Introduction to the Poem:
The poem entitled The Railway Clerk is a sort of monologue. It is based on a clerk's feelings of deep discontentment, unhappiness and anguish over his sad predicament. It has been extracted from a collection of poems entitled Hymns in Darkness published in 1976. This poem presents the miserable and pathetic condition of a railway clerk. It is a satire on immortality, dishonesty, and corruption rampant in India. It presents a naked truth that hard working people are badly exploited and tortured by the authority whereas the corrupted and dishonest persons are rewarded with promotion and other advantages. They are given opportunity to flourish in future. It also brings to us a clear picture of the pathetic condition of the poor.
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| Nissim’s Poem, The Railway Clerk, Summary and Critical Appreciation |
Summary of the Poem:
The speaker, who is employed in railway as a clerk, expresses his pathetic condition and heart - moving feelings. He says that he has been working in railway as a clerk for many years, but in spite of being a government servant and having a permanent job, he is living a miserable life. His life is full of worries, troubles and pains. He is ever surrounded with worldly and domestic worries. He is honest and sincere in fulfilling his duty. He is completely dedicated to his work. He never leaves behind him any unturning stone. He always remains careful to his work. He tries his best to please the authority of railway. Whatever he is asked to do, he performs whole heartedly. In spite of his honesty, sincerity, truthfulness and dedication, he always becomes the victim of condemnation. The shortcomings arc found out in his work and he is also rebuked for committing mistakes. He is asked to be careful in his duty. He never gets reward of his honesty and sincerity. He is not allowed to seek leave. His leave application is rejected without pondering over his problem. This year he sent his leave application for two times, but it was rejected by the high authority. Every day, he has to endure the burden of excessive work. He is paid nothing for working overtime. He has to face great difficulty to fulfil his household responsibilities. He cannot get enough money to fulfil the vital needs of his family. He always remains hand to mouth. His wife is always demanding more money to meet the household expenses, but he does not know where to get this additional money from. His duties are such that nobody comes to offer him bribes, though his colleagues get bribes. He considers them the fortunate persons in this matter. He cannot get any opportunity of getting any promotion because he has not obtained the degree of graduate.
The railway clerk wishes to be a bird. He wants to have liberty like a bird. He wants to lead a comfortable and carefree life. He is badly tired of working as a clerk. He hates this human life which is full of difficulties, sorrows and worries. In spite of doing hard work, he gets so little that he cannot fulfil common needs of his family and he always remains hand to mouth. He always remains in great crisis of money. His financial condition is very pathetic. He never neglects his duties and carries them out properly. Yet there is none to appreciate his efficient performance of his duties. Nobody encourages him for his hard work. In return of his hard work, honesty and sincerity, he gets only rebuke from his authority.
The railway clerk has not been provided any facility in his office. He feels great difficulty while doing his work. His working desk is so small that he cannot do his writing work properly on it. In summer season he has to endure great intensity of heat because the fan which is hung over his head is completely out of order and it needs repair. His office is situated at a long distance from his house which is in Borivili. He has to cover a long distance daily. His daily journey from house to office and office to house takes great time. His whole day is spent in office and when he returns to his house, he is badly tired. Hence he cannot pay proper attention towards his wife and children. In this daily routine of complexity he has forgotten to ask his children about their studies. The children have got advantage of his indifferent attitude and they have begun to neglect their studies. Their future seems to be in darkness. He does not know how he can tackle with the present problem and which steps he should take to improve the future of his children.
By serving as a clerk in railway, his life has become completely monotonous. Now no charm is left in his life. Except Sunday, whole week is spent working hard in office. On Sunday, he goes to see the movie so that he may lighten himself. On this day, he feels quite happy and removes the tiredness of all the working days. The approach of Sunday brings somewhat freshness for him. He has also good companions who are his only source of consolation, but due to not having much time, he cannot enjoy their pleasureful company. Sometimes he gets opportunity to join them at somewhere. Whenever he joins his friends, a long discussion over any subject takes place. They often talk about the problem of their country. They also suggest the solutions of the problems which their country faces. Some of his friends think of foreign countries, but the clerk cannot participate their discussion whole heartedly because he ever finds himself surrounded with many problems and circumstances. His office problems and domestic worries never allow him to get some ideas in the concern of discussion. Finally he fails to enjoy the company of his companions. Due to serious illness, his mother - in - law is confined to bed. She is supportless. Nobody comes forward to help her, so she totally depends on him (clerk). He has to bear the expenses of her treatment. A great part of his salary is spent on her medicines and other things, yet he finds himself unable to give her complete treatment.
Critical Appreciation of the Poem:
Introduction:
The poem entitled The Railway Clerk is a sort of monologue. It presents the clerk's feelings of deep discontentment, unhappiness and anguish over his sad predicament. It also presents his miserable and pathetic condition. This poem is a satire on immortality, corruption and dishonesty prevailing in India. Hard working people are badly exploited by the authority whereas the dishonest persons are given opportunity to flourish. Those who have sold their conscience lead a life of prosperity and those who are sincere, honest and dedicated to their work are rebuked, condemned and punished. In Indian Government services the whole working machinery is corrupted. From peon to high authority, everyone is corrupt. They flourish on bribery. Dishonesty is their religion. In this way this poem presents before us a clear picture of government offices and pathetic condition of the poor.
Thought - Content:
The poor railway clerk, the sole winner of bread, feels great difficulty to make both ends meet. In spite of being sincere, honest and hardworking, he is ever condemned and rebuked. His leave application is not sanctioned. He is not paid for working overtime. He does not get more money to meet the household expenses. None offers him bribes. There is no prospect of his getting any promotion because he is not graduate, he wishes to lead a carefree life of a bird, but he is unable to get rid of this life of a prisoner or slave. The office where he works is situated at a very long distance from his residence. He cannot properly look after of his wife and children. He has been deprived from all the pleasures of life. He does not have spare time to enjoy his life. He gets rare opportunity to meet his friends.
Blend of Pathos and Humour:
In the poem there is fine blend of humour and pathos. The main source of humour is the typical use of English. The clerk has no s of grammar. At the name of English whatever he picks up from his friends and surroundings, he uses it. The misuse of present continuo tense occurs several times in the poem:
“I am never neglecting my responsibility.
I am discharging it properly.
I am doing my duty, but who is appreciating?
Nobody, I am telling you.”
The accumulation of the grievances has a pathetic effect but the disconnected and random manner in which the grievances are stated amuses us. The pathos arises from the laborious life which the railway clerk has to lead, while the humour arises from the manner in which he describes his circumstances.
Style and Language:
The poem is a monologue in which the speaker speaks to himself. It is written in prose style. There is no rhyming scheme in the poem. The poet has employed very simple words. He has completely avoided the complex sentences and phrases. The chief error here is the use of the present continuous tense where simply the present tense should be used. Such misuse of the present continuous tense occurs several times in the course of the poem:
“No one is giving bribe.”
“I am doing my duty.”
“I am living far off in Borivili.”
“My children are neglecting studies.”
“Sometimes we are meeting here or there.”
“We are discussing country's problem.”
Another common mistake which the Indians make is to use the word ‘foreign’ where the words ‘foreign country’ should be used.
