does.

Osman reveals the evil world of politicians. He makes it clear for the public

that politicians are always cowardly and tricky. Bacha Hakim has nothing but tricks. When he sees that Akbar is useless after his last mission, he plots his assassination. He kills him in a very cowardly way.

This short story illustrates the nature of power by showing what characteristics a man needs to become powerful. Akbar, this honest and pure man knows nothing but honesty. Akbar has the power of a lion, but he does not have the tricks of a fox, so he cannot be a winner, in dealing with people like Bacha Hakim. In

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order to be a winner, one should have both power of a lion and tricks of a fox. This short story illustrates this idea more clearly. In a forest a little fox asked his father “Is it true that you are more powerful than the lion?” “Yes,” his father said, “but on the condition that we do not come face to face.”

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A Tongue Sharper than a Sword

The Hero and the Coward is written in praise of Ustad Qasem, the great

Afghan singer who was living in the late 19th and early 20th century. This short story tells the story of Ustad Qasem and the succession of three Kings’ courts over a period of time. Kings come and go, but the cowards and servants and ministers remain in their posts. In this short story Osman tries to show the power of Ustad Qasem’s tongue and introduce the theme of real men and cowards.

The story starts with the third kingdom, that of Nadir Shah. Osman says that Nadir Shah “gained power and fortune by chance.” (42) He describes the reception room as very luxurious and compares it to the gallery of Mani (Mani was renowned for his works of art in the Sassanid Iran in the third century). The author shares his sympathy with Amanullah Khan who was a modernized king and wanted to build Afghanistan. He worked hard and made such a lofty palace, but now a king who came to power “, simply following the winds of change” (42) lives in it with his servants.

Ustad Qasem acts as an observer as well as a participant in the story. His words help to highlight the contrasting characters of these three kings, and the effect that these Kings have on their servants and courtiers. Qasem does not represent heroism himself but his words and actions serve to demonstrate the heroism (or cowardice) of the Kings and courtiers. When Ustad Qasem comes to the palace to greet Nadir Shah, the new king, the servants who were the same servants from the previous court ignore him and behave as if he is a stranger. The servants “feel the

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pulse of the time, and swim with the tide.”(42) Ustad’s songs are still echoing in their ears, but they act as if they do not know him. The scene is similar to the story of The City Man Who was Deceived by the Villager in the third book of Masnavi by Hazrat Maulana. In this story, the villager often comes to the city and stays in the city man’s house for long periods. The villager invites the city man to his village several times. Finally, the city man goes to the village. When he finds the villager’s house, the villager asks him “Who do you want?” This is exactly the same question that the servants ask Ustad Qasem. Qasem looks at the courtiers and then remembers Amanullah Khan, the king that knew the value of his kind heart and his sharp tongue.

Qasem remembers the night that he was singing in the palace and Dobbs, the goodwill ambassador of the British Empire was a guest of Amanullah khan. Osman describes that night very well. Dobbs is portrayed very arrogant “Dobbs was acting as if no one were superior to him.”(44) King Amanullah, king of Freedom does not care about Dobbs, and his heart is full of Freedom. He listens to Qasem’s epic songs and enjoys freedom. On the other hand, courtiers want to show that they enjoy the songs “ nodding their oily, glistening heads like little monkeys and singing along with the rhythmic music of Qasem,” (44) in fact, they do not enjoy the songs, but they want to do their flattery.

Osman makes a good dialogue between Ustad Qasem and Dobbs. Dobbs is described as a colonizer like the British Empire, and Ustad Qasem is portrayed as a free man who never accepts colonization. Qasem sings that free people never colonize others and never let the others to colonize them “if that young gazelle of fortune falls into our hands, we would let it go.” (44) Ustad Qasem says to Dobbs

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that the British Empire is a neighbor of Afghanistan, so Afghans have a good relation with their neighbors, but Dobbs says indirectly to him that Afghanistan is also part of the British Empire. Dobbs words hit like bullets in the chest of this free man. When Dobbs says to Qasem that he wants to learn singing, Qasem asks Dobbs to sing after him. Qasem sings ‘our school is the place of freedom. He sings that Afghan people are free, and Afghanistan is the place of freedom. Afghans sacrifice for freedom even if it costs their lives. Ustad Qasem wins the debate. Dobbs who never tasted defeat before, for the first time becomes pale and fells dizzy. All free people claps for Qasem. Mountains, rivers, and valleys celebrate this happiness.

