3. The Immaculate Child
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| Prem Chand |
Questions & Answers
1.Sketch the character of Gangu?
The father of the immaculate child is Gangu. The story was written by Premchand and was translated by P.C. Ghai.
Gangu was one of the servants at the house of the narrator of the story. He was a brahmin by birth and was egoistic of his caste. He was quite innocent in his deeds. He thinks that he should be honoured by the other servants. Oneday when he came before the owner, he was scolded for his behaviour, Gangu was so conscious towards his position and said politely that he wanted to quit the job.
He told the decision of marrying a widow to the master in a polite manner. He was rigid in his decision. The advice of the master was not cared for. He did not care whether she was married three times or whether her character was good or not. He simply was lured by her beauty. At times he thought that she was cleverer than him. She found a godless in her. He was very happy that she maintained the family in a planned manner.
Gangu did not find fault with Gomti, when she ran away after 6 months of married life with him. He supported her and spoke infavour of her. His master’s views were denied. He did not feel unhappy eventhough she had given birth to a child after six months of stay with him. He went to the hospital and brought her to his house. His mind was with broad views. He thought that all the behaviour of his wife was because of the circumstances. His behaviour was so great that he accepted her and the child was taken to be a sweet result of their married life. He thought that he was his own child. The behaviour praised by one and all. The master praised him.
2. Justify the title of the story “The Immaculate Child”.
The story “The Immaculate Child was written by Premchand a noted Hindi Writer and was translated by P.C. Ghai into English. Premchand produced a lot of literature in Hindi. Ghai was famous for his translation of short stories and also for the poetry he produced. ‘Immaculate Child’ is a story depicting the mind of Indian people.
The narrator had a big house and the house had some servants. Gangu was an innocent brahmin who worked as a servant in that house. He had his own caste interest and tried to show his superiority as a brahmin. He wanted to keep up the dignity of his caste. One day Gangu came to the narrator and said that he was going to resign his job. He said that he was going to marry Gomti, a widow expelled from widows Ashram. She was a woman who has forsaken three men.
The narrator, adviced him not to marry that women but the innocent man submitted his argument in favour of the woman. Gangu left the job and married Gomti Devi. He earned his daily bread by selling chat at public faces. He seemed to be happy with this wife. After six months, Gomti left Gangu and fled away. The narrator felt happy as it happened as he wished.
When he met Gangu, he said that she had left him. But to his surprise Gangu said that she was a loving lady. He also said that he was in search of her to bring her back.
After one month Gangu came to the house of the narrator with a child in his arms. He was very happy. He said that she was traced at a hospital in Lucknow. She had a baby and he. brought it to show him. She gave birth to a son after six months of the marriage. But Gangu accepted the boy to be his own son. Gangu’s broad mind and his fair behaviour brought an immediate change in the mind of the narrator. He took the immaculate child into his arms. He praised Gangu. He himself went to the house of Gangu. He said that the immaculate child shows the greatness of an illiterate individual and his transparency.
