Father RETURNING�Home
By Dilip Chitre
Dilip Chitre�1938-2009
Indian Modernism
Postmodernism
Structure and Form
01
03
04
02
There is no set rhyme or dominant meter.
24 lines
Free Verse
The poem is written in the voice of a child.
Dramatic Monologue
Single Stanza
Occurs when there is action and contemplation
Enjambment
themes
Alienation
Isolation
Poverty
Disallusionment
Old Age
What to look for:
Simile | Parallel structure |
Juxtaposition | Sibilance |
Oxymoron | Continuous verbs(words ending in “ing”) |
Metaphor | Anaphora |
Enjambment | Alliteration |
Visual imagery | Symbolism |
Polysyndeton (many conjunctions) | Asyndeton (lack of conjunctions) |
Father Returning Home
My father travels on the late evening train
Standing among silent commuters in the yellow light
Suburbs slide past his unseeing eyes
His shirt and pants are soggy and his black raincoat
Stained with mud and his bag stuffed with books
Is falling apart. His eyes dimmed by age
Fade homeward through the humid monsoon night.
The sibilant words echo the tone of the poem. The silent suffering of the father is apparent from the beginning. The words have connotations of hardship.
Father Returning Home
My father travels on the late evening train
Standing among silent commuters in the yellow light
Suburbs slide past his unseeing eyes
His shirt and pants are soggy and his black raincoat
Stained with mud and his bag stuffed with books
Is falling apart. His eyes dimmed by age
Fade homeward through the humid monsoon night.
Visual imagery shows that the father and the other commuters have no desire to speak to one another. The image extends itself as a metaphor for the father’s wider detachment from his family and the outside world.
The author is the speaker, talking about his father.
Anaphora of “his” with the polysyndeton “and” creates a monotonous tone, a piling on of the father’s downtrodden state.
My father travels on the late evening train
Standing among silent commuters in the yellow light
Suburbs slide past his unseeing eyes
His shirt and pants are soggy and his black raincoat
Stained with mud and his bag stuffed with books
Is falling apart. His eyes dimmed by age
Fade homeward through the humid monsoon night.
Plosive Alliteration adds even more weight to the heavy situation of the father. The bag is reflective of the father himself…falling apart.
Oxymoron “unseeing eyes” implies that his eyes do not want to see, or he is deliberately ignoring parts of his life because facing reality is too painful.
Father Returning Home
My father travels on the late evening train
Standing among silent commuters in the yellow light
Suburbs slide past his unseeing eyes
His shirt and pants are soggy and his black raincoat
Stained with mud and his bag stuffed with books
Is falling apart. His eyes dimmed by age
Fade homeward through the humid monsoon night.
The metaphor could represent the father’s life as “stuffed” with too much work, but could also represent his love to read in order to disconnect from others. The fact that his bag is “stuffed” means he will always have something to keep him preoccupied.
Father Returning Home
My father travels on the late evening train
Standing among silent commuters in the yellow light
Suburbs slide past his unseeing eyes
His shirt and pants are soggy and his black raincoat
Stained with mud and his bag stuffed with books
Is falling apart. His eyes dimmed by age
Fade homeward through the humid monsoon night.
Enjambment� throughout the poem moves like the train, and mirrors the father’s commute, stopping first when he gets off the train.
Father Returning Home
My father travels on the late evening train
Standing among silent commuters in the yellow light
Suburbs slide past his unseeing eyes
His shirt and pants are soggy and his black raincoat
Stained with mud and his bag stuffed with books
Is falling apart. His eyes dimmed by age
Fade homeward through the humid monsoon night.
Emotive language: “dimmed” and “Fade” create an image of light and energy slowly going out. The tone is foreboding with the idea that the father is close to losing himself completely.
Now I can see him getting off the train
Like a word dropped from a long sentence.
He hurries across the length of the grey platform,
Crosses the railway line, enters the lane,
His chappals are sticky with mud, but he hurries onward.
Home again, I see him drinking weak tea,
Eating a stale chapti, reading a book.
He goes into the toilet to contemplate
Man’s estrangement from a man-made world.
Simile: you wouldn’t miss one word from a long sentence. In the same way, the father is just one of the people in the working cog, and will not be missed, easily replaced, not necessary.
Now I can see him getting off the train
Like a word dropped from a long sentence.