Osman hints to the defeat that the British Empire tasted in Afghanistan. He narrates the wars that occurred between British Empire and Afghans. British soldiers attached on Afghanistan three times, but all the times they were defeated. “The sun of freedom began to rise over the snow-covered mountain peaks of Hindu kush. The winds carried the news of freedom from the Hindu Khoh to the waves of Helman River, which then carried it on to Sistan and Nemroz, who then passed it on to the Indus River” (46) First British Empire was defeated in Afghanistan, and then people in India and some other countries started to achieve their independence. Osman compares Dobbs face “like the sun that never sets on the empire,” (46) Osman points out to Winston Churchill’s famous sentence “The sun never sets in the British Empire.” He laughs at Churchill’s sentence and tries to say that Afghans were the first nation who made this empire to lose color and become pale.

After Qasem’s victory over Dobbs, king Amanullah appreciates Qasem. In fact, he appreciates the free people, who do not accept the yoke of colonization. King

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Amanullah says to Qasem “your voice is the voice of people” (47) Afghan people are free people, and you are their speaker. Ustad Qasem sings epic songs which is a good way to persuade people to fight for their rights and freedom. King Amanullah praises him for what he did in the ceremony to Dobbs.

The British Empire cannot tolerate these two free men, so Dobbs, the goodwill ambassador starts to collapse the Kingdom of free men “But Dobbs, that damned evil and ‘deceptive Barsisa’, only sneered at the palace decorum and continued to pollute the air with his evil ways,” (47) The ministers and courtiers stand on the side of Dobbs, and behind the curtains they try to annihilate Amanullah’s Kingdom.

Osman points out about the collapse of King Amanullah’s kingdom. King Amanullah brought some reforms in Afghanistan. The courtiers persuaded him to bring some reforms that people could not accept it easily over a short period of time ,so the reforms put the kingdom in a critical condition. People stood against the government, and finally the kingdom was collapsed. In fact, the ministers were wolves in the clothing of a lamb. British Empire injected them with his poison and they committed treason.

Osman shows the instability of the world. Qasem is sad to lose his free and heroic friend. The successor of Amaullah Khan, Amir Habibullah Kalakanee says to

Ustad Qasem “yesterday there was another king, today I am king. There is no

stability in this world.” (48) Amir Habibullah, who is also a free man, wants to have Qasem in his court and listen to his warm and sweet songs.

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Osman makes fun of the courtiers. He chooses their names ironically. He calls one of the ministers, lover of the State, who is a “beguiling and devious official” (43). He says that this minister with different tricks stuck himself in the court, but in fact he is not a lover of the State. He is a lover of his position and power. Similarly, Osman gives the title of Brave of the State to the minister of defense. This brave man never had a fight in his life. The author says that he obtained this title by flattery. The Minister of Finance is named Trust of the State. Osman writes that this honest man steals money from the treasury, and appears in the society as if he has nothing. Osman implies that these ministers are traitors, and they remain in their posts by playing different tricks.

Osman thinks that a person who rules hearts is better than a person who rules over the people by sword and army. “one ruled hearts, the other ruled the land” (44) In the novel Our Street, Dr. Osman writes that Ahmad Zahir, the legend of Afghan music, rules in the Persian world without a gun, but the government cannot rule even in a few provinces. Power cannot conquer and rule over people, but love and art can conquer hearts and rule over them.

Osman presents a dialogue between Amir Habbibullah-e- Kalakanee and

Ustad Qasem. This dialogue shows Qasem as a philosopher. “Amir Habibullah

–e-Kalakanee says ‘you mean my enemy?” Qasem replies, “No sir. I weep for my very own friend’.”(49) ‘These good reasons given by Qasem satisfy the new King. Osman gives logical reasons like a philosopher to present Qasem a man with a sharp tongue. Osman perhaps indicates here that Qasem is so pure and empty from evil like

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a breed, and it is a supernatural power that blows into him. It is someone else who talks on behalf of Qasem.

