Character Analysis between Lila and Hari

Similarities

Both, although barely out of their teens, were responsible, mature and contributed towards caring for the family in their own ways. They even gave up their schooling to do so. In the early part of the story, Hari worked like a man in the field, got coconuts and sometimes fished to provide for the family. Lila cleaned, cooked and looked after the welfare of the family.

Both were willing to undertake any jobs to provide for the family. Hari jumped at the opportunity to work for the deSilvas when they came for a holiday. The second time the deSilvas came and Hari was not around, Lila took over the opportunity to work for the De Silvas.

They both worried for their mother when she was sick and were disgusted with their father when he was forever drunk and did not bother to provide for the family.

Both were fortunate to meet kind benefactors who looked after their welfare. When Hari went to Bombay, he met Hira Lal, a watchman of the condominium where the De Silvas stayed. Hira Lal brought the homeless Hari to his friend, Jagu. Jagu in turn, gave Hira some food and allowed Hira to stay in the cheap restaurant as well as worked in the restaurant. Finally, he was befriended by an Mr Panwallah, an old watchmaker in the next shop who provided him with sound advices and whom he can confide his worries to. Mr Panwallah was also instrumental in giving Hari hope for his future in advising him that he could find work anywhere as long as he could use his hands, even in his own village. Mr Panwallah taught Hari how to repair watches and clocks thus equipping Hira with a trade and skills that he can use to earn a living with.

For Lila, Mr De Silva was kind to drive her mother and her to the hospital when he found out that she needed help to get her mother to the hospital. He even generously paid for the medical bills. He also let Lila do chores for him as well as his friend so that she continued to earn some money for her family.

Differences

Although both Hari and Lila faced their joint family problems with maturity and responsibility, there is a slight difference in their approaches mainly due to, I suppose, tradition and personality.

From what I can observe from the book and from my general knowledge of life in an Indian village, men would most likely be the breadwinner and the lady, the homemaker. In addition, from what I understand, young village men have more personal freedom to wander around outside the home compared to young women whose lots are generally to wait to get married. Hence, taking the role of his father, Hari would dare to dream of a greener pasture to make a living outside his village to solve his family’s financial problems. However, Lila being tied to tradition, would not have any thoughts of venturing outside the boundary of her home. She would not think of going out to work to earn money for the family although I think she was the smarter one, perhaps because she was older than Hari.

On pages 14 and 15 of the book, it seemed that Lila was in despair for she wondered out loud to her brother what they should do, she worried that their father would die from drinking too much toddy and then nobody would look after them and that they would not be able to buy school books for their sisters the following year. At that moment, it was Hari who comforted her.

However, as the story developed, we can see that Lila was a person who would do whatever it takes to solve her problems. She was always hopeful. When Hari could not bring enough food back for dinner, she sent her sisters to the beach to collect molluscs. In chapter 3, when their mother became more ill than usual, although she was very worried , knowing that they could not bring their mother to the doctor, she did the next best thing by sending her sisters to ask for help from Hira-bai, and later followed the instructions of the ‘magic man’ hoping that his ‘medicine’ could cure their mother. When the de Silva came to their village a second time, she even manoeuvred the situation so that Mr De Silva would drive to Alibagh to buy factory made city-bread and then she could ask him to give her mother a ride to the hospital there.

Lila was also depicted as a dutiful, obedient daughter and caring sister. She took good care of her sisters. She cared for her parents. She was constantly looking after her mother. Although she was afraid of her father, she obeyed him and was worried that the toddy would kill him.

On the other hand, perhaps being younger and as boys mature later than girls, Hari was not always very focused in what he wanted. He thought of working in the factory yet felt pessimistic about it. While all the young people in Thul believed that they would get a job in the factory that was going to be built in their doorsteps, Hari worried that the higher-skilled would be the ones getting the job and that the villagers of Thul might not be hired.

While Lila actively sought the help of her benefactors, Hari seemed a passive recipient of kindness that came his way, in other words, he was lucky. First, he was not sure of boarding the boat to Bombay because he could not see anyone from Thul. He was practically lifted off his feet into one of the boats by the crowd around him. In the boat, someone gave him chapati. When he was left behind in Bombay and could not find Mr De Silvas, he was offered help without his asking by Hira Lal who brought him to Jagu. Even his greatest benefactor, Mr Panwallah himself willingly gave Hari lots of advices and taught him how to repair watches and clocks.

Like Lila, Hari also cared and obeyed his mother. However, he loathed his father, for his father was a useless drunkard who humiliated him. His hatred was shown when his father came back with the Khanekar brothers after having toddy with them one night, and Hari was lying on the ground, hoping that his father would be bitten by a snake. He was not so dutiful and obedient as compared to Lila, as shown when he left for Bombay without a word, leaving Lila and his 2 other sisters, Bela and Karmal, to fend for themselves and to take care of their mother. This was probably because of his mounting frustrations to earn money and he could not find a suitable job in his own village.