The Village By the Sea Literary Elements

Young Adult Fiction

Early 1980s; coastal India village of Thul; larger city in the district, Alibagh; Bombay

Third-person omniscient

Tone: introspective, worried, empathetic, warm, speculative

Mood: mellow, sympathetic, anxious, pensive, confused

Protagonists: Hari, Lila | Antagonists: Factory man, to an extent

Will Hari and Lila be able to help their family through a time of immense poverty and uncertainty?

Hari hears of his village's fishing boats being lost and realizes that he must go home. He is not a city boy, his time in Bombay has come to a close, and he misses his family.

Biju yells to the fishermen that they will be drowned and their boats wrecked in the monsoon, which is what happens.

N/A

There are allusions to elements of Indian culture and religion:
1. Diwali, the festival of lights (see Other in this study guide)
2. Hindu goddess Lakshmi (goddess of wealth and prosperity)
3. Hindu god Ganesha (elephant-headed god of beginnings)
4. Coconut Day, a traditional ceremony observed by Hindu fishing communities in India

The imagery is most forceful and effective when contrasting the beauty and peace of the Thul seascape with the crowded, dirty, and overwhelming Bombay metropolis. The contrast allows the reader to clearly see what Hari is dealing with in terms of living in Bombay for a time, and for a more general contrast between nature and city.

N/A

1. Hari realizes that Jagu "had a village somewhere that he called home, that he remembered it and that the memory made him happy. It was just that he was a silent, hardworked, worried man..." (171). Desai parallels the experiences of the young boy and the old man, suggesting that if Hari does not make different choice he may end up like Jagu.
2. The day Hari arrived in Bombay parallels Coconut Day, a marker for his departure from Bombay; the first day seemed like a fairground, "Today it really was a fairground" (216).

N/A

1. "Just then the sun lifted up over the coconut palms in a line alone the beach and sent long slanting rays over the silvery sand..." (2).
2. "[The voice of the village, waves, and wind] seemed to tell Lila to be calm and happy and all would be well" (5).
3. "But the silence was not calm and lovely, it was full of fear and anger and nightmares" (34).
4. "I tell you, the government has only a mouth with which it eats—eats our taxes, eats our land, eats the poor" (132-133).
5. "There were no clouds in the sky yet, but the sea seemed to know they were on the way, and was rushing forwards and upwards to meet them" (181).