Ustad Qasem is so clever that he distinguishes his audience very early on.

When Amir Habibullah-e-Kalakanee asks him to sing, he sings a song about nature. Amir Habibullah-e-Kalakanee who was born and grew up in the countryside of Kabul, loves nothing but nature. Amir Habibullah-e-Kalakanee then imagines the Shamali plain (his birthplace). In turn, Ustad Qasem sings “if the Shamali is a meadow of tulips, what is it to us?”(50) Amir Habibullah becomes angry and asks him to repeat his verse. Secretary of the State, who was a servant in King Amanullah’s court, and now sticks himself to the new kings court by flattery, takes his dagger and yells at Qasem, “you fool, you rogue, stick out your tongue!”(51) Osman once again displays Qasems razor-like tongue. Ustad Qasem whose tongue is sharper than the Secretary of the State’s dagger, lacerates the Secretary with his words and makes him motionless like a statue. Probably Osman got this argument from an anecdote in Gulstan by Saadi. In the anecdote a king wants to kill an innocent man. The innocent says to the king that this life passes like a wind. Sadness, happiness, evil and beauty go away. The oppressor thinks that he has done something to him, but it passes on him, and then the king will be responsible for it in doomsday. These words by the innocent man affect the king very much. Therefore, he releases the man. Ustad Qasem also says to the Secretary of the State that “this tongue has warded off hundreds of calamities and saved hundreds of people’s lives” (51) It suggests the power of pure reason and a tongue which is sharper than a sword, but sweeter than sugar. Amir Habibullah-e-Kalakanee, praises Ustad Qasem’s courage

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and tongue, and teases the Secretary of the State. Amir Habibullah says to the Secretary that there are many ministers, kings, court jesters, but Ustad Qasem is one in the world.

Osman expresses a good point about cowardly people. When the Secretary of the State mentions some bad things about King Amanullah, Amir Habibullah becomes angry at him and says to him “I am a true man, he is a true man, but what is that to you dog?”(52) Probably Osman takes this dialogue from Amir Habibullah-e-Kalakanee’s speech that he delivered at the Afghanistan Independence Day ceremony. Amir Habibullah-e-Kalakanee said to the crowds of people that Amanullah or he didn’t achieve the independence. It has been achieved by the people. He does not attack Amanullah Khan in his speech, so Osman thinks that Amir Habibullah-e-Kalakanee’s point of view about Amanullah was positive. Amir Habibullah knows that the Secretary of the State is a coward, so he does not trust him. He praises Amanullah and Qasem because they are true and free men like him. He says to the Secretary that Qasem is a great man, and he is sure that Amanullah is also a great man. “One can tell the difference between a real man and a coward by his friends” (55)

Ustad Qasem resumes singing after the debate with the Secretary of the State.

The songs take Amir Habibullah-e-Kalakanee to a joyful journey of his birthplace. He sees “the vineyards, the silver-colored rivers, the narrow, quiet garden trails, the mud walls and their small stony ridges” (53) Qasem’s songs bring the girls of his district in front of his eyes. Amir Habibullah-e-Kalakanee is so lost in his world by the songs that tears appear in his eyes. Nothing could bring tears in his eyes, but

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Qasem’s songs stimulate his feelings to cry. Amir Habibullah compares Qasem’s songs to the “gurgling of water which sang beautifully like Ustad” (54). Qasem’s songs take Amir Habibullah-e-Kalakanee in a beautiful world, a world which is full of good things. These songs make the king powerful and strong and stimulate him to love and serve his country.