He hurries across the length of the grey platform,
Crosses the railway line, enters the lane,
His chappals are sticky with mud, but he hurries onward.
Home again, I see him drinking weak tea,
Eating a stale chapati, reading a book.
He goes into the toilet to contemplate
Man’s estrangement from a man-made world.
Juxtaposition/Parallel Structure: this hurried state is the opposite of the rest of his movements in the poem such as “dimmed,” “dropped.” The parallel structure draws attention to the rote/robotic movement. He does the same thing day after day.
Now I can see him getting off the train
Like a word dropped from a long sentence.
He hurries across the length of the grey platform,
Crosses the railway line, enters the lane,
His chappals are sticky with mud, but he hurries onward.
Home again, I see him drinking weak tea,
Eating a stale chapati, reading a book.
He goes into the toilet to contemplate
Man’s estrangement from a man-made world.
Symbolism: his sandals (chappals) are symbolic of how the father may not have money for proper shoes for monsoon season. Despite his wet feet and clothing, he still hurries home.
Now I can see him getting off the train
Like a word dropped from a long sentence.
He hurries across the length of the grey platform,
Crosses the railway line, enters the lane,
His chappals are sticky with mud, but he hurries onward.
Home again, I see him drinking weak tea,
Eating a stale chapati, reading a book.
He goes into the toilet to contemplate
Man’s estrangement from a man-made world.
Parallel structure: the structure draws attention to the father receiving weak tea and stale food, indicating that he missed dinner, is okay with second-best, or that the family is extremely poor. It ends with his escape: reading a book…so he doesn’t have to talk about it.
Now I can see him getting off the train
Like a word dropped from a long sentence.
He hurries across the length of the grey platform,
Crosses the railway line, enters the lane,
His chappals are sticky with mud, but he hurries onward.
Home again, I see him drinking weak tea,
Eating a stale chapati, reading a book.
He goes into the toilet to contemplate
Man’s estrangement from a man-made world.
Metaphor: It is fitting that he is contemplating this topic in the restroom…the world of mass production/workforce has made people strangers in this world.
Coming out he trembles at the sink,
The cold water running over his brown hands,
A few droplets cling to the greying hairs on his wrists.
His sullen children have often refused to share
Jokes and secrets with him. He will now go to sleep
Listening to the static on the radio, dreaming
Of his ancestors and grandchildren, thinking
Of nomads entering a subcontinent through a narrow pass.
Symbolism/Alliteration: The cold in his life is symbolized here, “trembling” “clinging” to him. The cacophonous sound of the “c” alliteration “coming” “cold” “cling” adds to the feeling.
Coming out he trembles at the sink,
The cold water running over his brown hands,
A few droplets cling to the greying hairs on his wrists.
His sullen children have often refused to share
Jokes and secrets with him. He will now go to sleep
Listening to the static on the radio, dreaming
Of his ancestors and grandchildren, thinking
Of nomads entering a subcontinent through a narrow pass.
Continuous verbs:The poem is suddenly rhythmic with the use of continuous verbs as the father slips off to sleep dreaming of a better life.
Coming out he trembles at the sink,
The cold water running over his brown hands,
A few droplets cling to the greying hairs on his wrists.
His sullen children have often refused to share
Jokes and secrets with him. He will now go to sleep
Listening to the static on the radio, dreaming
Of his ancestors and grandchildren, thinking
Of nomads entering a subcontinent through a narrow pass.
Emotive language: As desolate as his work life is, when he gets home even his children will not speak with him, further isolating him. The children are punishing him for his long work hours.
Coming out he trembles at the sink,
The cold water running over his brown hands,
A few droplets cling to the greying hairs on his wrists.
His sullen children have often refused to share
Jokes and secrets with him. He will now go to sleep
Listening to the static on the radio, dreaming
Of his ancestors and grandchildren, thinking
Of nomads entering a subcontinent through a narrow pass.
Sibilance: The sibilant words slowly bring this poem to an end as the father finally sleeps.
Colors
“Silent commuters in the yellow light “
grey
“cold water running over his brown hands”
brown
“His shirt and pants are soggy and his black raincoat stained with mud”
black
“Hurries across the length of the grey platform”
yellow
“cling to the greying hairs on his wrists”
grey(ing)
What can you make of
the use of color?
Is it symbolic?
How does the author present �the father in this poem?