After the fall of Amir Habibullah-e-Kalakanee’s government, Qasem goes to Nadir Shah’s court to see the new king. Qasem sees the Secretary of the State. He was the Secretary of the State who was insulted in Amir Habibullah-e-Kalakanee’s court. Qasem looks at him and reminds him of those memories simply by looking into his eyes. Osman compares Ustad Qasem’s tongue to Saadi’s tongue. When the courtier says to Qasem that the king “is still sleeping”, he quotes from Saadi “I saw a cruel man asleep during the middle of the day, I said to myself, he is evil, it is better he stays asleep.” (55) The courtier wants to say something, but Qasem again quotes from Saadi “Better that Ali’s double-edged sword is in the sheath and Saadi’s tongue in his mouth.” (55)

Hence, Osman claims that Qasem’s tongue is sharper than the sword of kings and courtiers. This tongue can give motivation to a country to live free and resist against any kind of invasion. Therefore, men like Qasem have a high reputation among people and they should be praised.

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From Childhood to Adulthood

Barat the Wrestler and I paints the world of a Kabuli man. This short story is

written from the Kabuli man’s point of view. He narrates his best period of life. This story shows his pleasant childhood, and also how he tried to achieve his ambition.

Osman starts the short story with a vivid picture of the narrator’s childhood. He writes that childhood memories are unforgettable. “Childhood memories are like a stream of drowsy melodies that one hears coming from a distant forest.”(58) It shows the beauty of a lifetime. A mother’s skirt is like paradise. However, when a child continues growing up, he or she begins to encounter many problems.

In a similar way, it can be seen that Kabul, the birthplace of the narrator, is given a role like that of a mother. A person has an organic relation both with his/her birthplace and with his/her mother. People know the value of their birthplace and country when they stay in a foreign country for a while. Then they learn the meaning of the famous saying that ‘There is no place like home.’

In this story, the “breeze blowing from the Sher Darwaza Mountain”(58) is like the gentle hands of a mother that slowly taps this child and lulls him to sleep. The narrator remembers the “ancient melody” that was lulling him into sleep. Different cultures have different melodies for children, but the melody in Kabul is cool. Pure mothers hum it to their innocent children. This melody is so sweet for the children that it sends them into a deep and delightful sleep. This melody reminds the Afghans of their childhood. Kind mothers always hum this melody “Alalo lalo lalo, alalo, my boy, alalo”. (58) When Afghans hear it from mothers humming to their

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children, they enjoy it and remember their childhood. Their childhood memories are tied up with this delightful melody.

Osman shows that the world of children is full of hope and dreams. He states this by using the words and phrases such as, “morning, golden sun, crystal blue sky and mother’s smile” (60). These are all signs of a happy beginning in life. Later in the story, the mother interprets her son’s dreams, and it makes life more meaningful and beautiful for her son. She makes her son hopeful and eager for his future life. Osman is likely to have a clear message for all mothers. He says to them that they should motivate and make their children hopeful for the future. “It announces your great future” (60) There are horoscopes and some other ways of telling fortune that give people motivation to work hard and achieve their dreams. In this short story when the narrator’s mother interprets her son’s dreams and says to him “By God’s help you will grow up” (60), the boy tries to become a great hero like Barat, the great wrestler in old Kabul. At the end of the story, the reader can see that the Kabuli boy tries to be a powerful wrestler.

As human beings we all have dreams. Some of the dreams come true, but some others do not. It is generally believed that one who seeks, will find. The important thing to be considered is tolerance. A person should tolerate defeats, hardships and not easily give up. The narrator’s great ambition is to become a wrestler like Barat. He practices wrestling by deadlocking weak boys. He continues to wrestle weak boys and be proud of himself until the time that the coppersmith’s son headlocks him. He starts to believe that he is weak and that there is a big difference between him and Barat.

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Once again his mother makes him hopeful and teaches him a great lesson “A person has to fall, fall again and again … until he gets up and becomes a champion in life.” (62) A strong person is always self-confident and never accepts defeat. He/ she dies, but never gives up. Ernest Hemingway in his great work, The Old Man and the

Sea, shows the old man (Santiago) as a determined person in life. Eighty four days

pass without catching any fish, but still he hopes to catch one. On the eighty fifth day, he catches a big fish. After a long battle between Santiago and the fish in the sea, he pulls the fish to the shore, but unfortunately only the backbone of the fish remains. It is not important what is left from the fish. The important thing is the old man’s determination. He tolerates severe hardship, but he never gives up.

Sometimes animals teach great lessons to human beings. An ant picks up a piece of food to carry it to its home, but it falls. It picks it up again to carry, again it falls. The action of falling down and picking up repeats so many times, but the determined ant takes it to its home finally.

The narrator in Barat the wrestler and I experiences ups and downs in life and never gives up. The role of the mother, the role of Kabul city, the lesson about perseverance turns him into an experienced man.

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Step Outside One’s Carpet

The short story Up There and Down Here draws the distinction between a high class family and a low class family. Baba Muhammd Alam wants to hold a wedding party for his son, but he does not have a place for it. Mudir, Baba’s master, offers his glorious house for the wedding party. On the Thursday night, guests attend Sher Alam’s wedding. However, the wedding party ends in a sad and unexpected way. While Baba is dancing, he falls and breaks a glass table and an expensive vase on the table. In this short story, the difference between high class and low class is displayed very well.

Osman describes Mudir as a crafty person. “Mudir, a conniving, foxy individual,” (63) When he hears about Baba’s problem, he wants to take advantage of it. Mudir suggests to his wife that Baba Muhammad Alam can celebrate his son’s party in their house “If we do this we will profit in two ways. First, Baba is going to be indebted to us and pray for us, and second we will have a free party. And we will save a night’s expenses.” (63) Osman tries to say that Mudir is a rich person, but he is very mean. He loves money, and he wants to save a night expenses, participating in Sher Alam’s wedding.

Osman expresses a good point about the meanness of rich people. Why are rich people so much more mean and greedier than poor people? The answer for this question can be found in the following anecdote:

A rich family and a poor family were neighbors. The poor earned two Liras everyday. This poor neighbor was paying one Lira to buy some meat to make kebab,

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and another Lira was allocated for bread. Everyday the rich neighbor smelled kebab scent coming from his poor neighbor’s house. The rich man’s wife says to her husband that their neighbor is poor, but they eat kebab everyday. The rich neighbor thinks about a solution to prevent his family from asking good food, so he throws 20 Liras into his neighbor’s yard. The poor neighbor finds it and saves it. From that day on, the poor neighbor decides to buy one Lira bread and saves the other one to increase the amount of money they have. Mudir also wants to save expenses of a night and increase his money. According to Saadi, rich people are needier than poor people.

Osman shows Baba’s family’s guests to be rural and simple. He describes them in “colorful clothes, some ripped or in patches, others intact” (65) In Afghanistan, people who live in the countryside wear colorful clothes like pink, green, yellow and some other bright colors. A rural person can be easily distinguished from an urban person by his/her clothes. In the same way, Osman talks about the position of Baba’s guests’ posture. They are sitting “cross-legged” on the floor. Poor people have simple houses without chairs, table, and couches. On the other hand, Mudir guests are sitting on the couches, which is a sign of high class people. Baba’s guests are looking at everything in amazement as if it is their first time that they see all these luxurious things. Similarly, Baba’s wife is described as a woman with a dirty scarf. The other interesting thing that shows the difference between the classes is the musician. The musician in Sher Alam’s wedding is “A bazaar musician, who had oiled his head and smeared red make-up on his face and lips,” (65)

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Osman gives a hint for the unhappy ending of the story. “Suddenly a devilish idea sprang up in Mudir’s mind. He yelled, listen everybody! Where is Baba?” (65) This devilish idea later in the story causes smashing the glass and vase into pieces.

Baba suffers a lot from his bad economical condition. He is described as a dirty and badly clothed old man. He has only one set of clothes, and he cannot afford to buy new clothes for himself, even for his son’s wedding. This tells the reader about the bad economical condition of poor people. The crowd in the wedding party laughs at him because he is poor. “As soon as the guests saw Baba, they burst out laughing.” (65) This is law of the nature and habit of people that laugh at poor and weak people and praise rich and strong people. Does Osman want to make fun of Baba or does he condemn people for teasing him? It appears that he stings both Baba for his simple character, and Mudir for his arrogant and manipulative character. He shows Baba to be unfamiliar with dancing. Baba never danced before in his life. He sweats and looks foolish during dancing. He dances like a bear. Osman also criticizes Baba’s appearance. His socks are torn and his turban is “dirty, smoke-ridden, and beige.” (67) It shows that he does not care about his appearance at all. Not only his appearance is very poor, but also his character is very bad. He is like an electrical doll in the hands of Mudir. However, he is poor, but he can live a free life.

The climax of the story is the time when Baba becomes dizzy and vomits and crashes onto a glass table. The table and a crystal vase break. In fact, Mudir causes the crash. He smokes a cigarette, but the “smoke began to irritate his throat.” Similarly, Mudir’s wife notices Baba’s dizziness and warns Mudir to stop Baba from

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dancing, but Mudir is lost in his own world and enjoys the party. Therefore, Mudir is faulty not Baba.

Osman highlights the distinction between the high class and low class more clearly when Baba breaks the glass. Mudir and his wife become angry. “You bastard, get lost! You and your ugly pockmarked woman, bald and blind.” (68) Mudir’s discrimination becomes severe when he says to Baba that he does not deserve to be in places like Mudir’s luxurious room “How can a donkey enjoy sweet halwa and sugar drinks?” (68) This proverb by Mudir is similar to the metaphor that Hally, the white rich character says to the black servants in the play Master Harold … and the

boys by Athol Fugard. Hally says to the black servants “what the hell does a black

man know about flying a kite.” In fact, Hally says to them that black people do not know about freedom, and they should serve for the whites.

Sher Alam, Baba’s son blames his father for choosing Mudir’s house for the wedding. “He stepped outside his carpet, beyond our class.”(69) This short story demonstrates how people do not allow each other to cross the divide of social class. Even people of a lower class do not allow their own people to change to a higher class. The characters and theme of Up There and Down Here are very much similar to the characters and theme of the short story The Necklace by Guy de Mapassant. In

The Necklace Mathilde who is a selfish woman and from a low class family wants to

appear rich and high class. She is invited to a ball, so she borrows a diamond necklace from her friend and wears it in the ball. She loses the necklace in the ball. After she loses the diamond necklace, she and her husband, Loisle works for several years to buy a necklace diamond and gives it to her friend instead of the lost

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necklace. In the story Up There and Down Here, Baba also works for twenty months to pay for the smashed table and vase. The slight difference between Baba and Mathilde is that Mathilde pays for her selfishness, but Baba pays for his bad luck and his bad economical condition.

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Money is Sweet

Among the short stories by Dr Akram Osman, A Free Coffin is very comical and ironic. Lala Asghar is described in a way that makes the readers to laugh. He is portrayed as a money lover. This story shows the intense interest of some people in money and other belongings.

From the very beginning of the story the readers know the main character of

A Free Coffin. He is very mean, and he tries to earn big benefits from his customers

and other business people. Osman makes an exaggeration and says that “If he could fill his stomach with just water, he wouldn’t eat food.”(71) It shows the degree of his meanness. Lala Asghar has a good reason for eating little. He quotes from Hakem Ji Guban Ram, the herbal doctor that gluttony is very bad for humans. “If a person wants a long life he must leave the table with his stomach half full.” (71) Is a half full stomach good for health? In Gulstan, Saadi writes that a doctor went to Meca to treat people. Nobody came to him for a long time. Then he went to Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) and said to him that he has not got any patient so far. Mohammad (PBUH) said to him that people do not eat until they are very hungry, and they stop eating when their stomach is half full. It is seen that a half full stomach is healthy, but in the case of Lala Asghar it is different. Lala Asghar and his family eat so little that they cannot get what their bodies need. “ As for why his kids were just skin and bones, Lala would lay the blame on fate”(73) Like a philosopher, he tries to convince his family that eating little food is good for humans, but the results show that it is disastrous for Lala’s family. Lala’s advice is an irony. He says that eating little is